Books : The Triumph of Caesar: A Novel of Ancient Rome (Novels of Ancient Rome)

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Author name: Steven Saylor

 : The Triumph of Caesar: A Novel of Ancient Rome (Novels of Ancient Rome)
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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780312359836
ISBN number: 0312359837
Label: St. Martin's Minotaur
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Minotaur
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 320
Printing Date: May 13, 2008
Publishing house: St. Martin's Minotaur
Release Date: May 13, 2008
Sale Popularity Level: 20175
Studio: St. Martin's Minotaur




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The Roman civil war has come to its conclusion – Pompey is dead, Egypt is firmly under the control of Cleopatra (with the help of Rome’s legions), and for the very first time in many years Julius Caesar has returned to Rome itself. Appointed by the Senate as Dictator, the city abounds with rumors asserting that Caesar wishes to be made King – the very first such that Rome has had in centuries. And that not all of his opposition has been crushed.



Gordianus, recently returned from Egypt with his wife Bethesda, is essentially retired from his previous profession of ‘Finder’ but even he cannot refuse the call of Calpurnia, Caesar’s wife. Troubled  by dreams foretelling disaster and fearing a conspiracy against the life of Caesar, she had hired someone to investigate the rumors. But that person, a close friend of Gordianus, has just turned up dead – murdered -- on her doorstep. With four successive Triumphs for Caesar’s military victories scheduled for the coming days, and Caesar more exposed to danger than ever before, Calpurnia wants Gordianus to uncover the truth behind the rumored conspiracies -- to protect Caesar’s life, before it is too late. No fan of Caesar’s, Gordianus agrees to help – but only to find the murderer who killed his friend. But once an investigation is begun, there's no controlling what it will turn up, who it will put in danger, and where it will end.





Customer Reviews
User popularity level:  out of 5 stars

Rated by buyers 2 out of 5 stars - Hollywood version of anciet Rome
I had hoped that Mr. Saylour got some historian who knows anything about ancient Rome to check his facts, however - disappointed again!
- Romans did not have jails, where they would keep people for years at a time;
- whole families were displayed in Triumphs (check the triumph of Aemilius Paulus 168 BC eg.), however, only very rarely did anyone get executed - mostly it was as a consequence of broken treaty, considered a treason;
- Caesar was Pontifex Maximus and it was his duty to fix calendar, and on top of that he had free lodgings at state's expense in Domus Publica besides the House of Vestals on the Forum Romanum, he did not live on the Palatine;
- my pet peeve about the Hollywood version of gladiators - that seems to be the sum of Saylor's research into this topic. Fact is, it was extremely rare that any gladiator died in the arena. However, it seems to me that the image of people duelling to death all the time exercises a powerful pull on the novelists' imagination, regardless of the facts.




Rated by buyers 3 out of 5 stars - Gordianus still lives!
After reading many historical novels, I realize that often I do not become as emotionally invested in the characters and their tribulations as in stories placed in contemporary settings. It may be because, to be authentic, the author has to take time out to provide dry background details, and due to a lack of immediately apprehensible context and nuance. (I still like learning something about other ages and perhaps how it felt to experience them.) Unfortunately, in this iteration of Gordianus the Finder he has a rather boring case.

Caesar has returned to Rome from his conquest of Pompey, Egypt, and Cleopatra. His wife, Calpurnia, fears for his life and engages Gordianus to find the threat. Gordianus also needs to find out why his predecessor as Calpurnia's spy, has been murdered on her doorstep. The unusually simple structure of this latest Gordianus case consists of a long series of interviews with famous Romans of the day. The interviews are quite dry and aimless, as we are all very deep in the dark. A couple of key concerns are frequently repeated--if you can puzzle out their meanings you will be ahead of Gordianus, who is very slow to come to any conclusions.While the author frequently alludes to dangers, there is little to actually disturb these set pieces. It was disappointing that Gordianus depended on a death's shade to solve the crime, rather than his own ratiocination. This book has the feeling it is the last about Gordianus, an old, sedentary dreamer now.

Is there some reason publishers so often refuse to put a serial number on the spine, cover, or title page of novels that are now members of a long series? Why the obfuscation? Some don't even list the titles of previous books in a proper order (Saylor's publisher at least does that; Dick Francis' publisher does them in reverse order).



Rated by buyers 2 out of 5 stars - A waste of time.
Slow moving, not particularly interesting, forced myself to finish it waiting for it to get interesting (it didn't). If you want Roman historical novels, I would HIGHLY recommend Colleen McCollough's Masters of Rome series.



Rated by buyers 2 out of 5 stars - Disappointed...
Like other reviewers, I have thoroughly enjoyed every book in the Sub Rosa series thus far. This one disappointed, sad to say. It seemed mostly a collection of cameo interviews with the famous of the period, and more than previous novels, works hard to show the author's strong dislike of Julius Caesar, making him smaller-than-life and nearly ridiculous. As always, the historical details are fascinating, and the book is well-written, however I found it lacking in the action and suspense of earlier Gordianus tales. I do hope the series isn't running out of steam.



Rated by buyers 2 out of 5 stars - Why did Saylour bother?
I'm a great fan of Steven Saylor's "sub rosa" series about Gordianus the Finder, and it was with genuine distress that I faced the apparent deaths of Bethesda and Gordianus in what I thought would be the end of this very excellent series. Then, one day at Barnes & Noble, I saw "The Triumph of Caesar" and realized with a thrill that Gordianus was back!

Except he isn't really. This book lacks virtually all the things that make the rest of the series so grand. Instead of "sub rosa", it comes across as "pro forma", almost as though Saylor's other books didn't sell and his agent told him to "crank out another Gordianus book, I don't care if you killed him off. If Doyle could bring back Holmes, you can bring back Gordianus."

Bethesda is in the book also, though Saylour never reveals how she survived her apparent suicide in the Nile. What's worse is I'm not sure I even cared.

A sad business. My copy has already gone to Goodwill.

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