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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9780312964528
ISBN number: 0312964528
Label: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 272
Printing Date: August 15, 1998
Publishing house: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Sale Popularity Level: 35324
Studio: St. Martin's Paperbacks
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
It is Ancient Rome, and Gordianus the Finder has a knack for finding trouble. Stalking about the city's twisting trails looking for clues and finding bodies, Gordianus has had his share of misadventure with nobles and slaves alike. Known to many as the one man in the ancient world who can both keep a secret and uncover one, Gordianus has stories to tell.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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I did not like this book. It is not that Steven Saylour is any less erudite or any less able to create brilliant portraits of Rome during the Republic. It is just that the genre itself is not Satlor's strong point. At its best, fiction creates a bond between the reader and the characters, and most of the time that takes a certain number of words. These stories are simply too short to create any compelling relationship between the reader, author and characters. While Gordianus the Finder is in all the stories, and while Lucius Claudius is in most of the stories, they are simply too short. Saylour never has enough time to hook the reader in, to make the story compelling and gripping. Rather, before the situation even gets interesting, the story is over.
Towards the end of the book, the solutions are not even clever. While there is a certain amount of imagination in the early stories, the later ones can be solved with little work. I still admire Saylor's ability to combine history and fiction together so effortlessly; I still am amazed at how much Roman History gets imparted in the course of - at least here - very few pages. But I miss getting truly involved with the story and characters. I look forward to getting back to Saylor's strong point - the complete novels. But even when not at his best, Steven Saylour is worth reading, and you will pick up bits of history do matter how simplistic the story.
Rated by buyers -
This book of nine stories was a good thing for me to read. I often wanted to fill in some of the rather lengthy gaps between Gordianius the Finder books. This collection of stories takes place in chronological time between the very first book "Roman Blood" and the the second book "Arms of Nemesis". These little stories are not major mysteries, by any stretch, but they are wonderful anecdotal snapshots of Gordianus and Bethesda before they married, and some of the growing up years of Eco. We also get to meet Gordianus' benefactor, Lucius Claudius. I cannot wait to continue the series, but I'm glad that I took the time to read this collection of stories. My favourite was "A Will is a Way".
Rated by buyers 
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This a collection of short stories, easy to follow and different from each other. Each describes different aspects of the Roman world, from customs, festivities, beliefs and superstitions.
This book is ideal for students studying English as a Second Language, or any kind of classroom. Students will find these easy stories informative, interesting and educative.
My favorite mysteries were "The King Bee and the Honey" and "Little Caesar and the Pirates."
Rated by buyers -
'The House of the Vestals' is Steven Saylor's very first collection of short stories that fill in the gaps in the history, personal and professional of Gordianus the Finder. (Saylour later wrote 'A Gladiator Dies Only Once' to fill in even more of the blanks.)
Fans of the Roma Sub Rosa series that began in 'Roman Blood' will love these short stories. Saylor's stories are easy on the brow, enjoyable, not too taxing - the 'mysteries' are often pretty simple - but you root for Gordianus because he is a good and decent citizen.
Saylor's stories do have a serious side - they paint an admirably convincing portrait of late Republican Rome. I am by no means a scholar of ancient history, but I have read a half dozen or so histories of this era (such as 'Rubicon' by Tom Holland and 'Caesar' by Adrian Goildworthy) and he has me convinced. Saylour has a reputation for scrupulous accuracy and often cast his stroies admidst some actual event in history.
Highly recommended.
Rated by buyers -
Steven Saylor's fascination with Ancient Rome began at an early age. A history graduate and former newspaper and magazine editor, he lives in Berkeley, California. His series of books about Ancient Rome and featuring Gordianus the Finder are extremely popular both here in England and also in America. Anyone who is a fan of Lindsey Davis will love these books too. Steven Saylour brings Ancient Rome to life, so much so that the reader can lose himself in the sights and sounds of the ancient city.
Gordianus the Finder, the investigator of crimes, a man whose skill and integrity have made him much sought after by some of the most important men in Rome. Men who may need a secret to be kept, men who need to know that when Gordianus is working for them he will be discreet and not susceptible to bribery.
This is a collection of nine short stories featuring Gordianus the Finder. I am not really a fan of short stories, preferring something that I can get my `teeth into.' But I did find these very entertaining and enjoyable and what they do achieve is that they help to fill in the gaps that are left by the longer novels. We learn a little more about Gordianus's slave, Bethesda, who has now become his wife and some of the many other details skimmed over in the novels. For those who love the Saylour books this is well worth reading.
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