Roman Blood (1991)Roman Blood is the first entry in Steven Saylor's Roma Sub Rosa series featuring Gordianus the Finder, a kind of Sam Spade for ancient Rome. It finds Gordianus in the employ of Cicero, before he became known as a great orator, who is defending one Sextus Roscius against a charge that Romans found especially appalling, patricide--a case which the real Cicero wrote about. While Gordianus is a man of entirely too modern views--on such matters as slavery, homosexuality and the like--the setting works quite well for the p.i. genre, as there is not just a brutal underlayer of society but a terrifyingly corrupt and arbitrarily violent overlayer, in these late years of the Republic. I happen to have returned to this novel while reading Adrian Goldsworthy's excellent new biography, Caesar: Life of a Colossus. As good as the non-fiction text is, there's one scene in Mr. Saylor's novel that conveys a sense of the horror of the age in perhaps a way that only fiction can. Gordianus witnesses a fire at which Crassus stands poised with his private fire brigade offering to buy the burning house for a fraction of its real worth and save it for himself or let it burn at a total loss to the owner. Regardless of whether Mr. Saylor is always or often giving us the real Rome, moments like that powerfully convey what might otherwise be the fairly dispassionate stuff of ancient history. (Reviewed:) Grade: (A-) Tweet Websites:-AUTHOR SITE: StevenSaylor.com -Steven Saylor (Wikipedia) -Gordianus the Finder (Thrilling Detective) -EXCERPT: from A Twist at the End by Steven Saylor -ESSAY: What Made the Matrons Murder? A Poison Plot in Ancient Rome (Steven Saylor, Mystery Readers) -ESSAY: Quo Vadis, HBO? (Steven Saylor) -ESSAY: On Big Trucks, Bikes and Bush: Austin's hike and bike trail pulls people, even presidents, back to this city time and again (Steven Saylor, October 12, 2003, SF Chronicle) -ESSAY: Know thy subject: Steven Saylor finds it's not what you know but what you'd like to read that inspires you (Steven Saylor, October 5, 2002, The Guardian) -SPEECH: COMMENCEMENT 2002 (Steven Saylor, May 17, 2002, Department of Classics and the Graduate Group in Ancient History and Mediterranean Archaeology at the University of California at Berkeley) -REVIEW: of Gladiator (Steven Saylor) -REVIEW: of Creation by Gore Vidal (Steven Saylor, 1981, The Alternate) -ARCHIVES: "steven saylor" (Find Articles) -INTERVIEW: Historical Mysteries in Ancient Rome - Steve Saylor Author Interview: "Crossing the Rubicon" (Ellen Healy, Mystery Net) -INTERVIEW: Toiling in the Trenches: Steven Saylor tells Sarah Cuthbertson how he unearths murder and mayhem in Ancient Rome (and finds a link to Bill and Monica) (Sarah Cuthbertson, historical Novel Society) He came late to the mystery genre, discovering Sherlock Holmes at the age of 30 through the television production with Jeremy Brett, 'the quintessential Holmes. I read everything. I spent a whole summer just addicted to that.' A trip to Rome followed soon after. Steven describes it with fond enthusiasm. 'From California, you arrive in Rome so jet-lagged you wouldn't believe it. But, having studied ancient Rome in college, you're so excited to be there. It's 9 o'clock in the morning and you haven't slept for thirty hours. I remember stumbling into the Forum feeling like I was hallucinating, seeing these ruins. That trip was just wonderful. -INTERVIEW: HEY SAYLOR: A QUICK Q & A WITH GAY MYSTERY MAESTRO STEVEN SAYLOR (Owen Keehnen) -INTERVIEW: Roman Holiday: A Chat with Steven Saylor (Kilian Melloy, Jun 30, 2005, EDGE) -INTERVIEW: Steven Saylor Interview (italian-mysteries.com, May 13, 2004) -ESSAY: These Sleuths Sport Togas, Wield Swords, Visit Bull Run (David Lazarus, November 5, 2000, SF Chronicle) -REVIEW ARCHIVE: Top 7 Steven Saylor's Historical Mysteries (N.S. Gill,Your Guide to Ancient / Classical History) -REVIEW: of Roman Blood by Steven Saylor (JP, Mystery Reader) -REVIEW: of Roman Blood (William Peschel, Mystery Reader) -REVIEW: of Roman Blood (James J. O'Donnell, Bryn Mawr Classical Review) -REVIEW: of Arms of Nemesis by Steven Saylor (Jennifer Monahan Winberry, Mystery Reader) -REVIEW: of Arms of Nemisis (David Dawson, NY Times Book Review) -REVIEW: of A Murder on the Appian Way by Steve Saylor (Marilyn Stasio, NY Times Book Review) -REVIEW: of A Murder on the Appian Way (Richard Dyer, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) -REVIEW: of Rubicon by Steven Saylor (Jane Jakeman, The Indepenent) -REVIEW: of A Mist of Prophecies by Steven Saylor (CLAY SMITH, Austin Chronicle) -REVIEW: of Last Seen in Massilia by Steven Saylor (Phyllis Davis, Tangled Web) -REVIEW: of Last Seen in Massillia by Steven Saylor (Maxim Jakubowski, The Guardian ) -REVIEW: of The Judgment of Caesar by Steven Saylor (Jim Mann) -REVIEW: of Honour the Dead by Steven Saylor (Peter Gutteridge, The Guardian) -REVIEW: of Honor the Dead (Charles mitchell, The Spectator) -REVIEW: of A Twist at the End: A Novel of O. Henry by Steven Saylor (CLAY SMITH, Austin Chronicle) -REVIEW: of THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF ROMAN WHODUNNITS Edited by Mike Ashley (Ayo Onatade, Shots) GORDIANUS THE FINDER SERIES: Roman Blood (1991) Arms of Nemisis (1992) Catalina's Riddle (1993) The Venus Throw (1995) A Murder on the Appian Way (1996). Rubicon (1999). Last Seen in Massilia (2000) A Mist of Prophecies (2002). The Judgement of Caesar (2004) Book-related and General Links: -The Cicero Homepage -Cicero (1911 Encyclopedia) -Marcus Tullius Cicero (Encyclopaedia Brtannica) -ARCHIVES: cicero (Find Articles) -REVIEW: of Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome's Greatest Politician by Anthony Everitt (Jeff Greefield, Washington Monthly) -REVIEW: of Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome's Greatest Politician By Anthony Everitt (T. Corey Brennan, NY Times Book Review) |
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