“Roman Blood” was recommended to me by a staffer at the Oak Brook, Illinois, Borders. Not something that I would have chosen of my own accord, I was pleasantly surprised at how decent it turned out to be. There are, to be sure, plenty of clichéd bits of stagecraft (i.e., wispy linens draped provocatively over sexy women, gladiators described in purely animalistic terms, street scenes that play on our preconceived ideas of ancient licentiousness and filth, etc.), but there is an underlying smartness that propels the narrative and upholds fidelity to the historical record.

The first of a series of such novels, “Roman Blood” is essentially detective fiction – complete with the modern traditions of the genre – shoehorned into the waning days of the ancient Roman Republic. There is plenty of sex and violence to keep things interesting, and a fair dose of political intrigue and history as well. The balance between the demands of the genre and the allure of the mise-en-scène is expertly rendered. This isn’t a difficult or terribly complex book, but it is redeemed in the simple integrity of its execution. ( )

6 March 2001
Roman Blood
Steven Saylor

I thouroughly enjoyed this book, another tale of ancient Rome with a "finder" or sleuth who is involved in a possible crime of parricide. Gordianus is hired by Cicero in the late Roman republic, to help in the defense of a citizen accused of patricide. This was cleverly plotted, and wellpaced. It refers, according to the authors postscript, to a case preserved in one of Cicero's orations to law courts, and is very well researched, using numerous identifiable characters. Finished in January 2001. ( )

Roman Blood (book one of the Roma Sub Rosa series) by Steven Saylor centers around the real life patricide trial of a country farmer by the name of Sextus Roscius. The advocate of Sextus Roscius, the well known Marcus Tullius Cicero, employs the help of a man named Gordianus to dig up information about the murder in order to prove his client innocent. Gordianus is known as ‘the finder,’ a man well experienced in finding facts no matter how well hidden or obscure. Of course, such facts don’t come easy. There is much lying, much danger, and tons of characters only out for their own benefit that all together paint a picture of a corrupt Roman aristocracy. It is a very perilous time in Rome, after all, which has only just caught its breath from the proscription of Sulla and his restoration of the aristocracy over the common people. In order to prove Sextus Roscius innocent, Cicero and Gordianus must attack those very aristocrats that now hold Rome in a powerful grip.

I avoided reading this book for a while because I didn’t want it to disappoint me. And it didn’t.

Saylor is clearly a historian. If it’s not obvious in his reader’s notes, it’s apparent in his clear delivery of accurate and compelling historical detail. You can almost see the dark dilapidation of the Roman Subura that is as hazardous as it is teeming with life, or see the immaculate scene of Carthage on the Rostra, or imagine the men in togas sitting around the Senate. What Saylor does is bring Rome to life, but not without insult and credit where credit is due. He doesn’t present a Rome that is glorious and magnificent as some are prone to do, but neither does it portray it as a place irredeemably corrupt as others would have it. Saylor gives his readers Rome in all her shameless glory without falling into some one of the most common traps of those who attempt to write historical fiction. A tendency of most historical writers is to accentuate what is ‘abnormal’ by today’s standards because they imagine it will help people understand the time period more, or respect it for how different it is, but this often backfires. I like how Saylor did not give excuses for Rome, but didn’t gloss over the many faults. Details are presented in an easy and matter of fact way, which I found helped me get into the time period more simply because it was all given so casually.

Roman Blood is not a ‘great men of Rome’ sort of book, though it does feature many of the people we know: Cicero and Sulla to name a few. They all play their roles, as great men do, but without stealing the spotlight. Gordianus is a great character because he is likable, realistic and humble. And very Roman. I also quite like the portrayal of Cicero in Roman Blood because I think it captured his peculiarities perfectly while still redeeming him at the end when it was shown to Gordianus the doubter that Cicero is more than just a picky nag and really is one of the greatest statesmen.

Roman Blood is as much mystery as it is historical fiction. It’s full of murder, perversion, ruthlessness, and doubt. There are enough twists and turns to make the plot interesting while not so many that you lose sense of the thing. In the end, you come to understand that everyone is guilty of something in some way and even an ‘innocent’ man has committed plenty of crimes of his own. ( )

You're a Roman lawyer who needs some investigating done. Who ya gonna call? Gordianus the Finder.

In this, the first novel in the Roma Sub Rosa series, Gordianus is hired by a young lawyer, Marcus Tullius Cicero, to help gather evidence in Cicero's first big case: the defence of Sextius Roscus, who has been accused of parricide.

Despite having read it many times before I still found it an exciting thriller by an author who expertly evokes the sights, sounds, and smells of Ancient Rome and makes both the fictional and real characters complex and believable. ( )

This is the first of a series of books about Gordianus the Finder, an investigator in Ancient Rome in the reign of the dictator Sulla. Cicero hires Gordianus to investigate a case of parricide, and he only has eight days to discover the truth before the trial is due to start on the Ides of May. "Roman Blood" is based on Cicero's first major case as an advocate.

The Roma Sub Rosa series is one of my sister's favourites. I gave her the first book one birthday and by Christmas all the other books in the series were on her Amazon wish list, so I knew I had made a good choice. Now that I have finally got round to reading this book, I am just as impressed, and intend to read the whole series too. ( )