Saylor's second book in the Roma Sub Rosa series, featuring Gordianus the Finder, is a good combination of mystery and history. Deals with a patrician murder during the time of the Spartacan slave revolt. *Spoiler*: We also see Eco grow up, meet Meto, and see Gordianus and Bethesda married (and expecting). ( )

6 March 2001
Arms of Nemesis
Steven Saylor

Another of the series of novels about the later Roman republic with Gordianus the finder. This one is set in Baiae, near Naples, the retreat of the rich. The famous Roman employing Gordianus is Crassus, during the Spartacus slave revolt. Its plot is more of a classic English procedural, with a collection of interesting characters at an isolated country house, all of whom have a reason for murder of the patriarch of the clan. The particular historical twist is that the slaves of the house are to be killed, because they are the prime suspects in this time of slave revolts. ( )

Full of period details, Gordianus the Finder is involved in a case that touches several people. Crassus' brother is dead and one of the slaves is blamed, as that slave has absconded Crassus decides to kill all the slaves in the Villa. Not an unusual thing to do in the time.

Giordanus is convinced that there are plots within plots but can he find out what's happening before the funeral games that will have the slaves all killed. Set during the period of Spartacus' revolt this is not a surprising reaction.

Interesting and full of period detail this appealed to the classics geek in me, while some details didn't quite ring true overall it swept me up and kept me quite entertained ( )

At the time of Spartacus's slave revolt, Lucius Lucinius is found dead in the Baiae villa belonging to his cousin Marcus Lucinius Crassus. The evidence points to two runaway slaves and the 99 other slaves in the household are going to be put to death. Mummius, Crassus's right hand man, and Gelina, the dead man's widow, ask Gordianus the Finder to help reveal the real culprit and stop the slaughter.

This was one of Gordianus's purely fictional adventures, not tied to any of Cicero's speeches. Saylor does a good job of evoking the times with only one massive information dump, where one character lectures the others on the history of slave revolts. Roman food is obviously one of Saylor's interests: in the three days of the story each meal is meticulously described.

As a mystery/thriller it works well with a good combination of action and ratiocination. There are also a couple of not unpleasant surprises in Gordianus's personal life. ( )

HC