« More Voter Registration Fraud | Main | Illegal Immigrant House In San Antonio »
October 12, 2006
Roman Blood
Although I was not impressed with A Gladiator Dies Only Once, I read that Steven Saylor's other earliar Gordianus the Finder books were better so I decided to start from the beginning and read Roman Blood. It was much better. The only strong point of A Gladiator Dies Only Once was that the setting in ancient Rome was very well done. Although I only took a couple of college classes about the Roman Empire, I have read enough on my own to learn a good bit about it and the desrcription of Rome found in Roman Blood was very good. It is set in the last few months of the rule of Sulla, who for those of you unfamiliar with Roman history was the previous dictator before Julius Caesar. Unlike the populist Caesar, Sulla was a supporter of the aristocracy, but both were skilled generals and both wanted to usurp the senate's power. Sulla made used the ancient equivalent of secret police and mob justice in creating periodic prosciption lists of enemies of the state. These enemies would be killed and their property auctioned off, often at a reduced price for the benefit of Sulla's allies. This is the setting that Gordianus the Finder exists in.
The mystery in Roman Blood is based on a real court case: a new advocate named Circero is defending a citizen named Sextus Roscius on charges of patricide. Patricide is the one crime where a citizen is not allowed to flee Rome as it is an offense against the gods and the Roman Pater so you must stay to defend yourself. Gordianus is hired by Cicero to determine the facts about the case, which revolves around who wants the property of the Roscius family. The deceased elder Roscius was put on a proscription list after they had officially ended (thus forfeting his property) and the accused younger Roscius is charged with patricide (which also forfeits your property). While I was able to figure out most of the mystery on my own, it was a better and more realistic mystery than most others I have read. While there are still doubts as to what really happened in the case 2000 years ago, I think the book is a probable retelling. Also it has several very morally complex characters including Sulla who makes a brief appearance at the end.
The setting is well done and the author mixes in a good bit of history and culture, with examples of corruption and lawlessness like knife fights in the streets (since there was no official police force) and an apartment fire that results in extortion to put it out (since there was no official fire department). Several major characters are slaves of various sorts, which is a realistic addition. The confusing and hectic setting of the streets of Rome are well done and you get a good sense of what life might have been like for a typical Roman. I plan to read the other books in the series when I get a chance.
Posted by Pete at October 12, 2006 08:12 AM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.petetheelder.com/mt-tb.cgi/876