Scan barcode
A review by leland_hw
Roman Blood by Steven Saylor
4.0
This was a great mystery set in ancient Rome. A murder has occurred under odd circumstances. None other than the murdered man's son is accused of the crime and he faces an atrocious (by modern standards) punishment for parricide. Gordanius the Finder is hired by Cicero to investigate the murder.
I really liked it. I liked the mystery and I liked the main character, Gordanius. He is likable and fair fellow of his time. But what I loved about the book is Saylor's descriptions of Rome and Roman life at all levels of society. The lavish lifestyles of the rich, and of citizens merely trying to scratch a living however they can and also the slaves. I also loved that Saylor took actual events and actual people and wove them into the story expertly. The murder of Sextus Roscius Amerinus was real. And his son Sextus Roscius filius was indeed accused of the crime by a freedman of Sulla's named Chrysogonus. And Cicero did defend the son before the Roman Rostra.
Well done! I'll be reading more in this series for sure.
I really liked it. I liked the mystery and I liked the main character, Gordanius. He is likable and fair fellow of his time. But what I loved about the book is Saylor's descriptions of Rome and Roman life at all levels of society. The lavish lifestyles of the rich, and of citizens merely trying to scratch a living however they can and also the slaves. I also loved that Saylor took actual events and actual people and wove them into the story expertly. The murder of Sextus Roscius Amerinus was real. And his son Sextus Roscius filius was indeed accused of the crime by a freedman of Sulla's named Chrysogonus. And Cicero did defend the son before the Roman Rostra.
Well done! I'll be reading more in this series for sure.