- Hardcover: 320 pages
- Publisher: Constable (15 May 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1845295676
- ISBN-13: 978-1845295677
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.8 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 452,357 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
Suspecting a plot against Julius Caesar, his wife Calpurnia calls on Gordianus the Finder to head it off.Now that he's resolved his Egyptian problems (The Judgment of Caesar, 2004), the Dictator of Rome has returned for four days of no-holds-barred festivals celebrating respectively his Gallic, Egyptian, Asian and African triumphs. Urged on by dire hints from her Etruscan soothsayer Porsenna and her agent Hieronymus, Calpurnia believes that someone is planning her husband's death. Her suspicions harden into certainty when Hieronymus is slain. Since Gordianus has been so successful for so long at finding the truth, she charges him to identify the ringleader Hieronymus was frightened to name even in his private notes. Mingling among a cast that includes the most illustrious people in the world - Julius Caesar, his grandnephew Octavius, his general Marc Antony, the defeated Gallic chief Vercingetorix, the Egyptian queen Cleopatra and her captive sister Arsinoe - Gordianus swiftly realizes that virtually everyone who's ever dealt with Caesar has sufficient grounds to wish him dead.Gordianus doesn't distinguish himself as a detective, and readers possessed of historical hindsight will easily eliminate most of the high-profile suspects. Still, no contemporary novelist approaches Saylor's continued ability to bring ancient Rome to life. --Kirkus Reviews
Book Description
The eagerly awaited first full length Gordianus novel for four years.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A poor ending for a great character,
By
This review is from: The Triumph of Caesar (Roma sub Rosa) (Hardcover)
This was a real disappointment. The beauty of Saylor's books was always the sensitive and intricate way he used the mystery stories of Gordianus the Finder to inform and enlighten the reader about Roman society and history. But Gordianus was - to me - always the heart and soul of the story. Saylor clearly knows Rome back and forward, in and out. But its fair to say recent entries in the series have begun to use Gordianus as the device rather than Rome. The low point came with Roma (not a Gordianus book) where Saylor's ambition to write a full story of Rome tried to balance names and dates with stories - much of which didn't work. The same is true here. If this is the last Gordianus book then Saylor seems to want to use it to tie up every storyline (most in two or three pages at the end. But Gordianus is almost forgotten. the "story" is terribly minor. How sad. 3 stars as even poor quality Saylor is still worth reading. But not for new readers. Go back to Roman Blood or Murder on the appian way.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
More of a historical novel than a detective story,
By
This review is from: The Triumph of Caesar (Gordianus the Finder 12) (Paperback)
It is easy to see why this book generates such a wide range of response from "love it" to "hate it". It has a different feel from most Gordianus the Finder stories, much more like a historical novel than the sort of detective story we have come to expect. Against a background of Caesar's impending triumphal processions, which will set the seal on his ascendancy in Rome, the Finder reluctantly agrees to investigate a threat to the Dictator's life though only because in doing so he hopes to identify the murderer of an old friend. That background is set out in great (and fascinating detail) as are the attitudes and behaviour of many of Rome's key public figures as seen through Gordianus's eyes. It is all very engrossing though one begins to get the feeling that crime and detection aero taking second place to the detailed historical narrative. This is reinforced by the almost dues ex machine way in which the conspirator/murderer is unmarked. I enjoyed reading this book even though I had the distinct feeling that it was a historical tale with some crime and detection thrown in, rather than a crime-detection novel whose setting was ancient Rome.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Minor Saylor,
By Mr. Warren M. Fisher (East Grinstead, West Sussex United Kingdom) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Triumph of Caesar (Roma sub Rosa) (Hardcover)
Steven Saylor returns to his Gordianus series and the result, although welcome is something of a disappointment. A somewhat slender and short story offers only transitory pleasures. But Saylor is a master storyteller and sage on all things Roman, so a sub par Roma Sub Rosa novel still eclipses his many rivals. A minor entry in the series and not the best starting point for newcomers, but for completists and fans a must buy.
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