“What a marvel!…Saylor’s masterful storytelling puts you right there, wonderstruck and wide-eyed. Deliciously immersive, captivating entertainment from a justly celebrated writer.” –Margaret George In The Throne of Caesar, award-winning mystery author Steven Saylor turns to the most famous murder in history: It’s Rome, 44 B.C., and the Ides of March are approaching. Julius Caesar, appointed … approaching.
Julius Caesar, appointed dictator for life by the Roman Senate, has pardoned his remaining enemies and rewarded his friends. Now Caesar is preparing to leave Rome with his legions to wage a war of conquest against the Parthian Empire. But he has a few more things to do before he goes.
Gordianus the Finder, after decades of investigating crimes and murders involving the powerful, has been raised to Equestrian rank and has firmly and finally decided to retire. But on the morning of March 10th, he’s first summoned to meet with Cicero and then with Caesar himself. Both have the same request of Gordianus–keep your ear to the ground, ask around, and find out if there are any conspiracies against Caesar’s life. And Caesar has one other matter of vital importance to discuss. Gordianus’s adopted son Meto has long been one of Caesar’s closest confidants. To honor Meto, Caesar plans to bestow on Gordianus an honor which will change not only his life but the destiny of his entire family. It will happen when the Senate next convenes on the 15th of March.
Gordianus must dust off his old skills and see what plots against Julius Caesar, if any, he can uncover. But more than one conspiracy is afoot. The Ides of March is fast approaching and at least one murder is inevitable.
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I came across Steven Saylor’s work when my Kindle suggested Roman Blood (I just finished Lindsey Davis’ Falco at the time). I delved right in, and loved it! This is the latest in the series, though I hope not the last.
*** What to expect
This is the latest Gordianus novel, and it harkens back a lot over his career. (In a way providing a bit of closure – though I certainly hope it’s not the last novel in the series!). Events are set around the backdrop of teh Ides of March, and Saylor deftly moves between the big personalities that dominated them to the lesser known people around them.
Although the murder of Caesar is not a surprise to any reader, Saylor still manages to twist a captivating yarn by shifting his focus. Besides an unexpected death (not Caesar’s), a lot of the book centres on Latin poetry of the time, of morals and politics as they would have appeared to someone watching from outside the inner circles.
*** What I liked
Saylor’s writing is complex, with many layers of meaning and allusions. His knowledge of history and research into the specifics around each episode are beyond comapre. On top of that, Saylor has a great talent in bringing characters to life, and a knack to present a highly plausible “it could have been that way” view of events.
*** What to be aware of
This is the latest book in the series, and (the older) Gordianus is in semi-retirement. It offers some closure with his first case, with references to the story in Roman Blood. You should start either with Roman Blood (his first big case, and the first one written), or with The Seven Wonders (which is choronologically the first, with Gordianus’ early life in Alexandria).
*** Summary
This series is an adbolsute pleasure to read, and to learn from. In the plethora of novels sets in first century BCE Rome, these stand out. The amazingly well-researched background and the mysteries Saylor spins around them are some of the most enjoyable reading on the period.
I do believe there will be more novels of Gordianus in his younger days (and maybe even of the elder Gordianus), and I am certainly looking forward to them.
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Assaph Mehr, author of Murder In Absentia: A story of Togas, Daggers, and Magic – for lovers of Ancient Rome, Murder Mysteries, and Urban Fantasy.
Finally, Steven Saylor Returns to Chronological Order For The Next Gordianus Novel
I was wondering when Steven Saylor would return to where he left off with The Triumph of Caesar, written almost ten years ago. When I started to read this novel, my major question was what would be the mystery here. This is not a spoiler—Caesar was assassinated on the Ides of March, so where is the mystery? This question is answered.
The story starts out with Tiro, Cicero’s secretary, stopping by to ask Gordianus to see Cicero. Cicero fears that there is a plot to assassinate Caesar and wants Gordianus to investigate. Then, Meto, Gordianus’s adopted son and Caesar’s confidant escorts Gordianus to Caesar, who wants him to investigate a list of individuals for the same purpose. Caesar also lets Gordianus know that he is being made a senator on the Ides of March. The main storyline takes off from here with Gordianus interviewing people using an excuse of where to purchase a senatorial toga.
After interviewing the people on the list and others, Gordianus reports back to Caesar and Cicero. The novel settles into Gordianus’s preparations for becoming a senator on the Ides of March Senate meeting.
Now, most of the main storyline up to the assassination deals with two epic poems by the poet and senator, Gaius Helvius Cinna. For most of this section I thought that I may have picked up Ovid’s Metamorphoses. This section was slow but important to main storyline.
One issue I had was Gordianus did see verbal and non-verbal clues given off by the conspirators, he did not realize the significance. Gordianus even acknowledges to Caesar that he does not have any talent for precognition. Gordianus has recognized similar behavior in previous novels’ murderers. But, of course, Gordianus could not discover the conspiracy because Caesar was assassinated, and this bit of history could not be rewritten. Therefore, this precognition fault had to be and explains why he did not see the signs.
The B-storyline supports and integrates seamlessly into the main storyline quite well. Especially interesting was the depth of Gordianus’s relationship with his daughter, Diana. Another interesting aspect of the B-storyline is seeing how Gordianus handles the new aspect thrust upon him in becoming a Senator of Rome. The less confident side of Gordianus is something I do not remember seeing explored so deeply before and found quite interesting.
For those who are sensitive to sex, foul language, and extreme violence, there are not any direct sex scenes or foul language. There is implied incest and some violence described, especially in the two epic poems. There is some detailed description of murder, especially Caesar’s assassination. This is a murder mystery so some violence should be expected. I did not find it excessive.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this novel and could not stop even when it slowed down. The author did tie all of the loose ends by the end. Yes, I found the mystery. I rate this novel with five stars, even though it is not a perfect five. If you have read the novels in this series, this novel definitely is a must read. If you are considering this novel and it would be your first, it may not be the best with which to start.
I have received a free kindle Uncorrected Digital Galley of this novel through NetGalley from St. Martin’s Press with a request for an honest, unbiased review. I wish to thank St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this novel early.