It's Rome, 44 BC, and the Ides of March are approaching. Julius Caesar has been appointed dictator for life by the Roman Senate. Having pardoned his remaining enemies and rewarded his friends, Caesar is now preparing to leave Rome with his army to fight the Parthian Empire.
Gordianus the Finder, after decades of investigating crimes and murders involving the powerful, has set aside enough that he's been raised to the Equestrian rank and has firmly and finally retired. On the morning of March 10th, though, 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. Caesar, however, has one other important matter to discuss. Gordianus's adopted son Meto has long been one of Caesar's closest confidants. To honor Meto, Caesar is going to make his father Gordianus a Senator when he attends the next session on the 15th of March. With only four days left before he's made a Senator, Gordianus must dust off his old skills and see what conspiracy against Julius Caesar, if any, he can uncover. Because the Ides of March are approaching...
In Egypt during the late Roman Republic, the young Gordianus finds himself involved in a raid to steal the golden Sarcophagus of Alexander the Great In 88 B.C. it seems as if all the world is at war. From Rome to Greece and to Egypt itself, most of civilization is on the verge of war. The young Gordianus-a born-and-raised Roman citizen-is living in Alexandria, making ends meet by plying his trade of solving puzzles and finding things out for pay. He whiles away his time with his slave Bethesda, waiting for the world to regain its sanity. But on the day Gordianus turns twenty-two, Bethesda is kidnapped by brigands who mistake her for a rich man's mistress. If Gordianus is to find and save Bethesda, who has come to mean more to him than even he suspected, he must find the kidnappers before they realize their mistake and cut their losses. Using all the skills he learned from his father, Gordianus must track them down and convince them that he can offer something of enough value in exchange for Bethesda's release. As the streets of Alexandria slowly descend into chaos, and the citizenry begin to riot with rumors of an impending invasion by Ptolmey's brother, Gordianus finds himself in the midst of a very bold and dangerous plot-the raiding and pillaging of the golden sarcophagus of Alexander the Great himself. New York Times bestselling author Steven Saylor returns, chronicling the early years of his detective, Gordianus, before he assumed the title of The Finder. Raiders of the Nile is the latest in his much-loved series of mysteries set in the late Roman Republic.
In 88 B.C., it seems as if the entire ancient world is at war. In the west, the Italian states are rebelling against Rome; in the east, Mithridates is marching through and conquering the Roman Asian provinces. Even in the relatively calm Alexandria, a coup has brought a new Pharaoh to power and chaos to the streets.
The young Gordianus has been waiting out the chaos in Alexandria, with Bethesda, when he gets a cryptic message from his former tutor and friend, Antipater. Now in Ephesus, as part of Mithridates' entourage, Antipater seems to think that his life is in imminent danger. To rescue him, Gordianus concocts a daring, even foolhardy, scheme to go "behind enemy lines" and bring Antipater to safety. But there are powerful, and deadly forces, at work here, which have their own plans for Gordianus. Not entirely sure whether he's a player or a pawn, Gordianus must unravel the mystery behind the message if he's to save himself and the people he holds most dear.
In 48 BC the Roman generals Caesar and Pompey are engaged in a battle to rule the world. As Pompey plots a reckless stand on the banks of the Nile, Gordianus the Finder—who has brought his dying wife, Bethesda, to the Nile seeking a cure from its sacred waters—finds himself suddenly at the heart of a series of treacherous and history-altering events.
While Caesar and Cleopatra embark on a legendary romance, Egypt remains ravaged by the brutal contest between the queen and her brother, King Ptolemy. Worst of all for Gordianus, Meto, his once-disowned son and Caesar’s right-hand man, stands falsely accused of murder.
Caesar’s judgment will decide his son’s fate, and it is up to Gordianus to somehow overcome malevolent forces to reveal the carefully obscured truth in order to save his son’s life.
“[A] confident re-creation of Alexandria at this crucial moment in both Egyptian and Roman history. As always in Saylor’s historical fiction, the interaction between powerful and ordinary people is a great strength…His Caesar is completely believable, as are his circuitous dealings with the Egyptian queen. Gordianus is as fascinating as he was as a young man, and the novel provides all the customary pleasures of serial fiction. But it also stands in its own right. Saylor evokes the ancient world more convincingly than any other writer of his generation.”—Sunday Times (London)
In the year 48 BC, Rome is in the midst of civil war. As Pompey and Caesar fight for control of the republic, Rome becomes a hotbed of intrigue driven by espionage, greed, and betrayals.
A beautiful young seeress staggers across the Roman marketplace and dies in the arms of Gordianus the Finder. Possibly mad and claiming no memory of her past, Cassandra—like her Trojan namesake—was reputed to have the gift of prophecy, a gift many in Rome would pay for handsomely … or kill for.
Obsessed with Cassandra’s mystery, Gordianus investigates her murder. As he peels away the veils of secrecy surrounding her life and death, he discovers a web of conspiracy linking many of Rome’s most ruthless and powerful women. Now Gordianus’ pursuit not only endangers his own life but could change the future of Rome.
“Vivid and robust…Exquisite detail and powerful drama.”—Philadelphia Inquirer
In 49 BC, in the city of Massilia (modern-day Marseille), on the coast of southern Gaul, Gordianus the Finder’s beloved son Meto has disappeared—branded as a traitor to Caesar and apparently dead. Consumed with grief, Gordianus arrives in the city amid a raging civil war, hoping to discover what happened to his son. But when he witnesses a young woman fall from a precipice called Sacrifice Rock, he becomes entangled in discovering the truth: did she fall or was she pushed? And could she be connected to his missing son? Drawn into the city’s treacherous depths, where nothing and no one are what they seem, Gordianus must summon all of his skills to discover his son’s fate—and to safeguard his own life.
Steven Saylor delivers another excellent episode in the adventures of his distinguished hero, Gordianus the Finder.
“Saylor’s scholarship is breathtaking and his writing enthralls.”—Ruth Rendell, Sunday Times (London)
As Caesar marches on Rome and panic erupts in the city, Gordianus the Finder discovers, in his own home, the body of Pompey’s favorite cousin. Before fleeing the city, Pompey exacts a terrible bargain from the finder of secrets: to unearth the killer or sacrifice his own son-in-law to service in Pompey’s legions—and certain death. Amid the city’s sordid underbelly, Gordianus learns that the murdered man was a dangerous spy. Now, as he follows a trail of intrigue, betrayal, and ferocious battles on land and sea, the Finder is caught between the chaos of war and the terrible truth he must finally reveal.
Rubicon, set in early days of the Roman Civil War, is a pivotal novel in Saylor’s bestselling and critically acclaimed series of novels set in late republican Rome.
“Saylor has the rare ability to make history comprehensible but also entirely personal and terrifying.”—Oregonian
It is ancient Rome, and Gordianus the Finder has a knack for finding trouble. Known to many as the one man in the ancient world who can both keep a secret and uncover one, Gordianus lays bare some of his most intriguing and compelling adventures.
The House of the Vestals collects nine of the award-winning stories of Gordianus the Finder by critically acclaimed, bestselling author Steven Saylor. Filling in some of the gaps between novels, this delightful collection of unique and unforgettable mysteries is Saylor at his finest—revealing the intrigues in the secret history of Rome.
In “Little Caesar and the Pirates,” Gordianus must act as a go-between for kidnappers, but he begins to wonder who is really being held hostage. In “The Alexandrian Cat,” a mischievous girl and a tell-tale sneeze reveal an ingenious plot of murder and thievery. In “The House of the Vestals,” blackmail goes horribly wrong, and there is no one to take the blame. These stories and more make up an engrossing collection of finely wrought mystery tales with all the suspense and craft that are the trademark of Saylor’s work.
“Entertainment of the first order.”—Washington Post Book World
Steven Saylor’s Roma Sub Rosa series, set in the later Roman Republic and featuring Gordianus the Finder, has garnered unusual acclaim from readers and reviewers alike, establishing him as one of the preeminent historical mystery writers. In A Gladiator Dies Only Once, the second collection of his award-winning stories featuring Gordianus, Saylor more than meets his own high standards. Set between the events of his novels Roman Blood and Catilina’s Riddle, these nine stories of previously untold adventures from the early career of Gordianus—when his adopted son, Eco, was still a mute boy and his wife, Bethesda, was but his slave—will delight Saylor’s many fans while illuminating details of the ancient world like no other writer can.
Included are “The Consul’s Wife,” which involves a twisted search for truth behind a threatening blind item in the Acta Diurna. In “The White Fawn,” Gordianus must deal with a kidnapping and murder during the revolt of Sertorius. “Archimedes’ Tomb” tells the story behind Cicero’s discovery of Archimedes’ tomb. Finally, “If a Cyclops Could Vanish in a Blink of an Eye” brings up a perplexing domestic situation in Gordianus’ own home.
“The twisty fair-play plotting that marks Saylor’s best novels is very much in evidence…[An] excellent volume.”—Publishers Weekly
The year is 63 BC, and Gordianus the Finder unexpectedly achieves the dream of every Roman: owning a farm in the Etruscan countryside. Vowing to leave behind the corruption of Rome, he abandons the city, taking his family with him. This bucolic life, however, is disrupted by the machinations and murderous plots of two politicians.
When Gordianus' longtime patron Cicero attains his lifelong dream of a coveted consulship, he urgently requests a favor of Gordianus: his help in keeping watch on a radical populist senator, Catilina-Cicero's political rival and a candidate to replace him in the annual elections. Against his will, Gordianus finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into a maelstrom of deceit and intrigue, uncertain of the dangers and even more uncertain of where his true allegiance lies. When his six-year-old daughter Diana finds a headless corpse in their stable, Gordianus is confronted with the deadliest mystery of his career.
Shrewdly depicting deadly political maneuverings, this addictive mystery also displays the author's firm grasp of history and human character.
"Engrossing...Ironic and satisfying."-San Francisco Chronicle
Rome, 56 BC. The great general Pompey has conquered the East; Julius Caesar is defeating the Gauls; only Egypt, with its strategic granaries and vast treasuries of gold, still eludes the grasp of Rome. The city itself is becoming ever more corrupt, as the last generation of the Roman Republic indulges in political backstabbing, endless lawsuits, scandalous love affairs, and the occasional murder.
In recent days several Egyptian envoys have been viciously assassinated. Fearing that he will be next, the Egyptian ambassador Dio calls on his old friend Gordianus the Finder and all of his special skills for help-but before the night is out, Dio is murdered.
Now Gordianus begins his most dangerous case. Hired to investigate Dio's death by a beautiful woman with a scandalous reputation, he will follow a trail of political intrigue into the highest circles of power and the city's most hidden arenas of debauchery. There Gordianus will learn that nothing is as it seems-not the damning evidence he uncovers, not the suspect he sends to trial, not even the real truth behind Dio's death.
Poison, betrayals, and long-buried secrets confront Gordianus as one of history's most famous trials races to a close. But even after the verdict is delivered, there are secrets still to be uncovered.
"Imaginative...Saylor's style is smooth...A[n] absorbing look at a time when men tried to rule themselves wisely and failed."-San Francisco Chronicle
The year is 92 B.C. Gordianus has just turned eighteen and is about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime: a far-flung journey to see the Seven Wonders of the World. Gordianus is not yet called " the Finder"-- but at each of the Seven Wonders, the wide-eyed young Roman encounters a mystery to challenge the powers of deduction. Accompanying Gordianus on his travels is his tutor, Antipater of Sidon, the world' s most celebrated poet. But there is more to the apparently harmless old poet than meets the eye. Before they leave home, Antipater fakes his own death and travels under an assumed identity. Looming in the background are the first rumblings of a political upheaval that will shake the entire Roman world. Teacher and pupil journey to the fabled cities of Greece and Asia Minor, and then to Babylon and Egypt. They attend the Olympic Games, take part in exotic festivals, and marvel at the most spectacular constructions ever devised by mankind. Along the way they encounter murder, witchcraft and ghostly hauntings. Traveling the world for the first time, Gordianus discovers that amorous exploration goes hand-in-hand with crime-solving. The mysteries of love are the true wonders of the world, and at the end of the journey, an Eighth Wonder awaits him in Alexandria. Her name is Bethesda. The Seven Wonders is a Novel of Ancient Rome by Steven Saylor.
