Bethesda, his beautiful Egyptian slave purchased from a slave market in Alexandria.The detective is known as Gordianus the Finder, and he mixes with non-fictional citizens of the Republic including Sulla, Cicero, Marcus Crassus, Catilina, Catullus, Pompey, Julius Caesar, and Mark Antony.įor an ancient Roman, Gordianus has an unconventional family: The phrase 'Roma Sub Rosa' means, in Latin, 'Rome under the rose.' If a matter was sub rosa, 'under the rose,' it meant that such matter was confidential. Interestingly enough, the mystery is based on Cicero’s first real case.Roma Sub Rosa is a series of historical mystery novels by Steven Saylor set in ancient Rome and therefore populated by famous historic roman citizens. I mostly enjoyed this one and enjoyed the historical detail, although the writing style is pretty dry. Gordianus lives near the Subura, the slums, and he goes through it several times. The mystery itself is pretty complicated and forces Gordianus to go around and meet all sorts of people, showcasing Rome and its people, both poor and rich. But since she’s a slave, she can’t choose. She’s depicted as pretty headstrong woman so I guess Saylor implies that the sex is consensual on her part, too. Gordianus himself owns a half-Egyptian female slave, Bethesda, and he sleeps with her several times. We also get to know that slaves can testify at court, but only under torture. Saylor doesn’t sweep away the slavery but has ”good” owners and also the ones who berate and beat their slaves whenever they want. While the wealthy take shelter from the hot sun, the slaves toil away, doing all the real work. The book has excellent descriptions of Rome and the culture at the time. The case turns out to be quite a bit more complex than he thought at first. He inspects the place where the father was killed, interviews different kinds of people, walks up and down Rome itself, and even makes a short trip to the countryside. Gordianus isn’t too keen to get mixed in such a case but he needs the money so he takes the case. Cicero has just accepted his first law case, involving a suspected patricide.

So after dallying in his house for a while, curing his hangover, Gordianus and the slave, Tiro, head to Cicero’s house. Gordianus has never heard of the young man who is just starting his career as an orator and a lawyer. A young slave comes to him early in the morning, asking him to go and meet with the slave’s master, Marcus Tullius Cicero. He’s a Roman citizen but hasn’t inherited wealth, so must work for his living. Gordianus is called the Finder because he’s an investigator. Can be read as a stand-alone but it’s the first book in the Roma Sub Rosa mystery series. A historical murder mystery set in 80 BC in the Roman Republic.

Roman blood by steven saylor