Roma Sub Rosa

Bell214: The Roma Sub Rosa Series by Steven Saylor

1. Roman Blood (1990)
2. Arms of Nemesis (1992)
3. Catilina’s Riddle (1993),
4. The Venus Throw (1995)
5. A Murder On the Appian Way (1996)
6. The House of the Vestals: The Investigations of Gordianus the Finder (1997)
7. Rubicon (1999)
8. Last Seen in Massilia (2000)
9. A Mist of Prophecies (2002)
10. The Judgement of Caesar (2004)
11. A Gladiator Dies Only Once: The Further Investigations of Gordianus the Finder (2005)
12. The Triumph of Caesar (2008)
13. The Seven Wonders (2012)

Compared by critics to the novels of Robert Graves for their historical authenticity, to the whodunnits of Agatha Christie for their deft plotting, and to the seafaring books of Patrick O’Brian for their high adventure, the novels of the Roma Sub Rosa provide a panoramic fictional account of Rome in the last years of the dying Republic. Surrounded by towering figures like Cicero, Pompey, Julius Caesar, and Marc Antony, Gordianus the Finder and his family encounter murder, mayhem, and mystery.

Saylor explains the series title: “In ancient myth, the Egyptian god Horus (whom the Romans called Harpocrates) came upon Venus engaged in one of her many love affairs. Cupid, her son, gave a rose to Horus as a bribe to keep quiet; thus Horus became the god of silence, and the rose became the symbol of confidentiality. A rose hanging over a council table indicated that all present were sworn to secrecy. Sub Rosa (“under the rose“ ) has come to mean “that which is done in secret“. Thus Roma Sub Rosa: the secret history of Rome, as seen through the eyes of Gordianus.”

Note: Steven Saylor (born 1956, Texas) graduated with high honours from the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied history and Classics. He has been a newspaper and magazine editor, and a literary agent. His newest novel is Roma (2008).

Official Website: http://www.stevensaylor.com

Bell214: 13 volumes of the Roma Sub Rosa Series in chronological order:

Roman Blood (1990)

Gordianus the Finder ― the large, eccentric, philosophical investigator whose famed skills and integrity have made him much sought after in Rome …

In the unseasonable heat of a spring morning in 80 BCE, Gordianus the Finder is summoned to the house of Cicero, a young advocate staking his reputation on this case ― an ugly, delicate case that soon produces dangerous fireworks.
The charge is patricide; the motive, a son’s greed. The punishment, rooted deep in Roman tradition, is horrific beyond imagining.
Gordianus’s investigation takes him through the city’s raucous, pungent streets and deep into urban Umbria, unraveling layers of deceit, twisted passions, and murderous desperation. From pompous, rouged nobles to wily slaves to citizens of seemingly simple virtue, the case becomes a political nightmare. As the defense proceeds toward a devastating confrontation in the Forum, one man’s fate may be threaten the very leaders of Rome itself.

Bell214: The House of the Vestals: The Investigations of Gordianus the Finder (1997)


Nine short stories: all take place in the period between Roman Blood and Arms of Nemesis. Intriguing adventures set in Rome’s ancient, grimy and bustling streets, full of a brilliantly–drawn cast of characters. Murder and thievery, blackmail gone horribly wrong and the ghosts of dead heroes throng the pages

Bell214: A Gladiator Dies Only Once: The Further Investigations of Gordianus the Finder (2005)

A second collection of short stories finds the young Gordianus investigating suspicious doings at gladiator matches and chariot races, filling in the gaps between the novels Roman Blood and Catilina’s Riddle.

Bell214: Arms of Nemesis (1992)

As the Spartacus slave revolt rages through Italy, Gordianus is summoned to the Bay of Naples by Rome’s richest man, Marcus Crassus. Two escaped slaves appear to have murdered their master ... and unless Gordianus can prove otherwise, every slave in the household will be slaughtered in retribution.

South of Rome on the Gulf of Puteoli stands the splendid villa of Marcus Crassus, Rome’s wealthiest citizen. When the estate overseer is murdered, Crasus concludes that the deed was done by two missing slaves, who have probably run off to join the Spartacus Slave Revolt. Unless they are found within five days, Crassus vows to massacre his remaining ninety–nine slaves. To Gordianus the Finder falls the fateful task of resolving this riddle from Hades.
In a house filled with secrets, the truth is slow to emerge and Gordianus realizes that the labyrinthine path he has chosen just may lead to his own destruction.

Bell214: Catilina’s Riddle (1993)

Gordianus becomes enmeshed in the conspiracies of Cicero and the charismatic radical Catilina. Why do headless bodies keep turning up on Gordianus’s property? Which side in the bloody conflict will he ultimately choose?

Gordianus has washed his hands of politics and moved his family to a farm in Etruria, hoping to get away from the dirt and danger of Rome. But he cannot escape from intrigue so easily. Cicero wants him to work against the dangerous, charismatic populist politician Catilina. Gordianus does not want to know ― but then the first headless corpse turns up in his well ...

Bell214: The Venus Throw (1995)

Drawn into the decadent circle of the poet Catullus and his amoral lover Clodia, Gordianus confronts temptations he never dreamed of. Who poisoned the philosopher Dio? What does the eunuch Trigonian secretly desire?

On a cold January evening in 50 BCE, two strangers enter Rome ― one an Egyptian ambassador, the other a eunuch priest. Both are seeking Gordianus the Finder, who has a reputation for solving murders. But the ambassador, a philosopher named Dio, asks for something that Gordianus cannot give him ― help to stay alive.
Before the night is out, Dio is brutally assassinated. Now Gordianus begins the most dangerous case of his career. Hired to investigate Dio’s murder by a beautiful woman with a scandalous reputation, he must follow a trail of intrigue into the highest circles of political power and the city’s secret arenas of debauchery.
There he will learn that nothing is as it seems ― not the damning evidence he uncovers, nor the suspect he sends to trial, nor the real truth behind Dio’s death which is shrouded in secrets of the heart as well as the state.
Saylor brings the people and the politics of Ancient Rome to convincing life, in the middle of a fast–moving and compelling mystery.

Bell214: A Murder On the Appian Way (1996)

As civil war between Caesar and Pompey looms, demagogues wage gang war in the streets of Rome. When the rabble–rouser Clodius is killed on the Appian Way, Rome erupts in flames. His arch–enemy Milo is the obvious suspect...or is he?
Gordianus the Finder is charged by Pompey the Great with discovering what really happened to the high–born populist politician Publius Clodius whose sinister disappearance has set Rome aflame with riots and arson.

Bell214: Rubicon (1999)

As Caesar marches on Rome and Pompey flees in panic, Gordianus is faced with the most unusual investigation of his career. A murder in his garden and a cryptic secret message lead the Finder into a deadly maze of wartime espionage.

Caesar is marching on Rome: his intent, civil war. Pompey and the terrified Senate prepare to flee the city. The murder of a visitor to the house of Gordianus the Finder could not occur at a worse time ― especially since the dead man is Pompey’s favourite cousin and may have been a very dangerous spy.
Pompey commands Gordianus to find the killer, threatening terrible penalties for failure. Amid the chaos overtaking Rome, through the worsening conflict, torn himself by conflicting loyalties, Gordianus must pursue the trail on a deadly journey into the thick of war ― although what he finds will shake his sense of right and wrong to the core.
Steven Saylor recreates a world without certainties, an empire destroyed by intrigue and internecine war, where murder and espionage pollute the ways of power and the towering figures of history are also the engineers of the empire’s destruction.

Bell214: Last Seen in Massilia (2000)

In search of his missing son, Gordianus travels to the besieged seaport of Massilia and finds himself entangled in a deadly web of wartime espionage and intrigue.

As civil war between Caesar and Pompey engulfs the Roman world, Gordianus the Finder receives an anonymous message informing him of the death of his son Meto who has been acting as a double agent for Caesar. The search for Meto’s fate brings Gordianus to the besieged seaport of Massilia, which is stubbornly holding out against Caesar’s troops.
As famine and slaughter threaten the blockaded city, Gordianus is drawn into the intrigues of exiled Romans and duplicitous Massilians. His only friend in the city, Hieronymous, has been made the doomed scapegoat elected by city officials to bear the sins of the populace and save them all from annihilation.
Meanwhile, Gordianus is constantly frustrated in his efforts to find out what happened to his son ― and when he witnesses the fall of a young woman from a precipice outside the city called the Sacrifice Rock, then the plot begins to thicken ...

Bell214: A Mist of Prophecies (2002)

The death of a beautiful seeress and the wartime intrigues of Rome’s most powerful women propel Gordianus the Finder into a web of deceit, murder and forbidden passion. … The secret history of Rome has never been so fascinating …

One afternoon as Gordianus the Finder is crossing the marketplace, a beautiful young seeress staggers towards him and dies in his arms. Possibly insane, and with no memory of her past Cassandra ― like her Trojan namesake ― had been reputed to possess the true gift of prophecy. For such a gift there are many in Rome who would pay handsomely ... or resort to murder.
Cassandra had been the confidante of the rich and powerful, until she fell victim to vicious killer. Obsessed with Cassandra and her mystery, Gordianus begins to investigate.
As the citizens of Rome nervously await news of the war and the political situation verges on chaos, Gordianus gradually peels away the veils of secrecy that surround Cassandra’s life and death.
What he uncovers has deadly implications, involving some if the most powerful women in Rome ― Gordianus’s pursuit of the truth not only endangers his own life, but could well affect the future of Rome herself.

Bell214: The Judgement of Caesar (2004)

The novel follows Gordianus to Egypt, just as Julius Caesar arrives for his first encounter with Cleopatra in the turbulent city of Alexandria, many of the plot–threads in the recent novels come to a stunning resolution.

48 BCE … In search of a cure for his ailing wife, Gordianus the Finder leaves Rome on a journey to Egypt, little realizing the part he is about to play in some of the most crucial moments in the history of the ancient world. The civil wars that have consumed both Rome and Egypt are about to reach their climax in the fabled city of Alexandria, capital of Egypt. Gordianus will witness the death throes of the old world, and play a crucial role in the birth of the world to come.
For years, across seas and continents, the rival Roman generals Caesar and Pompey have engaged in a contest for world domination. Now Pompey, his forces destroyed at the battle of Pharsalus in Greece, flees to Egypt, hoping to make a last desperate stand on the banks of the Nile. But Egypt is a treacherous land, torn apart by the murderous rivalry between Queen Cleopatra and her brother King Ptolemy.
Caesar, too, is on his way to Egypt, where his legendary encounter with the goddess–queen will spark a romance that reverberates down the centuries.
Into this hothouse atmosphere of intrigue and deception comes Gordianus the Finder, seeking a cure for his wife Bethesda in the sacred waters of the Nile. But when his plans go awry, he finds himself engaged in an even more desperate pursuit ― to prove the innocence of the son he once disowned.

Bell214: The Triumph of Caesar (2008)

He conquered an empire. Now, he faces a threat much closer to home.
Rome, 46 BCE … Having obliterated the opposition, Caesar, now dictator for life, prepares to celebrate his triumphs with stupendous pageantry.
In the upcoming celebrations, Vercingetorix the Gaul is scheduled to be executed, as is Arsinoë, the sister of Cleopatra ... and Cleopatra herself is in Rome on a state visit, trying to convince Caesar to acknowledge their son as his heir.
Marc Antony and Caesar are at odds; Cicero is making a fool of himself with a new teenage bride; and Caesar’s wife Calpurnia, having fallen under the spell of an Etruscan soothsayer, is convinced of a plot on her husband’s life.
Murder and intrigue again draw Gordianus into the vortex of history.

Bell214: The Seven Wonders (2012)

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.