A Gladiator Dies Only Once

A Gladiator Dies Only Once PDF

Author: Steven Saylor

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Published: 2010-04-01

Total Pages: 294

ISBN-13: 1429908645

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Steven Saylor's Roma Sub Rosa series of novels, set in the late Roman Republic and featuring Gordianus the Finder, has garnered unusual acclaim from readers and reviewers alike, establishing him as one of the pre-eminent historical crime 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 during period between the events of his novels Roman Blood and Catalina's Riddle, these previously untold adventures range from twisted search for truth behind a threatening blind item in the Acta Diurna ("The Consul's Wife") and a kidnapping and murder during the revolt of Sertorius ("The White Fawn") to the story behind Cicero's discovery of Archimedes's tomb ("Archimedes Tomb") and a perplexing domestic situation in Gordianus's own home ("If a Cyclops Could Vanish in a Glimpse of an Eye.") These tales 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 the details of the ancient world like no other writer can.

Catilina's Riddle

Catilina's Riddle PDF

Author: Steven Saylor

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Published: 2007-04-01

Total Pages: 532

ISBN-13: 1429908629

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

"Saylor rivals Robert Graves in his knack for making the classical world come alive." --(ortland) Oregonian "Engrossing...Ironic and satisfying." -- San Francisco Chronicle The third in Saylor's Roma Sub Rosa novels featuring Gordianus the Finder. Gordianus, disillusioned by the corruption of Rome circa 63 B.C., has fled the city with his family to live on a farm in the Etruscan countryside. But this bucolic life is disrupted by the machinations and murderous plots of two politicians: Roman consul Cicero, Gordianus's longtime patron, and populist senator Catilina, Cicero's political rival and a candidate to replace him in the annual elections for consul. Claiming that Catilina plans an uprising if he loses the race, Cicero asks Gordianus to keep a watchful eye on the radical. Although he distrusts both men, Gordianus is forced into the center of the power struggle when his six-year-old daughter Diana finds a headless corpse in their stable. Shrewdly depicting deadly political maneuverings, this addictive mystery also displays the author's firm grasp of history and human character. On first publication back in 1994, Catilina's Riddle was a finalist for the Hammet Award.

The Triumph of Caesar

The Triumph of Caesar PDF

Author: Steven Saylor

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Published: 2008-05-13

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 1429937823

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The Roman civil war has come to its conclusion – Pompey is dead, Egypt is firmly under the control of Cleopatra (with the help of Rome's legions), and for the first time in many years Julius Caesar has returned to Rome itself. Appointed by the Senate as Dictator, the city abounds with rumors asserting that Caesar wishes to be made King – the first such that Rome has had in centuries. And that not all of his opposition has been crushed. Gordianus, recently returned from Egypt with his wife Bethesda, is essentially retired from his previous profession of ‘Finder' but even he cannot refuse the call of Calpurnia, Caesar's wife. Troubled by dreams foretelling disaster and fearing a conspiracy against the life of Caesar, she had hired someone to investigate the rumors. But that person, a close friend of Gordianus, has just turned up dead – murdered -- on her doorstep. With four successive Triumphs for Caesar's military victories scheduled for the coming days, and Caesar more exposed to danger than ever before, Calpurnia wants Gordianus to uncover the truth behind the rumored conspiracies -- to protect Caesar's life, before it is too late. No fan of Caesar's, Gordianus agrees to help – but only to find the murderer who killed his friend. But once an investigation is begun, there's no controlling what it will turn up, who it will put in danger, and where it will end.

A Murder on the Appian Way

A Murder on the Appian Way PDF

Author: Steven Saylor

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Published: 2007-04-01

Total Pages: 416

ISBN-13: 1429908610

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Torchlight flickers on the elegant marble walls. The sound of a mob echoes in the street. The year is 52 B.C. and the naked body of Publius Clodius is about to be carried through the teaming streets of Rome. Clodius, a rich man turned rabble-rouser, was slain on the most splendid road in the world, the Appian Way. Now Clodius's rival, Milo, is being targeted for revenge and the city teeters on the verge of chaos. An explosive trial will feature the best oration of Cicero and Marc Antony, while Gordianus the Finder has been charged by Pompey the Great himself to look further into the murder. With the Senate House already in ashes, and his own life very much in danger, Gordianus must return to a desrted stretch of the Appian Way - to find the truth that can save a city drunk on power, rent by fear, and filled with the madness and glory of Rome.

The House of the Vestals

The House of the Vestals PDF

Author: Steven Saylor

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2010-01-05

Total Pages: 239

ISBN-13: 0312582412

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Nine crime stories featuring Gordianus the Finder, a detective in ancient Rome who marries his slave. Part mystery, part a social history of the period from the end of Sulla's dictatorship to the Spartacan slave revolt.

Roma

Roma PDF

Author: Steven Saylor

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Published: 2007-03-06

Total Pages: 596

ISBN-13: 1429917067

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Spanning a thousand years, and following the shifting fortunes of two families though the ages, this is the epic saga of Rome, the city and its people. Weaving history, legend, and new archaeological discoveries into a spellbinding narrative, critically acclaimed novelist Steven Saylor gives new life to the drama of the city's first thousand years — from the founding of the city by the ill-fated twins Romulus and Remus, through Rome's astonishing ascent to become the capitol of the most powerful empire in history. Roma recounts the tragedy of the hero-traitor Coriolanus, the capture of the city by the Gauls, the invasion of Hannibal, the bitter political struggles of the patricians and plebeians, and the ultimate death of Rome's republic with the triumph, and assassination, of Julius Caesar. Witnessing this history, and sometimes playing key roles, are the descendents of two of Rome's first families, the Potitius and Pinarius clans: One is the confidant of Romulus. One is born a slave and tempts a Vestal virgin to break her vows. One becomes a mass murderer. And one becomes the heir of Julius Caesar. Linking the generations is a mysterious talisman as ancient as the city itself. Epic in every sense of the word, Roma is a panoramic historical saga and Saylor's finest achievement to date.

Last Seen in Massilia

Last Seen in Massilia PDF

Author: Steven Saylor

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 0312209282

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

In 49 B.C., a bloody civil war between the forces loyal to Pompey and Julius Caesar has engulfed the Roman world and no one is allowed to be neutral.With Rome itself in turmoil, Gordianus the Finder receives an anonymous message informing him of the death of his son Meto, who lately has been acting as a double agent for Caesar.In search of the truth about Meto's fate, Gordianus journeys to the beseiged seaport of Massilia (modern-day Marseilles) which has sided with Pompey and is now stubbornly holding out against Caesar's troups camped just outside it's gates and harbor. Using his wits, Gordianus discovers a way past the seige troops and into Massilia. But once there he finds himself in a city where famine and slaughter threaten the populace, and intrigue and recriminations has taken over a city that cannot hope to stand out much longer against the troops outside it's walls. His only friend is Hieronymus, the doomed scapegoat chosen by the priests of Artemis to bear the sins of the population and save them from annihilation. When Gordianus witnesses the fall of a young woman from a precipice called Sacrifice Rock, he becomes entangled in finding out what exactly happened - did she fall or was she pushed? -- and where, in all of this, is the truth about his missing son.

Empire

Empire PDF

Author: Steven Saylor

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Published: 2010-08-31

Total Pages: 608

ISBN-13: 1429964995

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

"May Steven Saylor's Roman empire never fall. A modern master of historical fiction, Saylor convincingly transports us into the ancient world...enthralling!" —USA Today on Roma Continuing the saga begun in his New York Times bestselling novel Roma, Steven Saylor charts the destinies of the aristocratic Pinarius family, from the reign of Augustus to height of Rome's empire. The Pinarii, generation after generation, are witness to greatest empire in the ancient world and of the emperors that ruled it—from the machinations of Tiberius and the madness of Caligula, to the decadence of Nero and the golden age of Trajan and Hadrian and more. Empire is filled with the dramatic, defining moments of the age, including the Great Fire, the persecution of the Christians, and the astounding opening games of the Colosseum. But at the novel's heart are the choices and temptations faced by each generation of the Pinarii. Steven Saylor once again brings the ancient world to vivid life in a novel that tells the story of a city and a people that has endured in the world's imagination like no other.

The Venus Throw

The Venus Throw PDF

Author: Steven Saylor

Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks

Published: 2010-04-01

Total Pages: 416

ISBN-13: 1429908602

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

On a chill January evening in 56 B.C. , two strange visitors to Rome--an Egyptian ambassador and a eunuch priest--seek out Gordianus the Finder whose specialty is solving murders. But the ambassador, a philosopher named Dio, has come to ask for something Gordianus cannot give--help in staying alive. Before the night is out, he will be 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 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 which lies in secrets--not of state, but of the heart.

Gordianus The Finder Omnibus (Books 1-4)

Gordianus The Finder Omnibus (Books 1-4) PDF

Author: Steven Saylor

Publisher: Hachette UK

Published: 2012-05-17

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 1780339771

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

ROMAN BLOOD A thrilling puzzle from the ancient world with real historical characters and based on a case in Cicero's Orations - Roman Blood is a perfect blend of mystery and history by a brilliant storyteller. On an unseasonably warm spring morning in 80BC, Gordianus the Finder is summoned to the house of Cicero, a young advocate and orator preparing his first important case. His client is Umbrian landowner, Sextus Roscius, accused of the unforgivable: the murder of his own father. Gordianus agrees to investigate the crime - in a society fire with deceit, betrayl and conspiracy, where neither citizen nor slave can be trusted to speak the truth. But even Gordianus is not prepared for the spectacularly dangerous fireworks that attend the resolution of this ugly, delicate case... HOUSE OF THE VESTALS Wonderfully entertaining mystery stories set in the world of the acclaimed ROMA SUB ROSA series. It is the Rome of the Late Republic, and Gordianus the Finder has a knack for finding trouble - and dead bodies. 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 adventures in this new volume in Steven Saylor's highly acclaimed mystery series. 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; and in 'The House of the Vestals', blackmail goes horribly wrong and there is no one to take the blame. The result is an engrossing collection of finely wrought mystery tales with all the suspense and craft that are the trademark of Saylor's work. A GLADIATOR DIES ONLY ONCE Gordianus the Finder, famed detective of Ancient Rome, returns in a riveting of stories. Nine tales of murder and intrigue take him from the seamy streets of Rome to elegant villas on the Bay of Naples, from the spectacular backdrop of a chariot race to a domestic dispute with his Egyptian concubine Bethesda. In the title story a beautiful Nubian actress begs Gordianus to solve an impossible problem: how can she have just seen her beloved brother in the market place when she had previously watched him die a gruesome death as a gladiator? ARMS OF NEMESIS 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.