My sixth in the Roma Sub Rosa historical mystery series and revolving around Gordianus the Finder, a private detective. The story is set in ancient Rome in January of the Year of Rome 705 (49 B.C. to us).Chronologically, it's MY sixth and Saylor's seventh because the technical sixth, The House of the Vestals, is a collection of short stories that I've slotted in chronologically on my website.My TakeIt's another pip of a story from Saylor, and yet I'd also call it a bridge novel. For all the action in Rubicon, it's more of a set-up for the next story arc in this series with Meto's betrayal and Numerius' blackmail. That's my guess anyway, and it's been driving me mad to read the next story to find out what's going on. I know it has something to do with Massilia (in Gaul) and Caesar's troops, if only because the next book in the series is called Last Seen in Massilia.Pompey has compiled an interesting assessment of Gordianus and his family. One can read his disdain, curiosity, and a bit of envy for Gordianus in the report, as well as his doubts about this "most honest man in Rome". They are doubts that Gordianus will believe about himself by the end, although I think he's being too hard on himself.Hmmm, Gordianus wonders if Publius Clodius' murder in A Murder on the Appian Way, 5, was the "true beginning of civil war". Reading these whys that Gordianus raises got me to thinking about our own political system and the wreckage of ordinary people's lives due to politicians being so insulated from real life. There are some nasty parallels between Rome's rise and fall and our own rise…and coming fall. Those who do not pay attention to history are doomed to repeat it. I'd hope we were smart enough to pay attention.Whew, that is some rumor running around about Meto. I'm not quite sure why Romans are so shocked. Aren't the Romans known for sampling both sexes?I do enjoy this series. Saylor has created a realistic world of ancient Rome. I can feel so much of what happens, as though I were walking the streets of Rome and the roads of Italy. The character interaction is also a treat. The political machinations, the greed, the everyday conversation, the meals, and more will pull you into this world. In many ways, this would be a fabulous way to teach kids about Rome, by making it real, drawing parallels between home life now and then.The StoryIt's a disaster. Someone has, somehow, assassinated a cousin of Pompey. In Gordianus' atrium! And Pompey is forcing Gordianus to investigate his death.It's useless for Gordianus to protest that he retired a year ago. Pompey refuses to listen and forces Davus to join his army as a goad for Gordianus to "do his duty".It's racing through frenemy lines, being captured, saving pranksters, stealing through siege lines, and surviving death.The CharactersGordianus the Finder is 61 now and retired as a private investigator a year ago. Bethesda is Gordianus' wife. Diana, their daughter, fell in love with Davus, a former slave and bodyguard to Pompey, and who is now Gordianus' son-in-law. He's…not too bright and is tasked with protecting the household. They have a son, Gordianus and Bethesda's grandson, Aulus.Eco is Gordianus' oldest adopted son and married with children. He has taken over Gordianus' investigative business. Menenia is his wife and they have twin eleven year olds: Titania and Titus. Meto, a genius with letters, is Gordianus' youngest adopted son and currently with Caesar in the field as his literary adjutant.Mopsus and Androcles are household slaves Gordianus acquired in A Murder on the Appian Way. Cicatrix is the garlic-eating bodyguard Pompey leaves for Gordianus in place of Davus.The army of Julius Caesar has……crossed the Rubicon River with his troops. Marc Antony is one of Caesar's tribunes. Curio is another tribune and a friend of Antony's. Some say he is more than a friend. Engineer Marcus Vitruvius is tasked with closing the harbor mouth at Brundisium. Marcus Otacilius is the cohort commander Gordianus and Tiro meet along the mountain path.Pompey's army is……in Brundisium. Pompey, a.k.a., the Great One (ego much?) is drawing Caesar's army away from Rome. Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, a.k.a., Redbeard, one of Pompey's generals, was supposed to replace Caesar as governor of Gaul. Now he and Pompey are at odds over where and what to defend. Engineer Magius has boobytrapped Brundisium. Scribonius is one of Pompey's officers.Numerius Pompeius, a second generation or so cousin to Pompey, is one of his favorites. Maecia, Numerius' mother, is the very model of a Roman matron. She'll tell you so. The unwed Aemilia is the daughter of Titus Aemilius and pregnant with Numerius' child. Soscarides the Alexandrian is a philosopher who met with Numerius.Cicero is an old, sometimes friend of Gordianus' who is self-righteous, smug, and peevish (we first met him in Roman Blood, 1). Terentia is his wife; Tullia is his pregnant daughter married to Dolabella, Caesar's man, and Marcus is his younger son. Tiro is his faithful slave and secretary, currently sick in Greece. Fortex is one of the guards Cicero left behind.Lentulus and Marcellus are the new consuls of Rome, both of whom are fleeing Rome. The Salacious Tavern is an out-of-the-way drinking establishment. Ipsithilla is one of its whores and was there six years ago when Gordianus first walked into the tavern.The Cover and TitleThe cover is a classic Roman wall: a deep, deep lapis lazuli wall framed out in a huge panel of two warships doing battle with one ship burning up in a huge fire and sending a column of dense smoke into the orange sky.The title finds that Caesar has crossed the Rubicon, the northern boundary of Rome proper. It's treason for an army to cross it. Today, crossing the Rubicon is an idiom meaning that one has passed a point of no return.
Originally published on my blog here in March 2000.In only seven novels together with a few short stories, Saylor has covered thirty years of the career of his detective, Gordianus the Finder, taking him into his sixties. This is quite rapid progress for a series of detective novels, which often have central characters who hardly age at all over thirty years' worth of writing. In Saylor's series, the character has been closely if sordidly involved in a datable sequence of historical events, which has forced him to age at a sensible rate. He is now reaching quite a formidable age for a Roman, and it will be interesting to see what Saylor does next.Rubicon is concerned with the beginning of the civil war between Julius Caesar and Pompey, which would eventually lead to the end of the Republic and the establishment of the Empire. As Caesar crosses the Rubicon river into Italy with his troops - something a provincial general was forbidden to do - Rome succumbed to fear over his intentions, government and economy breaking down as thousands fled the city. Pompey also leaves, to organize his own troops, but pays a visit to Gordianus before doing so. He arrives at a rather awkward time, to discover the garrotted body of his nephew and heir Numerius Pompey in the garden. This naturally puts Gordianus in a difficult position, and he is forced to try to find the murderer.This puzzle is quite difficult, but in fact much of the book is concerned with Gordianus' atttempts to rescue members of his family from the consequences of the civil war. Like all the Gordianus novels (I don't really like the Roma Sub Rosa title of the series), Roman politics is really what interests Saylor in Rubicon, and the puzzle takes a secondary place.
What do You think about Rubicon (2000)?
A seriously disappointing entry in an enjoyable series. The central mystery is a failure, enough so that I contemplated dropping the review to two stars. It starts with a bang, with a guest suddenly turning up dead, garroted, in series hero Gordianus The Finder's atrium. The book's in fine form in the first few chapters, as Gordianus is blackmailed into investigating by Pompey: Caesar's marching on Rome, Pompey is preparing to evacuate, loyalties are being questioned, the city's in panic. It's great Saylor, bringing ancient Rome to vibrant life. But then the mystery's set aside entirely until the final pages of the (relatively short) book. There's adventure and great description as Gordianus and company cross through Caesar's forces to report to Pompey (an aside with the great architect Vitruvius is a series highlight). The book's two flaws are the surprise reveal of the murderer, and the clear sense that the story is just the setup of a longer work. Nothing much is wrapped, plot threads are abandoned, presumably for later volumes. In one 600-page work, 150 pages of sag might be excusable. In a 265-page novel, it's inexcusable. I'll keep reading this arc, but Rubicon has left me disappointed and annoyed.
—John Carter McKnight
I picked this book up off of the take a book/leave a book shelf on a cruise ship. I haven't read any of the other books in this series.While I did have the sense that this was the nth book of a series and that there were little asides long time readers would have gotten that I didn't, I didn't feel lost in the book. There's enough background given that as a new reader, I connected with the characters and the plot.It's not a "normal" mystery, per-se. While there is a murder and the main character has to uncover the killer, that plot is rapidly overshadowed by the Roman civil war between Julius Caesar and Pompey. Pompey's nephew is killed in Gordianus courtyard, prompting the Great One to order Gordianus to find the killer. As incentive, he conscripts Gordianus's son-in-law.To make matters more complex, Caesar has crossed the Rubicon, kicking off the Roman Civil War. Gordianus's adopted son is one of Caesar's trusted advisers.The book becomes more of a story about the stresses the war placed on Roman families--as often they found themselves on both sides of the conflict--and what chaos can do to a man.I quite enjoyed the book, and will probably seek out the others in the series.
—Ann
Steven Saylor developed a passion for all things "Roman" as an adolescent. He's spent years reading and researching everything he could find on this time period and writes stories based on historical events and characters. He doesn't sugar-coat the past nor does he write under the influence of any religious dogma. If you're easily offended by depictions of gladiatorial games, bloodshed, and sexual attractions and situations, do NOT read this series. If however, you're an adult who accepts that ancient people approached life differently and relished food, entertainments and pleasures (when they could), then get comfortable and enjoy some good stories. Life was hard in ancient times and this author tells it like it was! I just wish my local libraries had the entire series...it's so aggravating to attempt reading books in order chronologically and then running into the problem of a library not having a particular title. Guess I'll have to stop being cheap and go buy the missing titles LOL.
—Denise
