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Anyone writing an historical mystery had better have a good knowledge of the times. Steven Saylor does. He graduated from the University of Texas, where he studied ancient Roman history and classical literature. He has appeared on TV's History Channel as an expert on the history of Rome, and his books have been translated in at least a dozen foreign languages. As his specialized niche within Roman history, he has taken the last decades of the Roman Republic, the time of great civil wars leading up to the prominence of Pompey, Crassus, and Caesar. There are two main elements to his books: First he features well known real-life characters and portrays them against a background of authentic aspects of their lives; Second, along with this real-life background he concocts a conventional mystery. For the latter purpose he needs a detective, and he invents the character of Gordianus the Finder, a Roman citizen with a great reputation for being able to find people, as well as to solve murders. He is hired by the mightiest in Rome, such as Cicero in one novel, and Crassus in the instant one, ARMS OF NEMESIS. Crassus is the richest man in Rome, an ambitious patrician general who aspires to control of the government. He is best known to history as the general who finally defeated Spartacus's slave army, which had hitherto been so successful in their revolt as to make the Romans, high and low, tremble. The novel begins at a time when Crassus is trying to be selected and given the power to go after Spartacus. His goal is endangered when one of his poorer relatives, whom he has made manager of his estate at a resort in the Naples Bay area, is brutally murdered. Two slaves are missing, and the fear is that they were the murderers and had escaped to fight with Spartacus's army. Crassus, an iron-willed man, would normally react with drastic cruelty, but in this case he realizes that something extraordinary must be done. If two of his slaves can get away with murdering a relative and joining Spartacus, his reputation will be lowered and he might not be selected to go after Spartacus. (Aside: Those who have seen the movie SPARTACUS might recall Lawrence Olivier in the role of Crassus.) Thus he invokes ancient law: all the slaves in the same household -- 99 in this case -- must be executed to atone for the crime of the missing two. All of his slaves, without exception. It is the "without exception" that disturbs many of the people closest to him, including the wife of the murdered relative and one of Crassus's chief lieutenants, a strong man with a more than platonic interest in one of the young male slaves. Crassus is prevailed upon then to send to Rome for Gordianus to come to Baiae and find out the true facts. This is not because Crassus has any doubts about his interpretation of what happened, merely that he wants to satisfy his concerned people that he is making a thorough investigation before executing his vengeful resolve. In the villa at Baiae, Gordianus meets the other main characters in the novel, two women who are connected with the prophesying Sybil at Cumae, another lieutenant of Crassus, a philosopher, a popular aging actor, and a wealthy builder, in addition to several of the slaves who have important roles to play. Another murder in the villa leads Gordianus to believe that he is dealing with a single perpetrator and that thus the two missing slaves would not have murdered Crassus's relative. Surprisingly for such a haughty aristocrat, Crassus seems to seek out the company of Gordianus and to confide in him. However, he is more interested in converting Gordianus to his way of thinking than to let himself by convinced by Gordianus. The Finder will have to come up with conclusive evidence of what really happened if he is to dissuade Crassus from his chosen path. That he does, of course, we can take for granted, but the resolution of the case is hairbreath indeed. Saylor has done a magnificent job of recreating the life and times of Crassus and interweaving them into the fabric of an exciting murder mystery. He is a serious writer, greatly contrasting with another creator of ancient Roman mystery novels, Lindsey Davis, but both are well worthwhile reading as masters of their own styles. Saylor combines historical knowledge and skilled plotting with outstanding creative writing and vivacious set painting. He has written a good number of Gordianus the Finder books, so that the reader who discovers him for the first time can look forward to a long supply of other adventures. Note: This review is based on the original paperback edition published in 1992. The cover shown is from the currently available reprint.
Reviewed by Eugene Aubrey Stratton, October 2002
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