The Throne of Caesar: A Novel of Ancient Rome

by Steven Saylor

Overview

"What a marvel!...Saylor's masterful storytelling puts you right there, wonderstruck and wide-eyed. Deliciously immersive, captivating entertainment from a justly celebrated writer." —Margaret George

In The Throne of Caesar, award-winning mystery author Steven Saylor turns to the most famous murder in history: It’s Rome, 44 B.C., and the Ides of March are approaching.

Julius Caesar, appointed dictator for life by the Roman Senate, has pardoned his remaining enemies and rewarded his friends. Now Caesar is preparing to leave Rome with his legions to wage a war of conquest against the Parthian Empire. But he has a few more things to do before he goes.

Gordianus the Finder, after decades of investigating crimes and murders involving the powerful, has been raised to Equestrian rank and has firmly and finally decided to retire. But on the morning of March 10th, he’s first summoned to meet with Cicero and then with Caesar himself. Both have the same request of Gordianus—keep your ear to the ground, ask around, and find out if there are any conspiracies against Caesar’s life. And Caesar has one other matter of vital importance to discuss. Gordianus’s adopted son Meto has long been one of Caesar’s closest confidants. To honor Meto, Caesar plans to bestow on Gordianus an honor which will change not only his life but the destiny of his entire family. It will happen when the Senate next convenes on the 15th of March.

Gordianus must dust off his old skills and see what plots against Julius Caesar, if any, he can uncover. But more than one conspiracy is afoot. The Ides of March is fast approaching and at least one murder is inevitable.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250209030
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	06/25/2019
Series:	Novels of Ancient Rome , #16
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	697,591
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

STEVEN SAYLOR is the author of the acclaimed Roma Sub Rosa series of historical mystery novels featuring Gordianus the Finder, beginning with Roman Blood, as well as the internationally bestselling historical novels Empire and Roma. He has appeared on the History Channel as an expert on Roman politics and life. He divides his time between Berkeley, California, and Austin, Texas.

Editorial Reviews

★ 11/27/2017
Can a murder whose killers’ identities and motives are known in advance provide the basis for a gripping whodunit? Saylor answers that question with a definitive yes in his thrilling and moving 16th novel featuring Gordianus the Finder (after 2015’s Wrath of the Furies). From the opening pages, set just days before the infamous Ides of March of 44 BCE, the impending assassination of Julius Caesar looms over the action, even as Gordianus is asked by Cicero and the dictator himself to ascertain whether a soothsayer’s warning of peril has any basis in fact. Caesar’s decision to make Gordianus a senator on the Ides gives the investigator a pretext to spend time with the most powerful Romans, including Marc Antony, Brutus, and Cassius, but his inquiries bear little fruit. As the clock ticks down, Saylor keeps the reader guessing as to how he will devise an actual mystery to resolve after Caesar’s assassination. In doing so, he further deepens his main characters in ways that will reward series fans. Agent: Alan Nevins, Renaissance Literary and Talent. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

"Saylor's ease with the era – well-earned, after focusing on this period for more than 20 years – makes for a richly textured, lived-in vision of 44BC where both intrigue and home comforts abound." —Austin Chronicle

"Can a murder whose killers’ identities and motives are known in advance provide the basis for a gripping whodunit? Saylor answers that question with a definitive yes in his thrilling and moving (The Throne of Caesar)." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"This elegant novel brings Saylor's much-loved Roma Sub Rosa series to a triumphant close, painting a vivid portrait of society, politics, and the arts during the Republic's dying days." —The Sunday Express (UK)

"Saylor, a scholarly American with a fine eye for authentic detail and a flair for plotting murder...embroiders his tale with much fascinating — and disturbing — conjecture. If you are new to Saylor, you are in for a treat, because the politics and personal lives of the late Roman republic make compulsively entertaining reading." —The Sunday Times (UK)

“Exciting and passionate, The Throne of Caesar paints a fresh picture of Rome on the Ides of March. Steven Saylor has written another page-turner of a mystery that, while wonderfully imaginative, is rooted in real events.” —Barry Strauss, Cornell University, author of The Death of Caesar: the Story of History’s Most Famous Assassination

"The Throne of Caesar is a fitting capstone to one of the most important series in mystery fiction. As always, Gordianus the Finder proves to be a shrewd and compassionate observer of the most tumultuous events in Roman history." —Gardner Dozois, editor of the New York Times bestselling Warriors

"A rip-roaring detective adventure for fans of Steven Saylor’s Roman intrepid hero Gordianus, who finds himself embedded in the inner circle of Julius Caesar himself, as destiny ticks." —Adrienne Mayor, author of The Poison King and Amazons

"Steven Saylor's remarkable writing in The Throne of Caesar is so rich in realistic detail that ancient Rome literally unfolds before your eyes. If anyone wants to understand Rome at the end of the Republic, there's no better fictional narrative. Like Mary Renault's magic with words, historical fiction tinged by legend or myth intertwined with known facts and archaeological verity just could not be more elegantly written than here with Saylor's astonishing grasp of Roman life." —Patrick Hunt, Ph. D., Stanford University, author of Hannibal

"Engrossing" —The Wall Street Journal on The Triumph of Caesar

"Superb" —The Globe and Mail (Toronto) on The Judgment of Caesar

"Compelling" —USA Today on Wrath of the Furies

"Exquisite" —The Philadelphia Enquirer on A Mist of Prophecies

“Saylor can be a compelling (and sometimes very funny) storyteller, with a striking talent for historical reconstruction…Half a century before imperial rule, Gordianus' Rome is a crumbling democracy; ideology is a dirty word; politicians struggle for naked power, not principles; hands are everywhere in the till; political debate is reduced to flashy spectacles and sound bites; only the forms of the democratic constitution still totter on. For all its complex oddities, Saylor is asking us to feel very much at home in Gordianus’ Rome.” —Mary Beard, author of SPQR, in the Times Literary Supplement

From the Publisher

2017-11-28
Veteran Roman investigator Gordianus tries to ease the fears of an obsessed Julius Caesar by locating the cabal that may be plotting against him.On March 10, 44 B.C.E., ancient Rome is abuzz with the warning that Spurinna the haruspex delivered to Caesar a few weeks ago. Though he's been frozen out of the emperor's inner circle, Consul Cicero has a foreboding and seeks the guidance of venerable Gordianus, a retired "Finder," in ferreting out the identities of possible conspirators. Gordianus, who narrates in a leisurely first person, is intrigued but doesn't commit until Caesar himself summons him. None other than the scandalous Cleopatra is in attendance when Gordianus agrees to help by discreetly observing suspicious characters. He begins at the colorfully named Salacious Tavern, where the poet Cinna verbally spars with him at length before revealing an ominous message scratched into the sand at his own doorstep: "Beware." Gordianus' wife, Bethesda, and his daughter, Diana, become his sounding boards, mostly pouring water on the alarming conspiratorial fires he reveals to them. A visit to Spurinna confirms that he's no threat to Caesar. But Brutus is another matter entirely. His evasiveness gives Gordianus pause. Nor can he get a read on Antony or Cassius, the latter seen only briefly. Spoiler alert: the novel takes us all the way to March 23.The 16th volume in Saylor's Roma Sub Rosa series (The Triumph of Caesar, 2008, etc.) uses the reader's foreknowledge of history to create a special kind of suspense. Its slow pace and abundant period detail tantalize, as Gordianus has multiple near misses with the truth.

Kirkus Reviews