A Gladiator Dies Only Once (Roma Sub Rosa)

by StevenSaylor (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2005

  $3.25

  Fresh from his duel of wits with Cleopatra in The Judgement cf Caesar, Gordianus the Finder, detective of ancient Rome, returns in this new collection of short stories. Nine tales of mystery, murder and intrigue take Gordianus from the seamy streets of Rome to elegant villas on the Bay of Naples, and from a Sicilian graveyard with a deadly secret to a bloody battlefield in Spain. Whether against the spectacular backdrop of a chariot race, or settling a domestic dispute with his beautiful Egyptian concubine Bethesda, Gordianus is always on the case. As in Sayior's previous collection, The House of the Vestals, all the stories in A Gladiator Dies Only Once take place early in Gordianus's career. Often at his side, rapidly growing up, is the mute boy Eco, his adopted son. Frequently conferring with Gordianus is his good-hearted patrician friend, Lucius Claudius Cicero, the great lion of the Roman law courts, makes several appearances. Sertorius, the rebel general who set up a rival Roman state in Spain, casts a shadow across the book from beginning to end, and makes a haunting appearance in the story The White Fawn. In the title story, a beautiful Nubian actress begs to Gordianus to solve an impossible problem: how can she have just seen her beloved brother in the marketplace, when she previously saw him die a gruesome death as a gladiator?

• Used

  Paperback
  2011

  $3.25

  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?

• New

  Paperback
  2011

  $17.79

  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?