"I was happier than any mere mortal has a right to be and I should
have known better. The entire body of received mythology and every
last Greek tragedy ever written have made one inescapable truth
utterly clear: If you are supremely happy, the gods have it in for
you. They don't like for mortals to be happy, and they will make
you pay."
In his extensive series featuring the detecting feats of Decius
Caecilius Metellus the younger, set in the Rome of 70 BC, Roberts
achieves a very believable modern feeling with his well-researched
description of the stories' background. This seventh episode,
however, combines a familiar view of the demands office-seeking
makes on a candidate with a situation that is impossibly bizarre to
us today. An entire city, versed in literature, music, and the
other arts, ruled democratically, for its time, is thrown into
panic by an enraged man's curse.
The Consul Crassus, the wealthiest man in Rome, frustrated by the
Senate's vote against his leading Rome in a war against Parthia,
plans to march his private army to invade the country himself.
Almost all of Rome turns out to watch him carry out his threat and
lead his troops out of the city. But before he can, a t powerful
tribune called Ateius leaps to the top of the city's gate and
invokes all the gods to put a curse on Crassus and his army.
Rome is terrified. Ateius has called down a forbidden curse -- the
worst and most frightening blasphemy ever perpetrated. It seriously
threatens the entire populace, and drastic steps to propitiate the
gods must be taken immediately. Worse even, someone kills Ateius -
perhaps in the vain hope that this will lighten the curse? It will
not.
After joining theother men of the city in a daylong cleansing
ritual that left every able-bodied male citizen, Decius included,
in a state of half-collapse, Decius learns that he has been chosen
to uncover the person responsible for the murder. The culprit must
be found in order to complete the cleansing, and there is no one
better equipped to do that than Decius.
Roberts skillfully blends the playboy and the serious sleuth in
Decius just as he combines what we see as contradictions in the
Rome of 80 BC. He spices his story with humor and suspense, with
characters charming and wise and foolish and very much like we are
today. And he presents readers with a look into another world that
has them eagerly awaiting more.visits.
General
Imprint: |
St. Martin's Griffin
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Series: |
Spqr Roman Mysteries, 7 |
Release date: |
April 2004 |
First published: |
April 2004 |
Authors: |
John Maddox. Roberts
|
Dimensions: |
213 x 140 x 18mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback - Trade
|
Pages: |
248 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-312-30489-8 |
Categories: |
Books >
Fiction >
Genre fiction >
Crime & mystery >
Historical mysteries
|
LSN: |
0-312-30489-7 |
Barcode: |
9780312304898 |
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