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Originally Posted by Liviu_5
Actually I've read the first 4-5 books and I really liked book 2, but after a while they started to seem the same and the anachronisms started to really annoy me so I stopped reading the series.
I love the Roma sub Rosa series by S. Saylor (9 novels and 2 collections of short stories, with novel 10, The Triumph of Caesar coming in 08) which ties each novel to a pivotal point in late republican history
Roman Blood - Sulla's dictatorship and proscriptions
Arms of Nemesis - Spartacus
Catilina's riddle - Catilina's pseudo-revolt
Venus Throw - The lost generation of Clodius, Caelius, Clodia, and the poet Catulus
A Murder on the Appian Way - death of Clodius, Milo's trial and the beginning of the end of the Republic
Rubicon - well the title says it all
Last Seen in Massilia - early stages of the civil war and Caesar's triumph in the West
A Mist of Prophecies - The revolt of Caelius and Milo in Caesar's absence and Pharsalus
The Judgement of Caesar - Caesar in Egypt and Cleopatra
All feature Gordianus the Finder, a sort of early private detective, employed by Cicero, Crassus, Pompeius, Caesar and various other luminaries to find the truth about this or that; Gordianus starts his career among the mighty by helping young Cicero take on Sulla's proscriptions in the case of Roscius which sort of started Cicero a Homo Novus on his illustrious career.
Alternating quarreling and grudging friendship with Cicero whom Gordianus a middle class roman does not forgive for allying himself with the corrupt ruling class to gain the Consulship, entering in ambiguous relationships with Crassus, Pompeius and Caesar, and with a slightly unbelievable but fascinating and unorthodox family, Gordianus is one of my most loved characters and while the mysteries themselves are by and large not very sophisticated, the books work extraordinary well as historical fiction and they form a very good complement to Ms. McCullough work from the point of view of an "average" citizen rather than the mighty of the Masters of Rome series.
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I have in pbooks all of the above, and have thoroughly enjoyed them.
Have you tried the "Falco" series by Lindsey Davies? It's also about a 'Finder".
They are much lighter reading than the books by S. Saylor, but still good reading and a lot of fun.
