Steven Saylor

A prequel to the best-selling Roma Sub Rosa series traces 18-year-old Gordianus's journey to the Seven Wonders of the World, each of which pose a mystery that challenges his budding powers of deduction and the tenacity of celebrated poet Antipater of Sidon, who fakes his death to accompany young Gordianus.

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...

When the high-born populist politician, Publius Clodius, is murdered on the Appian Way, Rome explodes into riot and arson. All fingers point at Titus Milo, his arch-enemy and a friend of Cicero. The emperor calls on Gordianus the Finder to find out the truth.

"On a chill January evening in 56 B.C., two strange visitors to Rome -- an Egyptian ambassador and a eunuch priest -- seek out Gordianus the Finder whose specialty is solving murders. But the ambassador, a philosopher named Dio, has come to ask for something Gordianus cannot give -- help in staying alive. Before the night is out, he will be murdered. Now Gordianus begins his most dangerous case. Hired to investigate Dio's death by a beautiful woman...

"The hideously disfigured body was found in the atrium. The only clues are a blood-soaked cloak, and, carved into the stone at the corpse's feet, the word Sparta. The murdered man was the overseer of Marcus Crassus's estate, apparently killed by two runaway slaves bent on joining Spartacus's revolt. In response to the murder, the wealthy, powerful Crassus vows to honor an ancient law and kill his ninety-nine remaining slaves in three days. Now Gordianus...

During the Roman Civil War, as the forces of Pompey and Julius Caesar fight a series of battles in the provinces over control of the Republic, Rome itself is a hotbed of intrigue as those left behind wait for word. In this tentative and treacherous environment, a beautiful young seeress is murdered in the marketplace. Possibly mad and claiming no memory of her own past, Cassandra - like her namesake - is reputed to have had the true gift of prophecy...

Set against the backdrop of the later Roman Republic, a collection of short mystery tales featuring ancient Roman sleuth Gordianus the Finder follows the early career of the classical sleuth.

In Ancient Rome, sleuth Gordianus the Finder investigates the death by garroting of Pompey's cousin. The probe plays out amid political turmoil as Julius Caesar invades from Gaul, starting a civil war.