SPQR VI: Nobody Loves a Centurion

SPQR VI: Nobody Loves a Centurion PDF Author: John Maddox Roberts
Publisher: Minotaur Books
ISBN: 1429908327
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 287

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Book Description
Julius Caesar, as we know, arrived in Gaul (now France) and announced "I Came, I Saw, I Conquered," but when Decius Metellus arrives from Rome, not seeking military glory but rather avoiding an enemy currently in power, he finds that although the general came and saw, so far, at least, he has far from conquered. The campaign seems at a standstill. Decius's arrival disappoints the great Caesar as well. He has been waiting for promised reinforcements from Rome, an influx of soldiers to restart his invasion. Instead he is presented with one young man ridiculously decked out in military parade finery and short on military skills, accompanied not by eager troops but by one callow and reluctant slave, the feckless Hermes. It soon develops, however, that Decius's arrival was fortuitous. When Vinius, the army's cruelest centurion (so-called because he commands a hundred soldiers), is found murdered, Caesar remembers that his new recruit has successfully come up with the culprit in a number of recent crimes. Murder is bad for morale, particularly since it seems quite clear that the murderer was one of Caesar's men. Caesar orders Decius to find the killer -- and quickly. Although evidence points to the son of one of Decius's clients -- a youth who was the particular target of the centurion's brutality, Decius racks his brain to find a way to save him from the sentence of death. The investigation leads Decius to two German slaves of the dead man -- a dwarfish old man and a beautiful woman. They are puzzling; the man is arrogant, the woman haughty--very unlike slaves. There are unanswered questions. It soon becomes clear to Decius that only by finding and punishing the real murderer will it be possible to quiet the rising dissatisfaction with Caesar's unorthodox method of warfare and forestall a mutiny against the mighty Caesar's authority and aims.

SPQR VI: Nobody Loves a Centurion

SPQR VI: Nobody Loves a Centurion PDF Author: John Maddox Roberts
Publisher: Minotaur Books
ISBN: 1429908327
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 287

Get Book Here

Book Description
Julius Caesar, as we know, arrived in Gaul (now France) and announced "I Came, I Saw, I Conquered," but when Decius Metellus arrives from Rome, not seeking military glory but rather avoiding an enemy currently in power, he finds that although the general came and saw, so far, at least, he has far from conquered. The campaign seems at a standstill. Decius's arrival disappoints the great Caesar as well. He has been waiting for promised reinforcements from Rome, an influx of soldiers to restart his invasion. Instead he is presented with one young man ridiculously decked out in military parade finery and short on military skills, accompanied not by eager troops but by one callow and reluctant slave, the feckless Hermes. It soon develops, however, that Decius's arrival was fortuitous. When Vinius, the army's cruelest centurion (so-called because he commands a hundred soldiers), is found murdered, Caesar remembers that his new recruit has successfully come up with the culprit in a number of recent crimes. Murder is bad for morale, particularly since it seems quite clear that the murderer was one of Caesar's men. Caesar orders Decius to find the killer -- and quickly. Although evidence points to the son of one of Decius's clients -- a youth who was the particular target of the centurion's brutality, Decius racks his brain to find a way to save him from the sentence of death. The investigation leads Decius to two German slaves of the dead man -- a dwarfish old man and a beautiful woman. They are puzzling; the man is arrogant, the woman haughty--very unlike slaves. There are unanswered questions. It soon becomes clear to Decius that only by finding and punishing the real murderer will it be possible to quiet the rising dissatisfaction with Caesar's unorthodox method of warfare and forestall a mutiny against the mighty Caesar's authority and aims.

SPQR V: Saturnalia

SPQR V: Saturnalia PDF Author: John Maddox Roberts
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 9780312320188
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
"Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer, a relative of Decius and his family and the head of a powerful political clan, has been poisoned, and his infamous wife Clodia is immediately suspected of disposing of her rather inconvenient husband. Not entirely convinced of Clodia's guilt, Decius delves into the intricacies of Rome's ruling class and discovers that a clandestine, forbidden witches' cult is inextricably intertwined with some very highborn people. A trial for Clodia would be most unwelcome, as it could bring to light some well-kept secrets. To get to the bottom of the corruption that accompanies the intoxicating allure of this ancient city, Decius must form an uneasy alliance with Clodius, Clodia's brother and his sworn enemy, and be extremely careful not to step on any toes."--BOOK JACKET.

SPQR VIII: The River God's Vengeance

SPQR VIII: The River God's Vengeance PDF Author: John Maddox Roberts
Publisher: Minotaur Books
ISBN: 142990836X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 301

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Book Description
Ancient Rome, in this accurate and evocative series, is just as politics driven as any major American city -- possibly even more. Decius Caecilius Metellus has, through a series of rather wild adventure, and in the act of tracking down killers and other reprobates, barely escaped annhilation several times. Now, newly elected to the office of aedile, the lowest rung on the ladder of Roman authority, he must smoke out corruption and conspiracy that threaten to destroy all of Rome.

SPQR III: The Sacrilege

SPQR III: The Sacrilege PDF Author: John Maddox Roberts
Publisher: Minotaur Books
ISBN: 1429908300
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 254

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Book Description
When a sacret woman's rite in the ancient city of Rome is infiltrated by a corrupt patrician dressed in female garb, it falls to Senator Decuis Caecilius Metellus the Younger, whose investigative skills have proven indispensable in the past, to unmask the perpetrators. When four brutal slayings follow, Decius enlists the help a notorious and dangerous criminal. Together, they establish a connection between the sacrilege and the murders, and track the offenders from the lowest dregs of society to the prominent elite of the upper class, finding corruption and violence where Decius least expects it.

SPQR XIII: The Year of Confusion

SPQR XIII: The Year of Confusion PDF Author: John Maddox Roberts
Publisher: Minotaur Books
ISBN: 1429954914
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
"Readers looking for a crafty and entertaining journey to the past won't be disappointed." —Publishers Weekly on SPQR XI: Under Vesuvius Caius Julius Caesar, now Dictator of Rome, has decided to revise the Roman calendar, which has become out of sync with the seasons. As if this weren't already an unpopular move, Caesar has brought in astronomers and astrologers from abroad, including Egyptians, Greeks, Indians and Persians. Decius is appointed to oversee this project, which he knows rankles the Roman public: "To be told by a pack of Chaldeans and Egyptians how to conduct their duties towards the gods was intolerable." Not long after the new calendar project begins, two of the foreigners are murdered. Decius begins his investigations and, as the body count increases, it seems that an Indian fortuneteller popular with patrician Roman ladies is also involved. This latest in the acclaimed series is sure to please historical mystery fans.

SPQR VII: The Tribune's Curse

SPQR VII: The Tribune's Curse PDF Author: John Maddox Roberts
Publisher: Minotaur Books
ISBN: 1429908351
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
Decius Caecilius Metellus is happy. The weather is beautiful and he is standing for office (literally; standing, in the Roman Forum soliciting votes) with a sure chance of winning. And Caesar's ongoing dreary war is far off in Gaul. Decius is confident that another war looming over Rome, instigated by one Crassus against the Parthians (for no reason but possible worldly gain); will be voted down in the Senate. But the vote does not stop Crassus. On the day he and his troops set out from Rome, the Tribune Ateius Capitus, leader of the opposition, shrieks an ancient and terrible curse over the huge crowd assembled -- a curse that frightens not only the man in the street but the highest Romans. When Ateius is murdered soon after, Decius, solver of past mysteries, has the ugly task of finding the killer. Fascinating details of Rome's mixed attitudes about the power of magic and the practice of rational politics illuminate this latest of Roberts's strong historical mysteries.

SPQR

SPQR PDF Author: John Maddox Roberts
Publisher: Avon Books
ISBN: 9780380759934
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 229

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Book Description
Decius Caecillus Metellus the Younger, an employee of the civil detective force of Rome, investigates two murders that are connected with secret information leaked from the Vestal temple, and uncovers corruption at the highest levels of government that co

SPQR II: The Catiline Conspiracy

SPQR II: The Catiline Conspiracy PDF Author: John Maddox Roberts
Publisher: Minotaur Books
ISBN: 9780312277062
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
It was a summer of glorious triumph for the mighty Roman Republic. Her invincible legions had brought all foreign enemies to their knees. But in Rome there was no peace. The streets were flooded with the blood of murdered citizens, and there were rumors of more atrocities to come. Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger was convinced a conspiracy existed to overthrow the government-a sinister cabal that could only be destroyed from within. But admission into the traitorous society of evil carried a grim price: the life of Decius's closest friend...and maybe his own.

SPQR VI: Nobody Loves a Centurion

SPQR VI: Nobody Loves a Centurion PDF Author: John Maddox Roberts
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
ISBN: 9780312320195
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
Like so many young men in later generations, Roman playboy/detective Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger is faced with the necessity of serving in his country's armed forces. Since a dangerous enemy has become powerful in the politics of Rome, Decius is just as well out of the city for a while. He sets out to join Caesar in Gaul (where the general has come and seen, but has as yet not been able to conquer. The occupying Roman army is at a standstill. When Decius shows up in full parade regalia (much to the amusement of the more informally uniformed veterans) and accompanied only by his young personal slave. Caesar sets him the task of discovering who murdered one of his centurions, a cruel and unfair officer feared and hated by every man of the one hundred soldiers under him. A further prod to Decius is that the main suspect is a youth whose father is a close friend of the Metellus family. With Caesar's decree that another killer be found in a matter of hours or the young man dies, Decius has his work cut out for him. John Maddox Roberts's series set in the first century A.D. vividly brings to readers a strong sense of the everyday life of the ancient Romans in the context of our own.

The Robe

The Robe PDF Author: Lloyd Cassel Douglas
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 9780395957752
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 532

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Book Description
Christ's robe has a strange effect on the pagan soldier who wins it in a dice game after the Crucifixion.