A Gladiator Dies Only Once: The Further Investigations of Gordianus the Finder [Paperback]

I am definitely a fan of Steven Saylor's "Gordianus the Finder" tales, set in the First Century BCE, during the last decades of the Roman Republic. The present volume is a collection of short stories set fairly early in Goridanus's career, some decades before the more recent novels in the series. But like the novels, these short stories are filled with strong, memorable characters and genuine historial incident.

I rate Saylor as quite probably the best "historical mystery" working today; his books always provide new insights into Ancient Roman life and society. The stories in this volume wwuld be a good introduction to the more complex and subtle novels in Saylor's "Roma Sub Rosa" series, enjoyable in themselves but also illuminating the characters inhabiting the novels.

Saylor's second release of Gordianus short stories are as delightful as those in the `House of Vestals'. In chronological order he opens with The Consul's wife, a quick story of newspaper cryptic messages and a paranoid consul with a beautiful and independent young wife who's not adverse to backing a quick sesterce at the races. Swiftly narrated and demonstrative of Gordianus' quick eye and intelligent lateral thinking our super sleuth solves this case carelessly in a matter of hours and takes his fee. The second `If a Cyclops Could Vanish in the Blink of an Eye' is the shortest of the nine and is Bethseda's only real mention during this feline crime. `The White Fawn' has Gordianus scampering west to Spain to meet up with the renegade general Sertorius in order to chase down Mamercus Claudius, a hot-headed youth who has joined up with him against his grandfather's wishes. Gordianus gets dragged into a search for a white fawn that is acting as Sertorius' soothsayer. This story has a darker ending with our first murder of an innocent.

`Something Fishy in Pompeii' appeals to our palatable readers with its focus on industrial espionage over a missing batch of finest garum whilst `Archimedes Tomb' neatly combines the pomposity of Cicero in Syracuse with the infamous `Eureka' and the bath. Here, Gordianus is called upon to solve another murder after a Trimalchio-esque dinner between the merchant men Agathinus and Dorotheus with their pet poet, Margero. Here we find a reference to Tiro and Eco is also along for the ride.

`Death by Eros' deals with unrequited love in a gymnasium as the overly beautiful Cleon is found at the bottom of the pool and his sister Cleio and tutor Mulciber are dragged in. In what I feel is the best story of the lot, `A Gladiator Dies Only Once' Gordianus sits through a munera with Cicero, witnessing the brutality of gladiatorial combat, and is then by recruited by the Nubian, Zuleika, who is searching for her brother Zanzibar whose death isn't quite what it seems. In `Poppy and the poisoned cake' we find Lucius Gellius Poplicola, a somewhat stuffy censor, allowing Gordianus to rapidly solve the mystery of his cyanide cake with his wife Palla, and son Lucius but finds himself a pawn in a greater political game which echoes many of the fuller novels. We conclude with a visit to the oppulent table of Lucullus and his cherries for a mystery that skips murder entirely and offers Syalor's own conclusion to Lucullus' fading from history.

This is a delightful set of small additions to the Sub Rosa series and serve well to fill in the gaps of the thirty odd years that we have followed our Finder. I sincerely hope more Gordianus come from the pen of Saylor but this may mean he has to move away from creating mysteries based on histroical events as those events are fast running out, though having Gordianus involved in the most famous murder of all in 44B.C must surely lure Saylor's pen.

If you're an ancient history murder mystery fan then Saylor's one of the best. Buy it.

These nine tales all written in the past decade take place in Ancient Rome in the middle of the first century BC and star Gordianus the finder whose clients provides him with plenty of work (payment is a different story). The cases vary and those "hiring" Gordianus are as wild a group as any detective (make that a finder) might imagine working for. The stories are fun mostly because they provide a deep look at Ancient Rome and the eccentricity of the support characters. Gordianus is his usual witty self, matching and trumping opponents with his intelligence and humor especially the asides. Though not quite as strong as the novels (see THE JUDGMENT OF CAESAR), readers will find each contribution is well written and fun to read.

Harriet Klausner

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