- Paperback: 464 pages
- Publisher: Forge Books (July 15 2004)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0765306549
- ISBN-13: 978-0765306548
- Product Dimensions: 20.3 x 13.3 x 3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 476 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #626,011 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
In this fine historical thriller set in Rome in 16 B.C., Hermogenes, a well-to-do Greek trader from Alexandria, travels to the capital city to collect a debt owed to him by a powerful Roman consul, Tarius Rufus. When Hermogenes attempts to dun the general, Rufus physically attacks him, then seeks to worm out of his obligations through legal loopholes. Hermogenes will not relent; his uncle was ruined and his father met his death as a result of the debt, and Hermogenes has come seeking justice. When Rufus sends goons to waylay Hermogenes, the trader is rescued by Cantabra, a former female gladiator (in an author's note, Bradshaw informs us there were, indeed, women fighters in the arena during this era). Cantabra becomes Hermogenes's bodyguard. Hermogenes next tries to sell the debt to the duplicitous Pollio, Rufus's principle creditor. While at Pollio's compound, Hermogenes overhears a plot between Pollio and Consul Rufus to assassinate Titus Statilius Taurus, the Prefect of Rome, to incite riots, and then to quell them-all as a way of gaining favor with Caesar. Cantabra knows Taurus from her gladiator days, and she and Hermogenes manage to convince the prefect that Pollio and Rufus are in cahoots against him. Bradshaw's Rome is superbly rendered, with all the sights, sounds and-particularly-the smells of the period. Unfortunately, her Greek trader is a bit of an anachronism whose perpetual concern for the well-being of every slave he owns or meets seems more akin to modern liberal compassion than to the attitude a man of the period might possess. Nevertheless, Bradshaw has produced a solid evocation of fascinating and dangerous times.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"Bradshaw's characters are masterfully drawn."
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First Sentence
HERMOGENES WAS ALMOST ASLEEP BY THE time the carriage stopped. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
HERMOGENES WAS ALMOST ASLEEP BY THE time the carriage stopped. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Highly recommended for fans of the Roman era,
By Tool Connoisseur (APO, AE United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Render Unto Caesar (Hardcover)
As a huge fan of any good book about Romans (especially Colleen McCullough's series) I eagerly snatched this one up and I wasn't disappointed. Although not grand in scale like many works set in Rome at its heyday, it is exceptionally faithful to the historical accuracy of the time (16 bc) and to the leading figures who interact with the main character, a fictional Alexandrian businessman from Egypt. The author is a gifted storyteller who immediately immerses you into Rome and the plight of this proud and honest "Greekling" who gets himself caught up in high-power Roman consular plots and intrigue. The author also does an excellent job of peering into the hearts of her characters, and deftly weaves the appropriate amount of loves lost and found into the plot, not to mention the ubiquitous greed and pride that goes with any Roman story. Believable and interesting from start to finish, it is very well written.And my measure of a books success - I had great difficulty putting it down until I was done! Highly recommended for fans of the Roman era and lovers of a well-told story.
5.0 out of 5 stars
More from a favorite author,
By
This review is from: Render Unto Caesar (Hardcover)
Hooray, another Bradshaw historical! Gillian Bradshaw has a special gift for characterization that makes all her work a treat to read, but her historicals surpass the rest. As histories they make the ancient past not just vivid, but also human and comprehensible. Her readers become privy to mindsets vastly different from their own. Bradshaw's novels also do what good fiction must do--grip the reader and never let go. Even better, her books bear re-reading, again and again. My absolute favorite continues to be _Island of Ghosts_, but this latest outing is another fine addition to the bookshelf.
5.0 out of 5 stars
not simplistic,
By
This review is from: Render Unto Caesar (Hardcover)
The reader from Sandy, UT, is entitled to dislike this book, and as the author, I am not entitled to say anything except 'I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it.' However, I feel that I am entitled to respond to the accusation of anachronism and ignorance of ancient Rome.Look, I have two good university degrees in Classical Greek and Latin and 25+ years of studying classical antiquity, and it really, really annoys me when I get accused of anachronism on the basis of what some twerp said in Classical Civilisation 101. If you have some evidence that what I've said is wrong, I'd like to hear it, but I very much doubt you do. For example, I could cite you primary sources from Plato to St. Paul, and secondary sources from Carcopino to Crook, to argue that Hermogenes' attitude towards his slaves, far from being anachronistic, is in fact the benevolent paternalism that was the Graeco-Roman ideal for a paterfamilias. (Sure, they didn't live up to their ideals--that makes them human, but does not constitute anachronism.) As for the question of female gladiators--I dealt with that in the afterword. That particular detail is in even the popular history books on gladiators, and if Sandy UT hasn't bothered to read any of them, he or she really shouldn't be sounding off in public about my ignorance. In case my others readers think my standards of research are slipping--no, they're not: this book was as accurate I could make it.
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