A Mist of Prophecies: A Novel of Ancient Rome (Mass Market Paperback)

The similarities between ancient Rome and our world and are so close that there is much to consider; economic upheavals with a poplulation deep in debt, war, rogue politicians causing trouble and plenty of grandstanding and intrigue to keep you awake at night. A must read. Enjoy!

Saylor speaks in his author's note about the fact that the words of many of the men from this period have survived, but that none of the words of the women survive directly. So, part of his purpose, and certainly a large part of his technique, in Mist is to present a series of important women.

The central woman of the story, already dead by page 1, is Cassandra, a beautiful young, mad (?) prophetess who, in the flashback of chapter 2, falls dead in Gordianus' arms, in the forum, gasping out "Poison. She's poisoned me." We don't know the exact relationship of Cassandra to Gordianus from what we discover in chapter 1, but we know it was sufficient for him, even though in serious debt himself, to pay for her funeral and celebrate it, virtually alone, right up to the funeral pyre. However, at that point some others appear to watch the burning, and these are among the most powerful and remarkable women in Rome.

The two questions that arise for Gordianus are: who killed Cassandra and why did these women come to see her burn. This presents a challenge to Gordianus, a tease to the reader, and a structure for Saylor. In fact, the first 16 chapters alternate between present action, including interviews with each of these women and flashbacks to Gordianus' meetings with Cassandra, so that the even numbered chapters, 2 through 16, all start with a variation on "The first time I saw Cassandra..." and most of these flashbacks are dated in Gordianus' mind by something Marcus Caelius was doing that day. Thus Saylor weaves the private story of Gordianus and Cassandra (if it is a private story) with the public story of the (off-stage) conflict of Pompey and Caesar and the in-Rome machinations of Caelius, who is setting himself up as a demagogic opponent of both the major men, relying on raising the hopes and expectations of the poor and debt-ridden in Rome. On the fringes of the story (for most of the novel) are the comparable machinations of T. Annius Milo, who is trying to raise the country-side after escaping from his exile in Massilia (where he was last seen in the previous novel).

Each of the women who attended the funeral pyre gets a chapter worth's of investigation (the even-numbered chapters), and each emerges as distinctly different in personality. Saylor is very good here at making them all fascinating characters, each in different ways.

Terentia tells about her marital troubles; Fulvia tells how Cassandra's prophecy of Curio's death was detailed and correct, 2 days before it was reported at Rome; Antonia, who got a very negative prophecy from Cassandra, asserts she was a fraud and in league with Antony's mistress, Cytheris; Cytheris admits she put Cassandra up to the prophecy about her rival Antonia, but says she doesn't know whether, otherwise, Cassandra was truly possessed or acting, which she was trained to do; Fausta says what Cassandra prophesied for her didn't make sense to her, because she needed much plainer speech, and no, she wouldn't divorce Milo, because Rome would look negatively on the daughter of Sulla if she divorced twice, and Gordianus notices that Fausta looks a bit beaten up and her doorkeeper, an ex-gladiator, seems to dominate her; Clodia is still the Clodia of old, with a lustful eye for Gordianus' handsome son-in-law, Davus, and harsh words for her old lover, Caelius, but nothing to say about Cassandra, other than that she can tell from Gordianus' demeanor that he and the seeress were lovers; Calpurnia, the only one to summon Gordianus, knows much about Cassandra, since Calpurnia runs Caesar's spy network in Rome, and surprises Gordianus with her revelations.

One of Calpurnia's other revelations involves a relationship between two other major characters that neither Gordianus nor we had guessed, and that points Gordianus to his prime suspect. We are sure now who the killer was and why, but the why changes as Gordianus interrogates his suspect, and then she explains her relationship differently than Gordianus had surmised and Gordianus sees the murderer cannot be her. A bit of reflection shows Gordianus who the killer must be and why.

Saylor, as always, writes and plots well. His historical detail is full and accurate and his accounts of historical events correct. Of course, he inserts Gordianus into all of these and also attributes motives to characters that are not historically attested, but they are not dissonant with what we know or would guess. One slight literary cavil would be that Gordianus explains a lot of the detail to us, the reader , (e.g., about lictors), but it is not clear who his audience that he is narrating to is and why, if they are Romans, they would need to be told details that any of his contemporaries would already know. It might have been better if the character Gordianus had been explaining some of this to another character who was a foreigner or otherwise had some reason not to know.

I recommend Mist of prophecies to any reader who likes a good novel or an interesting interpretation of events in late Republican Rome. I'm eager to see the sequel, to find out whether Bethesda recovers, whether Gordianus and Meto are reconciled, and who the murdered person will be. One of the royal family of the Ptolemies or their retainers, such as Pothinus? One of Caesar's staff?