The year is 52 BC. Awoken to the sound of chaos in the streets, Gordianus soon learns the cause: the murder of Clodius. Clodius’ sister, Clodia, reveals that he was struck down on the Appian Way, in a skirmish against his longtime rival, Milo. Upon looking at the mangled corpse of Clodius and hearing his widow Fulvia’s cry, the mourning mob lead his funeral bier into the very heart of the Senate House before lighting it on fire.
Soon after, Gordianus is visited by Tiro, Cicero’s freedman and secretary, on behalf of the great orator. Following Tiro to Cicero’s home, Gordianus meets the great orator along with Marcus Caelius, and the now infamous Milo.
To defend himself, Milo and Caelius hold a contio in the forum which devolves into violence once the Clodians attack. Amidst the looting and killing, Gordianus’ own house is ransacked leading to Belbo’s death.
Eventually, he finds himself summoned by Fulvia, Clodius’ widow, who shares her account of her husband’s death based on eyewitnesses who escaped the skirmish. Mentioning that Marc Antony approached her, she tasks Gordianus with figuring out if he was involved in Clodius’ death. While he mulls over his decision to help her, he is summoned once more to meet someone new—Pompey. Escorted to the Great One’s villa outside the city walls, Pompey hires Gordianus to find out the truth behind Clodius’ death by heading to the scene of the crime.
The next day, Gordianus heads out with Eco and his bodyguard, Davus. Nearing Bovillae, they encounter an innkeeper, a priest, and a priestess who share their accounts of the skirmish between Milo’s men and Clodius’. While there, it’s revealed that Milo's gladiators also captured five prisoners. On the advice of the priestess, the trio head to the House of the Vestals on Mount Alba nearby to speak with the Virgo Maxima who reveals that a disguised woman came and made an offering of thanks for Clodius’ death. For the offering, she produced Clodius’ gold signet ring which the Virgo Maxima refused. After a night in Pompey’s villa, the three then head over to Clodius’ unfinished villa before visiting Senator Tedius who found his corpse.
After several more days at Pompey’s villa, the trio are ambushed on their way back to Rome. Leaving Davus for dead, the kidnappers hold Gordianus and Eco for roughly 44 days in an unknown location. Gordianus and Eco manage to escape the pit. After wandering the countryside, the pair encounter Cicero in Ariminum. The two agree to accompany Cicero to meet Caesar in Ravenna.
At Caesar’s residence, Gordianus and Eco seek out Meto. His second son then hands Gordianus a letter from Diana in which it is revealed that Bethesda received an anonymous letter reassuring her that Gordianus and Eco were safe and would be released in due time. The next day, Meto arranges for an audience with Caesar who remembers Gordianus. Later that evening, Gordianus is reintroduced to Marc Antony who agrees to escort him and Eco back to Rome.
Upon their return, they are greeted joyously by their family and are surprised to see Davus alive and well. After a blissful night, Gordianus and Eco are summoned by Pompey, now sole Consul, once more. Reporting on their findings, Pompey thanks them and agrees to continue protecting them in the meantime.
Following a few days of quiet, Clodia calls upon Gordianus. Gordianus resists his desire for her and instead promises to share his discoveries with her following his meeting with Fulvia. He is reintroduced to Fulvia’s mother, Sempronia, and finds the priest and priestess, Felix and Felicia, respectively present. As part of his payment, he requests ownership of the two stable boys he met at Clodius’ villa who saved their master’s son. After Fulvia agrees, Gordianus reports that Marc Antony had nothing to do with Clodius’ death. Tearfully relieved, Fulvia reveals her plans to marry Marc Antony’s boyhood friend, Curio. Collecting his payment, he leaves only to find Clodia gone.
A few days later, Eco insists that Gordianus attend the latest contio where the mysterious prisoners of Milo's publicly testify after escaping his villa where they were imprisoned for two months. Following their testimony, Appius Claudius, Clodius’ nephew, formally brings charges against Milo. On the first day of the trial, the mob rushes at Marcellus, working with Cicero to defend Milo, ending the first day prematurely. Unsurprisingly, bystanders and participants enter the trial the next day to the presence of Pompey’s soldiers. The night before the final day, Gordianus realizes that Cicero was involved in his abduction and goes to confront him. Cicero defends his actions, stating that he convinced Milo to kidnap Gordianus and his son rather than killing them—therefore saving their lives. Admitting that he wrote the note to Bethesda, out of fondness for Gordianus, Cicero nonetheless stands by his actions to protect the republic. Disgusted, Gordianus leaves.
Despite Cicero’s defense, Milo is found guilty and forced into exile. Once home, Gordianus finds something even more shocking—his daughter, Diana, pregnant with Davus’ child. Avoiding this new surprise, Gordianus decides to head back to Mount Alba and collect the two slave boys from Clodius’ villa. While there, he stops by Senator Tedius’ again only to discover that the senator’s daughter was ultimately responsible for Clodius’ death in addition to being the mystery woman who approached the House of the Vestals. Swearing to keep their involvement a secret, the senator and his daughter entrust Clodius’ ring to Gordianus.
Upon returning to Rome, Gordianus makes a few stops before returning Clodius’ ring to his sister. Before leaving Clodia, he invites her to Diana’s wedding.
Marcus Antonius, commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the autocratic Roman Empire.
The First Triumvirate was an informal political alliance among three prominent politicians in the late Roman Republic: Gaius Julius Caesar, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus and Marcus Licinius Crassus. The constitution of the Roman republic had many veto points. In order to bypass constitutional obstacles and force through the political goals of the three men, they forged in secret an alliance where they promised to use their respective influence to support each other. The "triumvirate" was not a formal magistracy, nor did it achieve a lasting domination over state affairs.
Titus Annius Milo was a Roman political agitator. The son of Gaius Papius Celsus, he was adopted by his maternal grandfather, Titus Annius Luscus. In 52 BC, he was prosecuted for the murder of Publius Clodius Pulcher and exiled from Rome. He was unsuccessfully defended by his friend, Marcus Tullius Cicero, in the speech Pro Milone.
Clodia, nicknamed Quadrantaria, Nola, Medea Palatina by Cicero, and occasionally referred to in scholarship as Clodia Metelli, was one of three known daughters of the ancient Roman patrician Appius Claudius Pulcher.
Publius Clodius Pulcher was a populist Roman politician and street agitator during the time of the First Triumvirate. One of the most colourful personalities of his era, Clodius was descended from the aristocratic Claudia gens, one of Rome's oldest and noblest patrician families, but he contrived to be adopted by an obscure plebeian, so that he could be elected tribune of the plebs. During his term of office, he pushed through an ambitious legislative program, including a grain dole; but he is chiefly remembered for his long-running feuds with political opponents, particularly Cicero, whose writings offer antagonistic, detailed accounts and allegations concerning Clodius' political activities and scandalous lifestyle. Clodius was tried for the capital offence of sacrilege, following his intrusion on the women-only rites of the goddess Bona Dea, purportedly with the intention of seducing Caesar's wife Pompeia; his feud with Cicero led to Cicero's temporary exile; his feud with Milo ended in his own death at the hands of Milo's bodyguards.
Fulvia was an aristocratic Roman woman who lived during the Late Roman Republic. Fulvia's birth into an important political dynasty facilitated her relationships and, later on, marriages to Publius Clodius Pulcher, Gaius Scribonius Curio, and Mark Antony. All of these men would go on to lead increasingly promising political careers as populares, tribunes, and supporters of Julius Caesar.
Lucius Cornelius Lentulus Crus was Consul of the Roman Republic in 49 BC, an opponent of Caesar and supporter of Pompeius in the Civil War during 49 to 48 BC.
Roma Sub Rosa is a series of historical mystery novels by Steven Saylor set in ancient Rome and therefore populated by famous historic roman citizens. The phrase "Roma Sub Rosa" means, in Latin, "Rome under the rose." If a matter was sub rosa, "under the rose," it meant that such matter was confidential.
Pro Caelio is a speech given on 4 April 56 BC, by the famed Roman orator Marcus Tullius Cicero in defence of Marcus Caelius Rufus, who had once been Cicero's student but more recently was a political rival. Cicero's reasons for defending Caelius are uncertain, but various theories have been postulated.
Marcus Caelius Rufus was an orator and politician in the late Roman Republic. He was born into a wealthy equestrian family from Interamnia Praetuttiorum (Teramo), on the central east coast of Italy. He is best known for his prosecution of Gaius Antonius Hybrida in 59 BC. He was also known for his trial for public violence in March 56 BC, when Cicero defended him in the extant speech Pro Caelio, and as both recipient and author of some of the best-written letters in the ad Familiares corpus of Cicero's extant correspondence. He may be the Rufus named in the poems of Catullus.
The "Pro Tito Annio Milone ad iudicem oratio" is a speech made by Marcus Tullius Cicero in 52 BC on behalf of his friend Titus Annius Milo. Milo was accused of murdering his political enemy Publius Clodius Pulcher on the Via Appia. Cicero wrote the speech after the hearing and so the authenticity of the speech is debated among scholars.
Claudia was the daughter of Fulvia by her first husband Publius Clodius Pulcher. She was the stepdaughter of Mark Antony and half-sister of his sons Marcus Antonius Antyllus and Iullus Antonius.
Publius Servilius Isauricus was a Roman senator who served as consul in 48 BC together with Julius Caesar. He is generally regarded as a puppet of Caesar, having a long friendship with the Dictator.
Publius Claudius Pulcher was a son of Publius Clodius Pulcher and his wife Fulvia. He was briefly the brother-in-law of Octavian through Octavian's marriage to his sister Claudia.
The Venus Throw is a historical novel by American author Steven Saylor, first published by St. Martin's Press in 1995. It is the fourth book in his Roma Sub Rosa series of mystery novels set in the final decades of the Roman Republic. The main character is the Roman sleuth Gordianus the Finder.
Rubicon is a historical novel by American author Steven Saylor, first published by St. Martin's Press in 1999. It is the seventh book in his Roma Sub Rosa series of mystery stories set in the final decades of the Roman Republic. The main character is the Roman sleuth Gordianus the Finder.
Last Seen in Massilia is a historical novel by American author Steven Saylor, first published by St. Martin's Press in 2000. It is the eighth book in his Roma Sub Rosa series of mystery stories set in the final decades of the Roman Republic. The main character is the Roman sleuth Gordianus the Finder.
A Mist of Prophecies is a historical novel by American author Steven Saylor, first published by St. Martin's Press in 2002. It is the ninth book in his Roma Sub Rosa series of mystery stories set in the final decades of the Roman Republic. The main character is the Roman sleuth Gordianus the Finder.
Imperium: The Cicero Plays is a stage adaptation of the Cicero trilogy of novels by Robert Harris. It was premiered by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon from 16 November 2017 to 10 February 2018, directed by Gregory Doran and with Richard McCabe as Cicero. It played at the Gielgud Theatre in London from 14 June to 8 September 2018.
Gaius Scribonius Curio was the son of Gaius Scribonius Curio, consul in 76 BC and censor in 61 BC. His political allegiances changed over the course of the 50s BC until his tribunate, when he sided with Julius Caesar after possibly receiving a massive bribe. During the civil war, he sided with Caesar and led Caesarian troops to Sicily and then to Africa, where he was killed in battle.
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