The Enemies of Jupiter (The Roman Mysteries) [Paperback]

Caroline Lawrence (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Roman Mysteries | Publication Date: June 1, 2004

February, AD 80. An imperial messenger summons Jonathan's father to Rome, where the fever which started in Ostia is now threatening to become a plague. Jonathan and his three friends go, too, and need to use all their skills to solve a dangerous mystery for the Emperor Titus.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8–Jonathan, Flavia, Nubia, and Lupus are involved in solving another mystery in this latest installment in the series. This time, they are trying to find the "Prometheus" who opened a "Pandora's Box" to destroy Rome. The evil from the box is the plague. Jonathan's father, Dr. Mordecai, is also summoned to help care for the sick. The detectives have several suspects, including other doctors and even the emperor. In the course of the investigation, many aspects of Roman life and politics are skillfully woven into the narrative: architecture, medical practices, gods and goddesses, slavery, etc. Titus's destruction of the temple in Jerusalem and his relationship with the Jewish Queen Berenice provide insight into the tenuous ties between the Romans and the Jews during this period. This mystery has many twists and turns, but familiarity with the characters and their situations is helpful. The ending clearly indicates that another sequel is on the way. Fans of the previous six titles will come away from the story with a good sense of Rome during A.D. 80.–Lana Miles, Duchesne Academy, Houston, TX
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"The Enemies of Jupiter by Caroline Lawrence is the seventh and best in the superb detective series set in ancient Rome, where four children from different backgrounds band together to solve mysteries and right wrongs. The best thing about these books is that they are steeped in fantastically interesting and authentic historical detail." Daily Mail, 5 December 2003

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Orion Children's Books (June 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1842551647
• ISBN-13: 978-1842551646
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #210,677 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #30 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > History & Historical Fiction > Fiction > Ancient Civilizations

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Story Set in Titus' Rome, September 5, 2008

By 

D. A Wend (Arlington Heights, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: The Enemies of Jupiter (Roman Mysteries) (Hardcover)

The Enemies of Jupiter picks up the story with the epidemic raging in Rome. Doctor Mordecai has successfully battled the disease in Ostia and can count several Roman families among his clients. If fact, the doctor has become more Romanized shaving his beard and taken to wearing a toga, which alarms Jonathan into believing that a Roman matron has her eye on his father.

Doctor Mordecai receives a message from the emperor Titus summoning him to Rome to combat the epidemic. Titus also has had a prophetic dream that he is anxious to have Flavia and her friends solve the mystery. Jonathan has another reason for wanting to be in Rome: he wants his parents to meet in the hopes that they will rekindle their love for each other. The Rome that Flavia and her friends return has been hard hit by the epidemic but there is a feeling of hope and Titus' prophecy appears to indicate an end to the disease, or does it?

As with the prior volumes, Caroline Lawrence is masterful in her research and her splendid writing. I particularly liked the description of Tiber Island and the methods by which the other physicians were treating the epidemic. Titus is nicely portrayed as the benevolent emperor that he was but we also see him suffering from headaches and his anger gets the better of him on occasion. We also get a brief encounter between the four children and the historian Josephus. This is a marvelous book for young adults and adults as well.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I LUV IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1, November 27, 2005

By 

Yusra "Yusra" (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Enemies of Jupiter (Roman Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Every book that Caroline Lawrence writes is based on a character in the roman mysteries series. This book was based on Jonathan. Jonathan and his friends Lupus, Nubia and Flavia go to Rome to solve a mystery for the emperor Titus. During solving the mystery, Jonathan gets an urge to show something to his father. Something very important. Something that has to do with Jonathan's family. In this book, Berenice(said to be the empress) was told by emperor Titus to leave the city returns once again. I rated this book 5 because it has all the actions and adventures that a great book should have!!!

5.0 out of 5 stars "When a Prometheus Opens a Pandora's Box, Rome will be Devastated...", July 27, 2010

By 

R. M. Fisher "Raye" (New Zealand = Middle Earth!) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Enemies of Jupiter (Roman Mysteries) (Hardcover)

This is the seventh book in Caroline Lawrence's historical-detective series, chronicling the lives of four children living in 80 AD and the mysteries that crop up whenever they're around. By this stage, their reputations precede them, and in "The Enemies of Jupiter" they are summoned by Emperor Titus himself to Rome in order to solve a case that he's prepared for him. It's also the first book that I've ever read in this series, and no doubt my reading experience was somewhat tempered by the fact that I was unfamiliar with previous installments.

The four children are aristocratic Flavia, the freed slave Nubia, the tongue-less Lupus and Jonathan, the Jewish son of a renowned doctor. When Jonathan's father Mordecai is summoned to Rome to attend to the victims of the plague, the children are invited too in order to help Emperor Titus with a troubling dream. He believes that the illness that is running rampant in the city is the result of a "Prometheus" who has opened a Pandora's Box - and he wants the children to find out who this might be.

Armed with a stuttering guide, the children begin their investigation into Roman history and mythology, suspecting that whoever is behind the plague is unknowingly committing the crime of hubris against the gods. But Jonathan has other concerns on his mind: knowing that his long-lost mother is in the city, he is desperate to have his parents reunite, particularly since one of his father's patients seems to have her eye on snaring Mordecai as a husband.

Although the mystery itself seems rather non-consequential, it ends up taking on a grand prophetic air by the end of the story, and the final paragraph will have readers eager to seek out The Gladiators from Capua. Neither does the author shy away from the darker side of life in Ancient Rome: not only does one of the young heroes have his tongue cut out, but the children pass a row of crucified men on their way into the city. It's not gory, but dealt with in a matter-of-fact way that indicates that this was simply the norm for this particular time and place.

Lawrence succeeds in the tricky technique of inserting various tidbits of historical facts into the book without detracting from the story (in particular, a look at ancient medicines and illnesses, as well as the personage of Emperor Titus and the Jewish Queen Berenice), and provides an afterword that discusses some of the real-life events and settings drawn upon to provide the plot.

This is really Jonathan's book (I'm going to assume that each installment alternates between the children as protagonists), and he makes for an intelligent, sensitive, three-dimensional hero, complete with plenty of realistic flaws. By the end, my heart was bleeding for him, as well as the three friends who are left in the shadow of dread at the book's conclusion. At first I was rather skeptical about the children's ability to wander Rome with minimal supervision (Flavia in particular has a ridiculous amount of freedom for a Roman girl approaching marriageable age), but on reflection, it's no more absurd than The Famous Five getting permission to roam the English countryside with only lashings of ginger beer and a dog to protect them.

I have been meaning to track down these books for some time, and I wasn't disappointed. It's a shame that I had to start at book seven (the library had no earlier installments) for I was at a clear disadvantage when it came to the introduction of the characters and their situation as Lawrence clearly expects prior knowledge of previous books. It's easy enough to catch on if you start here, though I'm sure that the further the series goes on, the harder it will be to jump on the bandwagon.