Rubicon [Import] [Hardcover]

Steven Saylor (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Robinson Publishing (1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841190500
• ISBN-13: 978-1841190501
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,762,950 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Steven Saylor is the author of EMPIRE: THE NOVEL OF IMPERIAL ROME, a follow-up to the international bestseller ROMA: THE NOVEL OF ANCIENT ROME. These two epic novels comprise a multi-generational saga that spans the first 1200 years of the city, from Iron Age trading post to the height of empire under Hadrian.

Steven is also the author of the ROMA SUB ROSA series of historical mysteries featuring Gordianus the Finder, set in the ancient Rome of Cicero, Caesar, and Cleopatra. To read the series in chronological order, begin with ROMAN BLOOD, then THE HOUSE OF THE VESTALS (short stories), A GLADIATOR DIES ONLY ONCE (short stories), ARMS OF NEMESIS , CATILINA'S RIDDLE, THE VENUS THROW, A MURDER ON THE APPIAN WAY, RUBICON, LAST SEEN IN MASSILIA, A MIST OF PROPHECIES, THE JUDGMENT OF CAESAR, and THE TRIUMPH OF CAESAR.

Steven is currently at work on the next volume in the Roma Sub Rosa series, a prequel that follows the 18-year-old Gordianus on his journey to the Seven Wonders of the World; publication is scheduled for summer 2012.

Outside the Roman books are two novels set in Steven's native Texas. A TWIST AT THE END is based on America's first recorded serial murders, which terrorized Austin, Texas in 1885. The chief protagonist is young Will Porter, who later became famous as O. Henry. HAVE YOU SEEN DAWN? is a contemporary thriller set in a small Texas town not unlike the one where Steven grew up.

Steven's books have been published in 21 languages, and book tours have taken him across the United States, England, and Europe. He has appeared as an expert on Roman life on The History Channel, and has spoken at numerous college campuses, The Getty Villa, and the International Conference on the Ancient Novel.

Steven was born in Texas in 1956 and graduated with high honors from the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied history and Classics. He divides his time between homes in Berkeley, California, and Austin, Texas. When not using his brain, he likes to keep in shape running, swimming, and lifting weights.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fans of the Roma Sub Rosa books will be genuinely surprised., July 21, 1999

By 

Bruce Trinque (Amston, CT United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Rubicon: A Novel of Ancient Rome (Hardcover)

I have been reading all of Steven Saylor's "Roma Sub Rosa" novels (featuring the First Century BC detective Gordianus the Finder) since he began publishing them nearly a decade ago. The historical background for the series is superbly researched, and the reader inevitably learns much about Ancient Rome. Moreover, the plots and characters are intricate and compelling. With "Rubicon" Saylor has reached a new level, delving deeper into Gordianus's soul than he has ever done before. And Saylor has done something which is very difficult for the author of a series to accomplish -- in "Rubicon" he genuinely surprises the reader.

I would urge people, however, to first read the other novels in the "Roma Sub Rosa" cycle before approaching "Rubicon," so that they better understand Gordianus and his family.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Saylor skillfully brings history to life, May 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Rubicon: A Novel of Ancient Rome (Hardcover)

In RUBICON, Steven Saylor plunges the reader into the chaos and intrigue of the Roman Republic's last civil war. Less a whodunnit than a vivid, panoramic historical novel with mystery elements, RUBICON nonetheless features all the trademarks of Saylor's "Roma Sub Rosa" series -- vivid characters, polished writing, and brilliantly unexpected plot twists. The siege of the Italian port city of Brundisium is masterfully rendered, as are the terrors of traveling through a countryside ravaged by war and poisoned by suspicion and fear. Fast-paced, well researched, and exciting, RUBICON offers all that any reader of historical fiction could ask for. It's one of Saylor's best.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not his best, yet better than others, January 3, 2000

By 

P Kuijt "Pieter" (Leiden Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rubicon: A Novel of Ancient Rome (Hardcover)

This is certainly not the best work in the Gordanius serie. Yet it has all the historical precision that is absent in the writings of authors like Lindsey Davis. In those books you feel like you're reading about a 21st century mind which accidently ended up in the body of an ancient hero. Not with Saylor, who always succeeds in convincing you that the novel characters are true Romans (even though that can't be true). So even not at his best, Steven Saylor is superior to every ancient suspense writer