SPQR V: Saturnalia [Hardcover]

John Maddox Roberts (Author)

Book Description

Series: SPQR | Publication Date: October 13, 1999

This eagerly awaited fifth book in John Maddox Roberts's Edgar-nominated historical mystery series once again takes the reader back to the Rome of Julius Caesar and the Roman Senator Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger. Decius has won himself a reputation as both an investigator and, most unfortunately, a bit of a playboy. Having been banished by his family for sometimes embarrassing activities to a rather leisurely lifestyle on Rhodes, he is puzzled to be suddenly and unexpectedly summoned home to assist in an investigation.

Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer, a relative of Decius and his family and the head of a powerful political clan, has been poisoned, and his infamous wife Clodia is immediately suspected of disposing of her rather inconvenient husband. Not entirely convinced of Clodia's guilt, Decius delves into the intricacies of Rome's ruling class and discovers that a clandestine, forbidden witches' cult is inextricably intertwined with some very highborn people. A trial for Clodia would be most unwelcome, as it could bring to light some well-kept secrets. To get to the bottom of the corruption that accompanies the intoxicating allure of this ancient city, Decius must form an uneasy alliance with Clodius, Clodia's brother and his sworn enemy, and be extremely careful not to step on any toes.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Sporting an anachronistic, decidedly modern-day sensibility, the Roman senator Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger returns to his native Rome from Rhodes at a time when Julius Caesar is beginning his rise to power. Worldly and a bit of a playboy, the prodigal son has been recalled by his family to investigate the death by poisoning of Celer, a wealthy and influential relative. The dead man's wife, Clodia, flaunts most conventional notions of common decency and is clearly capable of murder. She has also been spotted cavorting with witches during the wild Saturnalia celebrations, which are rumored to include a human sacrifice. Decius's father is convinced Clodia is the killer. But her brother, Clodius, an implacable political rival of the Metellus clan, also asks Decius to investigate. He's convinced his sister is innocentAof this crime at least. Decius must balance his devotion to the truth with his family loyalty and pick his way gingerly through the dangerous political intrigues of imperial Rome. Roberts (SPQR IV: The Temple of the Muses, etc.) unleashes a barrage of plots and personalities as he re-creates the lavishness of patrician Roman life. The plot is less engrossing than the setting, but the treacherous atmosphere lingers, as does the wily, if decent Decius. (Nov.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

In ancient Rome, they celebrated the winter solstice with boozing, brawling, and similar manifestations of indecorous behaviorthe Saturnalia. What more fitting time, then, for that party animal Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger to return from exile in Rhodesia where his disapproving family parked him to keep him harmless? A situation has arisen tailor-made for his special talents, Decius being a gifted snoop. In general, snooping was not regarded with warmth by Roman aristocracy, but circumstances do alter cases. For good and sufficient reasons, the Metellus family views the Lady Clodia as a dangerous political enemy, and if it can be demonstrated that she willfully and with malice aforethought poisoned her husband (Decius' kinsman), permanent exile would result forthwith. That's your job, the family paterfamilias tells Decius in no uncertan terms. But Lady Clodia is the sister of Tribune Clodius, next to Julius Caesar the most powerful figure in Rome. Your job is to prove Clodia innocent, Clodius tells Decius, in terms equally unequivocal, leaving Decius to fill in the scary blanks. Needless to say Decius successfully charts a course between Scylla and Charybdis, thus serving justice, fulfilling family obligations, and saving his precious skin. He also does some whooping it up along the way. Too talky, too thinly plotted, and Decius is a charmless rake for whom it's hard to work up much empathy. This out of print series is being republished, St. Martin's says, in response to popular appeal. But Steven Saylor does ancient Rome better, and Roberts does better with his Gabe Treloar series (Desperate Highways, 1997, etc.). -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 275 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; 1st edition (October 13, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312205821
• ISBN-13: 978-0312205829
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,799,365 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John Maddox Roberts has written numerous works of science fiction and fantasy, in addition to his successful historical SPQR mystery series. He lives in New Mexico with his wife.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A realistic antique detective returns!, October 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: SPQR V: Saturnalia (Hardcover)

After years of having the SPQR series published in Germany instead of the United States, Decius Caecilius Metellus the younger returns! Thank you, St. Martins Minotaur!

While others find the protagonist a bit stiff (including the same reviewer who confused Rhodesia, unknown to the Romans, with the island of Rhodes), I think he's a realistic representative of the attitudes of the Roman noble of this period. Unlike Lindsey Davis's Didius Festus (Philip Marlowe with a better attitude toward women) and Steven Saylor's Gordianus (very independent for a low-ranking citizen, and very modern in his attitudes), Senator Metellus may strike a reader as too conventional and priggish. However, if one reads his contemporaries, he seems very true to his time and place.

That said, I did not find the plot as satisfactory as ones in previous novels in the series, especially The Sacrilege and The Temple of the Muses. I thought the revelation of the villain and conclusion of the novel rather abrupt.

On the other hand, the recurring characters also strike me as being true to their time and place, and the local color and culture vivid and convincing.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Murder, Mayhem, and Scandal in Ancient Rome, September 10, 2002

By 

E. Rothstein "erothstein" (STUDIO CITY, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: SPQR V: Saturnalia (Hardcover)

... I had just read the Steven Saylor "Roma Sub Rosa" series, featuring the lovably human Gordianus the Finder, so I felt a bit disloyal even picking up a Maddox Roberts book, but, WOW! am I glad I did. Roberts writes with effortless skill, a keen understanding of complex Roman politics and social hierarchies, and, best of all, a delicious sense of mystery. SATURNALIA, is a wicked tale of murder and adultery, set against the twilight of Rome's Republic. The scandalous Clodia is accused of poisoning her husband (all of this is based on historical events), and Maddox Roberts takes the opportunity to explore some of Rome's darker sides in the process. Roberts' hero - a Junior Senator with the unwieldy name of Decius Caecilius Metellus - is a wonder: patrician by birth, he is able to walk with equal confidence in marble halls, and the stinkiest streets of the Subura. I highly recommend not only SATURNALIA, but all the other novels in the SPQR series. You'll fall in love with Decius, and discover sides to ancient Rome you never knew existed.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and different series, December 5, 2000

By 

S. Boyce (London UK) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: SPQR V: Saturnalia (Hardcover)

Both JM Roberts and Steve Saylor are writing a series of historical mysteries set in the same late republican era of Rome. While Roberts is not as good a writer as Saylor, either in his prose or in his individuation of the characters, in my opinion he has a more interesting perspective. By this I mean, firstly, that he takes the mores of this period on its own terms and does not bring in spurious late-20th-century sensibility as Saylor does; and secondly, that as he has become more confident in the genre his stories have diverged more and more from traditional mysteries/adventures into stories which place the protagonist into situations which explore the underlying stresses of the society in which he operates. An example is a later book in the series (currently only in German), "Revenge of the River Gods," where the hero must investigate a case of corruption in the building industry. As the story unfolds, the hero discovers that the theatre in which he is about to stage the annual games is a death trap, and the persons responsible include his own family. This is quite a different type of story from anything any of the other Roman detectives currently on the bookshelves might be given by their authors. While the earlier books in the series contain some errors, Roberts has evidently continued not just to research but also to think about this period of history and (unlike Saylor) he wears his learning lightly.