Customer Reviews

SPQR XI: Under Vesuvius

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Overall: this is another fine book in the SPQR series by John Maddox Roberts. It is a quick read with some interesting twists in it. A nice change of pass from the other books is that Decius needs to rely on his clients to do some of the investigating.

The SPQR format with Decius constantly moving up in office is a great idea but it is clearly coming the end of the series. The power of higher office also is a limit on the snooping that Decius has been so enjoyable to read. This book suffers a bit as the author has not quite figured out how to make the transition cleanly.

Decius and Julia are a formidible force for law and order in ancient Rome. Julia plays a fairly large part in this story; it is well managed and a great use of her logic and social skills. Decius does a great job of being a traditional Roman.

The story revolves around the transition within Rome away from the old families toward the rise of business / wealth in determining power.

Characters: 3 stars (not as much development as in prior books)
Action: 2 stars (not much action but many murders "off-camera" )
Complexity: 4 stars (nice bit of misdirection and red herrings)
Writing style: 3.5 stars (clear, concise and effective)
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Overall: 4 stars

This is a strong addition to the series and also works well as a standalone novel. Roberts both captures amusingly the atmosphere of the late Roman Republic and provides a tightly written murder mystery.

Our hero and narrator, Decius Caecilius Metellus the younger, has now advanced to a senior magistracy as Praetor Peregrinus in charge of court cases involving foreigners in Italy. With his wife and entourage he is stoically enduring the extravagant delights of the resort town of Baiae. As always, Decius portrays himself as a would-be playboy, reluctantly diverted by civic duty. His relaxed assumption of upper class superiority amidst an endlessly indulgent social swirl sometimes remind me of Bertie Wooster. But behind the facade, Decius is both intelligent and remorselessly diligent. Roberts skillfully namedrops through late Republican society, with Caesars and Antonii and Cicero himself dropping by.

Beside the resort atmosphere, Baiae also provides a complex murder mystery for Decius to solve, with many interlocking roles, hints, and misdirections. In some other novels of the series, the atmosphere and politics are interesting, but the murder mystery itself is weak and unconvincing. "Under Vesuvius" fixes that problem. The plot is complex, but the pieces ultimately fit together well, with a surprising and satisfying conclusion.

Although this is the 11th member of the series, it is also a fine place to begin. It is one of the strongest of the recent volumes and requires no prior knowledge of the other novels. A very enjoyable five stars.

Like the other reviewers, I am a fan of this series (as well as Steven Saylor's "Gordianus the Finder" books), and looked forward to reading this one very much. However, because of repeated or important errors by the author and the editors, I found myself becoming more annoyed the more I read.

First, the small stuff. When Decius goes to the townhouse of Jocasta, he "entered the courtyard". Roman townhouses did not have courtyards, per se. The first room entered was always the atrium. Only by going through the entire house could you access the garden, which was called a peristyle. The author also several times seems to confuse the atrium with the impluvium, which was a rectangular pool in the atrium, usually about 30 centimetres deep, for catching rainwater that fell through a hole in the roof called the compluvium. Here's an example, the first sentence of Chapter 8: "It didn't look like much of a weapon, lying on the table in the impluvium." I repeat, the impluvium was a pool for catching rainwater - no furniture was put in it.

Roberts also makes repeated references to "Coan" cloth as well as to silk. He makes it clear that he regards them as two different fabrics. In fact, Coan cloth, famous for its fineness and transparency, was itself probably silk.

But the biggest problem with this book is that the main characters repeatedly discuss volcanoes in general, and Mount Vesuvius as a volcano in particular. They seem very knowledgable about them in these discussions, and the main character makes more than one reference to volcanic eruptions. The fact is, however, that the Romans knew next to nothing about volcanoes. They had no word for "volcano" in their language. They had no direct experience with volcanic eruptions, which is why the Pompeiians were not particularly frightened at the beginning when Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D. Had the Pompeiians known about volcanic eruptions, they could have saved themselves by fleeing right away, but many of them looked at the erupting Vesuvius and said "Wow, never saw that before. Oh, well, it's just smoke. Let's go have lunch."

Those are my quibbles. I'm a history teacher and see little excuse for these sorts of errors, so take that into account when reading this review. The story is a good one, the characters are well developed, and the conclusion is way cool. But Roberts' editor should have caught the errors about the Roman houses and fabrics, and Roberts himself should have known about the Roman relationship to volcanoes.

I'm a big fan of this series and have them all. I ordered this last summer, as soon as I knew it was coming out and was happy to get it. The series is well written, literate and fascinating. The author really knows his stuff and provides a good glossary at the back so you can look up what he's talking about when it doesn't translate to modern times - without slowing down the action with explanations. He uses humor effectively, writes very well, plots well, and has engaging characters. I did think this wasn't up to some of the earlier books - it almost felt as though he tossed off the ending - it was plenty plausible, but somehow felt pasted on and had too many explanations in the last few pages, rather than bringing them out along the way. I'm still happy I got it and will order SPQR XII as soon as it is available. I would recommend starting with some of the earlier books, however and then read this one. Not because you need the background, each book stands alone, but because I think they were better books. Incidentally, one reason I love these mysteries is the absence of several pages or paragraphs full of "I had ....." he's able to give you what you need to know without this sad, sloppy, amateur technique and I thank him for it. He writes other series, including a Conan series, but this series is far and away superior.

"Under Vesuvius" is an enjoyable short crime novel set in the waning days of the Roman Republic that sees the antagonist, senatorial sleuth, Decius Caecillius Metellus, his wife Julia and somewhat dodgy entourage, head south from Rome to take up the duties of a roving senior magistrate. Landing first in Baiae, a kind of Roman Malibu, Metellus quickly sees his cushy new gig become very complicated by a series of murders that are probably connected, but not obviously so. As in previous SPQR stories, author John Maddox Roberts provides a great deal of interesting background information on place, culture and politics of the time. His characters in this new story are familiar, but portrayed in a more quirky and offbeat manner than its predecessors. While the plot and background details are enjoyable and creative, I think the book could have used a bit more spinning out. There were aspects of the story--motivation, character interaction, etc.--that could have used some elaboration. Nonetheless, "Under Vesuvius" is an interesting read, worth the time and money.

An excellent story just like the previous ones. My only complaint is that Roberts needs to write more, as in, bigger books and more of them ! His characters are not so deep that you feel buried in the persons minutia, yet they are extensive enough that they are not two dimensional. The gradual progression of the main characters career gives you an overall experience of what is was like to travel the 'cursus honorum', and live in Rome during the transition from Republic to Empire. I am looking forward to future books.

Decius, the main character of the SPQR novels gets a new position and temporarily becomes a detective in the lap of luxury. Decius, a born investigator, becomes a man of leisure, living in a grand villa with hundreds of staff and attendants.
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Decius Caecilius Metellus finally has an office with imperium. He was elected as praetor peregrinus, essentially the magistrate who judges all cases involving foreigners in Italy. Imperium means power over people, power to decide disputes between them, and the power to punish those who violate the law. As judge of cases involving foreigners he gets to travel to all of Italy's resort towns.

His first trip is to Campania which is near Mount Vesuvius and the luxury resort towns of Cumae, Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Baiae. As the second highest official in the Roman republic, Decius is invited to lavish dinners and parties. He is accompanied by his wife Julia and two of her friends, who focus and comment on the lavish dresses and decorations in the homes of the rich.

The tranquility of Campania is disturbed when the daughter of a priest of Apollo is murdered in the garden near Decius's villa. Instantly residents blame Gelon, the young son of a prominent slave merchant. Decius arrests the boy and places him under guard to avoid mob execution. While the boy is in captivity, someone murders his father. Decius, despite being the senior magistrate decides to investigate these crimes himself to avoid mob rule. The investigation is difficult and complicated.

As in most of Maddox's SPQR series, numerous information is explained concerning ancient Roman customs. First we learn that Baiae has streets that are brightly lit at night for safety and commerce. The city also constructs massive awnings that shade the streets so that pedestrians can shop without suffering from the hot sun.

The wealthy citizens of Campania have special caves to keep ice even in the summer. Laborers bring ice and snow to Baiae from high mountains and stock the caves so the rich can have cold drinks in the hot summer.

The Romans borrowed from the Greeks a tradition called euergesia. Euergesia requires that rich people provide public works for the people. Failure to comply can result in being ostracized.

Under Vesuvius is an excellent novel filled with action and suspense. This tale has it all - suspense, action, plot twists and a surprise ending. I recommend this story for those who enjoy historical fiction and mysteries.

In this eleventh installment of the superb SPQR series, Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger is serving as Praetor, a powerful position in the Roman Government that is just one level below the Consulship. As he is visiting the beautiful resort town of Campania in southern Italy to conduct the law courts there, Decius quickly becomes enmeshed in a mystery. There is something akin to a serial killer in Compania, and as always Decius cannot help but investigate this problem to its conclusion.

The atmospherics in this one are terrific; Campania must have been a beautiful place; too beautiful for all these murders, one might think. In any case, this is a fast-paced and interesting story that captures the reader's interest. I did not see the ending coming, but this is still a good mystery story for all that.

For some reason this one is not available on Kindle. I hope that Amazon will remedy this.

Highly recommended. RJB.

I am biased as I am a long time fan of the author and of the series. If you like books about ancient Rome and well plotted mysteries - you will enjoy this. If you've never read any of the SPQR books before, I recommend that you start with the first as they are chronological.

I've read every book in the entire series and I highly recommend them. They are interesting, entertaining and often make me laugh. This book lives up to the rest. When the next one comes out, I'll be one of the first to order it. Check this series out. You won't be disappointed.