SPQR VII: The Tribune's Curse
A Mystery
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5.0 • 8 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Decius Caecilius Metellus is happy. The weather is beautiful and he is standing for office (literally; standing, in the Roman Forum soliciting votes) with a sure chance of winning. And Caesar's ongoing dreary war is far off in Gaul. Decius is confident that another war looming over Rome, instigated by one Crassus against the Parthians (for no reason but possible worldly gain); will be voted down in the Senate. But the vote does not stop Crassus.
On the day he and his troops set out from Rome, the Tribune Ateius Capitus, leader of the opposition, shrieks an ancient and terrible curse over the huge crowd assembled -- a curse that frightens not only the man in the street but the highest Romans. When Ateius is murdered soon after, Decius, solver of past mysteries, has the ugly task of finding the killer. Fascinating details of Rome's mixed attitudes about the power of magic and the practice of rational politics illuminate this latest of Roberts's strong historical mysteries.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this delightful historical, the seventh of Roberts's SPQR books (after 2001's Nobody Loves a Centurion), Decius Caecilius Metellus has left service in Gaul with his uncle (by marriage), Julius Caesar, and returned home to Rome. As a candidate for the office of aedile, he's busy cultivating voters by paying for expensive games and contests. The murder of the tribune Ateius, after he publicly places a dreadful curse on consul Crassus and his army, stirs up civil unrest. The consul Pompey charges Decius with finding the tribune's killer before the mobs burn the city. Through the engaging, humorous voice of Decius, the author portrays such prominent figures of the Roman Republic as Cato and Cicero, while bringing to life the ancient city with its sights and smells, manners and customs, politics and religion. Despite a predictable ending, readers will surely look forward to Decius's future adventures.
