By Paul Carrier
This may get a bit complicated, but only briefly. That's what happens when you try to describe a prequel to a prequel to a series.
Back in 1991, Steven Saylor released Roman Blood, the first of his Roma Sub Rosa novels. Set in in Rome in 80 B.C., the mystery stars as its protagonist Gordianus the Finder, a Roman who makes his living as a private investigator.
Several novels and short-story collections followed, mostly in chronological order as time marched on and Gordianus aged, until The Triumph of Caesar, set in 46 B.C., hit bookstores in 2008. Since then, two prequels have appeared that take us back to a time preceding Roman Blood, when Gordianus was still a very young man.
In The Seven Wonders, an 18-year-old Gordianus sets out on a coming-of-age voyage in 92 B.C. Four years later, Gordianus, by now all of 22, heads to the Nile Delta on a case in Raiders of the Nile.
Back in 1991, Steven Saylor released Roman Blood, the first of his Roma Sub Rosa novels. Set in in Rome in 80 B.C., the mystery stars as its protagonist Gordianus the Finder, a Roman who makes his living as a private investigator.
Several novels and short-story collections followed, mostly in chronological order as time marched on and Gordianus aged, until The Triumph of Caesar, set in 46 B.C., hit bookstores in 2008. Since then, two prequels have appeared that take us back to a time preceding Roman Blood, when Gordianus was still a very young man.
In The Seven Wonders, an 18-year-old Gordianus sets out on a coming-of-age voyage in 92 B.C. Four years later, Gordianus, by now all of 22, heads to the Nile Delta on a case in Raiders of the Nile.
The Seven Wonders is what is sometimes called a fix-up novel, meaning it is a collection of short stories that have been strung together. At the outset, the young Gordianus and his tutor, the real-life Greek poet Antipater of Sidon, sail from Rome to explore the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, or what's left of them. They do so after the aging but mischievous Antipater adopts a pseudonym, fakes his death in Rome and then manages to attend his own funeral.
Almost every chapter in the novel is tied to a specific site on the tour. As Gordianus and his mentor travel from location to location, Gordianus begins to hone the professional skills that will serve him well later in life. Looming ominously in the background throughout the trip is the growing ambition of Mithridates VI of Pontus, who soon proved to be one of the Roman Republic's greatest adversaries.
Gordianus and Antipater begin their adventures in Ephesus, a Greek-speaking city in what is now Turkey, where they stop to visit the Temple of Artemis. While there, the resourceful Gordianus manages to save the life of a teenage-age girl whom the murderous head priest planned to kill.
Following a stop in Halicarnasses, another city in present-day Turkey, they head to Olympia during the 172nd Olympiad, to see the massive Statue of Zeus. During their stay, Gordianus solves a murder and saves a star athlete who has been falsely accused. An interlude to view the ruins of Corinth paves the way for a trip to Rhodes, to see the remains of the earthquake-shattered Colossus. Other excursions follow.
Saylor is known for his expertise on the ancient world, and "The Seven Wonders" combines page-turning fiction with neatly integrated history lessons. In the course of instructing Gordianus, Antipater and various well-informed locals whom they meet along the way school the reader as well, explaining, for example, that the Temple of Artemis was four times the size of the Parthenon in Athens.
For his part, Gordianus is suitably awestruck by the marvels, as befits an 18-year-old who is visiting them for the first time. Surely, Gordianus notes upon seeing the massive Statue of Zeus at Olympia, "this was not a mere statue, but the god himself."
But Saylor offers up more than a series of mysteries folded into a travelogue. In the final pages, the ever-patriotic Gordianus seeks to protect the Roman Republic from the machinations of Mithridates' newly revealed operatives in Alexandria. Still more noteworthy for fans of the later novels is that Gordianus, while in Alexandria, meets and buys the young slave Bethesda, who figures so prominently in the Roma Sub Rosa series.
The educational aspect of The Seven Wonders is all the more interesting because I'd wager that most readers are familiar with only some of these marvels, and then only superficially. The Great Pyramid of Giza will ring a few bells. So will the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. But the aforementioned Temple of Artemis? The Mausoleum at Halicarnasses? I doubt it.
Almost every chapter in the novel is tied to a specific site on the tour. As Gordianus and his mentor travel from location to location, Gordianus begins to hone the professional skills that will serve him well later in life. Looming ominously in the background throughout the trip is the growing ambition of Mithridates VI of Pontus, who soon proved to be one of the Roman Republic's greatest adversaries.
Gordianus and Antipater begin their adventures in Ephesus, a Greek-speaking city in what is now Turkey, where they stop to visit the Temple of Artemis. While there, the resourceful Gordianus manages to save the life of a teenage-age girl whom the murderous head priest planned to kill.
Following a stop in Halicarnasses, another city in present-day Turkey, they head to Olympia during the 172nd Olympiad, to see the massive Statue of Zeus. During their stay, Gordianus solves a murder and saves a star athlete who has been falsely accused. An interlude to view the ruins of Corinth paves the way for a trip to Rhodes, to see the remains of the earthquake-shattered Colossus. Other excursions follow.
Saylor is known for his expertise on the ancient world, and "The Seven Wonders" combines page-turning fiction with neatly integrated history lessons. In the course of instructing Gordianus, Antipater and various well-informed locals whom they meet along the way school the reader as well, explaining, for example, that the Temple of Artemis was four times the size of the Parthenon in Athens.
For his part, Gordianus is suitably awestruck by the marvels, as befits an 18-year-old who is visiting them for the first time. Surely, Gordianus notes upon seeing the massive Statue of Zeus at Olympia, "this was not a mere statue, but the god himself."
But Saylor offers up more than a series of mysteries folded into a travelogue. In the final pages, the ever-patriotic Gordianus seeks to protect the Roman Republic from the machinations of Mithridates' newly revealed operatives in Alexandria. Still more noteworthy for fans of the later novels is that Gordianus, while in Alexandria, meets and buys the young slave Bethesda, who figures so prominently in the Roma Sub Rosa series.
The educational aspect of The Seven Wonders is all the more interesting because I'd wager that most readers are familiar with only some of these marvels, and then only superficially. The Great Pyramid of Giza will ring a few bells. So will the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. But the aforementioned Temple of Artemis? The Mausoleum at Halicarnasses? I doubt it.
