A turbulent frontier province, rotten with corruption and seething with hatred of Rome—a barbarian god whose devotees may include a murderer —a clever and unscrupulous faith healer who knows everyone's secrets—a boy who struggles toward manhood though stricken with the Sacred Disease: these are the elements in a mystery that Pliny, newly appointed governor of Bithynia, confronts when a high Roman official is found murdered on a desolate hillside, miles from the capital. But as Pliny pursues one baffling lead after another, he is being betrayed where he least expects it: his beautiful wife, neglected and lonely in an alien city, falls desperately in love with a handsome young provincial—an affair which threatens to bring not only pain but ruin to Pliny's career. All these threads come together in a surprising and tragic finale.
Review In A.D. 108, Gaius Plinius Secundus ventures east with his young wife, Calpurnia, and an entourage to the province of Bithynia-Pontus, on the Black Sea, where resentment against the empire runs high. Newly appointed as governor, Pliny's feted at the home of Marcus Vibius Balbus, the Fiscal Procurator of the province, and senses unrest there. His instinct proves correct when Balbus goes missing, as does his chief accountant, Silvanus. Nearly two weeks later, Balbus' partially decomposed body is found in a deep gully, transforming Silvanus into the prime suspect in his murder. Embezzlement of some kind is suspected of either or both of the men. Although the locals are inclined to blame everything on the infidel Persians, Pliny is neither so gullible nor so bigoted as to adopt this view. Pancrates, a slick, fraudulent fortuneteller who seems to exert a Rasputin-like control over several powerful locals, becomes a key figure in Pliny's investigation. So do the unctuous orator known as Diocles the Golden Mouth, who seems to pop up around every crime scene, and Glaucon, a hotheaded magnate who used to be a wrestler. On the personal front, Pliny struggles to deal with marital incompatibility; Calpurnia, who is prone to spontaneous outbursts, would rather play with her maid Ione than her husband. Packed with colorful characters and a strong sense of history, Pliny's second adventure (Roman Games, 2010) takes its time developing its whodunit but consistently entertains along the way. —Kirkus Reviews
"I thought it brilliant, a fantastic weave of fact with fiction in a brutally described Rome, rigid with hierarchy and fear. I really enjoyed the disillusionment that Plinius suffers at the end as the slaves are burnt alive for the collective good of the coup and ultimately Rome itself if one considers the era that Nerva ushered in. An excellent series. And I look forward to more." —Robert Fabbri, author of Vespasian, Tribune of Rome  on Roma Far from Rome, mass murder complicates a provincial governor's fight against local corruption.
About the Author Bruce Macbain holds degrees in Classics and Ancient History and has taught Greek and Roman history at Vanderbilt and Boston Universities. His special interests are ancient medicine and religion in the Roman empire. He brings these together in his fiction-- Roman Games (2010) and The Bull Slayer (2013). He lives with his wife in Brookline, Massachusetts.
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