Spqr II: The Catiline Conspiracy

Actually I am writing re: SPQR I - V. I have read these of the series to date. First, I must remark about the verisimilitude; all of these volumes are realistic. I have some knowledge of the history of the last century BCE and to date I've found no error. I have learned some history that is new to me. (At first I checked primary sources for verification and always Roberts was correct.) For me the sine qua non of a good historical novel is accurate history. Character and plot development are there, seasoned with lots of exciting (and humerous) events.

The Nero Wolfe stories all revolve around a New York City peopled with numerous interesting characters who reappear in story after story. Half the fun of Nero Wolfe is the comfortable interplay between and among familiar characters. This is especially true of Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin. A neat mystery is set out, the characters banter back and forth as they set to solving it, and some sort of a caper is concocted to aid the solution. The SPQR series seems to be in the same mold. The city is Rome in the declining years of the Republic, and some of the recurring characters are actual historical figures. There is no Nero Wolfe to sit idly sipping beer and thinking as Archie Goodwin does all the heavy lifting. Decius Caecilius Metellus must do both the thinking and the legwork. He's as accomplished as Archie Goodwin in handling the rough stuff, but he's not as sharp as Nero Wolfe in figuring out whodunnit. The stories begin with Decius as a minor government functionary who encounters murder at every corner. As he sets about solving the murders, he invariably irritates powerful and dangerous men, uncovers a threat to the very existence of Rome, and dodges attempts on his life as he unravels the mystery. With each succeeding book through the first three, he climbs a little higher in Roman politics and makes more and more enemies. In the first three books, there really won't be a lot of mystery about whodunnit if you're familiar with this period of ancient history, because Roberts is very faithful to the history. The real mystery, and what kept me turning the pages, is "how's Decius going to survive solving the murders?" The conspiracy of Catiline is a familiar episode in Roman history. Sallust wrote a monograph about it. Cicero published his speeches on it. Maddox follows the course of the conspiracy very carefully. You can get the actual history of the conspiracy of Catelina from Sallust's monograph on the subject and from Cicero's recorded speeches against Catelina. If you're not familiar with the story, you might want to wait until you've read this book before reading the histories. Now, if a mystery carefully follows the course of known historical events, how can there be any mystery to it? Furthermore, how can there be any entertainment value to it? Let me count the ways: 1. If you don't know the history, you've still got a mystery. Even if you do, you'll have fun puzzling out Maddox's fictional details of the conspiracy. 2. A good mystery derives as much entertainment value from the interplay of interesting characters as from the mysteries themselves. From Holmes and Watson to Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin and beyond, the cast of characters turns mediocre stories into very good stories. Much of the fun of the Decius Metellus stories comes from the interplay of the interesting characters Maddox peoples his stories with. 3. Many mysteries (Columbo, e.g.) give the audience the culprit from the beginning, and the myst

This is a political mystery set around the historical Catiline conspiracy. The detail of what life was like in those days (for the elite) is wonderfully done while the reading is light and easy. This is like Colleen McCullough's historical series but much lighter in tone and slimmer. For me the pleasure was much more in the details of life in the last days of the Roman Republic thanin the mystery (although I like a good mystery too). Also, I finally made some sense of what the Catiline Conspiracy was about, after having puzzled over it in Latin and history classes in my youth.

It is wonderful to see J. M. Roberts' SPQR novels back in print. With the sixth novel `Nobody Loves a Centurion' now published, it gives a good excuse to go back and re-read this magnificent series of historical mysteries.In this second novel, the protagonist Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger continues his rise through the Roman political system as the yearly quaestor in charge of the treasury-a low ranking, thankless and mundane job. Caius Julius Caesar is the pontifex maximus, Pompey is wielding his imperium in the near east, and Cicero is one of the consuls-the supreme magistrates of the Republic. In this post-Sulla era, Rome is fairly quiet but marred by the unexplained murders of several equites-the upper middle class businessmen/citizens that don't have the prestige of being patricians, but but the true holders of much of Rome's financial wealth.In his usual sideways manner, Decius Caecilius gets himself involved and appointed to investigate. What follows is a rather well told tale of intrigue and desire based upon the historical conspiracy of Lucius Sergius Catilina against the Republic. Steven Saylor covered some of the same material in his equally excellent novel `Catilina's Riddle'-but from a slightly different perspective. This key moment in Roman history was truly a political turning point that presaged the end of the Republic and the coming of the Imperators.Crassus, Pompey, Caesar and Catilina are brought to life in a way that history books can't do, and J.M. Roberts has created a most likable character in his Decius Caecilius. The extensive use of Roman titles and terminology is offset by the short glossary explaining key Latin terms as they were used in this era. A smart and fascinating novel with not so much mystery as history. Highly Recommended.

At long last, SPQR II: The Catiline Conspiracy is back in print--in a nice trade paperback edition. (The original release, from about a decade ago was a pocket-sized mass-market edition, with a rather tacky cover).The basic plot of the story is that Decius Caecilius Metellus, young scion of a patrician line, in the course of his duties as quaestor (a temporary public office), discovers a number of signs that lead him to believe that some serious trouble is afoot-- caches of weapons hidden away in unused rooms at the temple of Saturn being only the first of them. Eventually, he discovers the existence of an organized plot, led by the young noble Cataline, to overthrow the government of Rome. The only way to stop this plot, however, is to learn more of it-- which means pretending to join the conspiracy. But the price of admission is that he must kill one of his most trusted friends!All in all, this is a rollicking good, high-action historical mystery. Like the mysteries of Steven Saylor, it's strongly rooted in actual history-- there was, after all, a real Cataline, who did indeed lead a plot to overthrow the Republic. He, his co-conspirators-- and many of the other characters with whom Decius interacts-- are real. In terms of its 'historicity', it's worth noting that Roberts' take on Cataline is very traditional in that he basically presents him as a spoiled, rotten, corrupt, brattish nobleman. This is, of course, how Cataline was portrayed by his enemies (e.g. Cicero), who-- due to the fact that history is written by the winners-- have tended to be well-represented in surviving documents. This is quite a different presentation of Catalina than Steven Saylor gives in his own mystery novel on the same subject, _Catalina's Riddle_, which presents Catalina more as a well-meaning, attractive, if somewhat naive populist. It's quite interesting to see the contrast, and those who enjoyed one book should also read the other-- just to see a different take on things.In terms of the writing itself-- Maddox is quite fluid and engaging... and occasionally quite witty. His style is very different from Steven Saylor's, as is his detective (Decius is an up-and-coming young patrician actively involved in politics, as opposed to a philosophically-oriented plebian)-- but I'd say Saylor fans would still enjoy this book a lot, as would anyone who enjoys really good historical fiction-- particularly intrigues and mysteries-- set in or about ancient Rome.