Spqr VI: Nobody Loves a Centurion

The protagonist, Decius Caecilius Metellus, is a Senator of Rome and a newly arrived junior officer at Julius Caesar's camp at the beginning of Caesar's Gallic Wars. After a Centurion who is savagely disciplining turns up dead, Metellus must find the killers. Metellus' search is complicated by the fact that he is in a war zone with three armies massing for war, everyone thinks he is an incompetent boob, and his habit of making enemies of everyone. Metellus determine whether the assassins were Germans, Helvetii, legionaries, or Druids in a matter of days. This book had a realism that I sometimes found missing in Saylor's Roma Sub Rosa series (the other great series of late-Republican based historical mysteries) in that Roberts' Metellus is not so shockingly moralistic as Saylor's Gordianus could be. I stayed up past 2am two nights in a row to finish this book, it was that good. I just put the rest of this series on my wishlist.

A top-notch mystery and an informative historical novel, Roberts' sixth volume in the SPQR series is satisfying on all counts. As always, the breezy manner but core seriousness of our narrator and sleuth, Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger, now a cavalry commander in Caesar's army in Gaul at the time of the Helvetian migration, keeps the tone of the novel light, but serious matters are still dealt with, including loyalty, treachery and difficult choices.In the previous five novels in the series, there has always been a murder mystery to be investigated by Decius. Sometimes the murder mystery was central,while at other times they were mere accompaniment to political conspiracy. In this novel, political conspiracy is at the heart of the murders, but does not occupy a large part of the plot, since we don't find out about the political connections until the end. This is more a novel about life in the Roman army and the often conflicting interests of Romans, Gauls and Germans. Certainly Decius' investigation of the murder, and his need to clear the son of one of his clients of the charge, is the focus of the book and of Decius' actions, in the course of which we meet not only Julius Caesar and his legatus Titus Labienus, but also the German king, Ariovistus, whose own time on-stage is short, but whose associates are main players in the plot. Clodius does not appear in this adventure, because it is his tribunate back in Rome that prompts Decius' departure for Gaul. Since Decius is still engaged to Caesar's niece, Julia, Gaul is a logical place to go for someone who has already had military experience in Spain.If you like Saylor's Gordianus and Davis' Falco, you will like Roberts' Decius. Like the other two, Decius is able to take care of himself in a fight but differs in being upper class. Decius is not as wise-cracking as Falco nor as closely tied to family as Gordianus, but all three make good narrators that we care about. You don't need to have read the ... previous episodes in the SPQR series (all starring Decius) in order to follow this episode, but there are some back-references that are clearer if you've read the first three, which you should probably do anyhow.I liked Roberts' presentation of Decius in the first five novels, but I think our hero is even better this time around. Maybe it's just because he is getting older and more serious, though still keeping his wit. I liked the complexity of the murder mystery and especially the double twist at the end. I had anticipated whom Decius would meet at the German camp, since the characters were too vivid to just drop out of the story, but I thought Decius had announced the correct solution to the murder of Vinius in his summing up. It turns out that there is more still for Decius to find out. The definition of Caesar's role in it was a nice touch. In my review of Sacrilege I had spoken of Caesar as "a rogue, but a fascinating one, who never kills a man for mere pleasure or whim". I have my o

There was a substantial gap in the writing time of the SPQR series and JMR returns with another installation that sees our erstwhile hero once more stepping outside Rome. In this case, he is heading to Gaul to serve under Caesar as military tribune in his confrontation with the Helvetii.What follows is an enjoyable march through a legionary camp (JMR has clearly done some extensive research into the facts of a Roman army camp as the detail closely match historical findings) as the Primus Pilus Titius Vinius is murdered and the obvious suspects aren't so guilty to the eye of Decius.This neatly sets the scene for him to investigate another murder that encompasses more than we intially are led to believe, but this time he is under pressure to find the guilty party before Caesar returns. With aplomb, he picks his way through the clues and deals with a variety of characters before the denouement that is as subtle as it is brilliant.SPQR VI is an excellent addition to the series and is highly recommended.

Roberts scores again! This is a series which just keeps getting better. Cross the wry humor of Lindsey Davis with the blood-on-the-tiles-of-the-Forum style of Steven Saylor, add the natural snobbishness of the Roman upper class, and you begin to grasp the writing style in the SPQR series. Plus, in this book you learn all you wanted to know about life in the legions and Ceaser's campaigns in Gaul. Buy it. Now.

Though he is a Roman senator and his family are very influential due to their support of the leadership, Decius Metellus flees town when his enemy Clodius is named as a Tribune. Decius, accompanied by his slave, slowly heads towards Julius Caesar's camp in Gaul. When he arrives, the Proconsul Caesar is disappointed in that his niece's fiancé came with just one person. Decius gets in trouble with Caesar for interfering with the discipline meted out by the First Spear of the Tenth, Centurion Titus Vinus to his men. However, someone kills Titus and Julius asks Decius to investigate because the evidence points towards the victim's men including the son of a client of Decius. As he begins his investigation, Decius prays that he can blame the Germans or the Helveti for the slaying so good Roman soldiers can be freed. In the sixth SPQR Ancient Rome mystery, John Maddox Roberts continues to provide an insightful fresh look into a bygone era. The current tale, NOBODY LOVES A CENTURION, provides a powerful glimpse at the Roman militia as well as Julius Caesar from a non-Shakespearean side. Decius remains a humorous individual who at first glance seems to go with the flow, but in actuality is a deep caring person who gets involved. SPQR VI is "excellentus." Harriet Klausner