A Gladiator Dies Only Once : The Further Investigations of Gordianus the Finder

By Steven Saylor : I see Steven is releasing a second compilation of short pieces featuring Gordianus the Finder:

"Fresh from his duel of wits with Cleopatra (in last year?s acclaimed novel THE JUDGMENT OF CAESAR), Gordianus returns in this new collection of short stories.

Nine tales of mystery, murder, and intrigue take the Finder from the seamy streets of Rome to elegant villas on the Bay of Naples, from a Sicilian graveyard with a deadly secret to a bloody battlefield in Spain. Whether against the spectacular backdrop of a chariot race, or settling a domestic dispute with his beautiful Egyptian concubine Bethesda, Gordianus is always on the case.

The book also includes a detailed chronology of all nine novels and eighteen short stories in the ongoing Roma Sub Rosa series."

Food For The Fishes

By David Wishart

"When Licinius Murena, wealthy owner of a fish-farm, is found dead, drowned in one of his own eel tanks, not many tears are shed. Certainly not by Trebbio, who had just been booted out of his cottage by the landowner, and was heard bad-mouthing him drunkenly in public the day before Murena's death. Nor by the widow, a little stunner half Murena's age who allegedly spent an inordinate amount of time 'under the doctor'. Nor by his daughter or his farm manager. With friends like these, who needs enemies? Marcus Corvinus is the man to find out. With the help, of course, of his clever wife Perilla - if she can spare the time from her newly acquired passion for gambling...As we follow the Byzantine thought processes by which our hero solves the crime, we are entertained along with way with accounts of pisciculture and with a handy guide to 'Twelve Lines', the Roman precursor of backgammon."

Enemies of the Empire

By Rosemary Rowe

Amazon.co.uk: Books: Enemies of the Empire: "It's AD 188, and a tiresome three-day journey to the forested outskirts of the Empire is the last thing Libertus, freedman and pavement-maker, wants to make. Not only are there wolves and bears, but Celtic rebels may well regard the lone coach as fair game. But when Marcus Septimus asks Libertus to join him on official business, he knows he can't refuse his benevolent patron. En route to the garrison town of isca, they stop at Venta: a simmering cauldron of social unrest where the Silures tribe, loyal to the memory of former chief Caractacus, seethes under Roman occupation. In the busy market square, Libertus is shocked by the glimpse of a familiar face. His pursuit of the figure leads him down a dangerous path and, before he knows it, into a murky world of racketeering, treason and murder..."

Warrior Queen: The Story of Boudica, Celtic Queen

"Meticulously researched and imaginatively wrought, Warrior Queen is the sweeping epic of a flame-haired woman who would dare to challenge the vicious might of the Roman Empire-and whose name would echo throughout history.

In 43 A.D., Boudica became the queen of a Celtic tribe-and a Roman sympathizer. But after years of loyal service to the Empire, she would find herself brutally betrayed. With the conviction of a hero and the courage of a warrior, she united the Celts against their enemy. The fury of her unleashed vengeance threw the Roman forces into chaos, made her a goddess to her own people-and carried her into the history books as a true heroine of the British people.

Now, Alan Gold retells the story of Boudica in a novel that embraces all the fiery passion and intrigue of the Warrior Queen."

This book is due to be released in June 2005.