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I like mystery/suspense novels about ancient Greece, Rome, and other Mediterranean countries. They usually come in two types: firstly, those that play up a fictional protagonist in fictitious adventures, with or without one or more real-life historical personages as incidental characters. The Falco series is of this type. And secondly there are those written about facts and people of history where the fiction seems secondary to the real life. Both can be very good and worthwhile reading. THE JUDGMENT OF CAESAR is of the second type. Gordianus the Finder is Steven Saylor's fictional protagonist in this ancient Rome series. In this book he goes to Egypt in 48 BC to help his wife Bethesda cure an illness. He is captured by Pompey, who has fled to Egypt with the remnants of his army following his defeat at Pharsalus in Greece by Julius Caesar. From their past encounters, Pompey doesn't like Gordianus, but before he can harm him, he himself is murdered by Ptolemy, the boy co-king of Egypt, who shares the throne with, and hates, his sister Cleopatra. Then Caesar goes to Egypt after Ptolemy, and Gordianus finds himself in beautiful, sophisticated Alexandria in the middle of intrigues featuring Caesar, Cleopatra, Ptolemy, and the eunuch Egyptian chamberlain, Pothinus. This is real life coming to us from the writings of near-contemporaries Suetonius, Plutarch, and Dio Cassius, and from their later interpreters, Shakespeare and George Bernard Shaw. As a real-life drama it is fascinating enough to hold the center stage on its own, even if it's being read for the umpteenth time. The difficulty in writing a book like this is to put the fictional adventures on an equally imposing scale. Author Saylor obviously did not just want to have Gordianus as an observer and middleman for us. He wanted to have Gordianus with his own story. In this case I think he could have done better. Gordianus's personal story has two fictional aspects. The first is the disappearance of his wife, who has walked into the Nile seeking a cure. The second revolves around his not well-explained disowning of his son, Meto, who is a soldier who serves Caesar and is close to him, with the subsequent conversion of Gordianus to realizing he was wrong when Meto gets in trouble with Caesar and is threatened with death. The first is convincing, but not well played up, while the second is well played up, but not too convincing. In the meantime the Caesar-Cleopatra-Ptolemy-Pothinus quadrangle shines with so much interest that it puts the fictional parts in the shade. An additional benefit that the reader can draw from this book is some good background information on the real-life characters and Egypt and the city of Alexandria in general. A question that a lot of readers well-read in history might not have been able to answer is, how do we find Ptolemy and Cleopatra as joint king and queen of Egypt in the light of our knowledge of earlier centuries of pharaohs? The answer is well covered in this book: The conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great, followed by the division of his vast conquered empire by his generals after his death, is the catalyst that changed Egypt from being pharaonic to Ptolemaic, the first Ptolemaios being the Greek general who took Egypt for his share. Cleopatra and her brother were more of Greek blood than Egyptian. The famous Pharos Library and the tomb of Alexander the Great are also highlighted in this book. The book is well worth reading. Saylor has a fine detailed knowledge of ancient Rome and its surroundings, and this shows in his attention to detail, which helps make the story come to life. I have not read all of his ancient Roman novels yet, but I will.
Reviewed by Eugene Aubrey Stratton, June 2004
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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