The Sacrilege: SPQR III

I am so happy to see this book on audio. For a while we only had the first two books in the series and now comes the third. I hope we will see more of this series on audio.

Let me say this was a great mystery and as always the portrayal of the historical figures are accurate.

This centers around the scandal of Publius Clodius Pulcher sneaking into the Bona Dea rites in femal dress at the home of the Pontifex Maximus and the scandal that ensued. In the course of his investigation Decius meets his love - Julia who is no mean investigator in her own right.

John Maddox Roberts takes the license of embellishing the scandal and adding more participants to the masquerade. And if course Decius Metellus the Younger is in the thick of it all. There are bodies galore and the rivalry between the two gangs headed by Milo and Clodius are front and center.As usual Milo is right there to help Decius escape from Clodius' gang. A great ending with a chase through the forum amidst Pompey's Triumph and elephants running wild.

This is a delightful romp through the period of this scandal and John Lee does a masterful job as the narrator. He strikes just the right tone as narrator.

I'm enjoying this series very much, John Maddox Roberts is no Robert Graves, but he does a wonderful job at letting the listener know the class distinctions and how the problems of Rome and being a citizen of Rome can be of major interest. There was a distinct difference of being a citizen of "ROME" and being Italian.

The first two books in the series were narrated by Simon Vance who is one of my favorite narrators. I am very pleased that they got John Lee who is also one of my favorites to continue the series. He really does know how to be an aristocrat, with his voice. In this case the change of narrators to me was not a problem since they both were on my top ten list of narrators.

I found it very hard to stop listening to any of the first three books there is so much going on the

I did enjoy the mystery and the the time line of the story was well studied by the author. (If anyone saw the "Spartacus" series on "Stars" the brutality and total disregard for humanity by those in power) "Ultimate power corrupts ultimately." readers should be prepared for some intense sexuality, brutality, and total disregard for life. However our hero, is a strong personality and tries to over come much of what his station demands of him, and what the higher up in Roman power structure demand. He is a man of conscious, which is very rare in this time.

I have read all the books and I like this narrator

Not the edge of my seat, but I enjoyed it. I don't usually like the edge of seat ones

They are two different experiences. I like reading better, but I listen to audio books while walking my dogs

Yes

These books are always worth a replay. I love the way the author brings historical figures to life. Caesar is very cunning and a jerk and Pompey lets other gererals fight the big battles then jumps in at the end to take all the credit. It's fun to see these giants of history in a very human way. I also love the main character and the humor woven through the story. I always seem to find something new when I replay a SPQR novel.

Almost anything by Bernard Cornwell will have a good historial plot and great action.

Yes. I like John Lee but...I really did miss Simon Vance.

Why does audible always ask this question?

Please Audible can we have more of this series. The sooner the better.

It might have been because they had a sense of humor! This series is set at the end of the roman republic. Julius Cesar is just starting on his road to becoming a god. The plot is intriguing and some of the parallels to modern politics can't be a mere coincidence! I confess to a crush on Decuis. He is clever, ethical, dry humored, and a soft touch. What more can one ask for? Some of the dialog is laugh out loud funny. All in all an excellent listen and I am already on the next book! Decuis in Alexandria, I can't wait!

Yes. It's a seduction into the endlessly curious world of the romans and all their ways. It's both a detective tale and a political/historical thriller.

The malediction scene.

Not sure

"And you think Washington is a nest of vipers."

You must render all of the SPQR series into unabridged audio books. They are worth it.