Ancient Rome Crime

With commanding skill, Thomas R. Martin tells the remarkable and dramatic story of how a tiny, poor, and threatened settlement grew to become, during its height, the dominant power in the Mediterranean world for 500 years. Encompassing the period from Rome's founding in the eighth century BC through Justinian's rule in the sixth century AD, he offers a distinctive perspective on the Romans and their civilization by employing fundamental Roman values as a lens through which to view both their rise and spectacular fall.

This is the story of the greatest empire the world has ever known. Simon Baker charts the rise and fall of the world's first superpower, focusing on six momentous turning points that shaped Roman history. Welcome to Rome as you've never seen it before—awesome and splendid, gritty and squalid. From the conquest of the Mediterranean beginning in the third century BC to the destruction of the Roman Empire at the hands of barbarian invaders some seven centuries later, we discover the most critical episodes in Roman history.

Roman history, from the very foundation of the city, is replete with people and stories that shock our modern sensibilities. Evil Roman Emperors puts the worst of Rome's rulers in one place and offers a review of their lives and a historical context for what made them into what they became.

Rome, 609 AD. Empire is a fading memory. Repeatedly fought over and plundered, the City is falling into ruins. Filth and rubble block the streets. Killers prowl by night. Far off, in Constantinople, the Emperor has other concerns. The Church is the one institution left intact, and is now flexing its own imperial muscle. Enter Aelric of England: young and beautiful, sexually uninhibited, heroic, if ruthlessly violent He’s only here by accident. Without getting that girl pregnant, and the resulting near-miss from King Ethelbert’s gelding knife, he might never have left Kent. But here ...

Stolen gold, a dead priest and a mystery fit for the gods Rome’s treasures are gone and a priest lies dead within the burned-out shell of the Temple of Vulcan. Did he die a hero protecting the riches stored at the temple as everyone says or is there a more sinister reason for his death? Facing financial ruin if he cannot find the missing gold and silver, Secundus makes enemies of Rome’s rich and powerful as he grapples with hostile priests, corrupt patricians and a mystery which seems to hold no clues. From the depths of the fire comes hope as a potential new home appears on the market ...

Lionel Casson paints a vivid portrait of life in ancient Rome - for slaves and emperors, soldiers and commanders alike - during the empire's greatest period, the first and second centuries AD.

#1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER "Terrific . . . gripping . . . A literally shattering climax."—The New York Times Book Review All along the Mediterranean coast, the Roman empire’s richest citizens are relaxing in their luxurious villas, enjoying the last days of summer. The world’s largest...

A body in a ditch; a love unrequited; a rift between families: there’s been a murder in Ancient Rome. Immerse yourself in the city of Rome 400 years before the birth of Caesar at a time when there were no rules, no law beyond the voice of the richest man, and at a time when the gods ruled the lives of every citizen of the newly formed Roman Republic! For Secundus, son of the high priest of the temple of Jupiter, his life was a mess. Until he found her - and then it got WORSE!!! Forced into investigating the death of a woman he stumbles into following a night of drinking, Secundus clashes ...

A hanged man, an estranged son, an angry business partner and a scramble for the dead man's estate. A brutal attack on a rich slave-trader triggers a chain of events leading to his apparent suicide at the Festival of Liber. As the dead man's wife, son and business partner all claim ownership of his estate Secundus is thrown once more into an investigation he doesn't want to undertake. As the clues begin to unravel Scavolo takes over the case and Secundus finds himself reassigned to a probe into corruption at a sister temple. Angry at Scavolo for his interference and convinced there is more ...

A novel in The L.A. Quartet. Internationally acclaimed author James Ellroy presents another literary noir masterpiece of historical paranoia. Los Angeles, 1958. Killings, beatings, bribes, shakedowns—it's standard procedure for Lieutenant Dave Klein, LAPD. He's a slumlord, a bagman, an...

IN THE SHADOW OF VESUVIUS Death in Herculaneum Sextus Romanus, an efficient Captain in the Imperial Roman Navy, is tasked by Pliny the Elder to investigate a series of murders of patricians that have taken place in the Roman town of Herculaneum. He is reluctant to take on the mission due to a previous investigation he carried out which led to friends and colleagues shunning him, but he travels to Herculaneum to see what he can discover. Instead of finding people who might help him he discovers that people shun him and that his investigation has dangers that he could not possibly have ...

"Let me tell you how I died."A spate of murders in Rome's libraries turns a rare book expert (and ex-con) into a reluctant detective and sends him on the trail of the legendary Bibliotheca Æterna – an ancient library hiding 3500 years of secret knowledge and the key to immortality. If only the mafia and the Vatican weren't also hell-bent on finding it...

Fame is never what it seems. Deception, lies and death follow in her footsteps. War thrusts Secundus into the public eye - a fame that he does not want. And then when the famous Gaius Scavolo is implicated in a scam at the Temple of Jupiter it soon becomes clear that someone is plotting against the Merenda family. Loose lips lead to death as gossip and scandal follow our hero and an old flame comes to his door. With his ever-increasing role within the politics of the City, Secundus must make a choice - the life of a priest or to disappear into obscurity. And whilst he dithers and waits to ...

Ten years after the eruption of Vesuvius, the surrounding countryside lies buried and barren. But the destroyed cities and luxury villas on the Bay of Naples are not utterly lost. Flavia Albia and her husband Tiberius Manlius are tasked with restoring one villa and identifying any surviving...

Written by a Police Detective who has been there, done that, walked the beat and has witnessed the worse of the worst! Who killed Antonio Russo and why? Detective James Pierce is determined to find out. But as he digs deeper, he uncovers deadly secrets, ruthless enemies, and a truth worth killing for. In the heart of Rome, where ancient secrets and modern ambitions collide, a string of brutal murders sends shockwaves through the Eternal City. The victims—artists, historians, archaeologists, and politicians—are found alongside cryptic relics and the sinister sigil of the Custodes ...

Rome is a city of myth and legend. The Eternal City, the city of the seven hills, the sacred city, the caput mundi, the center of the world, Roma, Rome, by any of her many names is a city built of history and blood, marble and water, war and conquest. From legendary beginnings, a city rose from the swamp surrounded by the seven hills and split by the Tiber River. Built and rebuilt, a sacred republic and a divine empire, blessed by a thousand gods and by One, the story of her rise and fall has been told and retold for a thousand years and is still relevant in today's world, as echoes of her ancient glory have shaped our culture, laws, lifestyle, and beliefs in subtle and pervasive ways.

The next witty, must-listen audiobook in the Flavia Albia series. An unpaid bar bill leads Flavia Albia to her most bitter and complex case yet. Decades earlier Appius Tranquillus Surus wrote his will: it freed his slaves and bequeathed his businesses to them. He left an orchard to the Prisci, a...

It's AD 123, and the sun is shining on southern Gaul. Ex-military medic Ruso and his British wife, Tilla, are back after a long absence - but it's not the reunion anyone had hoped for. Ruso's brother has left him in charge of a farm he has no idea how to manage, a chronic debt problem, and a gaggle of accident-prone small children. Meanwhile his sister Flora has run away to rescue her boyfriend, who's accused of murdering a wealthy guest at a party.

Cults, Secrets, Deception, Murder — In The Case of Luna, Darkness Hides More Than You Can Imagine.Beneath the moonlit gaze of the goddess Luna, a grim tableau unfolds in the heart of the Forum—a lifeless wife carried by desperate hands. Gripped by memory loss, the perpetrator seeks help from Secundus and Graccus, peeling back the layers of the enigmatic Cult of Luna in this chilling sixth installment of the series. With time slipping through their fingers and his priestly examinations looming, Secundus wrestles with a mounting burden of duties and the continued presence of his ...

This audiobook brings you the lesser-known moments that shaped Rome’s history. It doesn’t just focus on the powerful emperors; it also examines the people who worked behind the scenes and shaped the empire in their own way. From Julius Caesar’s personal worries to the mystery of the missing Ninth Legion, these stories reveal the real lives behind the famous Roman names.