quick and satisfying read
A short mystery set in Aurelius' Rome, A fun glimpse at gladiator life as opposed to judicial life, A touch of philosophy to boot, I did not enjoy this fourth book, but I had recently realized I had missed some earlier books, I will not now continue to fill that void as I prefer Severus retired,
There is a debate of interest, as close as one could have come to having one with slaves, with regard to the fate of gladiators, The arena scene is depicted well enough to imagine having witnessed the gore of it all,
Kindle Unlimited I was inclining toward just four for Alan Scribners “The Return of Spartacus” because the narrative moves so slowly and dispassionately, But the battle of wits here between Judge Marcus Flavius Severus and his criminal opponent is indeed an intellectual game played for very high stakes, So, despite the books sensational settingin the world of Roman gladiatorsthe restrained style works, especially in the final chapters where the clever and complicated plot is resolved, The Return of Spartacus is the fourth of the highly acclaimed and best selling historical mysteries set at the height of the Roman Empire, The year is nowCE,years after Marcus Aurelius Betrayed,years after The Cyclops Case andyears after Mars the Avenger,
In The Return of Spartacus, Marcus Flavius Severus, Judge in the Court of the Urban Prefect in the City of Rome, is assigned to investigate murders of gladiators outside the arena, in the Ludus Magnus, the gladiator school in Rome.
Severus is told he must put a stop to the killings, Severus is also told that there may be new Spartacus hidden among the gladiators, Whether a new Spartacus is now emerging almostyears after the original Spartacus revolt, and whether he is involved in the killings is not known, But Severus is told that any gladiator or slave revolt must be stopped in its tracks,
The assignment is not an easy one for the judge, Two of his aides are former slaves and in sympathy with a slave revolt, Severus himself is conflicted by the definition of slavery in Roman law as an institution contrary to the Law of Nature and the pragmatics of slavery in the world he lives in.
He also never goes to the gladiator games himself for his own reasons,
Nevertheless, Severus must now enter the world of the gladiator, The gladiators, the owner of the gladiator troupe, the lanista who trains them, the Procurator who heads the school, the women who service the gladiators and exgladiators all must be investigated.
Scenes are set throughout the City of Rome as the investigation requires, including a scene in the Flavian Amphitheater for a gladiatorial bout on the opening day of the Games of the Floralia Spring festival.
There are also scenes in Severus courtroom and the book is accurate as to the criminal laws of the time, including the use of judicial torture, All laws, rescripts and legal procedures are from Roman law sources, The Return of Spartacus is not only a mystery but also a daily life in ancient Rome, a sojourn into world of the Roman Empire and its courts, police and criminal laws.
Alan Scribner was an Assistant District Attorney in the office of Frank S, Hogan in
New York County and a criminal defense attorney, He is also an independent scholar of Ancient Rome and coauthor of Anni Ultimi: A Roman Stoic Guide to Retirement, Old Age and Death, He is the author of Mars the Avenger, the Cyclops Case and Marcus Aurelius Betrayed, the first three Judge Marcus Flavius Severus mysteries in Ancient Rome, .