Arms of Nemesis

Another enjoyable entry for this series. I made the mistake of reading out of order, so some of the plot was spoiled for me, but the central mystery was still enjoyable. I'm a sucker for all things Crassus and Spartacus, so even though the rebellion is happening off-page, the political aspect of the effect on Rome was also enjoyable.

After reading Roman Blood, I was in a good enough mood that I drifted over almost immediately to the next book in the series, Arms of Nemesis. Instead of sticking it out in Rome, Gordianus heads on over to the nearby resort town of Baiae to investigate a murder - and in the meantime, Spartacus's slave rebellion is tearing up the countryside, forcing slave-owning Romans everywhere to look askance even in their own households, in case their own slaves decide to murder them.

And that's precisely why Gordianus goes to Baiae in the first place: to investigate the murder of a man who was supposedly killed by his slaves. Of course, the answer isn't as straightforward as that (if it were then there would be no novel).

Compared to the last novel, this one seems a bit more tense than Roman Blood. The ending, in particular, was significantly more action-packed than the ending of Roman Blood. Or perhaps it was because there were more lives at stake in Arms of Nemesis than in Roman Blood - the life of one man versus the lives of ninety-nine people, including women and children, certainly is a significant difference in terms of the stakes. That the ninety-nine lives are actually slaves doesn't make much of a difference.

It is on the subject of slaves that I found this novel to be more of a stand-out than Roman Blood. Gordianus's treatment of slaves and the way he regards them is interesting and makes him sympathetic. The reader will want him to succeed, if only because of that inclination of his.

One thing I greatly appreciated in this novel compared to the last one: the inclusion of a strong female character in the form of a female painter named Iaia. I don't know if she is a historical figure or not, but I do appreciate the inclusion of such a character in the novel, instead of making it an all-boys' club, as it were.

I also found certain explanations regarding the use of poisonous and medicinal herbs during the period, as well as details about the Sybil of Cumae, to be fascinating enough to distract from the typical nature of the plot itself. Again, as with Roman Blood, the plot might not be anything earth-shattering for anyone familiar with mysteries, but the milieu is interesting enough to make it interesting enough to keep on going.