The Catiline Conspiracy (1991)

On his way to his duties in the temple of Saturn, Decius Caecilius Metellus passes a murder scene. As the number of corpses mounts and there seem to be mysterious comings and goings in the temple, he decides to investigate.

Comparisons with Steven Saylor's version of Catiline are inevitable, and it has to be said Saylor's is a more nuanced and also more memorable character. By comparison John Maddox Roberts's Catiline is something of a cardboard cut-out villain. I do hope DCM is not going to fall victim to the wiles of a sexy, scheming, villainess in every installment. ( )

Read this because we had talked about Catiline in our Latin class. A fun mystery. Not sure how historically accurate everything was, but it certainly felt realistic. ( )

The second adventure of Decius Caecilius Metellus, and a terrrific read. In the course of an investigation that starts to look a lot bigger than it was starting out, Decius worms his way into the circle of the traitor Catalina. Interesting to contrast this to another version of the same conspiracy by another writer of Roman mystery novels -- Stephen Saylor. This one is much, much dryer, and (not surprisingly) funnier. ( )

Second in the series. Low-ranking civil servant Decius Caecilius Metellus investigates murders and political conspiracy in Rome. Good historical fiction, a good series. ( )