Roma by Steven Saylor is billed as the Novel of Ancient Rome and it tracks the history of Rome from it’s trading days, through the founding by Remus and Romulus and up to the beginning of Augustus’ reign. Saylor’s Gordianus the Finder series (which I’ll review at another time) show him as a master of telling stories in Roman settings. So it’s natural that he would attempt a larger portrait of Rome.

To start of with, Roma is not really a novel, it’s more of a series of short stories or vignettes tied together by the location and a golden amulet that is passed down by generations (for the most part) over 500 years. The amulet is forged during the trading days of Rome when the location is a stop over for traveling traders bringing salt from the ocean to the hills and passed on to the heirs. The village is created and Hercules helps save if from a monster. Remus and Romulus help build the village into a regional power. The beginning of Rome is all there. It might not be perfectly accurate recreation, but it’s logical and fits the legends and the histories together well.

Later stories, from when Rome is more fully established, will  be more familiar to people (Vestal Virgins, Rape of Lucretia, etc.) and more historically documented. We watch as pivotal stories in Roman history unfurl and lead us from Kings to a Republic and back to Emperors. The later stories are the ones more familiar to modern readers (Julius Caesar and his tales). But as a whole, the book will give you a brief and interesting look at the history of Rome.

You don’t needs to be familiar with Saylor’s Gordianus the Finder series to appreciate this book (Gordianus doesn’t appear once) as it is fully standalone. But if you like the Gordianus saga, you’ll be interested in this novel. And if you like this novel, you should try the Gordianus books.