From Publishers Weekly
The author of the popular Marcus Didius Falco mystery series reaches again into the fertile bone pile of ancient Roman history, this time to fashion an unforgettable character out of a little-known woman of the first century A.D. Caenis merits a single reference in the entry on Emperor Vespasian in the Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2nd edition: "He then lived with an earlier mistress who had been a freed-woman of Tiberius' sister-in-law Antonia." The story is set against the backdrop of particularly turbulent years of the Roman Empire, the time of the most notorious emperors (Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero) and some of the most forgettable. In Davis's imagining, the sparks fly from the first accidental meeting when Caenis is a slave and a secretary in Antonia's household and Vespasian a young rustic from Reate visiting Rome. With meticulous detail and powerful drama, Davis chronicles Vespasian's remarkable rise to power and Caenis's equally compelling success in shaping her own future. As presented in this intricate braiding of character and action, fact and imagination, these two strong characters, bound by passionate and enduring love and parted often by what Vespasian bitterly refers to as the "cursus honorum," deserve to take their place in the pantheon of the world's great lovers. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Davis, author of the Marcus Didius Falco mysteries, here transmutes a stray historical aside into a rich and compelling piece of fiction. The freedwoman Caenis was lover and mistress to the man who became the Roman Emperor Vespasian, a strong and good leader who followed the wicked excesses of Nero. The story is told from Caenis' point of view, beginning with her life as a slave and work as scribe and secretary for Antonia, grandmother of Caligula and Claudius. The full sweep of history in this turbulent period from A.D. 31 to A.D. 69 in the Mediterranean basin is the background for casual details of what was eaten, what was worn, and what daily life was like. Caenis is deeply intelligent, self-contained, and no-nonsense; her love for Vespasian (and his for her) is developed in a way that makes sense to both the head and the heart. Their trials and separations and reconciliations are the stuff of great romantic reading. Any reader of historical fiction will enjoy this one. GraceAnne A. DeCandido


GraceAnne A. DeCandido, Booklist, August 1998
Davis, the author of Marcus Didius Falco mysteries, here transmutes a stray historical aside into a rich and compelling piece of fiction. The freedwoman Caenis was lover and mistress to the man who became the Roman Emperor Vespasian, a strong and good leader who followed the wicked excesses of Nero. The story is told from Caenis' point of view, beginning with her life as a slave and work as a scribe and secretary for Antonia, grandmother of Caligula and Claudius. The full sweep of history in this turbulent period from A.D. 31 to A.D. 69 in the Mediterranean basin is the background for casual details of what was eaten, what was worn, and what daily life was like. Caenis is deeply intelligent, self-contained, and no-nonsense; her love for Vespasian (and his for her) is developed in a way that makes sense to both the head and the heart. Their trials and separations and reconciliations are the stuff of great romantic reading. Any reader of historical fiction will enjoy this one.


Book Description
In ancient Rome, the career path for ambitious citizens who aspire to become senators is called "The Course of Honor." And this honorable course has an unbreakable rule: A senator is forbidden to marry a slave. When the soldier Vespasian meets an interesting girl frying sausages in the imperial palace, he doesn't know that Caenis is immensely intelligent, or that she holds a position in the household of Antonia, daughter of Mark Anthony and sister-in-law of the Emperor. But soon he's in love, struggling against a world that rejects his lover. And as emperor after emperor plays out deadly, seductive games of lust and conquest, no one envisions that a country-born army man might win the throne-no one except a slave girl who observes the bizarre fortunes of an imperial city and begins a daring course of honor of her own.


Download Description
This novel tells the sweeping story of the ascendancy of the Emperor Vespasian, the impecunious son of a provincial senator who finally brought peace to Rome after years of fighting during the reigns of Tiberius, Caligula, Nero, and the year of the Four Emperors. It is also the story of the forbidden love between Emperor Vespasian and his mistress, Antonia Caenis, a slave working for Claudius's mother.


About the Author
Lindsey Davis' international bestselling novels have recently earned her the Crime Writers' Association Ellis Peters Historical Dagger Award (1999). She lives in London, England.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
Over the years, Lindsey Davis has shown her mastery of the history of ancient Rome with her sharp, witty, and clever mysteries featuring the P.I. (Public Informant, that is) Marcus Didius Falco. The series won the Crime Writers' Association Historical Dagger Award in 1999 and prompted the London Times to award Davis the title they'd initially coined for the late Ellis Peters: "Queen of the Historical Whodunit." Now, in a historical novel that explores another facet of Rome's turbulent history, this gifted author turns her attention to a subtler sort of mystery -- how the empire that created the great despots Caligula and Nero also nurtured the good and just ruler Vespasian, who set the stage for Rome's Golden Age. According to Davis, what tipped the scales is the role played by the slave-scribe Caenis, who, against her better judgement, loved Vespasian from the time he was only a penniless younger son who had almost no hope of a political career. Against a backdrop of betrayal, intrigue, and murder by dagger, poison, assassination, and just about anything else imaginable, a complex, captivating world comes to life￯﾿ﾽand history is changed by the will of one woman, a slave who truly came to rule the Roman Empire in everything but name. Sue Stone

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Rome under Tiberius, his dreadful successor Caligula, and even the brilliant Claudius is a treacherous arena for ambitious men. But the career path for citizens who aspire to become senators is called "The Course of Honor" - even if it is strewn with betrayal and murder. And this honorable course has an unbreakable rule: A Roman senator cannot marry a slave, even a freed one, no matter how great the passion between them... The scribe Caenis does not have the beauty to excite a grand passion in most men. Instead, she possesses an immense intelligence and a position in the household of Antonia, daughter of Mark Antony, sister-in-law of the Emperor Tiberius, and mother of Claudius - a woman who wields formidable influence and power. The soldier Vespasian - solid, unpretentious, and courageous - doesn't know any of that when he meets "an interesting girl" frying sausages in the imperial palace. Her name is Caenis, and she soon share his appetites and his soul. Lindsey Davis plunges the reader into the intrigues of ancient Rome to unravel one of history's great mysteries: how a nation that spawned a Caligula found a great and good ruler named Vespasian...who chose as his lady love, a slave.

SYNOPSIS

This novel tells the sweeping story of the ascendancy of the Emperor Vespasian, the impecunious son of a provincial senator who finally brought peace to Rome after years of fighting during the reigns of Tiberius, Caligula, Nero, and the year of the Four Emperors.

FROM THE CRITICS

Detroit Free Press

Davis's vision of everyday life in the roman empire is superb. I haven't read historical fiction this good since I, Claudius by Robert Graves.

The Washington Post

Davis makes Rome live. . . . Roman history and culture are nice accessories for the more durable tool that Davis employs -- hilariously good writing.

Publishers Weekly

The author of the popular Marcus Didius Falco mystery series reaches again into the fertile bone pile of ancient Roman history, this time to fashion an unforgettable character out of a little-known woman of the first century A.D. Caenis merits a single reference in the entry on Emperor Vespasian in the Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2nd edition: 'He then lived with an earlier mistress who had been a freed-woman of Tiberius' sister-in-law Antonia.' The story is set against the backdrop of particularly turbulent years of the Roman Empire, the time of the most notorious emperors (Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero) and some of the most forgettable. In Davis's imagining, the sparks fly from the first accidental meeting when Caenis is a slave and a secretary in Antonia's household and Vespasian a young rustic from Reate visiting Rome. With meticulous detail and powerful drama, Davis chronicles Vespasian's remarkable rise to power and Caenis's equally compelling success in shaping her own future. As presented in this intricate braiding of character and action, fact and imagination, these two strong characters, bound by passionate and enduring love and parted often by what Vespasian bitterly refers to as the 'cursus honorum,' deserve to take their place in the pantheon of the world's great lovers.

KLIATT - Barbara Gorman