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Augustan Rome, without Augustus. That is, he is conveniently out of town for the entirety of the novel, which involves portions of Roman high society and government. And we do have a number of historical people here, I think including all the three people of power we see in the book. (The entire bit with the lampreys is from history.)

Money matters, as presented here, are entirely from history as well. High ranking men needed to give expensive entertainments and do expensive public projects. They also got involved in private projects that could easily go wrong. The land speculation that ends up driving part of the plot of the book is also fairly typical.

Rome itself is shown well, and you get to see bits of life there, comfortable homes, run-down insulae, traffic with rules keeping big cargo wagons out during daylight, temples, small shrines. It’s a good mix, all in service to the plot, which itself goes many places.

Enter an Alexandrian. Our main character is in the business of money, investing in shipping concerns and the such, helping good flow through the interconnected world of the Ancient Mediterranean. He has recently inherited a fairly large debt that he could absorb if needed, but the money is owed, and he journeys to Rome to collect. And that simple fact sets off a novel full of intrigue, violence, and romance.

It is also worth looking at at Hermogenes through a non-neurotypical light. His bedrock motivation is that the Romans should be following the rules they themselves espouse, or else the Empire is built on nothing more than the fiat that Augustus is determined to sweep away. Along the way, he manages to be friends with many people, because he does care, and is practiced at observing people. Rules are not the end-all of a bureaucrat, but rather what gives structure to business and politics so they may be fair.

I’ve yet to be disappointed with a Gillian Bradshaw book, and this is no exception. There is so much more here than I have touched upon. This isn’t pages of empty prose and happenings, it is a very dense book with a lot going on at different levels.