Roman Games
A Plinius Secundus Mystery
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Narrated by:
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Bronson Pinchot
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By:
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Bruce Macbain
About this listen
Rome, September A.D. 96.
When the body of Sextus Verpa, a notorious senatorial informer and libertine, is found stabbed to death in his bedroom, his slaves are suspected. Pliny, a very respectable young senator and lawyer, is ordered by the emperor Domitian to investigate. However, the Ludi Romani, “the Roman Games”, have just begun, and for the next 15 days the law courts are in recess. If Pliny can’t identify the murderer in that time, Verpa’s entire slave household will be burned alive in the arena.
Pliny teams up with Martial, a starving author of bawdy verses and denizen of the Roman demimonde. Pooling their respective talents, they unravel a plot that involves Jewish and Christian “atheists”, exotic Egyptian cultists, and a missing horoscope that forecasts the emperor’s death. Their investigation leads them into the heart of the palace, where no one is safe from the paranoid Domitian. As the deadline approaches, Pliny struggles with the painful dilemma of a good man who is forced to serve a brutal regime - a situation familiar in our own age as well.
The novel provides an intimate glimpse into the palaces and tenements, bedrooms and brothels of imperial Rome’s most opulent and decadent age.
Bruce Macbain holds a B.A. in classics from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in ancient history from the University of Pennsylvania. He has taught Greek and Roman history at Vanderbilt University and Boston University. His special interest is religion in the Roman Empire.
©2010 Bruce Macbain (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Story
The year is 1587. One of Queen Elizabeth's cousins is found murdered, her flesh marked with profane symbols. A plot to assassinate Sir Francis Drake, England's most famous sea warrior, is discovered. One man is charged with the desperate task of solving both cases: John Shakespeare.
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Excellent Thriller/Mystery, Flawless Narration
- By vanessa on 08-16-09
By: Rory Clements
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The Seven Wonders
- A Novel of the Ancient World
- By: Steven Saylor
- Narrated by: Stephen Plunkett
- Length: 12 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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USA Today hails Steven Saylor as a “modern master of historical fiction.” Rich in intrigue and period detail, his novels set in ancient Rome have garnered acclaim the world over. A prequel to his epic Roma Sub Rosa series, The Seven Wonders follows series star Gordianus the Finder as an 18-year-old traveling the Mediterranean to witness the wonders of that fabled age. At each stop, the young investigator finds a beguiling mystery that pushes his powers of deduction to the limit.
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Interesting History, Not much of a story
- By Mark on 08-10-12
By: Steven Saylor
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The Darwin Affair
- A Novel
- By: Tim Mason
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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London, June 1860: When an assassination attempt is made on Queen Victoria, and a petty thief is gruesomely murdered moments later - and only a block away - Chief Detective Inspector Charles Field quickly surmises that these crimes are connected to an even more sinister plot. Was Victoria really the assassin's target? Are those closest to the Crown hiding something? Soon, Field's investigation exposes a shocking conspiracy in which the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species sets off a string of murders, arson, kidnapping, and the pursuit of a diabolical madman.
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Dickensian “Jack the Ripper”
- By Kate on 07-14-19
By: Tim Mason
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The King’s Gambit
- By: John Maddox Roberts
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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In this Edgar Award-nominated mystery, John Maddox Roberts takes listeners back to a Rome filled with violence and evil. Vicious gangs ruled the streets of Crassus and Pompey, routinely preying on plebeian and patrician alike. So the garroting of a lowly ex-slave and the disembowelment of a foreign merchant in the dangerous Subura district seemed of little consequence to the Roman hierarchy.
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Great start to a series
- By P. Johnson on 09-21-17
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Daughter of the Gods
- A Novel of Ancient Egypt
- By: Stephanie Marie Thornton
- Narrated by: Ilyana Kadushin
- Length: 15 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Egypt, 1400s BC. The pharaoh's pampered second daughter, lively, intelligent Hatshepsut, delights in racing her chariot through the marketplace and testing her archery skills in the Nile's marshlands. But the death of her elder sister, Neferubity, in a gruesome accident arising from Hatshepsut's games forces her to confront her guilt...and sets her on a profoundly changed course.
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Great story
- By Anonymous User on 01-30-21
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Mage's Blood
- The Moontide Quartet, Book 1
- By: David Hair
- Narrated by: Nick Podehl
- Length: 26 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Most of the time the Moontide Bridge lies deep below the sea, but every 12 years the tides sink and the bridge is revealed, its gates open for trade. The Magi are hell-bent on ruling this new world, and for the last two Moontides they have led armies across the bridge on "crusades of conquest". Now, the third Moontide is almost here, and this time the people of the East are ready for a fight... but it is three seemingly ordinary people that will decide the fate of the world.
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Nick Podehl
- By Logan on 01-05-15
By: David Hair
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Barrowlands
- Iconoclasts, Book 0
- By: Mike Shel
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 1 hr
- Unabridged
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No one enters the doom-haunted Barrowlands without royal sanction. But Hesk Atterley has. Accompanied by seedy companions and a hunger for riches, what he finds may change his life forever...if it doesn't kill him first.
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Short but Interesting
- By Michael on 02-01-21
By: Mike Shel
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The Dragon Waiting
- By: John M. Ford
- Narrated by: Gerard Doyle
- Length: 13 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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In a snowbound inn high in the Alps, four people meet who will alter fate. A noble Byzantine mercenary.... A female Florentine physician.... An ageless Welsh wizard.... And Sforza, the uncanny duke. Together they will wage an intrigue-filled campaign against the might of Byzantium to secure the English throne for Richard, Duke of Gloucester - and make him Richard III.
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Read not listen.
- By Anna Marie on 08-08-21
By: John M. Ford
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The Book of Longings
- A Novel
- By: Sue Monk Kidd
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marnò, Sue Monk Kidd
- Length: 13 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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In her mesmerizing fourth work of fiction, Sue Monk Kidd takes an audacious approach to history and brings her acclaimed narrative gifts to imagine the story of a young woman named Ana. Raised in a wealthy family with ties to the ruler of Galilee, she is rebellious and ambitious, with a brilliant mind and a daring spirit. She engages in furtive scholarly pursuits and writes narratives about neglected and silenced women. Ana is expected to marry an older widower, a prospect that horrifies her. An encounter with 18-year-old Jesus changes everything.
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Made me cringe
- By Joan on 05-08-20
By: Sue Monk Kidd
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Rebel Daughter
- By: Lori Banov Kaufmann
- Narrated by: Ellen Archer
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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A young woman survives the unthinkable in this stunning and emotionally satisfying tale of family, love, and resilience, set against the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE.
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Fantastic historical fiction!
- By Lisa C. Schneider on 02-28-21
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The Wild Child
- By: Mary Jo Putney
- Narrated by: Barbara Rosenblat
- Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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More pagan than lady, Meriel spends her days running barefoot through her English estate, cultivating her flowers and her mystical connection to nature. She is mute and, according to most people, mad. But handsome Dominic Renbourne, who has been sent by his twin to court her, senses in Meriel a kindred spirit. He manages to inspire her trust, and against his better judgement, her passion.
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Where is China Bride, the 2nd book?
- By KaitlynRAH on 10-24-18
By: Mary Jo Putney
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Blood in the Forum
- A Novella of Ancient Rome
- By: Vincent B. Davis II
- Narrated by: Joshua Saxon
- Length: 2 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Rome, 133 BC. Gaius Marius is back from war in the West. They fought for the peace and prosperity of Rome, but the legions return to find the Eternal City far less peaceful and prosperous than they had hoped. People are starving, homelessness abounds, war after war has overtaxed the legions. And the revolutionary tribune, Tiberius Gracchus, thinks he has a solution for everything. Political parties are developing, the people are up in arms, the senate is enraged. And Tiberius is at the center of it all.
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Well done, makes history come alive
- By Gail N. on 12-20-19
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Dragon's Child
- The King Arthur Trilogy, Book 1
- By: M. K. Hume
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 18 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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The future of Britain is at stake. In the turbulent times of the Dark Ages, the despotic Uther Pendragon, High King of Celtic Britain, is nearing death, and his kingdom is being torn apart by the squabbling of minor kings. But only one man can bring the Celts together as a nation and restore peace - King Arthur. Artorex (Arthur) doesn't yet seem like the great man he will grow into. We meet him as a shy, subservient twelve-year-old living in the foster home of Lord Ector, who took in Artorex as a babe to protect him from murderous kin.
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A Dry, Dull Tale, Marred in "Realism"
- By Steven on 09-21-15
By: M. K. Hume
What listeners say about Roman Games
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- jessica
- 01-28-14
terrible
I didn't listen to a sample when I saw this was read by Bronson Pinchot. I remember him as a good actor with a gift for voices. Well I don't know what happened but this is one of the worst listens I have ever heard. Its like the worst cartoon, painfully over acted with bad voices. The story is not well enough written to survive it. The dialog is clunky and the story is awkward. Its just bad. I like the Maddox books, spqr though I am sure the story would have been better served read by Simon Vance and love Ruth Downie and Colleen McCullough's rome books and Richard Harris with Cicero and Tiro to give u a sense of where I am coming from
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3 people found this helpful
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- Bigpete
- 01-16-24
Terrible
If you’re into bogus historical fiction and talk of young boys buttocks this book is for you. If you like your historical fiction with some actual history in it skip. The protagonist is also married to a 14yr old. Different times, of course, but the book wasn’t written then. He could’ve easily written her older.
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