Render Unto Caesar by Gillian Bradshaw
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Gillian Bradshaw is an underrated historical fiction writer. I have read most of her books (I’m still working on the rest of them), and she does an excellent job integrating a compelling plot with interesting characters set in a historical time period. She does especially well with the Roman Empire, where many of her books take place.
In this particular book, we learn much about the intrigues surrounding the Roman Empire and the relationship between Rome and her colonies as a result of an Egyptian merchant who inherits a large debt owed by an important Roman politician. As a result of the merchant’s attempt to collect this debt, there are attempts made on his life, and he gets sucked into the vortex known as Roman politics. In between the assassination attempts, we learn about slavery, the gladiator school, and the role of women in the Roman Empire (among other things).
I don’t think this is one of the author’s best books, but she is such an excellent author that it doesn’t matter. Her characters are interesting, and the historical detail well-integrated into the novel. If you’re interested in this time period, this is a definite recommended read!