This book was fantastic! I really enjoyed the writing style and the characters were well-written. I appreciate that the protagonist was flawed and enjoyed watching the evolution of Marcus & Alexander's relationship. The ending left me wanting more. The story was engaging and more than held my interest. I was able to pick up the remaining two installments today and can't wait to read them very soon! ( )

I have no idea how much of this is really true but if it is this is definitely a side of Caesar they didn't teach us in school. I'm sure the picture of slavery is idealized but I'm still glad I read it. The story did take some time to get into though. ( )

Solid upstairs/downstairs family saga of a Roman citizen-soldier and eventual counsel, associate of Sulla and Gaius Julius Caesar, Marcus Crassus, and ultimately patriarch to his family as told by Alexander of Aetreia, his Greek slave and later factotum.

Roman life, Roman ambition, and the brutality as well as the generosity of that era are well illustrated by the characters of Marcus, his wife, Alexander, and that of the healing woman whose daughter Alexander loves all his life but never truly wins.

Well written, fully realized characters and plenty of Latin on the fly. For me, a fan of Greek history and novels set in ancient times there, this is an enjoyable fictional "study" of the extension of a succeeding dominant civilization (Roman) over another (Greek). Readers who like Lindsey Davis. Falco series set in the days of Imperial Rome, will enjoy and be refreshed by Levkoff's work. ( )