Gordianus the Finder

Gordianus the Finder (c. 110 BC – ??) is the fictional protagonist of Steven Saylor's Roma Sub Rosa series of historical mystery novels set in Republican Rome. He lives by his wits, investigating crimes and other cases for Roman advocates such as Marcus Tullius Cicero. Initially, he lives in a rambling house on the Esquiline Hill in Rome with his family; but he later inherits a farm in Etruria, then exchanges it for a house on the Palatine Hill, giving his older house to his son Eco.

Gordianus shows not only the regular deductive and perceptive abilities of fellow detectives of all novels and ages, but a remarkable gift of inducing all kind of characters, sometimes without trying, to confide to him even their most hidden secrets, longings and intentions.

Gordianus interacts with non-fictional citizens including Sulla, Cicero, Marcus Crassus, Catullus, Catiline, Pompey, Julius Caesar, Quintus Sertorius, and Mark Antony.

The first Gordianus novel, Roman Blood, is based on an actual murder trial in which Marcus Tullius Cicero (aided by his slave Marcus Tullius Tiro) defended Sextus Roscius against the charge of parricide. The crime has a unique punishment, which Saylor describes in gruesome detail.

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