The SPQR Roman Mysteries – John Maddox Roberts Free Audiobook

Written by John Maddox Roberts
Read by John Lee
Format: M4B
Bitrate: 64 Kbps

#01 The King’s Gambit

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. But Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger, high-born commander of the local vigiles, was determined to investigate. Despite official apathy, brazen bribes and sinister threats, Decius uncovers a world of corruption at the highest levels of his government that threatens to destroy him and the government he serves. Set in 70 B.C.

#02 The Catiline Conspiracy

It was a summer of glorious triumph for the mighty Roman Republic. Her invincible legions had brought all foreign enemies to their knees. But in Rome there was no peace. The streets were flooded with the blood of murdered citizens, and there were rumors of more atrocities to come. Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger was convinced a conspiracy existed to overthrow the government-a sinister cabal that could only be destroyed from within.

#03 The Sacrilege

When a sacret woman’s rite in the ancient city of Rome is infiltrated by a corrupt patrician dressed in female garb, it falls to Senator Decuis Caecilius Metellus the Younger, whose investigative skills have proven indispensable in the past, to unmask the perpetrators. When four brutal slayings follow, Decius enlists the help a notorious and dangerous criminal.

#04 The Temple of the Muses

When Roman junior senator Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger has a chance to join a diplomatic mission to Alexandria, he welcomes the opportunity to temporarily elude his enemies in the Eternal City – even though it means leaving his beloved Rome. Decius is just beginning to enjoy the outpost’s many exotic pleasures when the suspicious death of an irascible philosopher occurs, coinciding with the puzzling and apocalyptic ravings of a charismatic cult leader.

#05 Saturnalia

Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer, a relative of Decius and his family and the head of a powerful political clan, has been poisoned, and his infamous wife, Clodia, is immediately suspected of disposing of her rather inconvenient husband. Not entirely convinced of Clodia’s guilt, Decius delves into the intricacies of Rome’s ruling class and discovers that a clandestine, forbidden witches’ cult is inextricably intertwined with some very highborn people. A trial for Clodia would be most unwelcome, as it could bring to light some well-kept secrets.

#06 Nobody Loves a Centurion

Julius Caesar, as we know, arrived in Gaul (now France) and announced “I Came, I Saw, I Conquered.” But when Decius Metellus arrives from Rome, not seeking military glory but rather avoiding an enemy currently in power, he finds that although the general came and saw, so far, at least, he has far from conquered. The campaign seems at a standstill.
Decius’ arrival disappoints the great Caesar as well. It soon develops, however, that Decius’ arrival was fortuitous. When Vinius, the army’s cruelest centurion (so-called because he commands 100 soldiers), is found murdered, Caesar remembers that his new recruit has successfully come up with the culprit in a number of recent crimes.

#07 The Tribune’s Curse

The Consul Crassus, the wealthiest man in Rome, frustrated by the Senate’s vote against his leading Rome in a war against Parthia, plans to march his private army to invade the country himself. Almost all of Rome turns out to watch him carry out his threat and lead his troops out of the city. But before he can, a t powerful tribune called Ateius leaps to the top of the city’s gate and invokes all the gods to put a curse on Crassus and his army.
Rome is terrified. Ateius has called down a forbidden curse — the worst and most frightening blasphemy ever perpetrated.

#08 The River God’s Vengeance

Ancient Rome, in this accurate and evocative series, is just as politics driven as any major American city – possibly even more. Decius Caecilius Metellus has, through a series of rather wild adventure, and in the act of tracking down killers and other reprobates, barely escaped annhilation several times. Now, newly elected to the office of aedile, the lowest rung on the ladder of Roman authority, he must smoke out corruption and conspiracy that threaten to destroy all of Rome.

#09 The Princess and the Pirates

Decius would rather do anything than join the war with Caesar, so he and Hermes find themselves on a mission to rid the Mediterranean of pirates. They set off with shoddy ships and sailors to the island of Cyprus, where a young Cleopatra is staying. The ruler of the island is murdered and Decius has a sacred duty to find and punish the guilty party.

#10 A Point of Law

Decius and his powerful family of Rome’s leading politicians scramble to prepare a defense. However, the day of the trial they are greeted with a strange surprise on the steps of the courthouse: the corpse of the man who made the accusation. Now Decius is up against a much more serious charge of murder.

#11 Under Vesuvius

Things are going well for Decius Caecilius Metellus. He is Praetor Peregrinus, which means he has to judge a case or two, but those cases are outside of the city. His cases will be those dealing with foreigners, and all of Italy is his province. His first stop is Campania, “Italy’s most popular resort district”. Decius and his wife, Julia, are happy for a change of scenery. But the good times end when, in a town near Vesuvius, a priest’s daughter is murdered.

#12 Oracle of the Dead

Decius Caecilius Metellus, this year’s magistrate for cases involving foreigners, is living the good life in southern Italy, happy to be away from Rome, a city suffering war jitters over Caesar’s impending actions. He thinks he is merely visiting one of the local sights when he takes a party to visit the Oracle of the Dead, a pre-Roman cult site located at the end of a tunnel dug beneath a temple of Apollo. He quickly learns that there is a bitter rivalry between the priests of Apollo and those of Hecate, who guard the oracle.
When the priests of Apollo are all killed, the countryside looks to explode in violence as Greeks, Romans, and native Italians of several conquered nations bring out old enmities.

#13 The Year of Confusion

Caius Julius Caesar, now Dictator of Rome, has decided to revise the Roman calendar, which has become out of sync with the seasons. As if this weren’t already an unpopular move, Caesar has brought in astronomers and astrologers from abroad, including Egyptians, Greeks, Indians, and Persians. Decius is appointed to oversee this project, which he knows rankles the Roman public: “To be told by a pack of Chaldeans and Egyptians how to conduct their duties towards the gods was intolerable.” Not long after the new calendar project begins, two of the foreigners are murdered.

2012-2013