"Mars the Avenger" by Alan Scribner
“Mars the Avenger” (ISBN 1463789785) is an historical mystery set at the height of the Roman Empire.
In the novel, Marcus Flavius Severus, a judge of the Court of the Urban Prefect in the city of Rome is assigned to investigate the disappearance of the wife of a Roman senator. At the same time, a sensational crime is perpetrated in the City when the body of a murdered man is discovered on the steps of the Temple of Mars the Avenger. As the investigation unfolds, the two cases become connected to a love affair seventeen years before in the Roman orient.
Judge Severus, with the assistance of his court and police aids, tracks down clues and witnesses throughout the city of Rome to find an answer to the mystery. The investigation leads them through the city and society of ancient Rome. Scenes are set, among other places, in a slave market, in the majestic public baths of Trajan, in wealthy villas and tenement apartment houses in which most Romans lived, in a tavern in the notorious Subura district and at the chariot races in the Circus Maximus.
There are also scenes in a Roman court and the book is accurate as to the criminal laws of the time, including the use of judicial torture. All laws, rescripts and legal procedures are from Roman law sources.
The mystery is finally unraveled at a Greek style symposium on murder. Through a series of shrewd deductions, the judge solves the case – but to his own consternation and in conformity with the observation of Tacitus that all human affairs are pervaded by irony.
Scribner uses his background in criminal law, both as a prosecutor and a defense attorney, and his research of Roman courts, laws, crime and police methods to help bring his novel to life for readers. He believes that his historical mystery will attract readers who enjoy reading crime thrillers as well as those who enjoy learning about ancient cultures.
It also introduces a perspicacious new detective in the person of Roman judge Marcus Flavius Severus.
“Mars the Avenger” is available for sale online at Amazon.com and other channels.
About the Author: Alan Scribner is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Yale Law School. Scribner was a former assistant district attorney in the office of Frank S. Hogan in New York County. He is also an independent scholar of ancient Rome and co-author of “Anni Ultimi: A Roman Stoic Guide to Retirement, Old Age and Death.” He is retired and lives in New Hampshire.
MEDIA CONTACT
Alan Scribner
Email: Phone: (603) 746-40
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Direct link: https://prnewschannel.com/2012/02/02/historical-mystery-conveys-how-ancient-rome-dealt-with-crime-how-romans-lived/SOURCE: Alan Scribner
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