Steven Saylor (born March 23, 1956) is an American author of historical novels. He is a graduate of the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

, where he studied history and

classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

. Saylor's best-known work is his '' Roma Sub Rosa''

historical mystery The historical mystery or historical whodunit is a subgenre of two literary genres, historical fiction and mystery fiction. These works are set in a time period considered historical from the author's perspective, and the central plot involves th ...

series, set in ancient Rome. The novels' hero is a detective named Gordianus the Finder, active during the time of

Sulla Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (, ; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman of the late Roman Republic. A great commander and ruthless politician, Sulla used violence to advance his career and his co ...

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

, and

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...

. Outside this crime novel series, Saylor has also written three epic-length historical novels about the city of Rome, '' Roma'', ''

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

'', and '' Dominus''. His work has been published in 21 languages. Saylor has also written two novels set in Texas. ''A Twist at the End'', featuring O. Henry, is set in Austin in the 1880s and based on real-life serial murders and trials (the case of the so-called Servant Girl Annihilator). ''Have You Seen Dawn?'' is a contemporary thriller set in a fictional Texas town, Amethyst, based on Saylor's hometown, Goldthwaite, Texas. Saylor contributed autobiographical essays to three anthologies of gay writing edited by John Preston, ''Hometowns'', ''A Member of the Family'', and ''Friends and Lovers'', and prior to his novel-writing career he published gay

erotic fiction Erotic fiction is a part of erotic literature and a genre of fiction that portrays sex or sexual themes, generally in a more literary or serious way than the fiction seen in pornographic magazines. It sometimes includes elements of satire or so ...

under the pen name Aaron Travis. Saylor has lived with Richard Solomon since 1976; they registered as domestic partners in San Francisco in 1991 and later dissolved that partnership in order to legally marry in October 2008. The couple split their time between properties in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

, and

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

Bibliography

Roma Sub Rosa series

Listed in publication order. For a chronological listing, see the separate Roma Sub Rosa article. #'' Roman Blood'' (1991), in which Gordianus is hired by the great orator and advocate

in 80 BC. Like several novels in the series, this one is based on a trial oration by Cicero, in this case ''In Defence of Sextus Roscius of Ameria'' (''Pro Sexto Roscio Amerino''). #'' Arms of Nemesis'' (1992), featuring Crassus, is set during the slave revolt of

Spartacus Spartacus (; ) was a Thracians, Thracian gladiator (Thraex) who was one of the Slavery in ancient Rome, escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major Slave rebellion, slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Historical accounts o ...

in 72 BC. #'' Catilina's Riddle'' (1993), featuring

and the title character, Catilina, is set during his rebellion in 63 BC. #'' The Venus Throw'' (1995), featuring the poet

Catullus Gaius Valerius Catullus (; ), known as Catullus (), was a Latin neoteric poet of the late Roman Republic. His surviving works remain widely read due to their popularity as teaching tools and because of their personal or sexual themes. Life ...

, is set during the trial of Marcus Caelius in 56 BC for the murder of

Dio of Alexandria Dio of Alexandria (; ) was an Academic skepticism, Academic Skeptic philosopher and a friend of Antiochus of Ascalon who lived in the first century BC. Along with being an Academic Skeptic, Dio was an avid believer in the Greek gods and Titans, spe ...

. #'' A Murder on the Appian Way'' (1996), set just before the civil war between Caesar and

Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey ( ) or Pompey the Great, was a Roman general and statesman who was prominent in the last decades of the Roman Republic. ...

, focused on the murder of the rabble-rouser Publius Clodius Pulcher on the

Appian Way The Appian Way (Latin and Italian language, Italian: Via Appia) is one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient Roman Republic, republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, in southeast Italy. Its importance is in ...

outside Rome. (52 BC) #'' The House of the Vestals'' (1997), a collection of nine short stories which take place between the first novel and the second, during the period September 80-73 BC. #'' Rubicon'' (1999), in which Caesar crosses the Rubicon and the members of the Senate flee Rome, plunging the Roman world into civil war. (49 BC) #'' Last Seen in Massilia'' (2000) takes place in Massilia (now

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

) during the siege of the city by Caesar's troops. (49 BC) #'' A Mist of Prophecies'' (2002) is set in the city of Rome during the Roman civil war. (48 BC) #'' The Judgment of Caesar'' (2004) takes place in Egypt, when Caesar met queen

in 48 BC. #'' A Gladiator Dies Only Once'' (2005), another collection of short stories which take place between the first novel and the second. (77-73, 70, and 64 BC) #'' The Triumph of Caesar'' (2008) is set in Rome during Caesar's triumphal celebrations in 46 BC. #'' The Seven Wonders'' (2012), a

fix-up A fix-up (or fixup) is a novel created from several short fiction stories that may or may not have been initially related or previously published. The stories may be edited for consistency, and sometimes new connecting material, such as a frame ...

novel, is a prequel recounting the journey of the young Gordianus to see the

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, also known as the Seven Wonders of the World or simply the Seven Wonders, is a list of seven notable structures present during classical antiquity, first established in the 1572 publication '' Octo Mundi M ...

beginning in 92 BC. #'' Raiders of the Nile'' (2014) is a direct sequel to ''The Seven Wonders'', about the further adventures of young Gordianus in Egypt and a plot to steal the golden sarcophagus of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

, set in 88 BC. #"Ill Seen in Tyre" (2014), in the cross-genre anthology '' Rogues'', edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois, set in 91 BC just before the Epilogue of '' The Seven Wonders'' #'' Wrath of the Furies'' (2015) is a direct sequel to ''Raiders of the Nile'', where young Gordianus must travel incognito into the lands ruled by Mithridates VI, set in 88 BC. #'' The Throne of Caesar'' (2018) is set in Rome during Caesar's murder in March 44 BC.

Roma series

#'' Roma: A Novel of Ancient Rome'' (2007), a 1000-year novel of the rise of ancient Rome from its first settlement to the assassination of Julius Caesar. #''"The Eagle and the Rabbit"'' (2013) - short story set in 146 BC (collected in ''Future, Present, Past'' ) #'' Empire: The Novel of Imperial Rome'' (2010) spans several generations with the end of the reign of

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

in 14 AD through the reign of

Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...

in 141 AD. #''Dominus'' (July 2021) spans several generations from 165 to 325 AD

Other books

*''A Twist at the End'' (UK title: ''Honour the Dead'') (2000), based on the Servant Girl Annihilator killings in the 1880s in Austin, Texas, closely reconstructs the murders and the ensuing trials, with young William Sydney Porter ( O. Henry) playing a fictional role. *''Have You Seen Dawn?'' (2003) is a modern-day thriller set in a small town in Texas. *''Future, Present, Past'' (2013) is a collection of three short stories set in different time periods. *''My Mother's Ghost'' (2013) is a collection of three autobiographical essays and a short story. *''A Bookish Bent'' (2013) is a collection of various essay and articles. ;Erotic fiction under the pseudonym Aaron TravisThe complete works published under the Aaron Travis pen name were reissued in

Amazon Kindle Amazon Kindle is a series of e-readers designed and marketed by Amazon. Amazon Kindle devices enable users to browse, buy, download, and read e-books, newspapers, magazines, Audible audiobooks, and other digital media via wireless networking ...

and Barnes & Noble Nook editions in 2012. Novels *''Slaves of the Empire'' (1985) - set in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. *''The Flesh Fables'' (1990) *''Beast of Burden'' (1993) *''Big Shots'' (1993) *''In the Blood'' (1995) Novellas *''Blue Light'' (1980) *''Beirut'' (2012) *''Crown of Thorns'' (2012) *''Eden'' (2012) *''Kip'' (2012) *''Military Discipline'' (2012) *''Short, Brainy, & Hot'' (2012) *''Slave'' (2012) *''Wild West'' (2013) Collections *''Exposed'' (1994) *''Tag Team Studs'' (1997) (with Clay Caldwell) *''Kudzu and Other Stories'' (2012) *''Raw'' (2012) *''Wrestling Tales'' (2012) *''No Shades of Gray'' (2012) Anthologies edited *''QSF x 2'' (1995) (with Lars Eighner)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saylor, Steven American crime fiction writers American gay writers American LGBTQ novelists American male novelists Lambda Literary Award winners LGBTQ crime writers LGBTQ people from Texas People from Goldthwaite, Texas People from Port Lavaca, Texas The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction people University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts alumni Writers of historical fiction set in antiquity Writers of historical mysteries 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American novelists 1956 births Living people