The Dagger of Nemesis

The Dagger of Nemesis is the 9th in the series of highly acclaimed and best selling Judge Marcus Flavius Severus mysteries in Ancient Rome. This story takes place in the year 173 CE during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. It is 2 years after the events in A Shipwreck Conspiracy.Judge Severus is retired from the Court of the Urban Prefect and living with his family in the countryside, where he can study philosophy and history and astronomy and contemplate.But Fate intervenes. The Prefect of the City of Rome seeks his help to solve a series of murders that no one has been able to solve in the month since they were committed. There were three murders in three days. The first victim was a famous charioteer of the Red faction. The second was a famous courtesan. The third was an obscure shoemaker. Each victim had their throat slit with a dagger and the number I, II, or III written on their cheek in their own blood.Severus assembles his complement of helpers for the investigation, his secretary Alexander, his police aides Vulso and Straton, his bodyguard Crantor, his court clerk Proculus, his former assessor Flaccus and, of course, his wife Artemisia.This book, as the others in the series, is not only a mystery, but also captures the daily life of ancient Rome and is a sojourn into the world of courts, police, and criminal law of the period. All laws, rescripts and legal procedures are from Roman law sources.