see page history
Overview edit
Bibliography
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(2010)
Warriors
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(2007)
Roma
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(2005)
A Gladiator Dies Only Once
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(2003)
Have You Seen Dawn?: A Novel
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(2000)
Twist at the End
Personal edit
- Legal name: Steven Saylor
- Birthdate: March 23, 1956 (age 56)
- Birthplace: , Texas, United States
- Nationality: American
- Gender: Male
- Official Website: http://www.stevensaylor.com/
- Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction
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STEVEN SAYLOR is the author of the ROMA SUB ROSA® series of historical mysteries featuring Gordianus the Finder and set in the ancient Rome of Cicero and Caesar. The novels, in chronological order, are: ROMAN BLOOD (1991), ARMS OF NEMESIS (1992), CATILINA’S RIDDLE (1994), THE VENUS THROW (1995), A MURDER ON THE APPIAN WAY (1996), RUBICON (1999), LAST SEEN IN MASSILIA (2000), A MIST OF PROPHECIES (2002), THE JUDGMENT OF CAESAR (2004), and THE TRIUMPH OF CAESAR (2008). Steven plans to continue the series, but not until he finishes the novel EMPIRE (see below).
Steven’s short stories about Gordianus have appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and in several original anthologies. The first, “A Will Is a Way,” won the 1993 Robert L. Fish Award from the Mystery Writers of America, given each year for the best debut short story in the mystery genre. All the Gordianus short stories have been collected in two volumes, THE HOUSE OF THE VESTALS (1997) and A GLADIATOR DIES ONLY ONCE (2005).
Outside the Roman series are two novels set in Steven’s native Texas. A TWIST AT THE END (2000) is based on America’s first recorded serial murders, which terrorized Austin, Texas in 1885. The chief protagonist is young Will Porter, who later became famous as O. Henry. HAVE YOU SEEN DAWN? (2003) is a contemporary thriller set in a small Texas town not unlike the one where Steven grew up.
2007 saw the publication of ROMA: THE NOVEL OF ANCIENT ROME, a multi-generational saga about the first thousand years of the city, from Iron Age trading post to imperial capital. Steven is currently at work on the next volume, EMPIRE: THE NOVEL OF IMPERIAL ROME, which will follow the fortunes of the Pinarius descendents from the reign of Augustus to the height of the empire under Hadrian.
Translations & travel: Steven’s books have been published in 21 languages: English, French, Dutch, German, Spanish, Czech, Russian, Finnish, Norwegian, Portuguese, Brazilian-Portuguese, Polish, Greek, Magyar (Hungarian), Serbian, Swedish, Turkish, Danish, Korean, Indonesian, and Romanian.
Book tours have taken him to many cities in the United States and the United Kingdom, and to Berlin, Amsterdam, Lisbon, Budapest, Oslo, and Madrid.
Appearances & speaking engagements: Steven has appeared in two television documentaries, both shown internationally on The History Channel: the series ANCIENT ROME: STORY OF AN EMPIRE, first broadcast in 1998, and CRIMINAL HISTORY: ANCIENT ROME, first shown in 2005.
Steven has spoken at Rice University, The University of California at Santa Cruz, San Francisco State University, the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, the University of Texas at Austin (his alma mater), and the University of Oslo in Norway. In spring 2002, Steven delivered the inaugural commencement address to the Classics Department at the University of California at Berkeley. (Click here to read his speech.) He has addressed the American Philological Association, the American Classical League, and the Junior Classical League. (Imagine 2000 high school students in togas and stolas!) In 2008, he spoke at the Getty Villa (to see the discussion, click here) and was an invited speaker at the International Conference on the Ancient Novel (ICAN) in Lisbon (click here to read his paper).
Why ancient Rome for a setting? “The final years of the Roman Republic offer a treasure trove of all the stuff that makes for a good read,” Steven says. “There’s political intrigue, courtroom drama, sexual scandal, extremes of splendor and squalor, and no shortage of real-life murder mysteries. Beginning with RUBICON, the arena extends to open warfare and espionage. Through it all, Gordianus has managed not just to keep his head above water, but to raise a very unconventional family. And always, eventually, he gets to the truth of the puzzle, no matter how great the danger or disturbing the revelation.”
Professional & personal: Steven has been a newspaper and magazine editor, and a literary agent (most notably for Lars Eighner’s memoir of homelessness, TRAVELS WITH LIZBETH, a New York Times Notable Book, and also for erotic author Aaron Travis). Steven is not much given to autobiography, but the late, great editor John Preston coaxed him into writing three very personal essays included in Preston’s ground-breaking anthologies. In HOMETOWNS, Steven wrote about his small Texas hometown; in A MEMBER OF THE FAMILY, he wrote about the death of his mother; in FRIENDS AND LOVERS, he wrote about his relationship with Rick Solomon, his partner since 1976 (Steven and Rick were were married in California in 2008).
Steven was born in Texas in 1956 and graduated with high honors from the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied history and Classics. He divides his time between homes in Berkeley, California, and Austin, Texas. (Source stevensaylor.com)
Steven’s short stories about Gordianus have appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and in several original anthologies. The first, “A Will Is a Way,” won the 1993 Robert L. Fish Award from the Mystery Writers of America, given each year for the best debut short story in the mystery genre. All the Gordianus short stories have been collected in two volumes, THE HOUSE OF THE VESTALS (1997) and A GLADIATOR DIES ONLY ONCE (2005).
Outside the Roman series are two novels set in Steven’s native Texas. A TWIST AT THE END (2000) is based on America’s first recorded serial murders, which terrorized Austin, Texas in 1885. The chief protagonist is young Will Porter, who later became famous as O. Henry. HAVE YOU SEEN DAWN? (2003) is a contemporary thriller set in a small Texas town not unlike the one where Steven grew up.
2007 saw the publication of ROMA: THE NOVEL OF ANCIENT ROME, a multi-generational saga about the first thousand years of the city, from Iron Age trading post to imperial capital. Steven is currently at work on the next volume, EMPIRE: THE NOVEL OF IMPERIAL ROME, which will follow the fortunes of the Pinarius descendents from the reign of Augustus to the height of the empire under Hadrian.
Translations & travel: Steven’s books have been published in 21 languages: English, French, Dutch, German, Spanish, Czech, Russian, Finnish, Norwegian, Portuguese, Brazilian-Portuguese, Polish, Greek, Magyar (Hungarian), Serbian, Swedish, Turkish, Danish, Korean, Indonesian, and Romanian.
Book tours have taken him to many cities in the United States and the United Kingdom, and to Berlin, Amsterdam, Lisbon, Budapest, Oslo, and Madrid.
Appearances & speaking engagements: Steven has appeared in two television documentaries, both shown internationally on The History Channel: the series ANCIENT ROME: STORY OF AN EMPIRE, first broadcast in 1998, and CRIMINAL HISTORY: ANCIENT ROME, first shown in 2005.
Steven has spoken at Rice University, The University of California at Santa Cruz, San Francisco State University, the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, the University of Texas at Austin (his alma mater), and the University of Oslo in Norway. In spring 2002, Steven delivered the inaugural commencement address to the Classics Department at the University of California at Berkeley. (Click here to read his speech.) He has addressed the American Philological Association, the American Classical League, and the Junior Classical League. (Imagine 2000 high school students in togas and stolas!) In 2008, he spoke at the Getty Villa (to see the discussion, click here) and was an invited speaker at the International Conference on the Ancient Novel (ICAN) in Lisbon (click here to read his paper).
Why ancient Rome for a setting? “The final years of the Roman Republic offer a treasure trove of all the stuff that makes for a good read,” Steven says. “There’s political intrigue, courtroom drama, sexual scandal, extremes of splendor and squalor, and no shortage of real-life murder mysteries. Beginning with RUBICON, the arena extends to open warfare and espionage. Through it all, Gordianus has managed not just to keep his head above water, but to raise a very unconventional family. And always, eventually, he gets to the truth of the puzzle, no matter how great the danger or disturbing the revelation.”
Professional & personal: Steven has been a newspaper and magazine editor, and a literary agent (most notably for Lars Eighner’s memoir of homelessness, TRAVELS WITH LIZBETH, a New York Times Notable Book, and also for erotic author Aaron Travis). Steven is not much given to autobiography, but the late, great editor John Preston coaxed him into writing three very personal essays included in Preston’s ground-breaking anthologies. In HOMETOWNS, Steven wrote about his small Texas hometown; in A MEMBER OF THE FAMILY, he wrote about the death of his mother; in FRIENDS AND LOVERS, he wrote about his relationship with Rick Solomon, his partner since 1976 (Steven and Rick were were married in California in 2008).
Steven was born in Texas in 1956 and graduated with high honors from the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied history and Classics. He divides his time between homes in Berkeley, California, and Austin, Texas. (Source stevensaylor.com)
