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Medicus
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Gaius Petreius Ruso: Book 1

Medicus (2007) (edit title/settings)

A Novel of the Roman Empire

by Ruth Downie (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

Also published as "Ruso and the Disappearing Dancing Girls"

“The highest praise I can offer this wonderfully entertaining portrait of the Roman Empire at its most far-flung is that I hope Downie is planning a series. Ruso is too good a character for just one book.”—Malcolm Jones, ... read more

Summary edit see section history

Divorced and down on his luck, Gaius Petreius Ruso has made the rash decision to seek his fortune in an inclement outpost of the Roman Empire, namely Britannia. In a moment of weakness, after a straight thirty-six hour shift at the army hospital, he succumbs to compassion and rescues an... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

Divorced and down on his luck, Gaius Petreius Ruso has made the rash decision to seek his fortune in an inclement outpost of the Roman Empire, namely Britannia. In a moment of weakness, after a straight thirty-six hour shift at the army hospital, he succumbs to compassion and rescues an injured slave girl, Tilla, from the hands of her abusive owner. Now he has a new problem: a slave who won’t talk and can’t cook, and drags trouble in her wake. Before he knows it, Ruso is caught in the middle of an investigation into the deaths of prostitutes working out of the local bar. Now Ruso must summon all his forensic knowledge to find a killer who may be after him next. With a gift for comic timing and historical detail, Ruth Downie has conjured an ancient world as raucous and real as our own.   Published in the UK as Medicus (Ruso) and the Disappearing Dancing Girls .

Characters/People edit see section history

  • Gaius Petrius Ruso: The novel's protagonist, a military doctor who transfers to the 20th Legion in the remote Britannia port of Deva to start over after a ruinous divorce and his father's death.
  • Claudius Innocens: A wool trader that sells Ruso a young slave girl.
  • Valens: Military physician and one who shares lodgings with Ruso.
  • Merula: Bar owner and madam
  • Tilla: A slave girl reluctantly purchased by Ruso aka Darlughdacha in her native language, Brigante.
  • Officer Priscus: Hospital administrator where Ruso is employed
  • Lucius: Ruso's brother
  • Saufeia: Murdered slave girl
  • Stichus: Doorman, i.e., "bouncer", for Merula
  • Albanus: Ruso's scribe assigned by Officer Priscus
  • Daphne: One of the Merula's "girls".
  • Centurion Rutilius: An officer in Legion XX assigned to Britannia
  • Rutilia Paula: Younger daughter of the Centurion Rutillus
  • Lucco: Merula's kitchen boy
  • Chloe: One of the Merula's "girls".
  • Bassus: Merula's bartender
  • Asellina: Another murdered Merula girl
  • Decimus: A hospital porter who was in love with Asellina
  • Phyrne: Freeborn, daughter of carpenter.
  • Sabrann: Young Briton girl
Show all 20 characters
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Setting & Locations edit see section history

This novel is set in Britannia, which is the Roman Empire's name for Great Britain, which became a military outpost in 43AD
  • Deva: Military fortress in Britannia occupied by Legion XX to which Ruso is assigned as a physician. Deva is now Chester, the country town of Cheshire, England.

First Sentence edit see section history

Someone had washed the mud off the body, but as Gaius Petreius Ruso unwrapped the sheet, there was still a distinct smell of river water.

Table of Contents edit see section history

79 numbered chapters
Author's Note
Acknowledgments

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 1 of 4 in Gaius Petreius Ruso. (standard series)

Followed by Terra Incognita.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Ruth Downie (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Country: USA
Publication Date: 2007
ISBN: 1596912316
Page Count: 400

Classification edit see section history

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • Persona Non Grata
  • Caveat Emptor
  • Terra Incognita

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