A Gladiators Tale

AD 63 Leonidas’s former trainer, Aemil, asks him to look into the disappearances of gladiators from his ludus. Leonidas and Cassia investigate, and soon uncover gruesome murders involving some of the wealthiest citizens of Rome. Leonidas pits his skills against an unknown killer who hunts gladiators from the back lanes of the Subura to prestigious villas atop Rome’s hills. He and Cassia must succeed in uncovering the murderer’s identity before Nero grows impatient and makes Leonidas pay for the chaos the killer has rained down upon his city.

Leonidas, freedman, once the most popular gladiator in Rome and champion of the games, now must fight for his life outside the arena. A man who owed him money was murdered, and Leonidas is a prime suspect. With the assistance of Cassia, daughter of a Greek scribe who was bestowed upon him as his slave, Leonidas fights for justice in the back lanes of Imperial Rome. Cassia has no idea how to cook and clean or mend and weave, but she is very good at finding things out and writing things down, able to work through a dozen mathematical problems by the time most people can think of a sentence. Knowing both intuitively and empirically that Leonidas is innocent of the murder, she resolves to help clear him of the crime. It’s the least she can do for a man who has proved to be far less brutal than his reputation and who protects all who come within his sphere. And if Leonidas loses, he faces a short, painful future back in the amphitheater, this time without hope of survival. A novella of the Leonidas the Gladiator mysteries.

Leonidas, champion gladiator of Rome, is set free from the games by a mysterious benefactor who grants him freedom, a place to live, and a servant—Cassia, a scribe—to look after him. But the benefactor is only so generous—Leonidas must pay his own way and Cassia’s, which means hiring himself out. The sharp-witted Cassia quickly lands him a post as a bodyguard, escorting a retired senator to Ostia. The journey soon turns deadly, as Leonidas and Cassia find themselves squarely in the middle of intrigue that reaches from the slums of the Subura to the Palatine Hill and the emperor Nero himself.

"Describes the lives of gladiators in the Roman Empire. The readers' choices reveal the historical details of gladiators rebelling with Spartacus, training at a gladiator school in Pompeii, and trying to earn their freedom"--Provided by publisher.

He won his fame—and his freedom—in the gory pits of Rome's Colosseum. Yet the greatest challenge for once-legendary gladiator Caros Viriathos comes to him through a slave. His slave, the beautiful and mysterious Pelonia Valeria. Her secret brings danger to his household but offers Caros a love like he's never known…. Should anyone learn she is a Christian, Pelonia will be executed. Her faith threatens not only herself, but her master. Can she convince a man who found fame through unforgiving brutality to show mercy? And when she's ultimately given the choice, will Pelonia choose freedom or the love of a gladiator?

A freed gladiator and a woman scribe solve crimes in Ancient Rome in the time of Nero. Blood of a Gladiator: Newly freed from the games, Leonidas the Gladiator must learn how to survive in Rome, aided only by Cassia, a scribe assigned to look after him. The two soon have to solve a brutal crime to keep Leonidas from being thrown back into the arena. Blood Debts: A baker’s debt to Leonidas soon turns dangerous, as his quest to be paid leads him to another murder he must solve. A Gladiator's Tale: Leonidas’s former lanista asks Leonidas and Cassia to look into the whereabouts of gladiators missing from the school. Soon Leonidas and Cassia are swept into a terrifying hunt for whoever has decided to slay gladiators.

Steven Saylor's Roma Sub Rosa series of novels, set in the late Roman Republic and featuring Gordianus the Finder, has garnered unusual acclaim from readers and reviewers alike, establishing him as one of the pre-eminent historical crime writers. In A Gladiator Dies Only Once, the second collection of his award-winning stories featuring Gordianus, Saylor more than meets his own high standards. Set during period between the events of his novels Roman Blood and Catalina's Riddle, these previously untold adventures range from twisted search for truth behind a threatening blind item in the Acta Diurna ("The Consul's Wife") and a kidnapping and murder during the revolt of Sertorius ("The White Fawn") to the story behind Cicero's discovery of Archimedes's tomb ("Archimedes Tomb") and a perplexing domestic situation in Gordianus's own home ("If a Cyclops Could Vanish in a Glimpse of an Eye.") These tales from the early career of Gordianus - when his adopted son Eco was still a mute boy and his wife Bethesda was but his slave - will delight Saylor's many fans while illuminating the details of the ancient world like no other writer can.

Eleven-year-old Marcus is forced to train and fight as a gladiator in this fast-paced action-adventure set in Ancient Rome.

Aggressive, explosive, and boasting awesome athletic ability, Dan Clark rose to tremendous fame as Nitro on American Gladiators. He quickly emerged as the most popular cast member and became a reality television superstar. But a twenty-year affair with steroids led to a life of pissing blood, smuggling drugs, destroying hotel rooms, getting arrested, growing breasts, and lying bloodied in the street after a vicious fight with his best friend. This is Clark's riveting, fiercely candid account of his life, career, and steroid addiction. From an upbringing defined by tragedy and a difficult search for identity to tales of performing center stage at Madison Square Garden and bedding Playboy Bunnies and porn stars, Clark explores the price of fame, the pressure of stardom, and how the whole steroid-fueled fantasy finally imploded. What began in high school as a way to speed up recovery from injury rapidly turned into an all-consuming addiction. With selfdeprecating humor and a trove of incredible stories, Clark provides an eye-opening report on the dangers of steroids both obvious and hidden -- and offers his thoughts on why steroid use remains a persistent problem today. More than just a pulpy exposé, Gladiator is a triumphant story of self-discovery and redemption.