Book
Gladiator
First published 2024
In 26 BCE Marcus Agrippa asks Rufus Varro to renew contact with his wealthy childhood friend Jovian Martinus. Martinus is building a town and gladiator school outside Rome and has attracted Augustus’s attention. Varro and Manius accept his hospitality while assessing whether the project conceals political ambitions or a private force.
Manius studies the fighters under the lanista Gaius Castor while Varro questions Martinus and his wife Helvia. Friendship gives the spy access but also makes betrayal personal. When Martinus realises that his guest knows too much, the visit becomes a struggle to leave alive. The novella uses the commercial world of gladiators to examine how wealth can create power beyond ordinary senatorial office.
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