On a cold January evening in 50BC two strangers enter Rome. One is an Egyptian ambassador and the other a eunuch priest. Both are seeking Gordianus the Finder. Now Gordianus begins the most dangerous case of his career.

The year is 92BC and Gordianus has just turned eighteen and is about to embark on adventure of a lifetime: a far-flung journey to see the Seven Wonders of the World. Gordianus is not yet called 'The Finder' - that title belongs to his father. But at each of Seven Wonders, wide-eyed Roman encounters a mystery to challenge his powers of deduction.

As civil war between Caesar and Pompey engulfs the Roman world, Gordianus the Finder receives an anonymous message informing him of the death of his son Meto who has been acting as a double agent for Caesar.

Having obliterated the opposition, Caesar is now dictator for life. In the upcoming celebrations, Vercingetorix the Gaul is scheduled to be executed, as is Arsinoe, the sister of Cleopatra and Cleopatra herself is in Rome on a state visit, trying to convince Caesar to acknowledge their son as his heir. Marc Antony and Caesar are at odds.

In the bestseller 'Roma', Steven Saylor told the story of the first 1,000 years of Rome by following the descendants of a single bloodline. Now, in 'Empire', Saylor charts the destinies of five more generations of the Pinarius family, from the reign of the first emperor, Augustus, to the glorious height of Rome's empire under Hadrian.

'Roma' is the story of the ancient city of Rome, from its mythic beginnings as a campsite along a trade route to its emergence as the centre of the most extensive, powerful empire in the ancient world.

Gordianus the Finder, an eccentric, philosophical investigator, is hired by the young Cicero to acquit or convict a man accused of murdering his own father - an ugly, delicate case that soon produces dangerous fireworks.

63BC - Gordianus the Finder unexpectedly achieves his dream of a farm in the Etruscan countryside. Leaving behind the corruption and intrigue of Rome, he abandons the city, taking his family with him. But Gordianus' longtime patron, Cicero, has achieved a much coveted consulship and requests a favour of Gordianus.

Gordianus the Finder, an eccentric, philosophical investigator, is hired by Rome's wealthiest citizen to investigate the murder of the overseer of his estate. This story is set against the background of the slave revolt led by Spartacus.

Caesar intends to start a civil war, so Pompey and the terrified Senate prepare to flee Rome. The murder of a visitor to the house of Gordianus the Finder could not occur at a worse time - especially since the dead man could have been a spy.