Last Seen in Massilla, by Steven Saylor (spoilers, as usual)

Last Seen in Massilia picks up the hanging thread of a cliffhanger that was at the end of Rubicon—what happened to Meto, who's been acting as a spy for Caesar?

Gordianus[1] receives a mysterious letter telling him that Meto has died in Massilia, so he goes to find out if this is really true. Of course he gets dragged into another mystery while in Massilia: was the girl he saw on a rock used for suicides pushed by the man chasing her, or was the man chasing her trying to stop her from jumping, which she eventually did?

For company he has his son-in-law, Davus, a character who I find incredibly boring most of the time. I like Bethesda and wish we saw more of her though understand why we don't; think Meto is quite interesting and wouldn't mind seeing things from his perspective (not going to happen, since the books are written pretty strictly from Gordianus' point of view); liked Eco as a kid but find him kind of boring ever since he got his voice back, and really don't know what to think of Diana at this point. She kind of seems to be whatever the plot requires her to be. But this is a tangent, as Davus is the only member of the family along on this trip. And like I said, I find him dull.

Modern-day Marseilles, called Massilia by the Romans

Anyway, we do learn that Massilia has an interesting tradition of the 'scapegoat,' which is that when times are tough (say due to being under siege by Caesar's forces), they can choose a person to absorb all of the sins of the citizens of the city and be ritually killed in order to appease the gods and save the city from ruin. Gordianus, with his tendency to befriend outcasts, befriends the current scapegoat of Massilia, a fellow named Hieronymus (presumably no relative of Bosch).

He also investigates the death of a woman he sees either get pushed or fall off of Sacrifice Rock, an important setting in the book which is also the place where the scapegoat is supposed to meet his ultimate fate.

There's lots of stuff in here about disguises and parents and children; those seem to be the major themes. But the biggest thing that happens in this book at the end is that Gordianus finds Meto alive and well...and disowns him. Because he can't stand his career as a spy.

Now what's odd is that Gordianus knew Meto was a spy since the last book, and he didn't seem so much angry to find that out, but worried. And he knows he's a spy all throughout this book as well, and yet doesn't seem angry, but worried. But I could buy that being allowed to think that he was dead was what really sent him over the edge. I don't think this is a decision that's going to sit well with him in the long run; the ending seems to hint at that.

Overall, I didn't like this book as much as the others, but I didn't dislike it either. I suppose I'd give it about 3 stars, if I was doing the rating thing. It felt like a transitional book to me for some reason, like somehow Saylor is taking the series in a different, less self-contained direction. You really couldn't get into this book without having read the previous ones, whereas some of the earlier books could stand better on their own.




[1] One of the things that has driven me quietly mad throughout this series is that we never learn Gordianus' praenomen. Surely he must have one? I thought all Roman men had a praenomen and a nomen at least.