Oracle of the Dead (SPQR XII)

Decius Caecilius Metellus, this year's magistrate for cases involving foreigners, is living the good life in southern Italy, happy to be away from Rome, a city suffering war jitters over Caesar's impending actions. He thinks he is merely visiting one of the local sights when he takes a party to visit the Oracle of the Dead, a pre-Roman cult site located at the end of a tunnel dug beneath a temple of Apollo. He quickly learns that there is a bitter rivalry between the priests of Apollo and those of Hecate, who guard the oracle. When the priests of Apollo are all killed, the countryside looks to explode in violence as Greeks, Romans and native Italians of several conquered nations bring out old enmities. Decius is caught squarely in the middle, desperate to find a way out that will pacify the district and, incidentally, save his own skin. This riveting series began with the Edgar Award-nominated SPQR and has gone on to international success in 13 languages. Enjoying the good life in southern Italy, Decius Caecilius Metellus, Roman magistrate for cases involving foreigners, becomes caught in the middle of a bitter rivalray between the priests of Apollo and those of Hecate that explodes into murder, when the priests of Apollo turn up dead and the local countryside is poised on the verge of all-out violence. 15,000 first printing. Roman magistrate Decius Caecilius Metellus must discover who is killing the priests of Apollo before the countryside explodes in violence