civil war, 49-45 b.c

Gordianus the Finder is caught between the opposing forces of Caesar and Pompey with his son serving as a trusted aide to Caesar, and his son-in-law held hostage by Pompey, who demands that Gordianus find the murderer of Numerius, Pompey's cousin and proteg?.

As the forces of Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great fight a bloody battle for supremacy, the city of Rome becomes a hotbed of intrigues, espionage, profiteering, and betrayals.

Gordianus travels to the besieged seaport of Massilia to find out what has happened to his son, Meto.

Recounts the fall of the Roman Republic, tracing the events that marked the final century B.C. and discussing such topics as the rise of Alexandria and the contributions of such figures as Caesar, Cleopatra, Brutus, and Augustus. In 49 B.C., the seven hundred fifth year since the founding of Rome, Julius Caesar crossed a small border river called the Rubicon and plunged Rome into cataclysmic civil war. Tom Holland's enthralling account tells the story of Caesar's generation, witness to the twilight of the Republic and its bloody transformation into an empire. From Cicero, Spartacus, and Brutus, to Cleopatra, Virgil, and Augustus, here are some of the most legendary figures in history brought thrillingly to life. Combining verve and freshness with scrupulous scholarship, Rubicon is not only an engrossing history of this pivotal era but a uniquely resonant portrait of a great civilization in all its extremes of self-sacrifice and rivalry, decadence and catastrophe, intrigue, war, and world-shaking ambition.

Gordianus the Finder is caught between the opposing forces of Caesar and Pompey with his son serving as a trusted aide to Caesar, and his son-in-law held hostage by Pompey who demands that Gordianus find the murderer of Numerius, Pompey's cousin and protege.

Gordianus travels to the besieged seaport of Massilia to find out what has happened to his son, Meto.

Contains an introduction to the play, the text of the play, and notes.