#gordianus is a shitty roman neolib (joke) who looks down on the violent system he profits from

[villainanders]

Ok actually I think what’s going on is that Steven saylor isn’t handling any of the complicated historical topics any better BUT the main character’s adopted son (who was originally born a slave and had a deeply traumatic childhood before being adopted into a household of mostly well-off Roman citizens) has joined up with Julius Caesar and is so fiercely dedicated to him he’s also rumored to be (and probably is) his lover (but in a way where this relationship also keeps getting played against his relationship with his father) which is constantly bringing him into conflict with his roman upper middle class father who as much he loves his son can never truly understand the two different worlds they were coming from, and that his love for his family can never replace what his son perceives as his duty to rome and to caesar. and the whole thing is so wildly compelling to me I’m just zipping past everything else