Lindsey Davis: Time to Depart (1998, Penguin Random House)
English language
Published Feb. 19, 1998 by Penguin Random House.
It is Rome in AD 72, and Petro, captain of the Aventine watch, with his friend Falco, finally nails Rome's top criminal. Sentenced to exile, the evil Balbinus is put aboard ship. But soon the corpses start appearing, and it is obvious that Balbinus is back in the criminal underworld.
I found this beautifully polished and nicely plotted. The characters and situations are timeless but rooted in Roman period.
