Steven Saylor, the expert of Roman life, was born in Texas in 1956. He continued to college where he graduated with high honors in history and Classics from the University of Texas at Austin. Saylor went on to be a writer where he wrote the Roma Sub Roma series, which includes nine books, that deeply enthralls readers into the roman lifestyle. He is a baby boomer that will grow old and live off of what is left of social security. His times were times of great economical growth and technological development. Saylor has been used as a Roman life expert for the History Channel, and many people consider him a Roman know-it-all. He wrote several short stories about his favorite character "Gordianus" from the Roma Sub Rosa series, and a few western mysteries in Texas. He is married and lives happily between his homes in Austin, Texas, and Berkely, California.
             The Venus Throw by Steven Saylor is a murder mystery that takes you through the depths of Roman corruption as a murder unfolds. Gordianus the Finder is the fictional Roman character who solves these mysteries; this being Sherlock Holmes' previous life. Gordianus' old instructor from Alexandria, Dio, is in need of help. Dio and other philosophers were marching to the senate to make sure King Ptolemy remained out of Egypt. Ptolemy hired the Roman general Pompey who allegedly hired a gang led by Marcus Caelius to stop the philosophers from reaching Rome. Dio being the only Alexandrian left in the party dies that night, after he hires Gordianus to help him. The Finder then finds himself trapped in a bigger mystery than he could have ever imagined himself attempting to solve.
             Gordianus then comes upon Clodia, a whorish woman, sister to P. Claudius. She hires the Finder to find out who killed Dio, but hidden behind her plot is Marcus Caelius, whom she wants convicted so she can have her revenge on what he did to her. Gordianus, now funded, begins his ...