I am listing all the books in Steven Saylor's Rosa sub Roma series except the last one, which is on my wish list! This was a very enjoyable series...well written, educational (at least for me who previously had no interest in ancient Rome) and fun to see the progression of Gordianus the Finder's life.
You may want to order all of them because they're a fast read and, to me anyway, very addictive.
The hideously disfigured body was found in the atrium. The only clues are a blood-soaked cloak, and, carved into the stone at the corpse's feet, the word 'Sparta.' The overseer of Marcus Crassus's estate has been murdered, apparently by two slaves bent on joining Spartacus' revolt. The wealthy, powerful Crassus vows to honor an ancient law and have his ninety-nine remaining slaves slaughtered in three days. Gordianus the Finder is summoned from Rome by a mysterious client to find out the truth about the murder before the three days are up. From the brutal stench, of a slave galley to the limpid, sea-glazed beauty of Baiae and the sulphurous pits of the Sybil at Cumae, he must risk all he loves, including his life, sto stop a senseless slaughter.