I enjoyed this. Fast paced, amusing. Ruso is a medicus in the Roman Legions stationed in Britannia. He is in financial difficulties because of his father, and spends all his time bumbling into situations while fretting about clearing his father's debts. He almost inadvertantly buys an injured slave, and his troubles increase. Tilla, the slave is an interesting woman from the north....

Put into The Medicine Chest Bookbox IV to look for a new reader!

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I'm taking this from the Medicine Chest bookbox. I've enjoyed several different historical-ficition novels set in ancient Rome, including Arms of Nemesis and other titles from Steven Saylor's "Gordianus the Finder" series (he's a kind of detective rather than a doctor, but medical aspects do come into the stories), and thought I'd like to give this author a try. [The fact that there's an audiobook version of this read by my very favorite narrator doesn't hurt; if I like the book I'll know what to add to my next-read list at Audible.com!]

Later: Very enjoyable, with some interesting attempts at making Ruso a sympathetic character who still holds opinions about such things as human slavery that should make him less than likeable to modern readers. His situation's unusual too, with the gradual revelation of the reason for his need for money. And I enjoyed the details of his less-than-comfortable living arrangements with his friend Valens, a good-looking and reasonably talented healer who's also irresponsible and flighty.

The book opens with the cast of characters, presented in an entertaining form: "in which our hero will be..." followed by characters grouped under terms such as "baffled by", "assaulted by" (a soup bowl, a senior centurion, a trowel), "harangued by", etc. Very cute, though in some cases the groupings are hints as to the plot. There are tantalizing hints about Tilla's back-story, too, which I gather will lead to plot twists in upcoming novels; here, they serve to add suspense as she recovers from her injuries and has to decide whether to trust her new master or not.

The story definitely gave me the feeling of visiting a very different time and place, where some things (bureaucracy, for example) are pretty much as they ever were, while others are quite exotic. Good story!

I plan to leave this book somewhere in the sculpture park of the deCordova museum at around 5; hope the finder enjoys it!