SEMPER FIDELIS
Ruth Downie
Bloomsbury US
January 2013
I have been eagerly awaiting the release of Semper Fidelis, #5 in Ruth Downie's Gaius Petreius Ruso series, set in Roman Britain. I was especially eager as we spent the week after Christmas in Corbridge, Northumberland and visited the major Roman excavation there. I had a much better idea of what a Roman town in Britain looked like and it added to my enjoyment of an already favorite series. Corbridge also brought home the rigors of Roman Legion life. Northumberland is no place to be in a tunic and cloak in the winter months!
Ruso is a surgeon with the Twentieth Legion and is married to a British woman, Tilla (actually Darlughdacha, but I agree with Ruso that Tilla is much better). Ruso is a very good man with insatiable curiosity but Tilla is his conscience. Ruso longs for nothing more than a peaceful life but does not seem to be destined for peace.The combination of curiosity and conscience has gotten them into a great deal of trouble before, but never to the extent seen in Semper Fidelis. The Emperor Hadrian is visiting Britain and the Twentieth Legion in Eboracum (York) and Ruso has also gone north to inspect the medical facilities there. When he arrives he discovers evidence of abuse of new British recruits leading to deaths and suicides. While Ruso is no longer an investigator and does not want to be, his sense of duty is aroused. His and Tilla's questions lead him to the Centurion, Geminus. He is forcibly warned off by Geminus, who not only is a highly placed figure, but is related to the Legion's Tribune, the ambitious Accius. When Ruso makes the mistake of taking his concerns straight to the Emperor and Geminus turns up dead, who better to take the blame for the murder than Ruso? Stripped of rank and imprisoned, Ruso is in deep trouble and Tilla is not much better off. As only officers can be married she is no longer his wife and loses all the protection of that status.
Many vivid new characters are introduced; the Empress Sabina, Hadrian and an assortment of Britons and Roman soldiers. Tilla even picks up a stray, a remarkably dim camp-follower named Virana. Ruso's friend, Valens, makes a short appearance and also, less welcome, Metellus, spymaster and general snake in the grass. The trademark dry humor is very much present but not to as great an extent as in earlier books. I think this is because Ruso's and Tilla's situation is so very serious. I was getting very anxious about it for a time.
I highly recommend the series but it is very important to read the books in order: Medicus, Terra Incognita, Persona non Grata and Caveat Emptor. The series is tremendously enjoyable and Semper Fidelis does not disappoint.
RATING- 5 Imperial Eagles
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