Ode to a Banker
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| Ode to a Banker | |
| Author | Lindsey Davis |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Marcus Didius Falco |
| Genre(s) | Crime |
| Publisher | Century, Mysterious Press |
| Publication date | 2000 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 353 pp (Paperback edition) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0712680349 |
| Preceded by | One Virgin Too Many |
| Followed by | A Body in the Bath House |
Ode to a Banker is a crime novel by Lindsey Davis.
Contents |
[edit] Plot introduction
Set in Rome between July and August AD 74, Ode to a Banker stars Marcus Didius Falco, Informer and Imperial Agent. It is the twelfth in her Falco series, and a take on the vanity publishing industry.
[edit] Explanation of the novel's title
The title is a reference to both the poetry that leads Marcus Didius Falco to the Chrysippus scriptorum, as well as to the bank that is the family's other business.
[edit] Plot summary
When Marcus Didius Falco gives a poetry reading for family and friends, things get a little out of hand. The event is taken over by Aurelius Chrysippus, a wealthy Greek banker and patron to a group of struggling writers, who subsequently offers to publish Falco's work. A visit to the Chrysippus scriptorium implicates Falco in the murder of Chrysippus, found beaten to death by a scroll in his library. So Petronius Longus, in his role of enquiry chief of the vigiles, commissions him to investigate. The result is a trawl through the literary and financial worlds of Ancient Rome.
[edit] Characters in "Ode to a Banker"
[edit] Family and Associates
- A. Camillus Aelianus - Older brother of Helena
- Anacrites - Chief Spy
- Geminus - Father of Falco, Auctioneer
- Glaucus and Cotta - Bath House Contractors
- Helena Justina - Wife of Falco, and daughter of the Senator Decimus Camillus Verus
- Junia - Falco's sister
- Junilla Tacita - Mother of Falco
- Maia Favonia - Falco's widowed sister
- Marcus Didius Falco - Informer and Imperial Agent.
- Rutilius Gallicus - Ex-consul
[edit] Vigiles
- Fusculus
- Lucius Petronius Longus - Friend of Falco and Vigiles Officer
- Passus
- Sergius
[edit] From the World of the Arts
- Anna - Wife of Trypho
- Aurelius Chrysippus - Patron and Banker
- Avienus - Historian
- Constrictus - Poet
- Euschemon - Scroll-seller
- Pacuvius - Satirist
- Turius - Utopian
- Urbanus Trypho - Playwright
[edit] From Commerce
- Bos
- Diomedes - Son of Chrysippus and Lysa
- Lucrio - Banker
- Lysa - First wife of Chrysippus
- Nothokelptes - Banker
- Philomelus - Son of Pisarchus
- Pisarchus - Shipping magnate
- Vibia Second wife of Chryssipus
[edit] Major themes
- Investigation into the murder of Aurelius Chrysippus
[edit] Allusions/references to actual history, geography and current science
[edit] Release details
- 2000, UK, Century Hardback ISBN 0712680349
- 2001, UK, Arrow, Paperback ISBN 0-09-929820-1
- 2001, US, Mysterious Press, Hardback ISBN 0-89296-740-4
- US, Mysterious Press, Paperback ISBN 0-446-67906-2
