I am only giving this book four stars because there were some parts of it that I thought dragged on forever and the beginning was kind of hard to get into. Other than that, I loved the story and the historical information was well thought out and delievered in a way that didn't seem too educational. It was just entertaining to read. I loved the modernity of the characters, even though it was set at the height of Rome's power. Falco is very witty and I loved his relationships with Petro and Helena. If I can get my hands on the previous books, I would love to read more of this series.