A Bull for Pluto
- Series: A Slave's Story, Book 2
A slave without a past. A master without a future. A journey of discovery that will forever change the lives of both men. The ancient world comes alive in this vivid and engaging fiction trilogy by an expert on the social and religious history of the Greco-Roman world. More
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- Series: A Slave's Story, Book 2
- Category: Fiction » Historical » Classical Greece & Rome
- Category: Fiction » Cultural & ethnic themes » Jewish
- Published: July 12, 2022
- Words: 158,290
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9781732698130
About Christopher D. Stanley
CHRISTOPHER D. STANLEY is a social and religious historian who studies and writes about early Christianity and the Greco-Roman world. He recently retired as a professor at St. Bonaventure University in western New York. He has written or edited six books and dozens of professional articles on early Christian texts and history and presents papers regularly at conferences around the world. The trilogy A Slave's Story, which grew out of his historical research on first-century Asia Minor, is his first work of fiction. He continues to write for the academic world as well, including a recently finished book on sickness and healing in the Greco-Roman world that explores some of the history behind this trilogy.
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About the Series: A Slave's Story
The "A Slave's Story" series tells the story of a slave named Marcus who manages the business affairs of a wealthy Roman citizen in central Asia Minor (modern Turkey) in the first century AD. The first volume, "A Rooster for Asklepios," narrates his eventful journey to a famous healing center in western Turkey in response to a dream in which the god Asklepios appears to promise that his master will be cured there of a nagging illness. The second volume, "A Bull for Pluto," relates the aftermath of this journey as Marcus struggles with newly revealed secrets about his ancestry and his master comes to terms with his mortality. The third book is currently being written.
Along the way, both men encounter people and ideas that undermine everything that they have ever believed about themselves, one another, and the world around them. Societal norms are challenged, personal loyalties tested, and identities transformed in this engaging story that brings to life a unique corner of the Roman world that has been neglected by previous storytellers.
Along the way, both men encounter people and ideas that undermine everything that they have ever believed about themselves, one another, and the world around them. Societal norms are challenged, personal loyalties tested, and identities transformed in this engaging story that brings to life a unique corner of the Roman world that has been neglected by previous storytellers.
Reviews of A Bull for Pluto by Christopher D. Stanley
Billy Meyer
reviewed
on Feb. 2, 2023
A Bull for Pluto – A slave story #2
Following their epic road trip across Anatolia from their home in Antioch near Pisidia in Galatia to the Asklepion of Pergamum in Asia, our Heros Marcus and Lucius are heading home disappointed, having been rejected by the god of healing.
Their journey home takes them to the fabulous volcanic limestone hot springs of Heirapolis (modern Pamukkale in Turkey) to seek solace in the waters and take stock. Their time in the city takes in the triple festival of Apollo, Cybele and Pluto, where the Galli, priests of the mother, risk their lives dragging Bulls asphyxiated by the subterranean thermal fumes into the mouth of the underworld. Overcome by depression and despair, Lucius attempts to commit suicide by entering the cave but is saved at the last minute by his faithful Marcus and his new love interest, the Jewish slave Miriam.
The arrival of Miriam precipitates the events of the book’s second half, which is Marcus’ spiritual and emotional journey into his Jewish roots, developing on the hints in A Rooster for Asklepios. This journey and further revelations of his past begin a profound change in Marcus’ life expectations. Furthermore, the fates of Lucius, his wastrel son Gaius, his young wife Selena and his unborn child are woven into a rich portrait of a Roman family in a pivotal time of religious and political change.
Christopher Stanley’s second novel, like the first, errs a little on the side of telling rather than showing the mind of this interesting cast of characters. However, he transmits his knowledge of first-century Anatolian culture and religion through a tale with enough narrative turns and unexpected twists to keep me turning the pages to find out where the journey will take Marcus next.
(reviewed 38 days after purchase)
Billy Meyer
reviewed
on Feb. 2, 2023
(no rating)
A Bull for Pluto – A slave story #2
Following their epic road trip across Anatolia from their home in Antioch near Pisidia in Galatia to the Asklepion of Pergamum in Asia, our Heros Marcus and Lucius are heading home disappointed, having been rejected by the god of healing.
Their journey home takes them to the fabulous volcanic limestone hot springs of Heirapolis (modern Pamukkale in Turkey) to seek solace in the waters and take stock. Their time in the city takes in the triple festival of Apollo, Cybele and Pluto, where the Galli, priests of the mother, risk their lives dragging Bulls asphyxiated by the subterranean thermal fumes into the mouth of the underworld. Overcome by depression and despair, Lucius attempts to commit suicide by entering the cave but is saved at the last minute by his faithful Marcus and his new love interest, the Jewish slave Miriam.
The arrival of Miriam precipitates the events of the book’s second half, which is Marcus’ spiritual and emotional journey into his Jewish roots, developing on the hints in A Rooster for Asklepios. This journey and further revelations of his past begin a profound change in Marcus’ life expectations. Furthermore, the fates of Lucius, his wastrel son Gaius, his young wife Selena and his unborn child are woven into a rich portrait of a Roman family in a pivotal time of religious and political change.
Christopher Stanley’s second novel, like the first, errs a little on the side of telling rather than showing the mind of this interesting cast of characters. However, he transmits his knowledge of first-century Anatolian culture and religion through a tale with enough narrative turns and unexpected twists to keep me turning the pages to find out where the journey will take Marcus next.
A Bull for Pluto – A slave story #2
Following their epic road trip across Anatolia from their home in Antioch near Pisidia in Galatia to the Asklepion of Pergamum in Asia, our Heros Marcus and Lucius are heading home disappointed, having been rejected by the god of healing.
Their journey home takes them to the fabulous volcanic limestone hot springs of Heirapolis (modern Pamukkale in Turkey) to seek solace in the waters and take stock. Their time in the city takes in the triple festival of Apollo, Cybele and Pluto, where the Galli, priests of the mother, risk their lives dragging Bulls asphyxiated by the subterranean thermal fumes into the mouth of the underworld. Overcome by depression and despair, Lucius attempts to commit suicide by entering the cave but is saved at the last minute by his faithful Marcus and his new love interest, the Jewish slave Miriam.
The arrival of Miriam precipitates the events of the book’s second half, which is Marcus’ spiritual and emotional journey into his Jewish roots, developing on the hints in A Rooster for Asklepios. This journey and further revelations of his past begin a profound change in Marcus’ life expectations. Furthermore, the fates of Lucius, his wastrel son Gaius, his young wife Selena and his unborn child are woven into a rich portrait of a Roman family in a pivotal time of religious and political change.
Christopher Stanley’s second novel, like the first, errs a little on the side of telling rather than showing the mind of this interesting cast of characters. However, he transmits his knowledge of first-century Anatolian culture and religion through a tale with enough narrative turns and unexpected twists to keep me turning the pages to find out where the journey will take Marcus next.
(reviewed 38 days after purchase)