The great thing about series is the opportunity to reveal the human characteristics gradually, like you learn about real people in your life. Saylor has taken Gordianus through his youth -- meeting a good number of famous and infamous personalities on the way -- and now he is a mature, established, and perhaps a bit jaded member of a Roman society in turmoil (again!). In this story, Gordianus is tested, and tests himself as to what is important in his life. Even as Caesar crosses the real Rubicon river, Gordianus debates what it might mean to cross the figurative rubicon.Not to be missed.