While Rome burns, Simon of Cyrene is at a crossroads of religion and power.
In the third installment of the Cyrenian series, our protagonist and gifted physician, Simon, returns under the most strenuous circumstances yet. His wife, Aurelia, has embraced Christianity, inspiring their sons, Alexander and Rufus, to follow her path.
During a trip to Rome to care for Aurelia’s ailing mother, Alexander and Rufus gravitate toward the Christian apostle, Paulus, who is under heavy persecution by Rome for his preaching. Despite mounting dangers, the brothers remain devoted to their newfound faith, much to Simon’s growing frustration. To make matters worse, Liora, Simon and Aurelia’s daughter has gone missing after feeling invisible amid the domestic hurricane.
Though Rufus’s spiritual convictions clash with his father’s, both men share the pain of forbidden love, as Aurelia was once forbidden to marry Simon. In Rufus’s case, he is enamored by Rubria, a vestal virgin who is not allowed to marry for another decade.
As interpersonal turmoil rushes like a river, Nero’s reign as emperor is like a tsunami of conflict over Rome. While turmoil flows relentlessly within Simon’s family, Nero’s reign unleashes a tsunami of conflict upon Rome. Obsessed with performance and pleasure, Nero neglects his duties and begins persecuting Christians in earnest, prompting Simon to journey to Rome in hopes of bringing his sons back. Will the cracks in the Roman marble extend to the entire empire? What will become of Simon’s family in the aftermath?
The Temple at Sunset is like a scenic, one-way trip to Ancient Rome. Every vivid detail is like a brick in the foundation of a universal story about love, family, and the struggle for power. From characters discussing engineering systems that allow desert towns to feel cool during the day to Simon’s limitations as a physician, it all cloaks the text in a refreshing realism. The detail never feels overwrought or out of place, either, but braided into the story seamlessly.
The novel incorporates lesser known aspects of the Roman Empire quite successfully. Rubria’s role as a Vestal Virgin, for example, introduces readers to a prestigious and influential position that may be unfamiliar, but which adds great intrigue to her character. The story not only explores the significance of her duties but allows her to function as her own person outside of that. Another example of this is how the trials are conducted, especially Paulus’s trial for being a Christian leader. The accuracy in the historic details impresses while the emotional pull of the prose drives up investment.
I would recommend The Temple at Sunset and its predecessors without reservation to historical fiction fans ready to immerse themselves in a richly rendered Ancient Rome.
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