The Enemies of Jupiter

The Roman Mysteries #7

by Caroline Lawrence

Jonathan's father, Doctor Mordecai, is summoned to Rome to help the plague victims. The four young detectives are wanted too, as the Emperor Titus believes that they can find the mysterious enemy who seeks Rome's destruction.Can the friends prevent disaster? And what is Jonathan's secret mission?

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Historical, Fiction, Childrens, Young Adult, Historical Mystery

206 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 6, 2003

About the author

Caroline Lawrence won a scholarship to Cambridge to read Classical Archaeology, then did a degree in Hebrew and Jewish studies at University College London. She now lives in London with her English husband and teaches Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Art and French to children.

Series:
* Roman Mysteries
Western Mysteries

Reviews

[Katie Gibbs · Rating 3 out of 5]

GOSH this one is dark, I remember being SO angry about the ending when I was 12. I'm less angry now, but it's still a rough time.

[Emilija · Rating 2 out of 5]

2022 52 Book Challenge - 49) A Book Title That Starts With The Same Letter As Your Name

I really like that the books are getting darker as the series progresses, and I really like that characters from previous books have been brought back and expanded upon.

That being said, I really don't like the direction that Lawrence is taking Jonathan in. He was a really selfish character in this book, and basically creates the entire book events (minus the epidemic, which he just takes advantage of) to stop his father from being in a relationship. We literally just had this exact same plot in the last book, and we read how Jonathan coached Flavia that she was misinterpreting the situations. So Jonathan feels like a massive hypocrite for this entire book.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect tonic for that time my heart was BRUTALLY RIPPED OUT AND STAMPED ON BY GEORGE RR MARTIN. I love this one, and FREAKING CLIFFHANGER?? This series = life.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew that we would see some of these characters again as we moved later into the series! And I’m so glad that we do see them again because it all adds so much to the story and to the relationships between the different characters. Especially when it comes to Jonathan and Mordecai as they spend their time in Rome not too far away from Susannah.

These stories are so well researched and crafted that you almost don’t realise that the majority of the people you are reading about actually didn’t exist, and that those that did exist are in the minority of characters. It makes them so much easier to read.

And I’m also learning so much about Jewish history which I wasn’t expecting to. And the relationship between the Romans and the Jewish people following the sack of Jerusalem.

[Tweedledum · Rating 5 out of 5]

These stories are getting darker as the series progresses. Is there any aspect of Ancient Rome too dark for her young heros and heroines to experience? Seemingly not. In the Enemies of Jupiter the children and Dr Mordecai find themselves back in Rome where a terrible epidemic has taken hold. Jonathon who has been instrumental in getting them all there ends up racked with guilt, beaten up and finally implicated in the setting of the subsequent fire that sweeps through Rome. No happy ending in this, the seventh in the series as Jonathon wracked with despair and guilt enrols as a gladiator.

10 stars

[D.K. Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember the first time I read the fourth book of the Harry Potter series (The Goblet of Fire). Up until then, the books had been fun and brilliantly written children's books - Narnia for a modern age, if you like. But then the fourth book turned everything on its head and the Harry Potter world took a dark turn. It was super, but incredibly shocking. None of us expected the ending. We knew that nothing would be the same again after this. And it wasn't.

The Enemies of Jupiter is Caroline Lawrence's Goblet of Fire. It starts in the familiar tone of the previous books but by the middle it is looking overcast and by the end the sky is well and truly black. For the first time, we get a real cliffhanger. There's no chance of me not going straight onto the next book in the series! With this book, Lawrence has taken us down are dark path with these four young detectives. Pre-teens yet more mature than some of us ever get to be.

The premise this time is that the plague continues to ravage the land and has particularly affected Rome. Titus invites Dr Mordecai, Jonathan's father who is having great success at healing plague victims, and the four friends (who saved his life back in book IV) to solve a new mystery - a dream of Titus that Prometheus has opened Pandora's box. Titus believes finding and stopping this 'Prometheus' will bring the plague to an end. Little does anyone know that there is a secret plot already hatched that will have destructive results.

Leaving aside the bizarre mixing of Roman mythology and the fact that Pandora's 'box' is a mistranslation and is actually a jar, this book takes us through the life of ancient Romans just as the previous books did. We learn a lot about (competing) medical treatments, the relationship of the subjugated jews to Rome and life in general in Rome itself. As always, Lawrence succeeds in making learning history fun. I continue to marvel at her clever ability to use plots to present Roman history clearly.

But, as I say, this book ends darkly. If you've got this far with the series, you're invested in the characters and world that has been built by the author. You're going to read the next book without a shadow of a doubt. Some time ago in this series I wondered how Lawrence was going to keep the momentum going as each of the four detectives seemed to have had a book each to reveal their back stories. Now I have something of a clearer view. What's more, I notice that certain themes for the characters continue to bubble away which leads me to think that the dark times will not be over with their presumed conclusion in book VIII. After this storm, I think there's more in the distance on their way.

Another brilliant book then in the series. I'm absolutely hooked and there seems to be no waning of that was I approach the halfway mark. There's no altering my view that the box set is worth buying for any young readers who love ancient Rome. At the very least, don't buy less than the first eight books. Although, in my next review I may end up having to say nine. There's no telling what Caroline Lawrence is going to do next.

[RamSwaminathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is one of the most exciting so far, it is one of the only books that end with a cliffhanger and not always with a happy ending. In this book, I believe that Johnathan is much more human than before and has less of a lucky effect when doing anything. This is because it seemed very otherworldly that Johnathan always had good luck at the end of almost every book and continued living a happily ever after with his friends. In this book, I see another Johnathan, a more courageous and more confident Johnathan than in the previous books. This Johnathan, however, is more foolish than the previous Johnathan and this Johnathan took advantage of his situation with the emperor. I think that Emperor Titus seems less benevolent than before and I somewhat like it, it shows that humans cannot be kind all the time and sometimes they slip in their behavior. Anyways, very exciting book as always and I can't wait to read the next one.

[ChroniclesofTania · Rating 4 out of 5]

A dark story of Jonathan’s depression about the enforced separation of his parents. 6 months have passed since his discovery that his mother is alive and living a few miles away in Rome (book 5 Assassins of Rome). Fed up of a lack of change in the situation, and fearful his father might move on to another woman, he takes matters into his own hands overreaching himself and producing unintended consequences. His friends try to help but are impotent to do so. In this book Flavia, Lupus and Nubia take supporting background characters to Jonathan becoming Prometheus. There are twists in the book and a serious cliffhanger ending.

[Eleni · Rating 4 out of 5]

This shit is getting DARK bro.

The way Caroline Lawrence describes fire in this book is so hauntingly beautiful. I mean honestly, the way she describes anything is gorgeous. Dancing, emotions, fires, whatever it is, Lawrence excels at it.

I love that every book concentrates on one of the kids specifically and gives you more of an insight into their backstory. I love slowly getting information about each of them, and the pacing is always consistent and satisfying.

I also love that each of the kids is always true to themselves and never really acts out of character with what you expect to happen.

[Abi Pellinor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I sat down and read numbers 6 and 7 of this series in a few hours. As an adult it was definitely enjoyable to be able to get relatively quickly through these interesting middle grade books. This book has such an interesting and plot-twisty story line and I loved every second (well, I was sucked in at least - very worried at some points!)
Trying not to include any spoilers so basically go for it! It's not a very long book and it's very enjoyable if you like the time period and are willing to read from a middle grade perspective.

[Jessica DeWitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book in the series that I've given three stars, instead of four. The story felt a bit all over the place and forced in places, but the classic story of a child taking things too personally holds the center. The plague portions of the narrative probably hit a bit different in 2023 then they did when the book was originally published. As always, I appreciated the way that Lawrence doesn't shy away from dark topics just because it is a children's book, and the ending was definitely dark!

[Madeleine · Rating 5 out of 5]

The next installment of the Roman myteries has the amateur detectives back in Rome with a cast of familiar faces, incuding the Emperor Titus and Jonathon's mother, Susanna, but with the added horrors of plague, brewing threat from Berenice and a fire, sparked from the First Roman-Jewish War but now threatening to catch alight and destory the entire city of Rome with it. The balance of fiction, myth and history was really spot-on and the cliffhanger at the end was thrilling.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Flavia Gemina and friends try to solve a mystery involving a prophecy for Emperor Titus as Johnathan's father, Doctor Mordecai, helps battle a plague, and a conspiracy is afoot to set another great fire in Rome . . .

[Niamh Spiers · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️: Really enjoyed discovering the plot alongside the characters, although I was aware of the main points from the TV show. However, I really loved the dark and mysterious ending and am excited to see how that continues into the next book!

[Dee Paisley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Josephus, plague, Greek mythology and 4 Young middle schoolers in ancient Rome solving problems is always a good thing.

[Radclyffe U-Haul · Rating 3 out of 5]

-the endings are just going to get darker and darker hunh
-this one is very much about plague so. timely!
-I wish someone would massage all the phlegm out of me.

[Seamus Fleming · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book, I hated Jonathan at the ending.

[Kitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has almost completely changed from the original mysteries to much darker ones, and it works well! I hated Johnathan in it, but I could still understand why he did what he did.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh the drama. Oh the intrigue. Oh the plot twists. Fantastic.

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

These stories are so well written, and I'm learning and retaining more about ancient Roman history than my classicist best friend has ever been able to teach me in six years of friendship...!

[layla · Rating 2 out of 5]

actual rating: 2.5 stars rounded down

[Adaire Pendragon-Ikari · Rating 5 out of 5]

JONATHAN! why did you do that?

[Dominick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I chose this many stars because I kind of liked it but I don't like it. I do like it because its Rome and its mystery. but I don't like it because it doesn't talk about the main message of the whole book. Through out the book there trying to find out who killed Jonathan's mother and it doesn't talk about the enemies of Jupiter and who is the mysterious person. Well I wouldn't say that it doesn't talk about any of those two things it does somewhat through the book. And I thought that it was gonna be like a mysterious book and then tell you who the mysterious person is but I think I would understand the very first book because I skipped all the other books. I don't know that many people that's into Rome and is into mysteries and chapter book but I think that others will like it. What would make this book better there's many things that I think it would be better is tell you who the mysterious person is and talk about the main message of the story.

[Mrtracksclass · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Enemies of Jupiter
A boy named Jonathan who is not content with his parents being in different cities, who has lost patience makes him have the urge to make a change and bring them back together. Throughout this journey he ends up in many dangerous situations causing him to meet three solid friends Lupus, Flavia and Nubia. They end up trying to solve a mystery of who is Prometheus? Things get out of hand as Jonathan cannot focus on his main task solving the mystery, what he was asked to do. I enjoyed the mystery of this book, the investigation for the criminal, that's what made the book interesting other than that I didn't like the book. In my opinion this novel is about selfishness, mainly about the main character named Jonathan, who showed the first act of selfishness. When he asked his dad if he could be his assistant for the day only to see if he was in love with another women. Another example of selfishness was when Jonathan wrote a secrete letter to King Titus telling him that his father could help cure the when he actually wanted his parents to meet and get back together. Jonathan couldn't care less about solving the mystery because he was focused on reuniting his parents. Jonathan was so obsessed with his parents getting together that he wrote a letter pretending to be King Titus to Bernice, Titus' ex lover that she should come back to Rome. This was an act of selfishness because he didn't consider anyone feelings, such as Bernice. I could understand Jonathan's frustration because in the beginning Titus told him that his mom and him were just friends, also she was just his slave. King Titus only kept Susannah because he wanted to keep her away from Jonathans dad Dr. Mordecai. Agathus was selfish when he was trying to kill almost everyone in Rome by poisoning the garland. This book is about selfishness because basically the whole story was about Jonathan trying to bring his parents together other than finding who Prometheus was. I didn't like that they showed too much of this principle it made me lose focus of the mystery of the story at times. I guess the author Caroline Lawrence was showing the importance of family, how much it can damage a child's feelings. Also what extents some people will do to for family to be reunited.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a pretty good one of all the bunch.

[Philyra · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Enemies of Jupiter Book Review 2013

The Enemies of Jupiter was a great book, set in AD 80
It is the seventh of The Roman Mysteries a series set

The four main characters are:
Flavia Gemina, a wealthy sea captain's daughter, and her friends-
Jonathan Ben Mordecai, son of the best doctor in Ostia,
Nubia, a former slave, set free by Flavia,
Lupus, a former beggar boy who had his tongue cut out.

This book has more to do with Jonathan, though.

The main plot is when Jonathan's father is brought to Rome to help cure people of the plague sweeping Rome, but Jonathan has a secret plan of his own, which goes all wrong, and Jonathan finds himself in danger of helping a mysterious man commit a deadly crime, which will destroy Rome.

Since it is set in February, AD 80, you learn all about Ancient Roman normal (and not-so-normal) lifestyle, like Flavia's disappointed catchphrase, "Oh, Pollux" and Titus, the emperor, and his family!

The only thing is, it gets quite horrific at some parts, like when a ragged and snarling man on fire jumps off a cliff, witnessed by Jonathan.

If you like adventure, horror, drama, and fiction, this is definitely one to read.

[sabisteb aka callisto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ähnlich wie bei Harry Potter ist ab diesem Band langsam schluss mit lustig. Caroline Lawrence schreckt nicht davor zurück auch liegbgewonnene Charaktäre zu töten, wenn es im Plot passt. Auch Hauptfiguren kann ein schwerer Schicksalschlag treffen. Es wird immer besser und wird immer spannender. Dieser Band endet mit einem sehr gemeinen Cliffhänger.


Zeitpunkt der Geschichte:
um den 13 bis 15./21. Februar 80 n. Chr.

Neue Erkenntnisse:
In diesem Band erfahren wir, dass
Spoiler Spoiler

* Nubia zum Zeitpunkt dieses Bandes 8 Monate in Italien ist, dieser Band spielt also 8 Monate nach Band 1 und 1 Monat nach Band 6 und 5 Monte nach Band 4.
* Mordecai ben Ezra ist 34 Jahre alt.
* Flavias Tante heißt Cynthia.
* Flavias 12 Jahre alter Cousin heißt Aulus.
* Flavias jüngste Cousins (2 Baby Zwillinge(?)) sterben an der Pest / Grippe
* Nubias jüngste Schwester hieß Seyala.
* Jonathans Onkel Simeon wollte Rizpahs Mutter heiraten, stirbt jedoch an der Pest.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel bad for Johnathan, everything happens to him! And in this, the one thing he wants happens after everyone thinks he is dead, and he believes his mother is dead, even though they are both fine and dandy! Well, sort of.

I enjoyed this story to a par of the dolphins one! I loved the fast-paced excitement and the chaos that erupted because of the fire. I still feel sympathy towards Johnathan even though he is the main cause of the fire itself. I liked this one because I actually felt genuine fear for a character and found myself concerned about his safety, this worry led me to buy the next one to see what happens to Johnathan now he has signed up as a gladiator.

The only issue that I had with this one, is how they link the fire to pandora's box. I felt that insinuating that Johnathan was the prophecy's Prometheus, was too extreme.

On to number 8...

[Candy Wood]

This book would have been more enjoyable if I had read more of the series. It does make sense on its own (but does end with a cliffhanger), but many references to earlier events would have more meaning for readers taking the series in order. Having four child characters who focalize allows for lots of historical information without sounding too dry--Nubia, a foreigner, often needs explanations that also help modern readers, and Jonathan knows more than the others about Jewish customs, for example. Like many mysteries intended for children, this involves the young characters in action that real children would probably not have been near, but Lawrence does include details that bring out the harshness of life in first-century Rome. The plot moves right along and should leave young readers ready for the next book.