Lucianus is a noble who believes that love is nothing more than a waste of time and energy. That is, until the day he's saved by the handsome and powerful gladiator, Dominatus. Suddenly, wasting time doesn't seem like such a bad idea—with the right company. Unable to confess the overwhelming feelings he has for his savior, Lucianus pays for a night of pleasure with Dominatus, triggering a series of sexy trysts between them. Lucianus craves the other man yet fears that, if their relationship is discovered, the vast gulf between their social standings could cause trouble.

But when Dominatus is pitted against a gladiator favored by the emperor, he leaps into battle without hesitation, knowing the fight could cost him his life. Will Dominatus emerge victorious, or will love be lost to the sands of the arena before Lucianus can bare his heart?

Bowing to Love: The Noble and the Gladiator has story by Saki Aida, with illustrations by Yamimaru Enjin. English translation is done by piyo. Published by Seven Seas (November 25, 2025).

Rebecca Silverman
Rating:

If you know anything about Ancient Rome, you may have some issues with this book. Not because it gets things objectively wrong (apart from the naming), but because it's just…off. Names have the wrong ending, gods and places are desperately trying to sound like Roman ones but with author Saki Aida's own flair, and at times it really does get annoying. (D'Aleppo as the country name and not the French elision for “from Aleppo?” Come on.) But that's not actually the major issue with Bowing to Love, although it is an annoyance. No, the real problem is the plot is so thin, you could use it as plastic wrap.

The story, such as it is, follows nobleman Lucianus and gladiator Dominatus as they embark on a relationship. Lucianus has never been attracted, sexually or otherwise, to anyone, and he's floored when he falls hard for burly Dominatus. Studious and more than a little snobby, Lucianus isn't a fan of gladiatorial games or gladiators, but that doesn't stop him from falling head-over-heels into instalove. The two go from meeting to Lucianus soliciting a male prostitute to figure out if he's gay to Dominatus putting an end to that right quick in order to sleep with Lucianus himself. There's frankly not much more to their relationship than that, although after the emperor decides to kill Dominatus, the two do run away together in an effort to save him.

The setting of Imperial Not-Rome mostly serves to offer the characters barriers to their love – Dominatus is the deposed prince of a kingdom destroyed by the Empire and a former slave. Neither man has particularly deep characterization, with Lucianus' cousin Juliana feeling moderately better developed than either Lucianus or Dominatus. The translation is solid, though, and that makes the book quite readable. The entire purpose of this volume (divided into two parts based on timeline) is fluff – the romance is the point, as are the explicit sex scenes, and the setting is really just that – a place for everything to happen.

If you've enjoyed other books by Aida, who has had several translated into English (in fact, my first BL novel series was her S quartet), this is probably going to appeal to you. It's largely consensual (unlike S) and interesting enough, but if you aren't attached to the author, I wouldn't say this is the best in its genre.