(Agree with you, though, about the interest mosaic-making parts. I did like that. Not so much the so far pointless chariot racing and partisanship.)

There's a place where the artistry of mosaic-making informs the chariot racing... sort of...

Yes, I do recommend Tigana, and I think you'd like that one more.

Lions is tied into Sarantium, but it had a different feel to it, I thought. One of the main characters is a physician who is also very superstitious. It felt odd, having the representative of Science and Reason doing all these little rituals to ward off bad luck.