I'm trying to remeber a book I read over a decade ago - it my have been YA fiction.

It's about a modern day translator working on an ancient roman text, and follows two stories - one chapter will be the translator's life and works, the next will be the story in the text he's translating. As it progresses, the translator starts to notice parallels in the text to his own life, until, in one scene, he translates the description of a statue and realises it is describing him exactly. Weird things then start happening in his own life.

I believe the plot also followed a string of murders carried out by a cult dedicated to one of the roman pantheon, but I may be confusing that with another book.

Thanks for your help!