Falco: The Official Companion (A Marcus Didius Falco Mystery)
Page 32
Did the Romans wear underpants?
The fastidious, no doubt.
As with ‘What does the Scotsman wear under his kilt?’, who will be brave enough to lift the tunic and look?
The Vindolanda soldiers wanted subligaculi. Which proves pants existed.
On the lesser-known side of the Ara Pacis in Rome, I found ‘thought-to-be-Lucius Caesar’, a toddler in the procession of Augustus’ family. He was hard to photograph, but this indicates his choice on pants.
Where Next for Falco?
‘Maybe we should emigrate to some far province away from everyone.’
‘You belong in the city, Marcus.’
‘Perhaps. Or perhaps one day I’ll set up home with you in some villa in a river valley – choose your spot.’
‘Britain!’ she quipped wickedly. I returned to my original dream of a town house above the Tiber, with a garden on a terrace with a view across Rome … [DLC]
Of course people want to know.
I have always been fairly relaxed about this. I have generally never planned more than a book ahead. I don’t worry about where Falco and Helena are heading. Their significantly changed situation in Nemesis came as a surprise to me, settled only when I wrote a synopsis for that book.
I always said I would never kill Falco off – why would I need to? I once thought if I finally did him in, that might deter those unspeakable, unoriginal, money-grubbing writers who carry on another author’s creation. I curse anyone who ever thinks of doing that to me (see my curse laid on plumbers in the section on Roman homes). So long as I can totter into a courtroom to bend the feeble plagiarism laws, or am at least alive to shake an angry fist, it should be possible to keep those ghouls at bay. When I’m dead you – my readers – must do it for me. Once I choose to stop writing, I will. Conan Doyle fostered the ridiculous notion that pressure from the public could force a novelist to continue with a popular hero. Nonsense; Doyle wanted the money, the fame, the security that writing Holmes provided. Nobody can compel a strong-willed woman to write against her will.
I keep all options open. But in 2009 I turned sixty; becoming a pensioner, by golly, makes you think! The fear of losing your grip, losing the hunger, losing your judgement is monstrous for anyone whose work depends on their energy and brainpower. The hope of staying sharp is encouraged, however, by all those intrepid English women writers, many of whom do their best work in their eighties. I could have another twenty books to go … Since the publication of Rebels and Traitors, it is pretty certain that I will want to write on different subjects. I used to say I expected to continue to write Falco novels in between.
But the passage of time brings changes a writer may neither anticipate nor welcome. In the autumn of 2008, after thirty-two years, I lost Richard. I have said he wasn’t Falco – but he was an intricate part of the series, because he encouraged me, travelled with me, read and scoffed at my drafts; besides, there is hardly an exchange between Falco and Helena that does not owe something to our crazy, sparky, loving conversations. When Richard died, I was contracted for Nemesis and due to start writing more or less immediately. Completing it without him was extremely hard.
Then, before I finished, my editor, Oliver, resigned from Random House. Readers would normally neither know nor care about this, but we were a particular author/editor team and after more than twenty books together, it matters. I could work with another editor, but do I want to do so on Falco? So, unexpected decisions will have to be made. By the time you are reading this, the way forward may be obvious. As I write it, I don’t know what I shall do. I never expected this to be how the Companion would end, but I am going to be honest.
Don’t be downhearted. Wait and see! is one of the most exciting answers an author can give.
Appendix:
Fragments from the Casa della Spia Principale, Rome
During stabilisation work to the lower Palatine Hill, remains came to light of a Roman house dating from the Republican era. Archaeologists made tentative links to a Tiberius Claudius Anacrites (previously unknown), possibly a mid-First Century imperial freedman granted grace-and-favour occupation of the building in return for unspecified services.
Fragments of documents were recovered, which it was hoped would be as important as scrolls from the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum, currently being studied with ambitious new techniques. Results so far on the Rome fragments, however, are disappointing. It would appear the occupant was a man of no great culture; his library contained only disparate documents with no literary merit. Several show an unhealthy interest in the murky world of informing.
CSP.1 Appears to be a speech, or draft of one, by the noted orator Paccius Africanus, accusing a lowborn informer of calumny. It is not known whether this seriously revisionist speech was ever delivered.
CSP.2 Some kind of handbook for delatores. The writer had written it on the back of an old recipe.
CSP.3 Reverse of the above. The recipe.
CSP.4 Mutilated fragments of a play, tentatively identified as The Spook Who Spoke, author unknown, text otherwise lost.
CSP. 1: Speech of Paccius Africanus
Let me turn to the character of Marcus Didius Falco, distasteful though this must be. Consider what type of man he is. What is known of his history? No distinguished ancestors adorn his pedigree. We shall search in vain for consuls, senators or generals. He was born, in extreme poverty, in one of the anonymous buildings close to the Temple of Ceres, an infamous haunt of outsiders and the lower class of plebeian. His education was meagre and he grew up fatherless.
As a young recruit he was sent to the province of Britain. It was the time of the Boudiccan Rebellion. Of the four legions then in Britain, some were subsequently honoured for their bravery and the glory of their victory over the rebels. Was Falco among their number? No. The men in his legion disgraced themselves by not responding to the call from their colleagues for help. They stayed in camp. They did not fight. Others were left to achieve honour while the Second Augusta, including Didius Falco, abandoned them, earning only disgrace. It is true that Falco was obeying orders; others were culpable – but remember, as a servant of the Senate and People, that was his heritage.
He claims he was then a scout. I can find no record of this. He left the army. Had he served his time? Was he wounded out? Was he sent home with an honourable diploma? No. He wheedled himself an exit, under terms that are shrouded in secrecy.
We next hear of this man, operating as the lowest type of informer from a dingy base on the Aventine. He spied on bridegrooms, destroying their hopes of marriage with slanders [text lost] He preyed on widows in their time of bereavement [text lost]
Didius Falco did seedy work, often for unpleasant people. Some time around then he had a stroke of enormous luck for a man of his class. The daughter of a senator fell in love with him. It was a tragedy for her family, but for Falco it proved a passport to respectability. Ignoring the pleas of her parents, the headstrong young woman ran off with her hero. Her noble father’s fortunes declined sharply from that moment. Her brothers were soon inveigled into Falco’s web, subject to his incorrigible influence. Now, instead of the promising careers that once lay ahead, they are facing ruin with him … [manuscript corrupt]
By means I dread to guess, Didius Falco managed to ingratiate himself with those in the highest positions. Pitying, perhaps, the plight of his once-noble wife, the Emperor allowed him to conduct work of a sensitive nature, which might otherwise be entrusted to worthier men. Before her death, Caenis considered him for honours, but quickly saw through him. Acting with a partner whose sinister identity to this day remains hidden, Falco was permitted to work on the Census. His efforts brought ruination to many who had previously flourished, businessmen whose industry had benefited our city, men who had won everyone’s admiration for their talent and self-sacrifice. It made no difference: Didius Falco laid them low, ruthlessly profiting from their fall. He had been poor. After plundering with impunity, he was suddenly a man of sub
stance.
Whenever things grew too hot for him in Rome, he disappeared from the city to hideaways abroad. He even travelled outside the Empire, shamelessly venturing among barbarians who shun Rome and even those who have openly waged war upon us. Veleda, our most implacable enemy, played host to him before she was brought to justice.
Putting on a habitual show of ambition for his children’s sake, it was inevitable that Falco would seek honours. To everyone’s amazement, he was made Procurator of the Sacred Geese of Juno and the Augurs’ Chickens. What more respected position could there be, connected with the safety of Rome and one of our oldest festivals? But it ended badly. Before [text lost] years expired, Falco was summoned before the Praetor on the most terrible charge: impiety. His accuser, plainly a man of great rectitude, was reluctantly compelled to accuse Falco of irreverence to the gods and dereliction of his temple duties. Though the evidence was clear, the case was dismissed, one more example of him avoiding accountability.
[Manuscript ends]
CSP.2: The Forum Informer’s Handbook
Eat before surveillance. Be meticulous about what you eat. Diarrhoea on watch is disastrous.
Always know where to find a public latrine.
Identify the nearest vigiles station-house.
Carrying a weapon in Rome is illegal. Don’t let that stop you.
Clothes: dress to meld in. Have some professional pride though: be stylish.
Your belt is an ornament, a sign of taste and character. Choose one that won’t break while being used as a whip or garrotte. If things get really bad, you can hang yourself with it.
Your boots should be sturdy and comfortable. It is polite to clean off the mule-dung when visiting decent houses.
Denied access in the morning? Try again in the afternoon; you may get a different door-porter. Same one? Try a bigger bribe. Don’t thump him. He may let out the watchdog. Never thump a dog. You don’t want a bad name.
Don’t encumber yourself with shopping, however brilliant the bargain.
Never sleep with clients, suspects, slaves or unattractive barmaids.
Always know this week’s festivals and entertainments. You may hate the Games and the theatre, but one day you may need to concoct an alibi. Or to check the fake alibis of suspects and witnesses.
Have money on you. Hide it.
Don’t hide it so well you can’t get at it when you need to pay a bribe or buy a rissole.
Learn Greek. It makes you seem like a clerk, but saves paying an interpreter.
Don’t drink and delve.
CSP.3: Recipe
Ingredients: Turbot. Sauce
Method: First find your fish kettle.
Poach turbot gently in oil, wine vinegar, water, bay leaves, pepper, to taste.
Sauce: Combine pepper, lovage, caraway seed, celery seed, finely chopped onion (go easy), wine, wine vinegar, fish stock and olive oil. Boil. Simmer. Thicken with flour.
CSP.4: The Spook Who Spoke
[margin corrupt]
CHARACTER: What, has this thing appeared again tonight?
GHOST: That bastard’s done me in; hire an informer …
MOSCHION: The question is … [text missing]
CLOWN: I say, I say. A customer returns to the slave market. That slave you sold me died last night! Slave-owner replies, That’s funny, he was perfectly all right when I had him!
[margin corrupt]
? FEMALE CHARACTER: I’m worried about Moschion.
? OTHER FEMALE CHARACTER: He’s just a lad. They all get like that – hate their parents, can’t find a girlfriend, give up their studies after your husband has spent all that money – it’s just his age … [text missing]
… MOSCHION: In the most noble city of Rome, a little before the mighty Julius fell, the graves stood empty and the dead all squeaked and gibbered in the Roman streets …
CLOWN: I say, I say, a stranger is passing the funeral of a woman. Who is resting in peace here? Her husband answers, Me, now I’ve got rid of her! …
… MOSCHION: Oh mother! [end of scroll]
Acknowledgements
Note: Serious efforts have been made to contact copyright owners. Where this has been impossible, the author and publisher are willing to acknowledge any rightful copyright owner on substantive proof of ownership and would be grateful for any information as to their identity.
Creating a heroine from advice for entrants in the CWA Debut Dagger competition, edited by Liz Evans
The Course of Honour from an Afterword for St Martin’s Press (not used) and Marco Tropea
Website from an article by Ginny Lindzey for a Random House Newsletter
Quotations
All quotations from The Course of Honour and the Falco novels are © Lindsey Davis, reproduced by permission of the Random House Group Ltd
Aristophanes, The Birds, translated by David Barrett, (Penguin Classics, 1978) © David Barrett and Alan H Sommerstein/reproduced by permission of Penguin Books Ltd
Jérôme Carcopino, Daily Life in Ancient Rome, Translated E. O. Lorimer, 1941 © reproduced by permission of Taylor & Francis/Yale University Press
Raymond Chandler, The Simple Art of Murder, (1934) © Raymond Chandler/reproduced by permission of Ed Victor Ltd Selected Letters of Raymond Chandler, ed Frank MacShane, (1981) © Raymond Chandler/reproduced by permission of Ed Victor Ltd Raymond Chandler, The High Window, (1942) © Raymond Chandler/reproduced by permission of Ed Victor Ltd Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, (1939) © Raymond Chandler/reproduced by permission of Ed Victor Ltd
Stella Gibbons, Cold Comfort Farm, (1932) © Stella Gibbons/reproduced by permission of Curtis Brown Ltd
John Henderson, A Roman Life: Rutilius Gallicus on paper and in Stone, (University of Exeter Press, 1998) © John Henderson/reproduced by permission of University of Exeter Press
Horace’s Satires, translated by Niall Rudd, (Penguin Classics, 1973) © Niall Rudd/reproduced by permission of Penguin Books Ltd
Horace, Odes, translated by James Michie, (Penguin Classics, 1964) © James Michie/reproduced by permission of the Estate of James Michie/David Higham Associates Ltd
Juvenal, The Sixteen Satires, translated and introduced by Peter Green, (Penguin Classics, 1967) © Peter Green/reproduced by permission of Penguin Books Ltd
Livy, The Early History of Rome, translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt, (Penguin Classics, 1960) © Estate of Aubrey de Selincourt/reproduced by permission of Penguin Books Ltd
Martial, The Epigrams, translated by James Michie, (Penguin Classics, 1978) © James Michie/reproduced by permission of the Estate of James Michie
Ed McBain, Cop Hater, (Permabooks, 1956) © Ed McBain/reproduced by permission of Curtis Brown Group Ltd Ed McBain, Give the Boys a Great Big Hand, (Simon & Schuster Inc, 1960) © Ed McBain/reproduced by permission of Curtis Brown Group Ltd
Ed McBain, The Heckler, (Simon & Schuster Inc, 1960) © Ed McBain/reproduced by permission of Curtis Brown Group Ltd
Persius, Satires, translated by Naill Rudd, (Penguin Classics, 1973) © Niall Rudd/reproduced by permission of Penguin Books Ltd/David Higham Associates Ltd
Petronius, The Satyricon, translated by J P Sullivan, (Penguin Classics, 1965) © J P Sullivan/reproduced by permission of Penguin Books Ltd/David Higham Associates Ltd
Letters of Pliny the Younger, translated by Betty Radice, (Penguin Classics, 1963) © Betty Radice/reproduced by permission of Penguin Books Ltd
Steven H Rutledge, Imperial Inquisitions, (Routledge, 2001) © Steven H Rutledge, reproduced by permission of Taylor and Francis Books Ltd
Walter Carruthers Sellar and Robert Julian Yeatman, 1066 And All That, (Penguin Books, 1930) © Walter Carruthers Sellar and Robert Julian Yeatman/reproduced by permission of Penguin Books Ltd
Seneca, Letters from a Stoic, translated Robin Campbell, (Penguin Classics, 1969) © Robin Alexander Campbell/reproduced by permission of Penguin Books Ltd
Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, translated by Robert Graves, (Penguin Classics, 1957), revis
ed by Michael Grant, 1979: © Robert Graves/reproduced by permission of Carcanet Press Ltd/A P Watt Ltd on behalf of the Robert Graves Copyright Trust
Rosemary Sutcliffe, The Eagle of the Ninth, (1954/OUP, 2004) © Anthony Lawton 1954, reprinted by permission of Oxford University Press
Tacitus, Histories, translated by Kenneth Wellesley, (Penguin Classics, 1964) © Kenneth Wellesley/reproduced by permission of Penguin Books Ltd
Tacitus, Agrícola and Germania, translated by H Mattingley, (Penguin Classics, 1948) © Estate of H Mattingley/reproduced by permission of Penguin Books Ltd
Virgil, The Aeneid, translated by W P Jackson Knight, (Penguin Classics, 1956) © W P Jackson Knight/reproduced by permission of Penguin Books Ltd
Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, (Princeton University Press, 1994) ©Andrew Wallace-Hadrill/reproduced by permission of Princeton University Press
Emails and letters from readers © Iola Robertson, Vanessa Terry, Dave Lee Tripp, Barbara Young
Emails about ‘the Camel Joke’ © Dave Morris and Oliver Johnson
Feature from Metro, ‘And finally…’ © Associated Newspapers Ltd
Picture Acknowledgements
Model of Fishbourne Roman Palace © the curator of Fishbourne Roman Palace, all rights reserved
Images of: chariot racing, coin of Colosseum, goose, Antonia, Nilotic scene, silver ingot (‘pig’), prisoners in triumph and Vespasian © the Trustees of the British Museum, all rights reserved
Photographs of: Roman pan, Arch of Titus, ‘slave’ in Hypocaust (with kind permission from the ‘slave’), parrot mosaic, and Lindsey and Michelle at Alexandria © Michelle Breuer Vitt, all rights reserved
Reproduction of Trajan’s Library © Matthew Nicholls, all rights reserved
‘Hic Haec Hoc’ (personal gift to Lindsey) © Peter Godfrey
Rome Reborn: ‘Rome Reborn’ digital model © 2008 by The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. Photograph of the model © 2009 by Past Perfect Productions srl (Rome). All rights reserved
Line drawings taken from Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities © Smith, Wayte, and Marindin (John Murray, 1890)