‘But no drowning ourselves,’ said Flavia.
‘Or dashing our heads against the triclinium wall,’ said Pulchra with a giggle.
‘Or drinking cups of hemlock.’
‘And definitely no opening of our veins!’
‘Especially no opening our veins,’ agreed Flavia. ‘Not unless absolutely necessary.’
And when Nubia climbed onto the rock with Pulchra’s pink tunic and an ecstatic Ajax, both girls were still giggling.
‘I am so grateful for what you did,’ said Felix to Flavia the next morning. ‘You saved my wife and my daughter. You really are a most extraordinary girl.’
The Patron had invited Flavia up to his tower library to thank her in private. He stood with his back to her, looking out of an arched window. Flavia sat on a cushioned bench of yellow Numidian marble. She was wearing her short blue summer tunic, the same colour as his.
Felix turned to look at her and a breeze ruffled his grey hair. His gaze was less focused than it usually was, and his presence less intense. Perhaps it was because of the pain of his cracked ribs, or maybe he was still shaken by the events of the past few days.
He came over and sat on the cushion beside her.
‘You really are a most extraordinary girl,’ he repeated, and patted her knee. ‘A bright, brave and beautiful girl.’
Flavia looked down at his hand and for the first time she saw the design on his gold and sapphire signet-ring. It was a strutting cockerel. She looked back up at him. Up close, in the harsh light of day, his face wasn’t smooth and bronze. She could see slight pouches underneath his eyes and a cut on his cheek where the barber-slave had nicked him. For the first time she noticed that his chin was weak. And beneath his trademark scent of citron she caught the faint stale whiff of his underarms.
Had he changed? Or had she? She didn’t know. But something was different and she suddenly felt afraid. She wished he would take his hand away. But it remained there, resting on her knee. Could she move it? No. It would be impolite. He was still smiling at her, his eyebrows slightly raised, as if everything was normal.
But everything wasn’t normal.
‘Do you still have that kylix I gave you last summer?’ he murmured, slowly bending his head towards her.
‘NO!’ she cried, jumping up and taking a step away from him. ‘I’m sorry, but . . . but I have to use the latrine! I’m sorry.’
She turned and ran out of the library, and she was halfway down the pink marble stairs before his reply sunk in.
‘I’m sorry, too,’ he had said.
But the look in his eyes had been cold.
When Flavia reached the latrine she bent over it and was sick.
Later, Nubia found Flavia on her bed, sobbing into Scuto’s woolly neck.
‘What is wrong?’ asked Nubia, perching on the side of Flavia’s bed.
‘It’s him,’ said Flavia. ‘I think he was going to kiss me.’
‘Felix?’ said Nubia.
Flavia nodded into Scuto’s fur. She could not bring herself to meet Nubia’s gaze. ‘I’ve always dreamed of him kissing me but when he almost did . . . It was horrible.’
‘He is horrible,’ said Nubia, ‘to do such a thing after you are helping him.’
‘But, Nubia,’ Flavia raised her head and turned swollen red eyes on her friend. ‘Don’t you see? Maybe he knew I loved him. Maybe someone told him. Or maybe he saw it in my eyes.’ Flavia’s voice was barely a whisper. ‘Maybe it was my fault.’
‘Never!’ said Nubia fiercely. ‘Even if he knows you love him, it is wrong of him to do such a thing because you are young and he is old. And he should be wise and . . . not do such a thing. It is never your fault. He is overweening. He is . . . he is . . .’ Nubia thought for a moment and then she said, ‘He is ithyphallic!’
Flavia’s jaw dropped. ‘Nubia! Where did you learn that word?’
‘Tranquillus tells me in Baiae. Tranquillus says Felix is ithyphallic and that he should be tied to the mast of his own ship.’
Flavia burst out laughing. ‘Oh, Nubia! What would I do without you?’
Nubia’s eyes were still blazing with outrage on behalf of her friend. ‘I do not know. But I recommend that we will go away from this place soon.’
‘You know, Nubia,’ said Flavia, giving her friend a quick hug. ‘You may not be a philosopher, but you are very, very wise.’
Flavia Gemina to her dearest pater M. Flavius Geminus.
This will be my final letter from Surrentum, pater. Although we solved the Mystery, some bad things happened. I’m afraid my betrothal to Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus is off. His father completely misunderstood something reported to him by Gaius Valerius Flaccus. Dear pater, if Rumour whispers bad things about me in your ear please do not believe her!!! I came here innocent and happy and I am leaving sad and wise. But rest assured: my Virtue is still intact.
Remember you said if anything went wrong, we could send for Aristo to come and fetch us? Well, I have sent him a message asking him to meet us at Three Taverns tomorrow afternoon. We will all spend the night at one of the taverns there and then return to Ostia the following day. I promise we will stay indoors and be very good and study diligently until you return from Sicily.
One day when I am older I will tell you all that happened. But it is still too tender and painful.
Farewell, dearest pater, from your sadder but wiser daughter. Cura ut valeas.
‘I’m sorry,’ said Polla Argentaria the next day, as Flavia and her three friends stood beside a white carruca trimmed with gold leaf. ‘My husband was called away suddenly on business. He deeply regrets not being able to bid you goodbye in person. But he sends his warmest thanks for all your help and wishes you the blessings of Mercury and the Twins on your journey home.’
Flavia suddenly realised that Polla was not murmuring, but speaking in a normal voice. She seemed to have a new strength about her.
‘Mater and I made an offering for you at our lararium this morning,’ said Pulchra. ‘And guess what? Mater has agreed to give me and my sisters lessons every morning in poetry, music, maths and philosophy. We’re starting today. Isn’t that wonderful?’
Polla smiled at her eldest daughter and then turned back to Flavia. ‘I was very impressed by your knowledge of the poets. So was my husband. It was his idea that I take the girls’ education in hand, and that I become a patroness to poets again. Oh, that reminds me.’ She extended a parcel wrapped in lemon-yellow silk and tied with a blue ribbon. ‘He wanted you to have this.’
Flavia took it. She knew Felix was trying to bind her in a debt of obligation. The package was heavy and round and she knew without opening it what it would be. Another fabulously expensive vase. Probably the oenochoe which showed Odysseus tied to the mast so that he would not succumb to the Sirens’ song. She almost laughed out loud as she remembered what Nubia had said the previous day. Instead, she smiled politely and handed the parcel back to Polla.
‘Please tell him that our stay at your lovely home was thanks enough,’ she said as brightly as she could. Then she added, ‘I’m not very good at taking care of precious things. I’d only lose it or break it.’
Polla looked surprised for a moment, and studied Flavia’s face. Flavia’s smile must have been convincing because Polla’s forehead relaxed and she took back the parcel.
‘Very well, Flavia Gemina,’ she said. ‘I’m sure he’ll be disappointed that you refused his gift, but I’ll pass on your message.’
‘Thank you,’ said Flavia. ‘And tell him I hope you have a long and happy life together,’ here she looked at Pulchra and smiled, ‘with lots and lots of highborn grandchildren.’
Pulchra gave Flavia a pretend smack on the arm and then hugged her awkwardly, for she was still holding Ajax. ‘Don’t forget to write to me, Flavia,’ she said, pulling back. ‘You too, Jonathan. You promised.’ Her blue eyes were suddenly brimming, and she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
Lupus gave Jonathan a bug-eyed look, then grinned and wiggled h
is eyebrows at Flavia and Nubia.
Smiling, the four friends climbed up into the carruca, where three panting dogs sat patiently beside the luggage.
‘Wait!’ cried Polla Argentaria, as the driver raised his whip. She went to the side of the carruca. ‘I want to thank you all,’ she said, looking up at each of them in turn, ‘for teaching me what true bravery is.’ She looked at Flavia last and gave her an almost imperceptible nod. Then she went back to Pulchra and put her arm around her daughter’s shoulders.
The driver flicked the mules into motion and as the carruca moved off up the hill they waved and called out their farewells until Pulchra and her mother disappeared from view.
The grinding rumble of the iron wheels filled the covered, colonnaded roadway, but above it Flavia thought she could hear a cock crowing exultantly.
‘Behold the graffiti,’ said Nubia in Flavia’s ear, pointing to big red letters which someone had scrawled on the inner wall of the covered road.
Lupus guffawed and Jonathan read it in a loud voice: ‘EVERYBODY LOVES FELIX.’
‘Not everybody,’ said Flavia to herself.
Presently, the carruca left the resounding colonnade and turned onto the relative silence of the Surrentum road.
It was a beautiful bright summer morning. The sea was blue, the sunshine was warm and the sky above seemed infinite and pure. Flavia put her arm around Scuto’s woolly neck and as she looked ahead her spirits began to rise with the sun. The road ahead promised adventures and mysteries, myths and stories. Later in her life there would be time for love and romance.
But for now those things could wait.
FINIS
Acerronia (ak-air-oh-nee-uh)
female friend of Nero’s mother Agrippina, she died during Nero’s first botched attempt to assassinate his mother
Acte (ak-tay)
beautiful freedwoman (ex-slave) who was loved by Nero and hated by Nero’s mother Agrippina
Aeneas (uh-nee-ass)
Trojan hero who fled his burning city and eventually settled in Italia, becoming the father of the Roman race
Aeneid (uh-nee-id)
Virgil’s epic poem about Aeneas, the hero whose descendants founded Rome
Agrippina (ag-rip-pee-nuh)
Julia Agrippina was the sister of Caligula, the niece and wife of Claudius, and the mother of Nero; in AD 59 she was murdered at Baiae on Nero’s instructions
Amazon (am-uh-zon)
mythical female warrior; they reputedly cut off their right breasts to more easily fire bow and arrows, giving them their Greek name: a=not, mazon=breast
amphitheatre (am-fee-theatre)
an oval-shaped stadium for watching gladiator shows, beast fights and the execution of criminals
amphora (am-for-uh)
large clay storage jar for holding wine, oil, grain, etc.
Aphrodite (af-ro-die-tee)
Greek goddess of love; her Roman equivalent is Venus; Aphrodite Sosandra (‘who saves men’) was unusually presented as clothed and solemn
apodyterium (ap-oh-di-tare-ee-um)
changing-rooms of the baths, usually with wall-niches for clothing
arete (ah-ret-tay)
Greek word meaning ‘excellence’, ‘courage’, ‘moral strength’; equals the Latin word ‘virtus’
Argonautica (arr-go-not-ik-uh)
story of Jason’s quest for the golden fleece on his ship the Argo; a Latin version was begun by the poet Gaius Valerius Flaccus around AD 80
Arria (ar-ee-uh)
Stoic wife of Paetus who encouraged him to commit suicide by doing it first
Atalanta (at-uh-lan-tuh)
mythological girl who could run faster than any man until distracted by love
ataraxia (at-are-ax-ee-uh)
Greek word meaning ‘freedom from passion’; Epicureans indulged not to excess, but only until the absence of physical and/or mental discomfort was achieved
Athena (ath-ee-nuh)
Greek goddess of wisdom and war; her Roman equivalent is Minerva
atrium (eh-tree-um)
the reception room in larger Roman homes, often with skylight and pool
Augustus (awe-guss-tuss)
Julius Caesar’s adopted nephew and first emperor of Rome
aulos (owl-oss)
wind instrument with double pipes and reeds that made a buzzy sound
Bacchus (bak-uss)
Roman equivalent of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and revelry
Baiae (bye-eye)
pretty spa town on the Bay of Naples west of Vesuvius, notorious for its decadence (modern Baia)
bird-lime
a sticky yellow substance made of mistletoe berries: if small birds alight on rods smeared with it, they cannot fly away.
bulla (bull-uh)
small ball-shaped amulet of leather or metal worn by many freeborn Roman children as a good-luck charm to protect them until they come of age
caldarium (kald-are-ee-um)
hot room of the baths, usually with heating under the floor and a hot plunge
Campania (kam-pane-ya)
fertile region around the Bay of Naples
carruca (kuh-roo-kuh)
a four-wheeled travelling carriage, usually mule-drawn and often covered
Castor (kas-tor)
one of the famous twins of Greek mythology (Pollux being the other)
Catullus (ka-tul-uss)
Gaius Valerius Catullus (c.84–54 BC) was one of Rome’s most famous poets
Cerberus (sir-burr-uss)
mythical three-headed hound of Hades who guarded the underworld
Claudius (klaw-dee-uss)
fourth emperor of Rome (AD 41–54), husband of Agrippina, stepfather of Nero
clyster (kliss-tur)
an enema (where water is squirted up the bottom to help elimination); from the Greek word meaning ‘syringe’
colonnade (kal-uh-nayd)
a covered walkway lined with columns at regular intervals
Cupid (kyoo-pid)
god of love and son of Venus, he is often shown as a baby or boy with bow and arrows
depilatory (dip-ill-ah-tor-ee)
something which removes unwanted body hair
Dido (die-doe)
Phoenician queen of Carthage who fell passionately in love with the Trojan Aeneas, then killed herself when he left her to pursue his destiny
Dionysus (die-oh-nye-suss)
Greek god of vineyards and wine; he is often shown riding a panther
domina (dom-in-ah)
a Latin word which means ‘mistress’; a polite form of address for a woman
dum vivimus, vivamus (doom viv-ee-mus viv-ah-mus)
Latin: ‘While we live, let us live’; a quote from Epicurean philosophy
edepol! (ed-uh-pol)
exclamation based on the name Pollux, probably rather old-fashioned by the late first century AD
ephedron (eff-ed-ron)
herb mentioned by Pliny the Elder and still used today in the treatment of asthma
Epicurean (ep-ik-yoor-ee-an)
follower of the philosophy of Epicurus, by Roman times this usually meant a retreat from public life in order to achieve a pleasant and tranquil existence
Epicurus (ep-ik-yoor-uss)
Athenian philosopher (341–270 BC) who taught that as there is no afterlife we should strive to avoid pain and gratify our physical desires during our lifetime
euge! (oh-gay)
Latin exclamation: ‘hurray!’
Falernian (fa-lair-nee-un)
highly-esteemed sweet Roman wine of amber colour, from a wine-growing region northwest of Naples
Felix (fee-licks)
Pollius Felix was a rich patron and poet who lived in a maritime villa south of Surrentum; he is mentioned by the poet Publius Papinius Statius in several poems
Flaccus (flak-uss)
Gaius Valerius Flaccus, poet who began a Latin version of the Argonautica around AD 80
Flavia
(flay-vee-a)
a name, meaning ‘fair-haired’; Flavius is another form of this name
Fors Fortuna (forz for-toon-uh)
goddess of luck and good fortune; her festival is celebrated in Rome on July 24, three days after the mid-summer solstice
forum (for-um)
ancient marketplace and civic centre in Roman towns
freedman (freed-man)
a slave who has been granted freedom, his ex-master becomes his patron
frigidarium (frig-id-dar-ee-um)
the cold plunge in Roman baths, often under a domed roof
fulcrum (full-krum)
curved part at the head of a couch, (usually a dining couch)
Furies (fyoo-reez)
also known as the ‘Kindly Ones’, these mythical creatures looked like women with snaky hair; they tormented people guilty of particularly terrible crimes
Galba (gal-bah)
one of the three Emperors who ruled for a short time after Nero’s death in AD 68
garum (gar-um)
very popular pungent sauce made of fermented fish parts, not unlike modern Worcestershire sauce
Germania (jur-man-ya)
Roman province west of the Rhine
gladiator
man trained to fight other men in the arena, sometimes to the death
glirarium (glir-are-ee-um)
Latin ‘home for dormice’; container for holding and fattening dormice in preparation for eating
gustatio (goo-stat-yo)
first course or ‘starter’ of a Roman banquet; the main course was called prima mensa, ‘the first table’, and dessert was called secunda mensa, ‘the second table’
Halicarnassus (hal-ee-car-nass-uss)
(modern Bodrum) ancient city in the region of Caria (now part of Turkey)
Helios (hee-lee-oss)
god who drove the sun across the sky in a chariot; helios is Greek for ‘sun’
Herculaneum (herk-yoo-lane-ee-um)
town at the foot of Vesuvius, buried by hot mud in the eruption of AD 79
Hercules (her-kyoo-leez)
very popular Roman demi-god, the equivalent of Greek Herakles
Hypnos (hip-noss)
Greek god of sleep who touches the forehead with a branch to bring sleep
Ides (eyedz)
thirteenth day of most months in the Roman calendar (including June); in March, May, July and October the Ides occur on the fifteenth day of the month
The Roman Mysteries Complete Collection Page 163