The Roman Mysteries Complete Collection

by Lawrence, Caroline

  impluvium (im-ploo-vee-um)

  a rectangular rainwater pool under a skylight (compluvium) in the atrium

  in vino veritas (in vee-no ver-i-tass)

  Latin for ‘in wine there is truth’, a well-known saying in the first century AD

  Italia (it-al-ya)

  the Latin word for Italy

  ithyphallic (ith-ee-fal-ik)

  showing evidence of the male state of arousal

  Juno (joo-no)

  queen of the Roman gods and wife of the god Jupiter

  Jupiter (joo-pit-er)

  king of the Roman gods, husband of Juno and brother of Pluto and Neptune

  Kalends (kal-ends)

  the first day of any month in the Roman calendar

  kohl (coal)

  dark powder used to darken eyelids or outline eyes

  kylix (kie-licks)

  elegant, Greek, flat-bowled drinking cup, especially for dinner-parties

  lararium (lar-ar-ee-um)

  household shrine, often a chest with a miniature temple on top, sometimes a niche

  Lavinia (la-vin-ya)

  Italian princess whom Aeneas had to marry so that he and his followers could settle in Italy

  lectus (lek-tuss)

  bed or couch; looking into a dining room, the lectus imus (lowest couch) was to the left of the middle couch and the lectus summus (highest couch) was on the right; the place of honour was usually the lectus medius.

  Leucosia (loo-ko-see-uh)

  name of one of the mythological sirens, also the name of an island near Paestum

  Ligea (li-gay-a)

  name of one of the mythological sirens

  Limon (li-mone)

  second property belonging to Pollius Felix; ‘limon’ can mean ‘meadow’ or ‘lemon’, or both; nobody knows exactly where it was, but it might have been between the Lucrine Lake and Puteoli, near modern Arco Felice

  Livia (liv-ee-uh)

  wife of Rome’s first emperor, Augustus, whom she may have poisoned.

  Locusta (lo-koos-ta)

  notorious female poisoner from Gaul who helped kill several emperors and would-be emperors, she was given an estate by Nero as thanks for helping him

  Lucan (loo-kan)

  Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (AD 39–65) talented poet, nephew of Seneca, and husband of Polla Argentaria, he was forced to commit suicide after being implicated in the Pisonian conspiracy against Nero in AD 65

  Lucilius (loo-kill-yuss)

  young ex-Epicurean turned Stoic to whom Seneca addressed many of his letters

  Lucrine Lake (loo-kreen)

  small lake near Baiae, it was famous for its fisheries and oyster beds; Nero’s mother Agrippina had a villa nearby

  metopium (met-ope-ee-um)

  exotic perfume made of cardamom, myrrh, balsam, honey and bitter almond oil

  Minerva (min-erv-uh)

  Roman equivalent of Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom and war

  Misenum (my-see-num)

  Rome’s chief naval port on the bay of Naples

  Mithridates (myth-ri-date-eez)

  King of Pontus who fought the Romans in the first century BC and lost; he committed suicide by stabbing himself, because poisons had no effect on him

  mithridatium (myth-ri-date-ee-um)

  universal antidote invented by King Mithridates (see above) who lived in fear of being poisoned

  mortarium (more-tar-ee-um)

  stone or clay bowl used to hold things while they are being ground with a pestle

  names of citizens of Rome

  praenomen = first name – there were only about a dozen of these in Roman times; girls did not have one; they took the feminine form of their father’s nomen and cognomen. For this reason they often used diminutives like Pollina and Pollinilla

  nomen = family name denoting clan (gens) e.g. anyone named Flavius or Flavia belonged to the Flavian clan

  cognomen = nickname to distinguish clan members, it often described a trait (Geminus means ‘twin’) or characteristic (Felix means ‘prosperous’ or ‘lucky’)

  names of freedmen

  freedmen took their master’s first two names and added their own slave name as cognomen: e.g. Publius Pollius Justus

  names of slaves

  slaves usually had only one name, e.g. Nanus or Parthenope

  Neapolis (nee-ap-o-liss)

  the major city of Campania; it was still very Greek in the first century (modern Naples)

  nefas (nef-ass)

  Latin word meaning ‘wickedness’, ‘sin’ or ‘shame’

  negotium (neg-oh-tee-um)

  Latin for ‘business’ or ‘work’

  Nero (near-oh)

  Emperor who ruled Rome from AD 54–68

  oenochoe (ee-nok-oh-ee)

  Greek word for a wine jug

  Orestes (or-ess-teez)

  son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, he was commanded by Apollo to avenge his father’s murder by killing his mother; he was then pursued by the Furies

  Ostia (oss-tee-uh)

  port about 16 miles southwest of Rome; Ostia is Flavia’s home town

  otium (oh-tee-um)

  Latin word for ‘leisure’, ‘relaxation’, ‘quiet’

  Ovid (ov-id)

  Publius Ovidius Naso (43 BC–c. AD 18); Roman poet whose works include love poetry as well as the famous Metamorphoses

  Paestum (pie-stum)

  Greek colony south of Sorrento, famous for its roses and Greek temples

  Paetus (pie-tuss)

  Caecina Paetus was implicated in a conspiracy against the emperor Claudius and had to commit suicide; his wife Arria encouraged him by doing it first

  palaestra (puh-lie-stra)

  exercise area of public baths, usually a sandy courtyard open to the sky

  palla (pal-uh)

  a woman’s cloak, could also be wrapped round the waist or worn over the head

  papyrus (puh-pie-russ)

  papery material made of pounded Egyptian reeds, used as writing paper and also for parasols and fans

  Parthenope (parth-en-oh-pee)

  name of one of the mythological sirens, also a poetic name for Naples

  pastille (pass-til)

  from Latin pastillus ‘little loaf’; a lozenge or pill made of moulded substances

  patrician (pa-trish-un)

  a person from the highest Roman social class

  Pausilypon (pow-sil-lip-on)

  modern Posillipo, a coastal town near Naples across the Bay from Sorrento; the name means ‘rest from troubles’ in Greek

  pax (packs)

  Latin for ‘peace’

  pergola (purr-gole-uh)

  covered area formed by plants climbing over columns and/or trellis-work

  peristyle (perry-style)

  a columned walkway around an inner garden or courtyard

  Philodemus (fill-oh-dee-muss)

  Lucius Calpurnius Philodemus could have been a descendent of Lucius Calpurnius Philodemus, the Epicurean philosopher who may have lived in the so-called Villa of the Papyri near Herculaneum which was destroyed by Vesuvius in AD 79

  Piso (pee-zo)

  Gaius Calpurnius Piso led an attempt to depose Nero but was discovered and forced to commit suicide along with nearly twenty of his alleged fellow-conspirators; the plot against Nero is called the Pisonian conspiracy after him

  Plato (play-toe)

  famous Greek philosopher who wrote about Socrates and described his death

  Pliny (plin-ee)

  (the Elder) famous admiral and author who died in the eruption of Vesuvius; his only surviving work is a Natural History in 37 chapters or scrolls

  Polla Argentaria (pol-luh ar-gen-tar-ee-uh)

  widow of the poet Lucan and patroness to several first century poets, she may or may not have been the same Polla who was married to Pollius Felix

  Pollux (pol-luks)

  one of the famous twins of Greek mythology (Castor being the other)

  portico (por-
tik-oh)

  roof supported by columns, often attached as a porch to a building

  posca (poss-kuh) well-watered vinegar; a non-alcoholic drink particularly favoured by soldiers on duty

  praenomen (pry-no-men)

  see: names of citizens of Rome

  prima mensa (pree-ma men-sa)

  Latin for ‘the first table’ or main course of a meal, the starter was called gustatio; and dessert was called secunda mensa, ‘the second table’

  Propertius (pro-purr-shuss)

  Roman poet and contemporary of Virgil and Ovid; he wrote many poems about love

  pugnate! (pug-nah-tay)

  Latin second person plural imperative: Fight!

  Puteoli (poo-tee-oh-lee)

  Rome’s main port on the Bay of Naples; also the birthplace of Pollius Felix (modern Pozzuoli)

  Ravenna (ruh-ven-uh)

  seaport in northeast Italy where part of the Roman fleet was based

  Scamander (ska-man-der)

  according to Homer’s Iliad, this river ran close to Troy

  scroll (skrole)

  a papyrus or parchment ‘book’, unrolled from side to side as it was read

  scyphus (skif-uss)

  drinking cup, usually with no stem and two horizontal handles

  secunda mensa (sek-oon-da men-sa)

  Latin for ‘the second table’ or dessert course of a meal, the starter was called gustatio; and the main course was called prima mensa, ‘the first table’

  Seneca (sen-eh-kuh)

  Lucius Annaeus Seneca (c.4 BC–AD 65) was Nero’s tutor and Lucan’s uncle; a Stoic philosopher and author of tragedies, he often wrote about how to die a good death

  sesterces (sess-tur-seez) more than one sestertius, a brass coin; about a day’s wage for a labourer

  Sicily (siss-ill-ee)

  large island off the ‘toe’ of Italy; known as Sicilia in Roman times

  Socrates (sock-rat-eez)

  Greek philosopher who lived in Athens in the fifth century BC, he was made famous by Plato, who wrote accounts of the dialogues Socrates had with his pupils and disciples

  Sosandra (so-sand-ruh)

  see ‘Aphrodite’

  Stabia (stah-bya)

  modern Castellammare di Stabia, a town to the south of Pompeii (also known as Stabiae)

  Stoic (stow-ik)

  a Greek philosophy popular in ancient Rome; its followers admired moral virtue, self-discipline and indifference to pleasure or pain

  stola (stole-uh)

  a long sleeveless tunic worn mostly by Roman matrons (married women)

  stylus (stile-us) a metal, wood or ivory tool for writing on wax tablets

  summum bonum (soo-mum bone-um)

  Latin for ‘the highest good’

  Surrentinum (sir-wren-tee-num)

  wine from the region around Surrentum, dry and thin and almost vinegary

  Surrentum (sir-wren-tum) modern Sorrento, a pretty harbour town on the Bay of Naples south of Vesuvius

  susinum (soo-sin-um)

  expensive perfume made of lilies, saffron, roses, myrrh and cinnamon

  symposium (sim-po-zee-um)

  Greek-style dinner-party with drinking, discussion and recitals at the end

  synthesis (sinth-ess-iss)

  garment worn by men at dinner parties, probably a long unbelted tunic with a short mantle of matching colour

  tablinum (tab-leen-um)

  room in wealthier Roman houses used as the master’s study or office, often looking out onto the atrium or inner garden, or both

  Tartarus (tar-tar-uss)

  the underworld, especially the part reserved for those deserving punishment

  tepidarium (tep-i-dar-ee-um)

  the warm room of the baths, where bathers were often massaged and anointed

  tesserae (tess-ur-eye)

  tiny chips of stone, pottery or glass that make up the picture in a mosaic

  Titus (tie-tuss)

  Titus Flavius Vespasianus, 40 year old son of Vespasian, has been Emperor of Rome for almost a year when this story takes place

  toga (toe-ga)

  a blanket-like outer garment, worn by freeborn men and boys

  Tranquillus (tran-kwill-uss)

  Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, the famous Roman biographer, was probably born the same year as Flavia Gemina: AD 69

  triclinium (trik-lin-ee-um)

  ancient Roman dining room, usually with three couches to recline on

  tunic (tew-nic)

  a piece of clothing like a big T-shirt; children often wore a long-sleeved one

  venefica (ven-eh-fik-uh)

  a sorceress who uses drugs, potions and poisons

  venenum (ven-nay-num)

  Latin for ‘poison’; some scholars think it came from the name Venus (goddess of love) because it was originally a love-potion

  verna (vur-nuh)

  Latin for ‘home-grown’ slave; i.e. person born into slavery because their mother was a slave; it was not unknown for the master to be the father

  Vesuvius (vuh-soo-vee-yus)

  volcano near Naples which erupted on 24 August AD 79 and was still smouldering a year later

  Virgil (vur-jill)

  author of the Aeneid, considered by many to be the greatest of all Latin poets

  Vopiscus (vo-piss-kuss)

  Publius Manilius Vopiscus, a rich Epicurean who became consul in AD 114

  wax tablet

  a wax-covered rectanglar piece of wood used for making notes

  Pollius Felix was a real person. We know about him from the poems of Publius Papinius Statius, another native of the area around Naples. On at least one occasion, Statius was a house-guest at his patron’s villa and he describes it in great and loving detail. From Statius we learn that Felix was a rich Epicurean, a patron, born in Puteoli and that he was a grandfather by the year AD 90 (ten years after this book takes place). We also know that Pollius Felix was married to a woman named Polla who may or may not have been Polla Argentaria, the widow of Lucan. The rest of the things about Pollius Felix in this book (including his first name), are made up.

  The accounts of the conspiracy to assassinate Nero after he murdered his mother Agrippina, and of the suicide of the Stoic philosopher Seneca and his nephew Lucan, are true. You can read more about these events in the Lives of the Caesars by Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, better known as Suetonius.

  If you go to the Capo di Sorrento in Italy, and follow signs pointing to the ‘Ruderi Villa Romana di Pollio Felice’ (ruins of the Roman villa of Pollius Felix) – you will come to the ruins of a Roman villa on the very tip of the promontory. Terraces of olives and vineyards rise up behind these ruins and the sea lies on three sides around. From here you can see Ischia, Prochida, Misenum, Vesuvius and the Milky Mountains. You will find a secret cove behind the site and four rocks in the sea in front of it. Not far away is a crescent beach called Baia di Puolo, possibly named after Pollius.

  Despite the signs, we do not know for certain that this was the site of the villa of Pollius Felix. But I like to think it was.

  To my hard-working agent Teresa

  * * *

  This story takes place in ancient Roman times, so a few of the words may look strange.

  If you don’t know them, ‘Aristo’s Scroll’ at the back of the book will tell you what they mean and how to pronounce them.

  It will also explain terms for chariot racing.

  * * *

  The creature comes at night when the full moon is high above the desert. It has the head of a lion, the body of a goat and a snake for a tail. From its mouth comes fire, a blast of hatred that ignites all before it. Now the tents are burning and the only way past the wall of fire is to ride through it. But she is too afraid and she always wakes up screaming.

  Nubia had the Blues.

  She had wanted the Reds but Porcius the baker’s son said nobody in their right mind supported the Reds. So she had agreed to have the Blues even though it was her birthda
y and she would have been perfectly entitled to her first choice.

  As it was, the Reds were winning; Nubia had always been a good judge of horseflesh. Or in this case, mouseflesh. Sixteen mice pulled four tiny chariots round a twelve-foot long model of the Circus Maximus.

  The model of the famous racecourse was owned by Porcius, whom Nubia and her friends had rescued from kidnappers earlier in the year. Although Porcius was only eleven years old, he was passionate about racing and knew almost everything there was to know. Two slaves from his father’s bakery had carried the wooden replica of the racecourse into the sunny inner garden of the Ostian townhouse.

  Nubia yawned and then smiled. After six weeks of broken nights she was tired. But today she was also happy. All her friends were here to celebrate her birthday.

  ‘Come on, Blues!’ cried the girl on Nubia’s left, jumping up and down with excitement. Although Flavia Gemina was Nubia’s former owner, she seemed more like a sister, even though her skin was fair and Nubia’s dark.

  Flavia’s father, Marcus Flavius Geminus, stood beside her. Tall and clean-shaven, with the same light brown hair and grey eyes as his daughter, he wore his best summer toga as befitted the paterfamilias. On his left stood Jonathan ben Mordecai, their eleven-year-old next door neighbour. Jonathan had curly dark hair and a pleasant face. He suffered from asthma and was wheezing a little with excitement.

  ‘Come on, Greens!’ yelled Jonathan, and then cursed: ‘Oh Pollux! They’ve stopped to investigate that leaf. Where did it come from anyway?’

  ‘From up above!’ cried Flavia. ‘The gods are obviously on our side!’

  Jonathan snorted with disgust, then grinned.

  ‘Unnggh!’ cried the green-eyed boy beside Jonathan. Nine-year-old Lupus had no tongue but Nubia could understand him perfectly: he was cheering for the Reds, whom he had shrewdly decided to support when Nubia went over to the Blues. Behind Lupus stood the Geminus family household slaves – the big door-slave Caudex and plump Alma, the cook. They were cheering the Whites, who had now overtaken the Greens and were coming up fast on the inside track.

  ‘No!’ wheezed Jonathan. ‘Not the Whites! That means we’re last!’

  ‘Yo, Whites!’ boomed Caudex, clapping his meaty hands.

  ‘Look!’ squealed Flavia. ‘The Whites have taken the turn too fast!’