The Roman Mysteries Complete Collection

by Lawrence, Caroline

a low vehicle on two wheels pulled by two or more horses and with a standing driver; racing chariots were quite different from heavy ceremonial chariots: they were small and light and therefore very fast

  chimera (kime-air-uh)

  mythical fire-breathing monster with lion’s head, goat’s body and serpent’s tail

  circus (sir-kuss)

  although the Latin word ‘circus’ means ‘circle’, ancient racecourses for equestrian events were long, thin ovals rather than circles; the simplest comprised a starting line, turning post and finishing line; the most elaborate had stands, starting gates, arches, monuments, temples and towers for stewards to observe the races

  Circus Flaminius (sir-kuss fluh-min-ee-uss)

  racecourse and market place opposite the Tiber Island near the Theatre of Marcellus and the faction stables, it was at the southern end of the Campus Martius

  Circus Maximus (sir-kuss max-im-uss)

  the greatest racecourse in the Roman world, in the valley between the Palatine and Aventine Hills in Rome; most of our knowledge about it comes from literary sources and depictions on cups, lamps, mosaics and reliefs

  Clivus Publicius (klee-vuss poo-blik-ee-uss)

  one of the oldest paved roads in Rome, on the Aventine Hill

  Clivus Scauri (klee-vuss scow-ree)

  modern Clivo di Scouri; a steep road on the Caelian Hill near the Circus Maximus

  colonnade (kal-uh-nayd)

  covered walkway lined with columns at regular intervals

  Consus (kon-suss)

  ancient deity of harvest storehouses, with an underground altar near the southern turning post in the Circus Maximus; he became associated with Neptune

  Crassus (krass-uss)

  Marcus Licinius Crassus was a friend of Julius Caesar and so wealthy that he earned the nickname ‘Dives’ (Rich)

  denarius (den-are-ee-us)

  small silver coin worth four sesterces

  desultores (day-sul-tore-raze)

  acrobats who leapt from one horse to the other, they probably performed between races

  domina (dom-in-ah)

  Latin word which means ‘mistress’; a polite form of address for a woman

  dominus factionis (doh-mee-noose fak-tee-oh-niss)

  master of a faction; at the time this story takes place, most factions were owned by rich men of the equestrian class

  Domitian (duh-mish-un)

  son of Vespasian and younger brother to the Emperor Titus

  ephedron (eff-ed-ron)

  herb mentioned by Pliny the Elder and still used today in the treatment of asthma

  euge! (oh-gay)

  Latin exclamation: ‘hurray!’

  euripus (yur-ee-puss)

  Latin for ‘channel’; the water-filled central barrier of the Circus Maximus

  factio (fak-tee-oh)

  Latin for ‘party’; or ‘team’ in chariot racing each faction had its own owners, trainers, grooms, medics, veterinarians, carpenters, charioteers and horses; at the time of this story there were four factions: Reds, Whites, Blues and Greens

  fasti (fas-tee)

  calendar marking holidays and business days; also the name of a book of poetry about Roman festivals by the poet Ovid

  Felix (fee-licks)

  Pollius Felix was a rich patron and poet who lived near Surrentum

  Flavia (flay-vee-a)

  a name, meaning ‘fair-haired’; Flavius is the masculine form of this name

  forum (for-um)

  ancient marketplace and civic centre in Roman towns

  Forum Boarium (for-um boh-are-ee-um)

  famous cattle market in Rome near the Tiber and the round Temple of Hercules

  fulcrum (full-krum)

  curved part at the head of a couch (usually a dining couch)

  funalis (foo-nah-liss)

  one of the horses which was harnessed to the chariot to the left or right of the yoked pair by traces or ‘funes’

  genius (jeen-yuss)

  Latin for guardian spirit, usually of the home but also of a person

  gladiator

  man trained to fight other men in the arena, sometimes to the death

  gustatio (goo-stat-yo)

  first course or ‘starter’ of a Roman banquet

  Hercules (her-kyoo-leez)

  very popular Roman demi-god, the equivalent of Greek Herakles

  herm

  squared pillar with a sculpted head (often of Hermes)

  and male private parts, to avert bad luck

  hippodrome (hip-oh-drome)

  ‘racecourse’; from the Greek words hippos ‘horse’ and dromos ‘run’

  hortatores (hor-ta-tore-raze)

  Latin for ‘encouragers’; they sometimes rode on horseback to encourage their team

  impluvium (im-ploo-vee-um)

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

  Incitatus (inky-ta-tuss)

  famous race-horse belonging to the Emperor Caligula; he had his own marble stall at the Stables of the Greens and Caligula considered making him consul

  Italia (it-al-ya)

  the Latin word for Italy

  iugales (yoo-gal-laze)

  the two central horses of a chariot team, so-called because they ran beneath the ‘iugum’ or yoke

  Janus (jan-uss)

  Roman god of doorways and beginnings

  Judea (joo-dee-uh)

  ancient province of the Roman Empire; part of modern Israel

  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

  lararium (lar-ar-ee-um)

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

  Lares (lah-raze)

  household gods

  linea alba (lin-ee-uh al-buh)

  white line chalked across the ancient Roman racetrack at the beginning of the euripus; no chariot was allowed to break for position until it crossed this line

  Ludi Romani (loo-dee ro-mah-nee)

  games (especially chariot races) in honour of Jupiter, held from 5th-19th September

  lynchpin

  vital pin passed through the axle-end of a vehicle to keep the wheel in place

  mappa (map-uh)

  napkin-like cloth dropped by magistrate to mark the beginning of a race

  mecastor! (mee-kas-tore)

  exclamation based on the name Castor, suitable for a Roman lady to use; probably rather old-fashioned by the time this story takes place

  Medusa (m-dyoo-suh)

  mythical female monster with a face so ugly she turned

  men to stone; when her head was cut off, the winged horse Pegasus sprang from her neck

  meta (met-uh)

  turning point at each end of a racecourse; in the Circus Maximus, each meta was marked by three tall bronze cones, grouped together on semi-circular platforms

  miliarius (mill-ee-are-ee-uss)

  charioteer who has won over a thousand (mille) races

  Minerva (min-erv-uh)

  Roman equivalent of Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, war, philosophy and women’s arts

  moratores (more-ah-tore-raze)

  Latin for ‘delayers’; they probably calmed the horses in the starting gates

  Murcia (murce-ya)

  also known as Venus Murcia; this ancient goddess had a shrine with a myrtle bush on the actual racetrack of the Circus, near the stands at the curved end

  naufragium (now-frog-ee-um)

  Latin for ‘shipwreck’; what the crowd cried out when one or more chariots crashed

  Neapolis (nee-ap-o-liss)

  major city of Campania (modern Naples)

  Ne
ptune (nep-tyoon)

  god of the sea and of horses; his Greek equivalent is Poseidon

  Nero (near-oh)

  Emperor who ruled Rome from AD 54–69

  Nomentum (no-men-tum)

  region of the Sabines, northeast of Rome; NB: there is no evidence that the Greens had a stud farm here

  Nones (nonz)

  Seventh day of March, May, July, October; fifth day of the others, including September

  Oenomaeus (ee-no-may-uss)

  Greek king who rigged a chariot race against suitors for the hand of his daughter

  ohe! (oh-hay)

  Latin exclamation meaning ‘Whoa!’ or ‘Stop!’

  Ostia (oss-tee-uh)

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

  Ovid (ov-id)

  Publius Ovidius Naso (43 BC–AD 17); Roman poet whose works include love poetry as well as the less well-known Fasti

  palaestra (puh-lice-tra)

  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

  patina (pa-teen-uh)

  Latin for ‘dish’ or ‘pan’: a kind of flan with eggs, either savoury or sweet

  Pelops (pee-lops)

  Greek who bribed a groom to replace the bronze linchpin in his opponent’s chariot with a wax one; it melted with friction and Oenomaeus was thrown and killed

  Penates (pen-ah-taze)

  household gods, especially of the larder, where food is kept

  peristyle (perry-style)

  a columned walkway around an inner garden or courtyard

  plebeian (pleb-ee-un)

  from Latin ‘plebs’; one of the common people or ‘lower classes’, as opposed to those of the equestrian and patrician class

  Pollux (pol-luks)

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

  pompa (pom-puh)

  procession; on the first and last day of a festival celebrated with chariot races, there would be a procession around the track of the emperor, dignitaries, faction members, musicians, dancers, entertainers and statues of the gods

  Pons Fabricius (ponz fab-rick-ee-uss)

  ancient bridge in Rome leading to the Tiber Island, you can still see its four-faced herms

  Pontifex Maximus (pon-tee-fecks mack-sim-uss)

  Latin for ‘highest priest’; this was often the emperor, as in this story

  portico (por-tik-oh)

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

  posca (poss-kuh)

  well-watered vinegar; a non-alcoholic drink particularly favoured by soldiers on duty

  Praetorian Guard (pry-tor-ee-an gard)

  special soldiers chosen to guard the Emperor

  prasini (pra-see-nee)

  Latin for ‘Greens’, i.e. the Green Faction

  probatio equorum (pro-bah-tee-oh eh-kwor-um)

  literally: ‘testing of horses’; on the day before the races horses would be checked for fitness by a veterinarian and perhaps given trial runs in the hippodrome

  pulvinar (puhl-vin-ar)

  large covered box on the Palatine side of the Circus Maximus, statues of the gods ‘watched’ the chariot races from here

  Pythia (pith-ee-uh)

  priestess who uttered the oracular responses of Apollo at Delphi

  quadriga (kwad-rig-uh)

  a chariot pulled by four horses, the central two yoked, the outer two on traces

  russati (roo-sah-tee)

  Latin for ‘Reds’, i.e. the Red Faction

  salvete! (sal-vay-tay)

  ‘hello’ to more than one person (‘salve’ is ‘hello’ to one person)

  Samaritan (sa-mare-it-an)

  native of Samaria, a region of Israel; Samaritans were not always accepted by the strictly observant Jews of Jerusalem

  Scorpus (skorp-uss)

  famous charioteer of the late first century AD who won over 2,000 races and who died aged 27, probably as a result of a racing accident

  scroll (skrole)

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

  Scythian (sith-ee-un)

  native of Scythia, a region north of the Black Sea; in ancient times it was famous for its nomadic tribes of pony-riding barbarians

  sedan-chair

  mode of conveyance carried by strong men or slaves, like a litter, but the rider sits instead of reclining

  selah lanuet hovoteynu (s’-lach-lah-noo et-ho-vo-tane-oo)

  Hebrew: ‘Forgive us our debts . . .’

  sesterces (sess-tur-seez)

  more than one sestertius, a brass coin; about a day’s wage for a labourer

  sparsores (spar-sore-raze)

  boys who sprinkled horses to refresh them and the track to keep the dust down

  spina (spee-nah)

  Latin for ‘spine’; one of the words used to describe the euripus or central barrier of a racecourse

  strigil (strij-ill)

  blunt-edged, curved tool for scraping off dead skin, oil and dirt at the baths; they were used for horses as well as people

  stylus (stile-us)

  metal, wood or ivory tool for writing on wax tablets

  Surrentum (sir-wren-tum)

  modern Sorrento, a pretty harbour town on the Bay of Naples south of Vesuvius

  synthesis (sinth-ess-is)

  garment worn by men at dinner parties, perhaps 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

  tiro (teer-oh)

  novice charioteer, gladiator or soldier

  Titus (tie-tuss)

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

  toga praetexta (toe-ga pry-tecks-ta)

  purple-edged blanket-like outer garment, worn by boys and senators, (most men over 16 wore the plain white toga virilis)

  triclinium (trik-lin-ee-um)

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

  Trigarium (trig-ar-ee-um)

  an open space in Rome where horses were exercised, probably in the north-west part of the Campus Martius, near the bank of the river Tiber

  tunic (tew-nic)

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

  veneti (ven-eh-tee)

  Latin for ‘Blues’, i.e. the Blue Faction

  Vesta (vest-uh)

  goddess of the hearth; remains of her temple in Rome can still be seen today

  vigiles (vig-ill-aze)

  Roman policemen/firemen; the word means ‘watchmen’

  wax tablet

  wax-coated rectangular piece of wood used for making notes

  Chariot races in ancient Rome were even more popular than gladiatorial combats. Everybody had an opinion about the races and everybody supported one of the four factions. Many charioteers were as popular as movie stars are today, and as rich. One such charioteer was Flavius Scorpus. In this story I have made him autistic, a condition which was unidentified in the Roman world. I have also made him Greek, but we don’t really know where he came from. What we do know is that he won 2,048 races before his death aged 27 around AD 95. This information comes from the Roman poet Martial, who wrote several epigrams mentioning Scorpus and also two elegies. Here is one of the elegies:

  I was Scorpus, young star of the noisy circus and darling of Rome. Envious Death took me too soon: counting the number of my victories, he thought I was old!

  Martial X.53
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  Today, the Circus Maximus is a long grassy field in the centre of Rome. In ancient times it was a monumental building around a long racecourse, able to seat nearly a quarter of a million people and provide them with food, water, latrines and souvenirs. Some souvenirs which have survived until today are moulded blown-glass ‘chariot beakers’. A perfectly-preserved sea-greeen beaker from Colchester of Roman Britain shows the monuments of the spina of the Circus Maximus with four chariots racing round it. The four characters are named Olympus, Antiloctius, Cresces and Hierax.

  Today you can still see one of the barrier monuments – a lofty obelisk erected by Augustus – in the Piazza del Popolo in Rome.

  Most of us get our idea of Roman chariot racing from the 1959 Oscar-winning film Ben-Hur. The famous chariot-race is one of the most exciting action scenes in cinema history, but there are some inaccuracies: the chariots were not big and heavy but small and very light; the charioteers wrapped the reins around their waists and always wore leather helmets; the number of chariots in any race was a multiple of four; and seven laps were run, not ten. During the filming of the earlier, 1925 silent version of Ben-Hur, there was a terrible pileup in which men and horses really died. This gives the best idea of what a Roman chariot race would have been like, if you can bear to watch!

  To the cast and crew of the Roman Mysteries

  TV series . . . with sincere apologies to those

  whose characters I have had to kill

  * * *

  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 some of the Roman legal terms mentioned in this story.

  There are also illustrations of some of the gestures used by Roman orators in the first century AD.

  * * *

  Someone was going to die; of that he was perfectly sure.

  The only question was who.

  Jonathan ben Mordecai had suffered from premonitions once before in his life. It had happened the previous year, when he was eleven. He and his father and sister Miriam had been staying with friends near a mountain called Vesuvius. He had dreamt of disaster, and disaster had come with the mountain’s eruption.

  Now, back in Rome’s port of Ostia, another dream had begun to haunt him. In this dream, mourners carried a body on a bier through the foggy streets of the city.

  Jonathan shivered and put up the hood of his nutmeg-coloured cloak. It was the first Sabbath of December, cold and foggy, just as it always was in his dream. He had been up since dawn, hunting outside the town walls with his dog Tigris. He stroked the soft rabbits that hung limply from his belt. He had been hoping for more than two, but it was unlikely that he would catch any this late in the morning, so he whistled for his dog, and set back through the dripping umbrella pines, heading for the Fountain Gate.