The Roman Mysteries Complete Collection

by Lawrence, Caroline

  Nut (noot)

  Egyptian goddess of the sky and mother of Osiris, Isis, Seth and Nephthys

  Octavian (see Augustus)

  Oedipus (ed-ip-uss)

  mythical Greek hero who successfully answered the Sphinx’s riddle

  ohe! (oh-hay)

  Latin for ‘whoa!’

  Ombos (om-boss)

  (modern Kom Ombo) town on the east bank of the Nile near Syene (Aswan); it was a stop on trade routes from Nubia and the east and had a famous temple dedicated to Sobek the crocodile god

  Ophir (oh-feer)

  a rich port mentioned in the Bible; scholars do not know its location

  Osiris (oh-sire-iss)

  Egyptian god of fertility and the underworld, after being murdered by his brother Seth, his sister/wife Isis resurrected him

  Ostia (oss-tee-uh)

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

  Oxyrhynchus (ocks-ee-rink-uss)

  town in middle Egypt famous for a huge find of papyrus documents dating back to Ptolemaic and Roman times; its inhabitants worshipped the ‘sharp-nosed’ pike

  palla (pal-uh)

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

  Pan (pan)

  Greek god of shepherds and wild places; he is half man, half goat

  Paneum (pan-nay-um)

  a conical hill in the centre of Alexandria; it was a shrine to the god Pan

  pantomime (pan-toe-mime)

  Roman theatrical performance in which a man (or sometimes woman) illustrated a sung story through dance; the dancer could also be called a ‘pantomime’

  papyrus (puh-pie-russ)

  the cheapest writing material, made from pounded sedge of the same name

  Paridis (pa-ree-deess)

  Latin for ‘of Paris’ (genitive of the name Paris)

  pater (pa-tare)

  Latin for ‘father’

  patrician (pa-trish-un)

  a person from the highest Roman social class

  pavo (pa-vo)

  Latin for ‘peacock’

  pedis (ped-iss)

  Latin for ‘louse’ (singular of ‘lice’)

  Pharos (far-oss)

  Name of an island off the coast of Alexandria on which a massive lighthouse was built; people began to call the lighthouse ‘pharos’ too

  Phoenician (fuh-neesh-un)

  Semitic sea-people who established trading posts in coastal positions all over the Mediterranean; they are described by the word Punic

  Pillars of Hercules

  (modern Straits of Gibraltar) the two rocky promontories which flank the entrance to the Mediterranean sea from the Atlantic Ocean

  Plato (play-to)

  (427–347 BC) famous Greek philosopher who wrote many dialogues including one called The Republic

  Pliny (the Elder) (plin-ee)

  (AD 23–79) Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus was a famous Roman author, admiral and naturalist; he died in the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79

  Pollux (pol-luks)

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

  Portus (por-tuss)

  a large harbour a few miles north of Ostia’s river mouth harbour; built by the Emperor Claudius, it was relatively new in Flavia’sday

  Poseidium (po-side-ee-um)

  a temple to Neptune (Greek Poseidon) overlooking Alexandria’s Great Harbour

  province (pra-vince)

  a division of the Roman Empire; in the first century AD senatorial provinces were governed by a proconsul appointed by the senate, imperial provinces were governed by a propraetor appointed by the Emperor

  Ptolemaic (tall-eh-may-ik)

  referring to the Greeks who ruled Egypt for three centuries after the death of Alexander the Great; they were mostly called Ptolemy

  Ptolemy Soter (tall-eh-mee so-tare)

  (367–283 BC) one of Alexander the Great’s generals, he became the first Greek ruler of Egypt and the first of the Ptolemaic dynasty

  pylon (pie-lon)

  Greek for ‘gateway’; this term is often applied to the entrances of Egyptian temples

  Rhakotis (rah-ko-tiss)

  a suburb of Alexandria; may have been the original fishing settlement

  Rhodes (roads)

  large island in the Aegean Sea and capital of the Roman province of Asia

  Rhodopis (ro-do-piss)

  an Egyptian princess from Naucratis, mentioned by Strabo

  Sabbath (sab-uth)

  the Jewish day of rest, counted from Friday evening to Saturday evening

  Sabratha (sah-brah-tah)

  town in the North African province of Africa Proconsularis (modern Libya)

  scroll (skrole)

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

  Sedge (sej)

  a large family of plants which usually grow in rivers or wetlands; papyrus is a type of sedge

  Septuagint (sept-oo-uh-jint)

  The Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, composed in Alexandria sometime during the Ptolemaic period (first three centuries BC)

  Serapeum (sir-a-pay-um)

  Famous monumental temple in Alexandria to the god Serapis, there was an annex of the Library there; one of its columns still stands (confusingly called Pompey’s Pillar)

  Serapis (sir-ap-iss)

  A made-up Graeco-Egyptian god; he had characteristics of the Egyptian bull-god Apis and of Osiris, and also of Hades, the Greek god of the underworld

  sesterces (sess-tur-seez)

  more than one sestertius, a brass coin; four sesterces equal a denarius

  Seth AKA Seti

  Egyptian god of chaos, confusion and the desert, sometimes shown as a man with the head of a Seth animal.

  Seth animal

  a made up hieroglyphic animal that represents chaos and confusion

  signet-ring (sig-net ring)

  ring with an image carved in it to be pressed into wax and used as a personal seal

  Siwa (see-wa)

  date palm oasis in the ‘Libyan’ desert: there was a sanctuary to the god Ammon there

  Sobek (so-bek)

  Egyptian god of crocodiles, sometimes shown as a man with the head of a Crocodile

  sol (sole)

  Latin for ‘sun’

  Soma (so-ma)

  Greek for ‘body’, also the name of the building where Alexander’s body was entombed

  stade (stayed)

  a measurement of distance: a stade is about 200 metres, making roughly eight to a mile

  stern (rhymes with ‘turn’)

  back of a ship; Roman ships often had a swan’s neck ornament here

  stola (stole-uh)

  a long tunic worn by Roman matrons and respectable women

  Strabo (strah-bow)

  (c. 64 BC – c. AD 24) a Greek historian from Asia minor who is known for his Geography, which includes sections on Egypt and North Africa

  stylus (stile-us)

  metal, wood or ivory tool for writing on wax tablets

  sun-bread

  sourdough oven-baked bread

  Syene (sigh-ee-nee)

  (modern Aswan) city on the border of Egypt and Nubia, just downriver from the first cataract; there were granite quarries and Roman garrison here

  tablinum (tab-leen-um)

  room used as a study or office

  tegula (teg-yoo-la)

  Latin for ‘roof-tile’

  Tentyra (ten-teer-uh)

  (modern Dendera) town on the west bank of the Nile whose inhabitants hated the crocodile

  Tentyrites (ten-teer-rites)

  men from Tyntyra; according to Strabo they were skilled crocodile hunters

  terebinth (tare-uh-binth)

  small tree of the cashew family which produces turpentine: in Roman times it was valued for its perfumed resin

  testudo (tes-too-do)

  Latin for ‘tortoise’

&
nbsp; tetradrachm (tet-ra-drak-m)

  an Alexandrian tetradrachm was equal to four drachmae or one denarius

  Thebes (theebz)

  (modern Luxor) a major city on the east bank of the Nile and site of two important temples: Karnak and Luxor

  Thoth (thoth)

  Egyptian god of wisdom and scribes, sometimes shown as a man with an ibis head

  tinea (tin-nay-uh)

  Latin for ‘bookworm’

  Titus (tie-tuss)

  Titus Flavius Vespasianus has been Emperor of Rome for almost two full years when this story takes place

  Torah (tor-uh)

  Hebrew word meaning ‘law’ or ‘instruction’. It can refer to the first five books of the Bible or to the entire Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament).

  Tralles (trah-layz)

  (modern Ayin) a town in Asia Minor (modern Turkey) east of Ephesus

  tunic (tew-nic)

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

  tyche (tie-kee)

  Greek word for ‘luck’ or ‘fortune’

  Upper Egypt

  the southern part of Egypt; its symbol is the sedge plant

  Venus (vee-nuss)

  Roman goddess of love, Aphrodite is her Greek equivalent

  vigiles (vij-il-layz)

  watchmen – usually soldiers – who guarded the town against robbery and fire

  Volubilis (vo-loo-bill-iss)

  town in the Roman province of Mauretania (modern Morocco)

  votive (vo-tiv)

  an object offered to mark a vow, prayer or thanksgiving to some god

  wax tablet

  wax-coated rectangular piece of wood used for making notes

  Zeus (zyooss)

  king and greatest of the Greek gods; his Roman equivalent is Jupiter

  When most people think of ancient Egypt, they think of pyramids, mummies and pharaohs. But the dynasties of the pharaohs are only one part of that country’s history. Alexander the Great founded the capital of his empire there shortly before his death. His Greek successors, the Ptolemies, ruled Egypt for 300 years. After the fall of Cleopatra in 30 BC, the Romans made Egypt a province.

  Roman Egypt became the main supplier of the grain for Italy, and as grain ships traveled back and forth, so did people. Some Romans began to worship Egyptian gods and goddesses like Serapis and Isis, and in the Flavian period there was a vogue for Egyptian songs and dances in Rome. However, even under Roman rule, Greek rather than Latin remained the language of Alexandria and Egypt.

  In the first century AD, Alexandria was one of the most important cities in the Roman Empire, second only to Rome. Whereas Rome had grown up as a collection of crooked streets around seven small hills, Alexandria was planned from the start. Its wide streets were laid out on a grid pattern designed to catch the cooling Etesian breeze. It boasted one of the Seven Sights of the ancient world, the great lighthouse, but also had world-famous buildings such as the Museum, the Serapeum, the Caesarium and the Soma, where Alexander’s body was on show in a clear sarcophagus. Alexandria had a freshwater lake and five sea harbours to cope with the huge volume of trade that passed through it. Impressive underground cisterns supplied water to almost every house in the ancient city.

  A visitor to Roman Alexandria would have seen people from all nations and genders, including eunuchs. A eunuch is a man who has had his genitals partly cut or completely removed. This was often done to boys so that they never developed as men but remained ‘a third sex’, something between a man and a woman. Such men were usually slaves, and were employed in various different capacities in the ancient world. Like gladiators, eunuchs were often desired and despised at the same time. Some men even castrated themselves in a religious frenzy, especially those who worshipped the Eastern goddess Cybele.

  Towns along the River Nile really did worship particular animals. The town of Oxyrhynchus, named after the ‘sharp-nosed’ pike, was one of them. So was Cynopolis, a city which venerated dogs. History records bitter rivalries between the citizens of different animal-worshipping towns, sometimes leading to riots and death. At Crocodilopolis near Fayum there was a bejewelled crocodile, and boy acrobats did handstands on its back.

  Ancient Greek and Roman tourists went to Egypt, just as we do today. They marvelled at the great Pharos, visited the pyramids and turned up at dawn to hear the Colossi of Memnon ‘sing’. And, just like many modern tourists, they left graffiti on the monuments they visited.

  To my grandsons, Adrian and Jasper,

  and their mother Brooke

  * * *

  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.

  * * *

  In his vision he sees a celestial battle.

  The sky is cobalt blue and full of stars. The whole of the Zodiac is there, as if inked in light on the inside of a vast bowl. The Maiden. The Lion. The Water-bearer. Stars pursue and confront each other with terrible purpose across this apocalyptic background.

  He does not understand this terrifying conflict. All he knows is that there is a great battle and that the struggle is fiercest in the constellation of the Heavenly Twins, in the constellation of Gemini.

  Flavia Gemina had a problem. She and her three friends were trapped in the city of Alexandria, a thousand miles from home.

  ‘If we don’t get out of this city and back to Ostia,’ said Flavia one hot afternoon, ‘I think I’ll go mad.’

  It was early August in the second year of the emperor Titus. For ten days the friends had been hiding out in a small house in the Rhakotis district of Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt. The house belonged to a newlywed couple honeymooning in Canopus. Their only contact to the outside world was the groom’s cousin Nathan, a young Jewish boatman who had helped them in a quest up the Nile. He specialised in smuggling goods in and out of Alexandria and at the moment he was trying to find a way to smuggle the four friends out of the city. In the meantime, they were confined to the first floor triclinium so that nobody would see them.

  For the hundredth time, Flavia picked up the papyrus notice that Nathan had illegally pulled from a wall. Its message was in Greek:

  Reward offered for four children: Jonathan son of Mordecai, aged twelve years: of medium height, olive skin, short curly hair, scar on left shoulder. Lupus or Lykos, aged ten: a tongueless mute with no other visible blemishes. Nubia, aged about thirteen: a dark-skinned Nubian girl with eyes of an unusual golden brown colour. Flavia Gemina, daughter of Marcus Flavius Geminus, sea captain, aged twelve years: medium height, fair-skinned, grey eyes, no visible blemishes. Last seen in Ombos, in the Thebaid. N.B. The girls may be disguised as boys or eunuchs. 1000 drachmae per child for any information leading to their capture and arrest.

  Flavia sighed, put down the notice and looked around the small triclinium at her three friends. Jonathan was sitting on the right-hand dining couch, absently cleaning his fingernails with a stylus. With his dark curly hair and olive skin, he perfectly matched the description on the notice. Dark-skinned, golden-eyed Nubia sat opposite Jonathan, on the left-hand couch. She was stroking a sleek grey cat. Lupus, the youngest of them, sat cross-legged on the cool tile floor; he was making idle marks on the wax tablet which was his main method of communication.

  Flavia sighed again. ‘Sometimes I wish I’d never become a detectrix,’ she said. ‘I wish I’d never solved the case of pater’s missing signet ring two years ago. I wish we’d never caught the dog-killer in Ostia and the three assassins in Rome, or rescued the kidnapped children and tracked a criminal mastermind to Rhodes.’

  ‘Why not?’ asked Jonathan, without looking up from cleaning his nails.

  ‘Because I became – we became such good detectives that the emperor sent us on that secret mission. But it went wrong and now we’re hunted fugitives, a thousand miles from ho
me.’

  Jonathan nodded glumly. ‘If only we hadn’t written those letters home,’ he said. ‘They might have believed Nathan’s story that we were eaten by crocodiles in Middle Egypt.’

  ‘What letters?’ Nubia looked up from the cat and frowned.

  ‘Didn’t we tell you?’ said Flavia. ‘Before he went out this morning, Nathan told us he thinks the officials must have intercepted one of the letters we sent home. That’s how they know we’re still alive. Nathan also said that he might not be able smuggle us out together. Because the notice gives such accurate descriptions of the four of us, we might have to split up.’

  ‘No!’ cried Nubia. ‘We must not be divided. We are family. We must stay together.’

  Jonathan gave a wry grin. ‘Nathan’s right. If we try to leave together, we’ll probably attract more attention than a troupe of naked pantomime dancers.’

  Lupus chuckled, and glanced up at Jonathan with bright green eyes.

  ‘Of course,’ added Jonathan. ‘They’ll probably catch us, even if we do split up.’

  ‘Well,’ said Flavia, ‘if they’re going to catch us anyway, then I think Nubia’s right. We should stay together. We may not be related, but we’re family.’ She gazed at her dark-skinned friend affectionately. ‘After all, didn’t we just travel seven hundred miles up the Nile to find you? It would be silly for us to separate again now.’

  Nubia regarded them gravely. ‘It is better to die together than to die alone,’ she said.

  Lupus grinned and wrote on his wax tablet: IS THERE A THIRD CHOICE?

  ‘Yes!’ cried Flavia. ‘As soon as Nathan gets us out of this city, we can sail back to Italia. Then I’m going to marry Gaius Valerius Flaccus and be a good Roman matron and have lots of babies. And I vow I’ll never try to solve another mystery again.’

  ‘I seem to remember you took a vow never to marry,’ said Jonathan drily. ‘Now you’re taking a vow to stop solving mysteries? Maybe you should take a vow not to take vows.’

  Flavia gave him a rueful grin, and leaned closer to the sandalwood screen over the central couch on which she sat. The screen allowed the Etesian breeze to flow through, but it kept them hidden from curious eyes in the houses opposite or on the street below. Flavia put her eye right up to one of the lozenge-shaped chinks. She could feel the cool breeze and she could see the Pharos rising above the rooftops of Alexandria. The lighthouse marked the entrance to the great harbour.