‘We cannot go with him,’ said Nubia. ‘We are needed here.’
‘Also, if we went with him to Rome then the three of you would risk being arrested,’ said Aristo.
‘But so will he!’ cried Flavia.
‘Then let’s stop him!’ said Aristo. ‘Someone else can warn Titus. Someone who isn’t wanted or known to the authorities. Someone like me.’
Lupus grunted and pointed at Aristo, as if to say: He’s right.
‘Come on then!’ cried Flavia, wiping away her tears and slipping on her sandals.
‘Where?’ asked Nubia.
‘To the harbour!’ said Flavia. ‘If Jonathan’s going to Rome then he’ll be going by boat.’
Nubia nodded and rose and as she slipped on her sandals she wished there was something she could do. Then she remembered there was. She closed her eyes and silently prayed: ‘Lord, please protect and guide Jonathan. Amen.’
Flavia, Nubia, Lupus and Aristo ran down Harbour Street. Although it was getting light in the east, the torches were still burning in the wall brackets, and shopkeepers were only just raising their shutters.
The docks were busy, however. Night fishermen were bringing in their catches, stevedores were rolling barrels and carrying amphoras, and the customs officials had already set up their tables.
Flavia and her friends stopped and looked around, still panting from the exertion of their run.
‘Do you see him?’ cried Flavia.
‘No,’ said Aristo.
‘Behold!’ cried Nubia, and then said. ‘No, it is not Jonathan.’
A tall young sailor with green eyes was announcing the imminent departure of the merchant ship Fortuna, bound for Alexandria.
Flavia ran forward to ask him if he’d taken on any curly-haired passengers, but as she reached him, her view of the water was unobstructed and for the first time she noticed two ships coming into dock and one moving out into the canal.
‘What ship is that?’ Flavia asked the sailor. ‘The one leaving.’ He turned and squinted in the direction she was pointing.
‘Helpis, I think. Captained by Zenon.’
‘Where’s it going?’ panted Aristo, who had caught up to Flavia. ‘Do you know?’
‘Ostia,’ said Green Eyes. ‘She’s bound for the port of Ostia.’
‘Oh no!’ cried Flavia. ‘We’re too late.’
Flavia sat on a coil of rope and put her head in her hands.
Emotions from the past half year swept over her. Her refusal of Floppy’s proposal in March had caused the argument with her father, which had made her accept the emperor’s mission. And that had resulted in months away from home, facing danger and even death in strange lands. Over these past months her friends had been with her. But now Jonathan was gone, Nubia, Aristo and Lupus had converted to a strange religion, and Floppy was engaged to someone else.
Nubia was patting her back but it didn’t help. She had never felt so alone.
Flavia wept.
Suddenly there was a familiar panting and the smell of doggy breath, and a hot wet tongue was lathering her face.
Flavia opened her eyes in disbelief. ‘Scuto?’ she whispered. And then: ‘Scuto!’ She threw her arms around the woolly neck of her beloved dog.
‘Flavia?’ called a familiar voice. ‘Flavia. Is that you?’
Flavia jumped up and squealed with delight. ‘Pater!’ she cried. ‘Oh, pater! You found us!’
He was pushing his way through the sailors, looking older and thinner but now his arms were around her and she was safe in his embrace. ‘Flavia,’ he cried. ‘Praise the gods!’
‘Oh pater!’ she said again, and burst into tears.
Nubia was in tears, too, for her dog Nipur was there. So was the Geminus family door-slave, Caudex. He stood waiting shyly with the Captain’s bags. Flavia hugged Caudex and then Nipur, and then her father again. When everyone had greeted one another, they started walking slowly back up Harbour Street.
As they passed shops and fountains, the two dogs ran back and forth with their noses down in a delirium of excitement at the smells of Ephesus. Every so often they would rush back to their mistresses and pant happily up at them.
‘Pater, I can’t believe you brought Scuto. You always said having a dog on board a ship is bad luck.’
‘He reminded me of you, my little owl,’ said her father, and kissed the top of her straw hat.
Lupus grunted and pointed at Nipur.
Flavia’s father smiled. ‘Nipur refused to be parted from Scuto.’
‘My cup of joy is overflowing,’ said Nubia, her face radiant.
‘Pater,’ said Flavia, ‘it wasn’t Popo that Mindius took. It was another baby. And Jonathan’s gone to Rome to see Titus, even though there’s a warrant for our arrest. Your ship probably passed his in the harbour.’
Captain Geminus shook his head in wonder. ‘I still can’t believe you’re alive,’ he said. ‘I thought you were all drowned.’ He made the sign against evil. ‘What brought you to Asia?’
‘Aristo,’ explained Nubia. ‘He brought us to Asia because you were here.’
‘I found them in Alexandria,’ said Aristo, ‘after some er . . . notices were posted in Ostia.’
‘Yes,’ said Flavia breathlessly. ‘Our ship home from Mauretania was blown off course and ran aground off the coast of Egypt. We went all the way up the Nile and then back again – I’ll tell you later – and then we found out we were wanted, so we couldn’t leave. Last week Aristo found us and told us that you were looking for Popo in Halicarnassus, so we went there. And then we followed Mindius here to Ephesus because we thought he had Popo but we were wrong. It wasn’t him.’
‘I know,’ said her father. ‘I mean, I know about Popo. That he wasn’t one of the children brought here to Asia.’
‘How?’ cried Flavia. ‘We only just found out.’
He stopped and turned to look at her, so the others stopped, too.
‘Two days ago,’ said Captain Geminus, ‘I received a letter from Jonathan’s mother. The boy who claimed he saw Rhodian slavers take Lydia and Popo from the market later confessed he was lying. Someone bribed him to say that.’
‘Who?’
‘Lydia.’
‘What?’ cried Flavia and Aristo together.
And Nubia said: ‘Lydia the wet-nurse?’
Captain Geminus nodded grimly. ‘Jonathan’s mother thinks Lydia was mourning the loss of her own baby and wanted Popo for her own. We don’t know where she’s taken him. It could be anywhere in the Empire.’
‘Oh, no!’ cried Flavia.
‘Don’t fret, little owl,’ said her father, picking up his satchel and starting to walk again. ‘We’ll find him. And Jonathan, too. In the meantime I hear you’ve been helping Bato with the kidnapped children here in Ephesus?’
‘That’s right,’ said Aristo. ‘Mindius had a villa full of illegal slaves, all children. Some were working in a carpet factory; others were being groomed as . . . personal slaves. We’ve reunited some of them with their families, but there are still more than three dozen left.’
‘Pater, one of them is Sapphira, who disappeared from Ostia three years ago!’
Aristo added, ‘Apparently Mindius has renounced his evil ways and left his property to Bato.’
Lupus grunted, then pointed at himself and the others.
Flavia interpreted: ‘And to us!’
Captain Geminus ruffled Lupus’s hair and slipped his free arm around Flavia’s shoulder. ‘I don’t understand half of what you’re saying,’ he laughed. ‘All I know is that you’re alive and well. I suppose I’ll have to sacrifice an entire sheep as a thanks offering.’
‘No,’ said Nubia and Aristo, while Lupus tipped his head back in the Greek gesture for no.
‘What?’
‘No more animal sacrifices,’ said Nubia with a radiant smile. ‘Never again.’
‘What in Hades are you talking about?’
‘I’ll explain it to you later,’ said Aristo.
Ten days later, on the Kalends of September, the merchant ship Helpis docked at Ostia.
A dark-eyed boy in a wide-brimmed straw travelling hat came off the gangplank and stood looking around for a few moments. He had a hemp shoulder bag over one arm but no other luggage.
‘Name?’ said an official with a wax tablet.
‘Adam,’ said the youth in Greek. ‘A Jew from Alexandria. On my way to Rome to study engineering.’
‘Any goods you want to declare?’ said the man.
‘All my possessions are on me,’ said the boy, turning his palms up.
The official looked him up and down, taking in the cheap but sturdy sandals, the long-sleeved tunic and the wide-brimmed hat.
‘Got any money?’
‘I have fifty sesterces.’ The boy touched the leather coin pouch at his belt. ‘And a letter of recommendation addressed to a Jew named Josephus at the Imperial court.’ The boy opened his shoulder bag. ‘Do you want to see it?’
The official glanced in the bag. He could see a folded cloak, a bath set and a sealed wax tablet. ‘Not really,’ he said. ‘Just pay the usual two sesterces harbour tax and you’re on your way.’
The youth nodded, slung his bag back over his shoulder and fished in the coin purse. A moment later he handed over two bronze coins.
‘Very well,’ said the official, and waved him on.
The boy made his way through the noisy dockyards to the Marina Gate and passed beneath its shaded arch. He took a long drink of cool water at the marina fountain and bought some figs from a street vendor near the fish market. At the crossroads he turned right along the Decumanus Maximus and made his way to the town forum, where he paused to read the previous day’s acta diurna on the noticeboard. When he read the notice offering a reward for a Jewish boy named Jonathan, two girls and a mute boy, he glanced around.
Pulling down the brim of his hat, he continued on down the Decumanus Maximus, passing the theatre on his left and red-brick granaries on his right. When he reached the turning for Green Fountain Street, he resisted the temptation to look right towards his old home. His eyes resolutely ahead, he passed through the Roman Gate, along the tomb-lined Via Ostiensis towards Rome, the Eternal City.
One step at a time, Jonathan moved towards his destiny.
Acta diurna (ak-ta die-urn-uh)
(lit. ‘actions of the day’) announcements of births, marriages, deaths, decrees and other news posted daily on a board in the forum of Rome and probably Ostia, too
Aegean (uh-jee-un)
sea between modern Greece and Asia Minor (Turkey)
agora (ag-o-rah)
the Greek equivalent of the Latin forum, an open space for markets and meetings
Alexandria (al-ex-an-dree-uh)
Egypt’s great port, at the mouth of the Nile Delta founded by and named after Alexander the Great; in the first century AD it was second only to Rome in wealth, fame and importance
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.
Androclus (an-dro-kluss)
son of the Athenian king Codrus, an Ionian; he founded Ephesus
apocalyptic (a-pok-a-lip-tik)
having to do with the Apocalypse (Greek for ‘revelation’) the final destruction of the world at the end of time
Apollo (uh-pol-oh)
god of music, disease and healing
Aquarius (a-kwar-ee-uss)
sign of the Zodiac of the water-carrier
aqueduct (ak-wa-dukt)
man-made channel for carrying water, they had tall arches when carrying water across a valley or plain
Arabia (uh-ray-bee-uh)
in Roman times land on the right bank of the Nile, (to the east) was considered Arabia
Aramaic (air-uh-may-ik)
closely related to Hebrew, it was the common language of first century Jews
Artemis (art-a-miss)
Greek goddess of the hunt (and fertility in Asia Minor) and Apollo’s twin sister; often identified with Roman Diana; Ephesus was an important centre of her cult
Artemisia (art-uh-mee-zyah)
wife of Mausolus of Caria; after his death she drank his ashes, then had a magnificent tomb construced for him: one of the Seven Sights of the ancient world
Asia (azhe-ya)
in Roman times, Asia was a province which is now part of modern Turkey; it was a senatorial province governed by a proconsul
asiarch (azhe-ee-ark)
Greek for ‘ruler in Asia’; a kind of Roman official in the province of Asia
Athens (ath-inz)
(modern capital of Greece) in Roman times a university town devoted to the goddess of wisdom, Athena
atrium (eh-tree-um)
the reception room in larger Roman homes, often with skylight and pool
ballista (buh-list-uh)
catapult used in ancient times for hurling large stones
basilica (ba-sill-ik-uh)
large public building in most Roman towns; it served as a court of law and meeting place; there were often cells for holding prisoners until trial
caldarium (kal-dar-ee-um)
the hot room of the baths, often with steaming basins and underfloor heating
Calliope (kal-eye-oh-pee)
one of the nine muses from Greek mythology; her specialty was epic poetry
Canopus (kan-oh-puss)
town to the east of Alexandria on the Nile Delta; it was a famous Roman resort in the first century AD
Caria (kare-ee-ah)
ancient region of Turkey south of the Meander River and northwest of Lycia
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
caupona (kow-po-na)
inn, tavern or shop, usually the former
Cayster (kay-stir)
Also known as the Little Maeander, this river flowed into the sea near the harbour of Ephesus
cella (sell-uh)
inner room of a temple; it usually housed the cult statue
ceramic (sir-am-ik)
clay which has been fired in a kiln, very hard and smooth
Cibotus (kib-oh-tuss)
Greek for ‘box’; name of the man-made harbour which was part of Alexandria’s larger western harbour
Cnidos (k’nee-doss)
famous town with a double harbour on a promontory in Asia Minor (Turkey)
colonnade (kal-uh-nayd)
a covered walkway lined with columns at regular intervals
Colossus of Rhodes (kuh-loss-iss)
gigantic statue of the sun god Helios on the island of Rhodes; considered one of the Seven Sights in the first century, even though it had fallen down by then
Coressian Gate
the northern gate of ancient Ephesus, despite the fact that Mount Coressus lies to the south
Coressus (kor-ess-uss)
Mount Coressus forms the southern slopes of the city of Ephesus
Decumanus Maximus (deck-yoo-man-uss max-ee-mus)
one of the two main streets of most Roman towns, the other being the ‘cardo’
Demeter (d’-mee-tur)
Greek goddess of grain and the harvest; her daughter was Persephone
detectrix (dee-tek-tricks)
female form of ‘detective’ from Latin ‘detego’ – ‘I uncover’
Domitian (duh
-mish-un)
younger son of Vespasian; emperor Titus’s younger brother by ten years, he is about thirty-one years old when this story takes place
Embolos (em-bo-loce)
Greek for ‘wedge’; name of the famous paved road in Ephesus that angled down from the upper town towards the harbour
encaustic (en-kow-stik)
kind of painting done with hot or warm coloured wax, usually on hardwood
Endymion (en-dim-ee-on)
mythical youth of such beauty that Selene the moon goddess fell in love with him; Zeus put him into a perpetual sleep and gave him eternal youth so that Selene could always gaze upon him
Ephesus (eff-uh-siss)
perhaps the most important town in the Roman province of Asia and site of one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Temple of Artemis
Etesian (ee-tee-zhyun)
Greek for ‘yearly’: the name of a strong dry north-westerly trade wind which blew in the summer across the Mediterranean
euge! (oh-gay)
Latin exclamation: ‘hurray!’
eunuch (yoo-nuk)
a boy or man whose physical development has been halted by castration
Euromus (yur-oh-muss)
ancient town in Caria about half way between Halicarnassus and Ephesus; was famous for its Temple of Zeus
fenugreek (fen-yoo-greek)
from Latin faenum (hay) and Graecum (Greek); a white-flowered pea plant used as animal fodder in Roman times
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
Flavian (flay-vee-un)
relating to the period of the three emperors Vespasian, Titus and Domitian: AD 69–96
forum (for-um)
ancient marketplace and civic centre in Roman towns
frigidarium (frig-id-dar-ee-um)
the cold plunge in Roman baths
Furies (fyoo-reez)
also known as the ‘Kindly Ones’, these mythical creatures looked like women with snaky hair; they tormented people guilty of terrible crimes
garum (gar-um)
very popular pungent sauce made of fermented fish parts, not unlike modern Worcestershire sauce
Gehenna (g’-hen-uh)
the place near Jerusalem where rubbish was burned; in Indenthanginglical writings it came to represent the place where evil is destroyed, i.e. ‘hell’
The Roman Mysteries Complete Collection Page 253