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    A Pinch of Pure Cunning: Six Mysteries from Ancient Rome
    A Pinch of Pure Cunning: Six Mysteries from Ancient Rome
    A Pinch of Pure Cunning: Six Mysteries from Ancient Rome
    Ebook117 pages1 hour

    A Pinch of Pure Cunning: Six Mysteries from Ancient Rome

    By Jane Finnis

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    About this ebook

    This is a collection of mystery short stories, a variety of traditional whodunnits, all with an Ancient Roman background. The tales take us to the turbulent frontier province of Britannia, the showy luxury of  Rome itself, and right inside the glittering and dangerous court of Nero.
    These make dramatic settings for crime and mystery, and show us a little of life (and death) two thousand years ago. The Roman world had its share of crime, because human nature was much the same then as it is now. Greed, vengeance, and jealousy were motives for theft, fraud, and murder…and where there were crimes there were also investigators.
    The sleuths in these stories are not professional detectives in the modern sense. Innkeeper Aurelia Marcella, (heroine of the Aurelia Marcella series of mystery novels,) just wants to get on with running a successful business; Rufus the bodyguard becomes an investigator when he is present at a fashionable banquet where celebration turns to tragedy; and elite guardsman Marius learns how criticising Caesar's singing can have deadly consequences. And of course they all lack the elaborate tools for crime-solving that modern detectives take for granted. 
    But they share an over-riding determination to seek out truth and bring justice, even when that puts them in danger. These stories show how they can succeed, using intelligence, courage, and of course a pinch of pure cunning, 
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTroubador Publishing Ltd
    Release dateJul 22, 2020
    ISBN9781838596521
    A Pinch of Pure Cunning: Six Mysteries from Ancient Rome
    Author

    Jane Finnis

    Jane Finnis read history at the Univeristy of London before working as a radio producer for BBC radio. She now lives in East Yorkshire and spends her time researching and writing about the Roman Empire.

    Read more from Jane Finnis

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      Book preview

      A Pinch of Pure Cunning - Jane Finnis

      "If the truth is hard to find,

      remember a pinch of pure cunning

      is worth a box of brute force."

      Aurelia Marcella’s grandmother

      Copyright © 2020 Jane Finnis

      The moral right of the author has been asserted.

      Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.

      This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

      Matador

      9 Priory Business Park,

      Wistow Road, Kibworth Beauchamp,

      Leicestershire. LE8 0RX

      Tel: 0116 279 2299

      Email: [email protected]

      Web: www.troubador.co.uk/matador

      Twitter: @matadorbooks

      ISBN 978 1838596 521

      British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.

      A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

      Matador is an imprint of Troubador Publishing Ltd

      For everyone who loves books.

      The pen is mightier than the sword.

      And easier to write with.

      BENNY HILL

      (Baniaminus Mons)

      Contents

      Welcome

      Wild by Name, Wild by Nature

      A Pinch of Pure Cunning

      The Golden Princess

      Hide and Seek

      The Cleopatra Game

      The Single-Handed Soldier

      Acknowledgements

      Other Books by Jane Finnis

      What the Reviewers Say

      Welcome

      Welcome to the Ancient Roman Empire. It’s a world that has fascinated me ever since I was a child. We lived in York for a while, and I remember gazing in wonder at the Roman remains there, and endlessly asking questions about them. What were the Romans doing in Britain? What were their homes like? And, as a child this was probably my top question, What did they eat?

      Looking back at life in the Roman Empire is like standing in the dark outside a large house, (a villa perhaps?) and trying to peer in through the windows to examine the many rooms inside. Some rooms are brightly lighted, some tantalisingly dim, and others completely black. So parts of the house are plainly visible in great detail, but not all, and the lighted rooms are scattered, not adjacent. In other words, we don’t have a complete picture. Our knowledge is growing all the time, but there are always gaps. This can be a pain or a challenge. To me, a writer who is fascinated by history, it is both.

      Yes, I’m still as fascinated as ever, and now I’m writing about Roman life and times I have the perfect excuse for asking all those questions again, and searching till I find the answers. (Perhaps that’s why so many of my stories include details of what my characters like to eat!) My mysteries are set mostly towards the end of the first century AD, when the Empire was strong and prosperous, but Britannia was still a raw frontier province, not at all the rich and relatively peaceful society it became later. In the 90s AD the legions’ conquest was well within living memory, especially in the north, and despite the victors’ propaganda, the native Britons were not easily pacified. Life could be turbulent and violent. Speaking as a writer this not only makes it more interesting, but provides an ideal background for tales of mystery and mayhem.

      My chief mystery-solver (you can’t use terms like detective for those times) is Aurelia Marcella, a Roman settler who runs an inn on the road to York. She simply wants to live a quiet comfortable life with her family, at peace with all her neighbours and customers. But somehow events keep interfering with this laudable ambition. Never mind, she’s resourceful and brave and always comes through in the end. She has to; she’s the narrator of her adventures.

      Much as I love Roman Britain, I couldn’t resist including a couple of mysteries set in Rome itself. No, sorry, there are no orgies…but in one there’s a grand banquet that goes horribly wrong, while the other is set in the court of the Emperor Nero, where you could find yourself in deep trouble simply for commenting on Caesar’s singing.

      The variety of the ancient Empire is part of its fascination. But there’s one thing certain: human nature then was much as it is now. Jealousy and courage, love and hate, greed and honour, along with the feeling that justice ought to prevail…then as now, they made the world go round, and you’ll find them all in these stories.

      Enjoy!

      Wild by Name,

      Wild by Nature

      I haven’t told anyone about this for ten years. But I think it’s safe enough now. We have a new Caesar in Rome, and there’s more respect for law and justice in the Empire nowadays, even in outlying provinces like ours. Mind you, law and justice aren’t always the same.

      It was in our early days in Britannia. My sister Albia and I had moved here from Italia, after Pompeii…no, you don’t want to hear all that, do you? The point is that the Fates gave us the chance to be innkeepers, and we found ourselves running the Oak Tree Mansio. We took to the work like ducks to water. Albia was my housekeeper in those days, and together we were building up a good trade, and loving it. Succeeding too, because we are in an excellent position, on the main road from Eburacum to the coast.

      We had an amazing mixture of customers. Some were just changing horses or having a drink and a bite to eat, others stayed overnight. There were government officials, traders, soldiers, couriers, a sprinkling of private travellers, and a few striving so hard for anonymity they must have been spies. We made them all welcome. But until that August afternoon we’d never had a gladiator as a guest.

      I wasn’t in the bar-room when he arrived. I was in my office trying to do the accounts, which is not my favourite occupation. So I was delighted when Albia came flying in, wearing a smile as big as the Circus Maximus.

      Aurelia, guess who’s asking for a room here tonight. Ferox the Wild Man!

      You mean Ferox the gladiator? Here? Are you sure?

      Come and see for yourself. He’s in the bar-room now, large as life and twice as gorgeous. Isn’t it wonderful? One of the most famous fighters in Britannia, under our roof!

      There were a dozen or so men drinking in the bar-room, and Ferox the Wild Man stood out among them like a stallion in a field of mules. He was tall and broad, with muscles on his muscles, and a crescent shaped scar below his left eye. His golden hair was cropped short, his jaw stuck out, and his pale-blue eyes were sharp. He was a slave, like most gladiators, but he was richly dressed; he wore a tiger-skin cloak and his belt had silver studs. He wasn’t carrying his weapons of course, but he looked every inch a formidable trained killer, wild by name, wild by nature, as his supporters called him. But now and again his fearsome appearance was softened by a wonderful boyish smile which made him look about eighteen, and handsome as a young god. Albia and I and all the barmaids fell for him immediately.

      Welcome to the Oak Tree, Ferox, I said. I’m Aurelia Marcella, the innkeeper. I hope our girls are looking after you properly?

      Pleased to meet you. He gave us his dazzling smile, just for a couple of heartbeats. Yes, everything’s fine, thanks. He indicated the man sitting next to him. This is my trainer, Durus.

      Durus didn’t smile. That’s me. Hard by name, hard by nature. He was also a big man, presumably an ex-gladiator like most trainers. He was in good shape and well-dressed, but much older than his fighter, with grey hair and a world-weary look to him.

      Welcome, Durus. You’re wanting accommodation for tonight?

      We are. He took a drink, and I noticed they both held mugs of beer, which surprised me, because I’d always heard that gladiators only get water to quench their thirst. Rooms for Ferox and me and one servant, and stabling for our carriage and horses. How much?

      I told him our room charges.

      Expensive, he grumbled. But we can’t make Eburacum tonight, so we’ve no choice.

      Albia asked, Are you on your way to the games at Eburacum?

      They both nodded, and the

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