Flavia Gemina Posted June 17, 2007 Report Share Posted June 17, 2007 Thanks for the alert! Suetonius appears as an 11-year-old in my eleventh book, The Sirens of Surrentum, which takes place in the Villa of Pollius Felix in the summer of 80 AD! I had lots of fun with that... Vale. Flavia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Dalby Posted June 17, 2007 Report Share Posted June 17, 2007 Thanks for the alert! Suetonius appears as an 11-year-old in my eleventh book, The Sirens of Surrentum, which takes place in the Villa of Pollius Felix in the summer of 80 AD! I had lots of fun with that... Vale. Flavia Hadn't seen that one. I like the title, Flavia! I'll look out for it. Always wondered what he was like at 11 years old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flavia Gemina Posted June 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2007 'Is it called mithridatium?' asked Tranquillus, coming over to her. 'Yes!' Flavia looked up at him in surprise. 'How did you know?' 'Mithridates was a king who lived in fear of being poisoned, so he developed lots of antidotes and remedies, including a universal antidote which protects against any poison. Is the recipe there?' Tranquillus leaned over her shoulder. Flavia nodded. 'Pound two walnuts,' she read, 'two dried figs and twenty leaves of rue in a mortarium. Add a pinch of salt. Anyone who takes this on an empty stomach will be immune to poison for the whole day. Do you think it really works?' 'No,' said Pulchra with a sigh. 'When mater was first ill pater called in all the physicians in Campania. Some of them prescribed universal antidotes like that one, but nothing helped. The elixir Jonathan's father sent was the best. But even that one only worked for a while. We don't want a universal antidote. We need a specific antidote.' 'And for that,' said Tranquillus, 'we need an expert on poisons.' 'Philodemus knows about poisons,' said Jonathan. 'He showed me half a dozen different poisonous plants on the way back from the hunt yesterday.' Flavia's eyes grew wide. 'Do you think he's the culprit?' Jonathan shrugged. 'I was thinking of a real expert on poisons,' said Tranquillus. 'Someone like Locusta.' 'Who's Locusta?' they asked. 'Only the most famous poisoner in the world,' said Tranquillus. 'They say three Emperors died because of her skills. She was one of Nero's most valuable assassins.' 'And how do you know about her?' asked Flavia suspiciously. 'Nero is one of my hobbies,' said Tranquillus. 'I want to be a biographer when I'm older.' Jonathan stared at him. 'You want to be a biographer?' Tranquillus nodded. 'I've already written one book. It's not exactly a biography, though; more like a collection of Greek swear words.' Jonathan raised his eyebrows. 'That I'd like to see.' [from The Sirens of Surrentum p 84ff] Flavia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Dalby Posted June 17, 2007 Report Share Posted June 17, 2007 So he'd already written the swear-words book at the age of eleven, had he? I'm not in the least surprised! Quite typical! Yes, really very convincing, Flavia ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flavia Gemina Posted June 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2007 Why not? Pliny the Younger began a Greek tragedy at the age of 14! I have ordered the audiobook of Suetonius to download onto my iPod. Should provide hours of fun and lots of ideas... Flavia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pertinax Posted June 18, 2007 Report Share Posted June 18, 2007 FG do you name your poisons? I should I invest and find out myself? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nephele Posted June 18, 2007 Report Share Posted June 18, 2007 FG do you name your poisons? I should I invest and find out myself? There's an entire section in The Sirens of Surrentum where FG lists ten poisonous plants, their descriptions, uses, poisonous parts, symptoms caused, and antidote. It's cooool. (And, I wish I'd had Locusta as a teacher when I was a little kid. She's FUN! Heheh.) -- Nephele Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pertinax Posted June 18, 2007 Report Share Posted June 18, 2007 FG do you name your poisons? I should I invest and find out myself? There's an entire section in The Sirens of Surrentum where FG lists ten poisonous plants, their descriptions, uses, poisonous parts, symptoms caused, and antidote. It's cooool. (And, I wish I'd had Locusta as a teacher when I was a little kid. She's FUN! Heheh.) -- Nephele Ha Ha ! Yes but she came to a bad end did she not? How did Galba finish her off after her Neronian immunity lapsed-a witty Emperor would have offered her some "bad" figs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flavia Gemina Posted June 18, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2007 When the young sleuths arrive in Baiae to interview Locusta, they discover it is her daughter; not the famous Locusta, who was bumped off by Galba, as you say. Don't worry. I have done my research! Flavia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pertinax Posted June 19, 2007 Report Share Posted June 19, 2007 When the young sleuths arrive in Baiae to interview Locusta, they discover it is her daughter; not the famous Locusta, who was bumped off by Galba, as you say. Don't worry. I have done my research! Flavia I didn't doubt it! I was looking for your books today in Luguvallum , but the frontier town bookshop didn't have any in stock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flavia Gemina Posted June 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2007 Salve, Pertinax! That's why they invented amazon.co.uk! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaius Paulinus Maximus Posted June 20, 2007 Report Share Posted June 20, 2007 When the young sleuths arrive in Baiae to interview Locusta, they discover it is her daughter; not the famous Locusta, who was bumped off by Galba, as you say. Don't worry. I have done my research! Flavia I didn't doubt it! I was looking for your books today in Luguvallum , but the frontier town bookshop didn't have any in stock Waterstones usually have the whole series in stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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