''The Code of Romulus'' is a children's novella by

Caroline Lawrence Caroline Lawrence (born 1954) is an English American children's author, best known for '' The Roman Mysteries'', a series of historical novels following four child detectives in Ancient Rome. The series has won numerous awards and has been publ ...

, published in 2007 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of

World Book Day World Book Day, also known as World Book and Copyright Day or International Day of the Book, is an annual event organized by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) to promote reading, publishing, and copyright ...

. It is a re-publication of the short story ''Bread and Circuses'' that appeared in the anthology ''The Mammoth Book of Roman Whodunits'' published in 2003. The story takes place in Ostia in November 79 AD, between the events of the fifth and sixth books ('' The Dolphins of Laurentum'' and '' The Twelve Tasks of Flavia Gemina''.)

Plot summary

The story begins with

Flavia Gemina Flavia (Latin for "blonde") may refer to: Places * Flavia Caesariensis, a 4th-century Roman province in the Diocese of the Britains * Flaviac, a commune in southern France People * Flavia (gens), the Roman clan and imperial dynasty * Flavia (name) ...

, the protagonist of the book, arguing with her tutor,

Aristo Aristo (from ) may refer to: People Given name * Aristo of Ceos (3rd century BC), Peripatetic philosopher * Aristo of Chios (3rd century BC), Stoic philosopher and colleague of Zeno of Citium * Aristo of Alexandria (1st century BC), Peripatet ...

. Flavia insists that she is a detective, though Aristo doubts there is such a word. Aristo says that if Flavia can solve the mystery of who has been stealing rolls from Pistor the Baker, then they will not do maths for a month, just read stories. However, if Flavia fails, she can never mention the word "detective" again. Flavia and her friends realise that the theft must be an inside job, and decide to find out more about the baker's household. They make friends with the baker's younger son, Porcius, who shows them around the bakery and introduces them to his family and the slaves who work there. He also shows them his "Circus Minimus", where he races mice.

Nubia Nubia (, Nobiin language, Nobiin: , ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the confluence of the Blue Nile, Blue and White Nile, White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), and the Cataracts of the Nile, first cataract ...

is especially interested in the donkeys who turn the

millstone Millstones or mill stones are stones used in gristmills, used for triturating, crushing or, more specifically, grinding wheat or other grains. They are sometimes referred to as grindstones or grinding stones. Millstones come in pairs: a s ...

. The next day they split up to follow the different suspects.

Lupus Lupus, formally called systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in many parts of the body. Symptoms vary among people and may be mild to severe. Common ...

follows Porcius and his brother to school, Nubia follows his sister to the temple, and Jonathan follows the slave Teneme to the granary, while Flavia talks to the slave Tertius, the bakery accountant. He shows her the magic square puzzle, the

Sator square The Sator Square (or Rotas-Sator Square or Templar Magic Square) is a two-dimensional acrostic class of word square containing a five-word Latin palindrome. The earliest squares were found at Roman-era sites, all in ROTAS-form (where the top l ...

, which eventually leads her to the solution of the mystery. Flavia and Nubia attend a secret pre-dawn gathering of Christians and unmask the well-meaning thief, but promise not to tell on condition the stealing stops.

Allusions to other works

Aristo is shocked to hear that Flavia has been reading

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

's ''

Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' (, , ) is a Latin Narrative poetry, narrative poem from 8 Common Era, CE by the Ancient Rome, Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''Masterpiece, magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the world from its Cre ...

'', which is full of "unsuitable" stories, but he admits it is a masterpiece and agrees to read them excerpts. Flavia later secretly consults the scroll to understand Tertius's reference to Erysichthon. Jonathan refers to the Tanak, particularly the

Psalms The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of B ...

which he appears to know by heart. He also begins to teach Flavia the

Pater Noster The Lord's Prayer, also known by its incipit Our Father (, ), is a central Christian prayer attributed to Jesus. It contains petitions to God focused on God’s holiness, will, and kingdom, as well as human needs, with variations across manusc ...

External links

Books for Keeps: World Book Day 2007
2007 British novels The Roman Mysteries 2007 children's books Children's novellas Orion Books books 79 Ostia (ancient city) Children's books set in ancient Rome Children's books set in antiquity Works set in the 1st century {{2000s-child-hist-novel-stub