In The Deadliest Hate, Miriam must sail to Caesarea to track an alchemical manuscript. She sails on the Orion, owned and operated by her distant cousin, Eli. It’s clear at their first onboard dinner that she finds him repulsive: Eli brandished his fluted goblet, threw back a swallow of pomegranate wine, licked his upper lip, and cleared his throat as if bringing an audience to attention. “Good wine,” he boasted before spraying me with a sour belch. I let a sip flower in my t

This famous bronze statue of a she-wolf is now in the Capitoline Museums in Rome. Scholars disagree, however, on the date of the statue. Some believe the statue of the she-wolf originated in the early years of the Roman Republic; others attribute it to medieval times. The suckling twins were added during the 16th century. According to the Roman myth, Romulus killed Remus during a bitter dispute over which hill to build their new city upon. Romulus preferred the Palatine Hil

This wind rose diagram, derived from Aristotle’s Meteorologica, maps the directions and characteristics of 12 prevailing winds to explain global weather patterns, seasonal temperatures, and other physical phenomena. Written around 340 B.C.E., his treatise is the oldest comprehensive exposition on the atmospheric, meteorological, and earth sciences. Moreover, it established the foundation for Western meteorology, astronomy, and alchemy for nearly two millennia. In fact, the A

Miriam and Phoebe do not spend time inside brothels, but they might stand outside them to catch the gossip or spy for a client. In “The Brother,” a story in The Deadliest Deceptions, Miriam is trying to locate one of Bion’s employees who may have stolen a valuable manuscript from his boss’s bibliopōleion. “How much could that scroll be worth today?” Miriam asked Bion. His voice dropped to a whisper. “About 2000 drachmas, enough to buy the grandest house.” A fishy r

In “Deadly Confrontation” Miriam goes to a tenement on the edge of the Bruchium quarter to interview a person of interest in the murder of Katerina, a recent arrival from Rome who’d established a perfumery: The tang of stale urine, fresh scats, and putrefying garbage alerted my nose that we were nearing the dingy fringe of the Bruchium quarter. Seeing a woman nursing her baby on the stoop of a mudbrick tenement, I signaled my bearers to stop so I could ask for directions. Sh

Who wouldn’t prefer to board a ship named for the goddess of safety and deliverance, especially when sea travel was so risky? Certainly, Achilles did, the retired gladiator who’d killed his old buddy in “The Dagger,” one of the nine stories in The Deadliest Deceptions. Ships traveling in most southerly directions; such as from Italy or Greece to Africa, Asia Minor, or Syria; could count on a quick and easy “downhill” voyage of 10 days to 3 weeks, but they would pay the price

Listen to the story of a retired gladiator on the run: I entered The Lizard’s Tail, a dive most likely named for the mean-faced reptile that struck my bare ankle with its spiny-spiked tail. The darkness had only begun to press on the windowpanes, so it wasn’t yet busy. Still the voices were boisterous, and the talk was virile. The row of wall-mounted oil lamps threw my shadows past shelves crammed with amphorae, crockery, and glassware and into the tang of boiled cabbage and

The cells below the sand-covered floor of the Colosseum, are part of a two-level underground network. There the tunnels, chambers, and cages house the wild beasts, slaves, gladiators, and the prisoners awaiting execution. This backstage area featured 60 to 88 elevators and 36 trap doors, allowing for the dramatic appearances of gladiators, prisoners, and animals on the arena floor. The area was dark, hot, and noisy, filled with the smell of waste and the cries of the terrifie

Foreshadowing is a technique authors use to suggest what might occur later in the narrative without revealing the exact outcome or timing. It creates anticipation, engages readers, and makes plot twists feel both surprising and inevitable. By planting these hints, authors ensure that later events feel earned and cohesive rather than random so as to enhance the story’s emotional impact. There are several kinds of foreshadows in my story “The Drink.” A reference to the blare o

The term “tinkers” is an archaic term for those who mended pots and pans or sharpened household utensils. They could be found in Upstate New York as late as the 1950s. While modern-day tinkers (often associated with Irish Travelers) are a distinct cultural group, those who performed the same function also existed in ancient Rome. In The Deadliest Lie, Miriam refers to the tinkers as one of the many tradesmen in the agora, the central market, a place that always energized her