The Changing Economy in First-Century CE Judea
In The Deadliest Fever, the rabbi and Amram, one of the elders, discuss the background of Daniel, the security guard at the Great...
A TRIVIA TEST FOR MIRIAM BAT ISAAC FANS
It’s time now for that assessment! Answer the questions and then check your answers in my next newsletter, coming November 24th. You...
AN OVERFED GORILLA
In The Deadliest Hate, Miriam dines with her cousin Eli as they head for Caesarea on his ship: Eli was dressed as a Roman but with too...
The Rod of Asclepius
Although Greek physicians were distinctively secular, the people of Miriam’s time still regarded healing as a sacred enterprise. That is,...
Locked-Room Mysteries
A locked-room mystery is a story about the solving of a crime, usually murder, that appears impossible to have been committed. The crime...
Did Nero fiddle while Rome burned?
While Miriam investigated the desecration of the Torah mantle in The Deadliest Fever, Nero, in his desire for recognition as a musician,...
Monster: Imagined or Real?
In Greek mythology, Cerberus, the monstrous three-headed dog with a serpent for a tail, guards the gate to Hades to prevent the spirits...
Miriam’s in Trouble
In The Deadliest Lie, Miriam follows her quarry to a sleazy saloon squatting on the corner of an alley and listens from behind the...
Creating a Traffic Jam with a Falx
A falx (Latin) is a hand-held knife. Like a sickle but smaller, it has a curved blade with a sharp inner edge. A charioteer, standing...