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Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 55 general entries. We are selecting 30 for display.
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 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 Davis, Lindsey
Vespasian. When the first book, "The Silver Pigs", opens Vespasian had been emperor for less than a year. Nero had been dead for just two years. Titus and Domitian were Vespasian's sons.
| Which legion did Falco and his friend Petronius serve with in Britain during Boudicca's revolt? | My First Falco Quiz
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II Augusta. The IX Hispana was defeated and annihilated by Boudicca and her Iceni near Colchester. It was a combined force of the XIV Gemina and XX Valeria Victrix legions which finally defeated Boudicca. To the embarrassment and shame of Falco and Petronius, their legion, II Augusta, was kept in its camp by its commander and not allowed to come to the other legions' assistance.
| Falco is obviously a private eye, but that's not what he calls himself. What does he call his job? | My First Falco Quiz
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A private informer. If you answered 'finder' you're thinking of Steven Saylor's "Gordianus" books. The Latin word for 'informer' is 'delator'.
| What two metals are produced in the mine where Falco works undercover in "The Silver Pigs"? | My First Falco Quiz
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lead and silver. The embezzled ingots Falco steals and buries are real ones which were found buried under a cairn. See: http://www.romans-in-britain.org.uk/raw_mining.htm
His thirtieth. If she'd known it was his birthday, Helena Justina would have bought him a tipsy cake. But she does give him a good night kiss.
Caprenius Marcellus. The warehouse actually belongs to Caprenius Marcellus, but is used for the spice importing business of his adopted son, Atius Pertinax, Helena Justina's ex-husband. Atius Pertinax leaves the contents of the warehouse to her in his will. Publius Camillus Meto, Helena Justina's uncle, is killed at the warehouse.
| As a cover in "Shadows in Bronze", Falco goes on a seaside holiday to Pompeii and nearby towns with his friend Petronius and Petronius's family. How many people are there in the party? | My First Falco Quiz
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8. Falco, his nephew Larius, Petronius, Petronius's wife Arria Silvia, their three daughters, and their neighbour Ollia, who is being trained as a nursery maid, makes eight.
Blasphemy. The people of Herculaneum still held the emperor Nero in high regard and didn't appreciate the ox being called Nero. Falco is tracking down a murderer and conspirators. At the end of "Shadows in Bronze" Anacrites and his minions are waiting to arrest Falco for embezzlement.
| In "Shadows in Bronze" what souvenir does Falco ask Helena Justina to get for his mother? | My First Falco Quiz
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A bronze bucket. The tray was a souvenir from Britain for Falco's mother in "The Silver Pigs". Petronius bought the wine for himself, and the set of spoons was Helena Justina's present to Falco.
Little Sweetheart. Ferox was the much more impressive-looking horse from Pertinax's adoptive father's villa. Nero and Spot were the names for the ox part-owned by Petronius and used for transporting his family down to the Bay of Naples and by Falco and his nephew for transporting lead piping.
| In "Venus in Copper" what did Helena Justina's father contribute towards the furnishing of Falco's new apartment?
| My Second Falco Quiz
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A reading couch. Camillus Verus contributed a reading couch, though as Falco realised, a reading couch can be used for other purposes.
The other contributions came from Falco's sisters: Junia, whose husband actually has a paying job, provided the bed; Galla provided a broken chair, which Falco tries to mend, though he knows Gallia will want it back if he does mend it; Maia provided some oil for the lamps.
A fish. It was no ordinary fish, it was a turbot: a fish bigger than an adult human being. If you caught one it was customary to present it to the emperor. Falco throws a house warming party to celebrate his new apartment and for his family and Petronius's family to eat the turbot. Romantic and social disaster looms. Helena Justina appears at the party, and realises she hasn't been invited. Then Titus turns up to sample the turbot as well.
Falco. It was an accident. Falco unknowingly added poisoned spices to Viridovix's wine. The poison had been meant for Hortensius Novus, who never got to try the poisoned spices because he had already been poisoned from another source.
| What was the parrot Falco took off Severina Zotica's hands to give to Helena Justina called? | My Second Falco Quiz
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Chloe. The parrot kept calling Cerinthus's name. Tyche was the fortune teller. Anthea was the kitchen skivvy, possibly Viridovix's girlfriend.
| In "The Iron Hand of Mars", why did Helena Justina want Falco to postpone his trip to Veii? | My Second Falco Quiz
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Because it was her birthday.. Of course, Falco didn't know it was her birthday. He had asked her when her birthday was but she didn't answer the question.
She decided to leave Rome because Falco went to Veii. She didn't turn up for the dinner with Titus.
| Which legion does Vespasian ask Falco to investigate in "The Iron Hand of Mars"? | My Second Falco Quiz
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XIV Gemina. The fort at Moguntiacum is a double one, shared by two legions, the XIV Gemina and I Adiutrix, the legion with which Camillus Justinus, one of Helena Justina's brothers is serving. Vespasian wants to know if he can trust the XIV Gemina in Moguntiacum or whether they should be sent to Britain.
The II Augusta was Falco's old legion. Because of events during the Great Rebellion in Britain, there is bad blood between the XIV Gemina and II Augusta.
The IV Macedonia, despite its name, was originally from Moguntiacum. It joined the Gallic federation Civilis tried to start.
| When Falco is mugged by soldiers outside Camillus Justinus's house, who helps him and kills one of the soldiers? | My Second Falco Quiz
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Xanthus. Up to this point Falco had been very suspicious of Xanthus, wondering whether Titus had ordered Xanthus to make sure Falco would never return to Rome.
Macrinus was the soldiers' commanding officer and was informed afterwards of the attack and the death of one of his men.
Helena Justina saw the attack from the house and raised the alarm.
In an old Roman watchtower. She lived in the forest but not in a treehouse. Although Cerialis's flagship had been given to Veleda by the tribesmen, she doesn't seem to have done anything with it, certainly not any maintenance.
He was speared.. He was speared by the representative from the Gallic ceramics industry, who realised Helveticus could incriminate him for the murder of the German ceramic industry representatives.
It was the missing legate of the XIV Gemina, Florius Gracilis, who was gored and trampled by the aurochs. Falco managed to cut the animal's throat.
Although the ship did run aground, no-one was hurt, they just got a bit wet.
| Falco arrived back in Rome from Germany at the beginning of "Poseidon's Gold" to find that one of his sisters had died while he was away. Which one? | My Second Falco Quiz
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Victorina. One of Victorina's daughters, Augustinalla, had been sent with Helena Justina to Germany for Falco to look after when Victorina had "women's trouble". It's not made any clearer than that what the problem was, but Victorina needed an operation. How or why exactly she died we are not told.
| In "Poseidon's Gold" there was some tension in Falco's first meeting with Petronius after Falco's return to Rome. Why? | My Second Falco Quiz
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Falco was a murder suspect.. Petronius was investigating the murder of the centurion Censorinus Macer, with whom Falco had had a public fight in Flora's Caupona the day before the murder.
Poseidon. Falco's late brother Festus was supposed to have been shipping a statue of Poseidon by Phidias to Cassius Carus and Ummidia Servia. As the statue never arrived, they want their money back from Falco's family.
He hanged himself.. He killed himself because he thought he had been recognised as a runaway slave, and was afraid he would be found out as a murderer.
400,000. Four hundred thousand sesterces was the minimum he needed to be enrolled in the middle classes, and so be in a position to formalise his marriage to Helena Justina. Unfortunately even with the money, Domitian turned him down as a candidate for promotion to the middle classes and so he didn't go through with the loan.
Five hundred thousand sesterces was the amount Cassius Carus and Ummidia Servia were demanding.
One million sesterces was the minimum amount needed to be eligible for election to the senate.
Water organ. The water organ was invented by Ctesibius of Alexandria and was very popular in Nero's reign. A light touch on the keys was enough to pump water into the pipes compressing the air and producing sound.
| What cover story do Falco and Helena Justina use to explain Musa's presence, in "Last Act in Palmyra"? | My Third Falco Quiz
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He is their intepreter.. In fact, Musa had been assigned by The Brother, the Chief Minister of Nabatea, to keep an eye on Falco, who The Brother suspected of being a Roman spy.
| In "Last Act in Palmyra", which play by Aristophanes is in the theatrical company's repertoire? | My Third Falco Quiz
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The Birds. We get the expression "Cloudcuckoo Land" from "The Birds". Everybody had to play a part: Helena Justina played a dabchick, and Falco played an informer.
From a scorpion sting. Fortunately Thalia, who had been looking for Falco, arrived with some mithradatium, a universal antidote.
| Although Marcus Didius Falco's play "The Spook That Spoke" has been lost, it must presumably have survived down to Elizabethan and Jacobean times. Which of Shakespeare's plays seems to have been influenced by it? | My Third Falco Quiz
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Hamlet. According to "Last Act in Palmyra", the only known performance of "The Spook That Spoke" was in the amphitheatre of the Roman garrison outside Palmyra. The performance of the play was interrupted by a duel between Falco and the murderer of Heliodorus and Ione.
A brothel. It is also known as The Bower of Venus. It was most unfortunate that as Falco and Petronius were leaving Plato's Academy after questioning the madam, they met Falco's mum in the street outside. She naturally assumed the worst.
| What is the relationship between Alexander, Nonnius Albius's doctor, and Scythax, the doctor assigned to Petronius's squad, in "Time to Depart"? | My Third Falco Quiz
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They are brothers.. At Petronius's suggestion, Alexander told Nonnius Albius he was dying so that he would agree to testify against Balbinus Pius and be able to retire as an underworld enforcer. Nonnius Albius pretended to go along with this because he wanted to take over Balbinus Pius's crime empire.
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