THEMES AND TOPICS in Roman Mysteries 13 - 16

Book 13: The Slave-girl from Jerusalem (theme: death & birth) Jonathan's book
Roman topics: childbirth, funerals, wills, Roman law courts, gestures of a rhetor
Historical backstory: destruction of Jerusalem and siege of Masada
Sources: Josephus, Quintilian, Cicero, Juvenal, Seneca, Roman legal documents
Greek myths: Jason and the Argonauts by Apollonius of Rhodes
featured food: pea and leek soup, mastic chewing resin, sage tea, chestnut flour
key artefacts and objects: birthing chair, funeral pyre, bier, tombs, seal-box for wills

Book 14: The Beggar of Volubilis (theme: piety) Flavia's book
Roman topics: Roman theatre, Cleopatra's descendants, sightings of Nero
Historical sites: Sabratha, Tripolis, Volubilis, Ghadames
Sources: Strabo, Pliny the Elder, Plutarch
Greek myths: Diana and Actaeon
featured food: millet porridge, roast locusts, lizard meat, camel-milk pancakes, senna tea, cola nuts
key artefacts and objects: bow, arrows, quiver, betrothal ring, bath-set, Nero's emerald, lens

Book 15: The Scribes from Alexandria (theme: going home) Nubia's book
Roman topics: Roman Egypt especially Alexandria, eunuchs, the Great Library, the Nile
Historical sites: Canopus, Alexandria, Giza, Edfu, Aswan, Nubia
Sources: Strabo, Martial, Juvenal
Egyptian myths and legends, including story of Isis, Osiris and Seth
featured food: sun-bread, bean porridge, palm wine, onions, leaf-cups, dom-fruit
key artefacts and objects: hieroglyphs, graffiti, riddles, codes, treasure map

Book 16: The Prophet from Ephesus (theme: redemption) Jonathan's book
Roman topics: early church in Asia Minor
Historical sites: Halicarnassus, Ephesus, Hierapolis, Laodicea, Pergamum, Heracleia
Historical characters: St John the Evangelist, Tychichus
Sources: Strabo, the New Testament
Greek myths: Pluto and Persephone, Endymion and Selene
featured food: grapes from the vine, cucumber, sour cherry juice, sheep entrail kebabs, pomegranates
key artefacts and objects: dolls, travel baskets, reed flute, lyre, carpets, looms

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