The Roman Mysteries
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| Roman Mysteries | |
|---|---|
 The Roman Mysteries Title Card |
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| Genre | Children's Action Adventure Period |
| Created by | Caroline Lawrence |
| Directed by | Paul Marcus |
| Starring | Francesca Isherwood Eli Machover Rebekah Brookes-Murrell Harry Stott |
| Composer(s) | Cross Wyre |
| Country of origin |  United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 10 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Jon East David Hunt Keith Littler |
| Producer(s) | David Ball Martyn Auty |
| Editor(s) | Adam Green |
| Location(s) | Malta Tunisia |
| Running time | 24 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC One |
| Original run | May 8, 2007 – present |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Roman Mysteries is a series of historical novels for children by Caroline Lawrence. The first book (The Thieves of Ostia) was published in 2001, and 17 more novels were planned, plus a number of "mini-mysteries" and companion titles. The Roman Mysteries books are historical fiction, with appearances of actual historical figures such as Pliny the Elder.
The books take place in the Ancient Roman Empire during the reign of Titus. They detail four children, Flavia, the protagonist and the daughter of a sea captain from Ostia, Nubia, a slave girl from Africa, Jonathan, a jewish boy whose family are refugees from Jerusalem, and Lupus, a mute beggar boy, who solve mysteries and have adventures in Rome, Greece, and beyond.
A television series based on the books, titled Roman Mysteries began filming in June 2006[1] and was first broadcast from 8 May 2007.[2] It stars Simon Callow as Pliny the Elder and is based on The Secrets of Vesuvius onwards, with one book per episode, excluding book 6 which will be used in the second series. The second series is due to be broadcast Spring 2008
On 22 May 2007, after just two episodes, Anne Foy announced on CBBC on BBC One that the show has been postponed due to recent events in the news and would return later in the year on CBBC on BBC One. Since "The Pirates of Pompeii" was about children being kidnapped, the postponement was most likely due to the then recent disappearance of Madeleine McCann. On 19 June the series began broadcasting again from the beginning.
Filming for the second series began on 13 August 2007. The episodes will be based on the novels "The Gladiators from Capua", "The Twelve Tasks of Flavia Gemina", "The Colossus of Rhodes", "The Fugitive from Corinth" and "The Slave-girl from Jerusalem".[1]
Contents |
[edit] Novels
- The Thieves of Ostia
- The Secrets of Vesuvius
- The Pirates of Pompeii
- The Assassins of Rome
- The Dolphins of Laurentum
- The Twelve Tasks of Flavia Gemina
- The Enemies of Jupiter
- The Gladiators from Capua
- The Colossus of Rhodes
- The Fugitive from Corinth
- The Sirens of Surrentum
- The Charioteer of Delphi
- The Slave-girl from Jerusalem
- The Beggar of Volubilis
- The Scribe from Alexandria (planned publication date June 2008)
- The Prophet from Ephesus (planned publication date October 2008)
- The Man from Pomegranate Street (planned publication date October 2009)
[edit] Characters
Flavia Gemina: Flavia is a self-proclaimed detective. She loves solving mysteries. She is naive and very strong willed. She has light brown hair, thus the name Flavia, and grey eyes.
Jonathan Ben Mordecai: Jonathan tends to look on the dark side of life and usually blames everything on himself. He has curly black hair, which is shaved many times in the books, and dark eyes. He is also Flavia's next door neighbour. He is Jewish.
Lupus: Lupus is eight years old (and nine in later novels). He lives in Ostia with Jonathan's family. He is mute because he has no tongue, but is very athletic. He seems to be an orphan, at first glance, but later discovers his mother in a temple. He is unallowed to know her. Lupus is Greek from the island of Symi. When he was 6 his father was killed by his uncle, the slave dealer Venalicius or Phillopos. Lupus is good at climbing trees and likes bats.
Nubia: Nubia is Flavia's ex-slave girl. She has the voice of an angel and a talent to play the flute. Nubia is from Africa, and most of her family was murdered, except for Taharqo, her eldest brother. She is kind hearted and very modest. Her natural talent with animals is well known as she captures a lion in the Twelve Tasks of Flavia Gemina and has a dog called Nipur.She is also afraid of fire as her little brother was burnt to death on the night she was captured but she conquers it in The Charioteer of Delphi
Aristo: Aristo is their tutor. He also helps them solve mysteries and is very handsome. He is in love with Miriam, revealed in The Dolphins of Laurentum.
Dr. Mordecai: Jonathan and Miriam's father. He is a Jewish doctor. He is from Judea, as is Jonathan.
Marcus Flavius Geminus: Marcus is Flavia's father, the sea captain. His wife Myrtilla died in child birth.
Gaius Flavius Geminus: Gaius is Marcus' twin brother. Flavia and her friends stay with him for the summer. While they do, Mount Vesuvius erupts. He later gets betrothed to Miriam in 'The Twelve Tasks of Flavia Gemina.'
Miriam: She is Jonathan's older sister. She is very beautiful. She is also a brilliant cook. She dies giving birth to twin boys in 'The Slave Girl from Jerusalem.'
Pulchra: She is a rich little girl from Surrentum. She is eldest daughter of Publius Pollux Felix. Her real name is Polla but because she is beautiful, people call her Pulchra, which means 'beautiful' in Latin. She falls for Jonathan and literally fights with Flavia.
Alma: She is the house cook and looks after Flavia when there is no one around.
Caudex: Caudex is the house door-slave and is revealed to formerly be from Britannia (Britain), and a gladiator, where he acquired the name Caudex, which means 'blockhead'.
Flaccus: Flaccus is a passenger on Marcus's ship in 'The Colossus of Rhodes' who has studied rhetoric. Flaccus has a growing fondness for Flavia and in 'The Beggar of Volubilis' he asks her to marry him.
[edit] Mini-mysteries
- The Code of Romulus (novella for World Book Day April 2007)
- Trimalchio's Feast and other mini-mysteries
- The Legionary from Londinium and other mini-mysteries (planned publication date April 2009)
[edit] Companion books
- The First Roman Mysteries Quiz Book
- The Second Roman Mysteries Quiz Book
- The Roman Mysteries Treasury (planned publication date September 2007)
- The Roman Mysteries Travel Guide (planned publication date March 2008)
[edit] Roman Mysteries Blog
The Roman Mysteries Fan Blog has been running since February 2007. This is now the official RM Fan Blog and can be viewed at www.romanmysteriesblog.blogspot.com
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Official Roman Mysteries website
- Official Roman Mysteries blog
- Roman Mysteries wiki site
- Official BBC site for the TV series
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