Adam Palmer - The Boudicca Parchments

They looked around and saw some dolls, and some lego — which didn’t really interest them. But the one thing that caught there eye was a skateboard. The only trouble was, they didn’t have space in the small room to use it.

“Okay I’ll leave you alone now.”

The three men left the room and the girls heard the sound of the door being locked. When they realized they were alone, the girls started to cry and hug each other. But only for a minute. Then one of them said: “I don’t believe that man.”

“But he promised,” said the other. “And he’s orthodox. It’s a sin to lie.”

“Yes but it’s also a sin to kidnap people,” said the other. “And if he did one sin then he might do another.”

“So what are we going to do?”

“We need to escape.”

“But how?”

“There’s a window up there. That’s why they put that board there.”

The other one peered up to it, squinting to see it.

“But it’s got nails or screws or something. Otherwise it would fall.”

“Okay, we’ll have to find some way of tricking them… listen.”

“What?”

“They’re going.”

“But he said there’s always be one of them staying.”

“I know, but listen… to of them are leaving. That means there’s only one. That means it will be easier to escape.”

“But how are we going to escape?”

“I’ve got an idea. I’ll whisper it in your ear.”

Ten minutes later they were calling out to the one who stayed. When he opened the door, they saw that it was one of the nasty ones. But that didn’t matter. In fact, in some ways that made it better.

“We’re hungry!”

“Yes, you said you’d give us food!”

He looked embarrassed and confused, like he didn’t think it would actually happen,

“What… what would you like?”

“Chips!” said one.

“With tomato ketchup!” said the other.

He smiled with relief.

“Well I think I can manage that. We’re got oven chips. Would you like some mini schnitzels with that? I can heat them in the microwave.”

They looked at each other and smiled.

“Okay,” they said.

He didn’t know why they were smiling so much as he left and locked the door behind him. It was only food after all. But the happier they were, the less troublesome they would be. One less problem to worry about.

Dubois shifted uncomfortably as both Daniel stared at him, waiting for his answer to Daniel’s last question.

“There were always rumours circulating at the time. Don’t forget, this was the time of Nero, one of ancient Rome’s most paranoid of rulers.”

Daniel smiled at this.

“I thought they were all paranoid.”

“Actually no. Caligula and Nero were. Later, Domition was. But not all of them. They had probably had cause to be. If anything, some of them were too trusting… like Claudius.”

“But who started the fire?”

Dubois gave this some thought before taking up Daniel’s challenge.

“According to Tacitus, some of the locals blamed Nero himself for the Great Fire of Rome in 64 AD. However, Tacitus himself claimed that Nero was in Antium at the time of the fire. Suetonius and Cassius Dio blamed Nero. But their accounts were written later and were clearly second hand. There were probably contemporaneous accounts by other historians, but none have survived, except a vague passing reference by Pliny the Elder to trees being burnt.”

“So all this took about him burning the city to get inspiration for a poem or song was just a rumour that spread among the hoi polloi.”

“One of several actually Daniel. The only thing we can say is that he took advantage of the fact that the area had been cleared of buildings to build the Domus Aurea, his huge prestige project.”

“It sounds like an early conspiracy theory,” said Daniel.

“In many ways that’s exactly what it was. We still don’t know what the cause of the fire was. It may have been arson or it may have been purely natural causes. In fact, fires were not that uncommon in Rome. There were several more after that. It’s just that there were rumours at the time. It’s become part of folklore that Nero started it to inspire himself for a great musical or poetic composition. But even that theory is matched by a counter-theory to the effect that his poetic effort was an exhortation to those who were fighting the fire to succeed in their endeavours.”

Daniel remembered something else.

“But wasn’t there also some story that Nero himself blamed the early Christians?”

“More than a story. He had Christians arrested and tortured and when they gave in to the torture and confessed, their coerced statements were used as a pretext to arrest others. However, the modern view is that the fire was probably accidental.”

“But now this document would seem to contradict that.”

“If it’s true.”

Daniel was surprised by this response from Dubois.

“You think it’s a forgery? ”

“Oh no, I’m sure the document is authentic. But that doesn’t rule out the possibility that it contains a propaganda element. Taking credit for an accident that has befallen ones enemies is as old as human conflict itself.”

They noticed that Ted had been silent for a while. Daniel looked at him and saw the almost catatonic look on the Cambridge professor’s face.

“What is it?”

“I’ve been thinking about those words on the map. She shall be aroused.”

“What about them?”

“Well first of all, although there was an arrow pointing to Rome, I assumed that the words referred either to Boudicca or to her daughter… referring to whatever she did in Rome. But from the lack of a neuter pronoun and the use of she, in this context, to refer to Rome. I’m wondering if that too was a reference to Rome.”

“You mean it was saying that Rome shall be aroused.”

“No Daniel, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying that aroused is only one way of translating the word. It could also be rendered as… ignited .”

Daniel latched on to this.

“And the map was found in England. So, the implication would be that they intended to start a fire or fires in Rome!”

Dubois pursed his lips and then nodded approvingly.

“You have a point there. Shall we continue?”

Daniel scrolled up and started to transliterate again.

Ted resumed this transcription and hesitant translation.

“ ‘After the fire… there was much… anger towards… those who… kept faith with the one true God… and we were… hunted and killed… where they found us.’ Next bit please Daniel.”

Daniel transliterated the next sentence. Ted translated.

“ ‘And Simon… begged or urged or beseeched me to come with him to his homeland and I did obey.’ ”

At this point, Ted looked at Daniel expectantly.

“What’s next?”

Daniel looked blank.

“That’s it.”

“What do you mean?”

“That’s where the manuscript ends.”

“But why? I mean why not continue after that?”

“Well whatever continuation there was,” said Daniel, “presumably took place in Judea. I mean we know that if this is the Simon Bar Giora, he fought against the Romans in Judea between 66 and 70.”

“Yes, but if she went with him, then why did she leave this manuscript here?”

“There could be any number of reasons,” said Dubois. “It they were planning to escape from Rome, then they would have been mindful of being captured and they would not have wanted to be caught in possession of such an incriminating manuscript. Also, it is possible that some of their faction decided to stay behind and they left the manuscript with them to continue recording their activities.”