The Toga Detective III

1. The Toga Detective III It’s a family business… The Interactive Game Begin 

2. Hades • You arrive in a dark, featureless place, a denarius in your hand. Hades himself comes to greet you. • “Sorry, but somewhere along the way, you managed to get yourself killed. I’m feeling pretty nice today, so before you pay your coin to get across the River Styx, I’ll let you have a choice. You can go back to the beginning of this whole crazy business, or you can come along with me to the underworld. What do you want to do?” • Go back to the beginning Go with Hades 

3. Salve! • It’s been years since your last case involving Silius and Messalina, which was in AD 47. You’ve been able to afford to live because the money Claudius gave you was substantial! You probably don’t have to ever do another case if you budget wisely. • For the past few years, you’ve been working on your family life and keeping the romance alive with your wife, who you met after the Claudius case. You’ve been married for years and now, in AD 57, she’s given birth to a child! • Name him! 

4. Naming • You’re excited to choose a name for him. Your wife Lucretia has already chosen a praenomen(a first name), Tiberius. You love that name and the Emperor that goes with it! • Now it’s time for you to choose a cognomen (a last name). You want to break away from the normal naming system by not passing down your cognomen, and you have a few to choose from. Which do you choose? • AhalaBalbus BibulusBlaesusBrutus • BuccoCaesarCapitoCatoCelerCelsus • FlavusHabitusLepidus NasicaNero • PulcherSalinatorScaevaVerresTurdus

5. Ahala • Cruel! You’ve given your son a name that means ‘armpit’. So now he is Tiberius Lucretius Ahala. • Continue 

6. Balbus • Mean! You’ve given your son a name that means ‘stutterer’. If he does stutter when he’s older it might just save you, but little Balbus will catch on and hate you for it. Well done. Your son is now called Tiberius Lucretius Balbus. • Continue 

7. Bibulus • You horrible man, Vespillo! You’ve given your son a name that means ‘drunkard’. Now he’s destined to live up to that with the depression his name will cause him. Your son is now called Tiberius Lucretius Bibulus. • Continue 

8. Blaesus • Cruel! You’ve given your son a terrible name, with a variety of terrible meanings: ‘someone who mispronounces words, slurs his speech, stammers or lisps’. If he does any of those things you will be in deep cacas. Your son is now called Tiberius Lucretius Blaesus. And please tell me you know how to pronounce it or you will be the Blaesus. • Continue 

9. Brutus • Hmm… an interesting choice. Sadly, Brutus was one of the conspirators that killed Julius Caesar, and Rome’s still pretty urined off about that. As soon as you announce your son’s name of Tiberius Lucretius Brutus to the world, some angry pro-Julius Caesar people storm your house and kill you, your wife and your son, thinking you are the reincarnation of the conspirators. • Continue 

10. Bucco • Good going, Quintus! You’ve given your son a name that means ‘fool’ or ‘dolt’. He’s going to hate you forever when he finds out what it means. Your son is now Tiberius Lucretius Bucco. • Continue 

11. Caesar • Thought you were clever naming him after Julius Caesar, did you? Well the Imperial family took it the wrong way and since you’re now under the Emperor Nero, also called Caesar, you are sentenced to death by choking on your baby’s excrement. What a way to go. • Continue 

12. Capito • Nice one. You’ve given your son a name that means ‘big-headed’. Your son is now Tiberius Lucretius Capito. • Continue 

13. Cato • Although this means ‘shrewd’ or ‘prudent’, which is a better meaning than the other choices, you’ve named your son after a particularly famous Roman figure Cato the Elder (or Cato the Censor). He was a conservative and he did not want Rome to be Hellenized (he was pretty opposed to it), and seeing as your wife is Greek, she’s not pleased. She stones you to death and renames your son Mortus. Tiberius Lucretius Mortus. • Continue 

14. Celer • This is a good choice of name! It means ‘quick’, so hopefully he’ll be quick when he’s older. Your son is now Tiberius Lucretius Celer. • Continue 

15. Celsus • This name means ‘tall’, and your son is certainly tall! Even though he’s a baby, you can tell that he’ll be probably six feet or bigger when he’s a teenager. His name fits him well! So your son is now Tiberius Lucretius Celsus. • Continue 

16. Flavus • Flavus means ‘blonde-haired’, and your son does indeed have a few wisps of blonde hair on his little head. The name fits him well. Your son is now Tiberius Lucretius Flavus. • Continue 

17. Habitus • This name means ‘in good physical condition’. You swear you can see a six-pack forming as you give him the name. Your son is now Tiberius Lucretius Habitus. • Continue 

18. Lepidus • This is a good choice, meaning ‘charming’ or ‘amusing’. Let’s hope he grows up to be that way! Your son is now Tiberius Lucretius Lepidus. • Continue 

19. Nasica • Congratulations! You’ve given your son a name that means ‘big nose’. • “You’re the big-nose!” Lucretia snaps, giving you a mean right hook. Your jaw snaps to the side and as you turn to counterattack, she jabs viciously and breaks your big nose. Blood and snot dribble down your face and your nose is at an awfully crooked angle. You’ll have to live with that crooked nose for the rest of your life sadly. • Your son is now Tiberius Lucretius Nasica. • Continue 

20. Nero • You think it would be the ultimate in reverence to name your son after the recently crowned Emperor, Nero. In a few years this backfires, because Rome burns in a massive fire in AD 64 and Nero does nothing about it. Your son is killed by rioters and they besiege your villa, thinking your son is the real Emperor, as you told them he was called Nero. Eventually you run out of food and have to eat Lucretia. Slowly you have to consume your own body and once you get to your organs, you die of… well, eating your own organs. • Continue 

21. Pulcher • Good choice! This name means ‘good-looking’ or ‘beautiful’ and with your handsomeness, your son is bound to be hot. You look at him and see he’s already forming those piercing eyes, chiselled jawbone and winning smile. (And that signature Roman nose.) He’s going to be better-looking than Adonis and the heartthrob of all the girls. Your son is now Tiberius Lucretius Pulcher. • Continue 

22. Salinator • A strange choice… this means ‘salt-harvester’. What was your reason for choosing this name? Your son is now Tiberius Lucretius Salinator. • Continue 

23. Scaeva • This name means ‘left-handed’. Let’s hope that he is left-handed when he’s older, otherwise he and you will have a lot of explaining to do. • Continue 

24. Verres • Mean man! This name means ‘pig’. When he’s older your son is going to kill you! • And he does. When he’s fifteen he has had enough name-related bullying and decides to get revenge by killing you and changing his name to Aquilinus, a name he’s always liked. • Continue 

25. Turdus • What sick stuff is going through your mind, Vespillo? You want to name your son after excrement? • Worry not, because Turdus actually means ‘thrush’. Thankfully the Latin word for poo has nothing to do with turd, so your Romans friends won’t understand your low barbarian humour. • Your son is now Tiberius Lucretius Turdus. • Continue 

26. Building • Your son grows up happily with his new name, and he helps you solve cases from time to time. When he’s ten, he tells you that he wants to be a detective when he grows up, so you tell him that he’ll get the ‘Vespillo Family Detective Agency’ when you die. For now you can just work on cases together. • Three years later, word gets out that Emperor Vespasian is starting to build a grand amphitheatre, bigger than any the Empire has ever seen. Tiberius is ecstatic, because you invite him to come to Rome and see the building in progress. • Getting into your personal cart, you begin to drive to Rome. You and Tiberius wonder how the amphitheatre will look when it’s finished. • To Rome 

27. Scaffolding and death • When you arrive, the sheer numbers of people shock you. Thousands have decided to come and see the soon-to-be-amphitheatre, and you realise that the inns will be full if they don’t get to one in time. Tiberius is set on climbing the scaffolding and seeing the building close up, but you’re anxious to let him. What do you do? • Let him climb Take him with you to an inn 

28. The death part • You think that the inns can wait. You’re on good terms with the Imperial family anyway, so maybe they can let you stay in the Palace for your trip. • Sadly, many people have had the same idea as Tiberius and are crowding the scaffolding. Soldiers try in vain to get them off, but the wooden beams break and hundreds of people go tumbling down and hit the floor. Thankfully, Tiberius is not one of them, but in your haste to save him, you are crushed by a fat child. • Continue 

29. Staying the night • You drag your pesky thirteen-year-old away from the scaffolding and carry him upside down to an inn. His tunic slips, showing his private parts, but the embarrassment serves as a punishment for Tiberius being so immature. • When you reach the inn, you secure the last available room. It’s getting late, so you tuck Tiberius in and say goodnight. You, however, are sixty years old, and fit as a fiddle, so you creep downstairs and cavort with the young people all night. Wine flows profusely from your cup into your mouth. You recall all the drinking-related scrapes you’ve had in the past and realise that you might just enjoy your wine a little too much. To put it mildly. • It’s getting towards dawn now. What should you do? • Carry on partying Get a couple of hours of sleep 

30. Party time • You can survive on little to no sleep, so you’ll be OK. You drink some more wine and dance with a few women. One of them looks like Helena, and you get a twinge of heartache. If Claudius hadn’t killed her, you might have proposed to her. You were in love! But you were in love with Messalina more… • Suddenly, a rabid old man comes up to you and stares at you with his one red eye. • “Detective, there is something you must know…” • He is probably drunk. You turn to leave. • “Wait!” he grunts. • Do you… • See what he has to say Ignore him and carry on partying 

31. More party time • The man tries to follow you, but a quick brandish of your knife sorts him out. You carry on having fun and drinking, but there’s a dark shadow in your mind cast by that old man. How did he know you were a detective? What was it he wanted you to know? You try to forget about it, and when people start to disperse, you follow them and join Tiberius in some blissful sleep. • Goodnight 

32. Old man • You sit him down at a table and ask him what he wanted to say. • “You support the Emperor, don’t you? Well don’t let it get too far, for he preys on people like you. He will rise and avenge! Avenge! He has been disturbed and he will not let that rest! Beware, Vespillo, and your son too. Four men will die today, and unless you stop the Flavian, more will follow! Heed my words! Heed them! Heed them or die!” • He collapses with the exertion of speaking. • What in Hades?!

33. Deciphering • You try to go over what the man said. The Flavian… that must be the amphitheatre, for that is what it’s called. But he will rise an avenge? The Flavian will rise and avenge, or something else? He said he will rise and avenge ‘those who support its building’, so whoever’s rising and avenging must dislike the building of the amphitheatre. But who? Or what? • Even in the midst of his confusing outburst, he mentioned that four more men will die today. Even if he didn’t mean it, you’re a detective and it’s your moral duty to stop these murders taking place. What you are still worried about is the fact that more men will die if the Flavian continues to be built. What on earth can you do to stop that? More importantly, what are you going to do now? • Stop the murders  • Ignore his ravings, they probably mean nothing. I’m going to catch some sleep 

34. Dawn • You wake up slowly, rubbing your eyes. Sun streams through the inn’s windows and despite its beauty, you feel terrible. Your head is pounding, your mouth is dry and your eyes are stinging. You find a cup of questionably fresh water and splash it in your face, getting rid of no hangover symptoms whatsoever. But you have to get on with the day, so you wake Tiberius and get yourselves ready. • “What are we going to do today?” Tiberius asks. You reply… • “We’re going to explore the city.” • “We’re going to look at the amphitheatre.” • “We’re going to the baths for a scrape and a nice chat.”

35. Exploring Rome • You’ve been here loads of times, so the streets are very familiar to you. Tiberius looks around, fascinated, and asks many questions. On the way, you meet a few interesting people and stop to enjoy the sun. Suddenly a muscular man rushes down the street, barges past you and runs off down an alley. • “Oi!” Tiberius yells. “Watch it!” You’re surprised how feisty your placid little boy is. • In front of you is a massive street, virtually empty. It’s the street the man came from. Tiberius sees a glassmaker’s shop and is itching to go in, but you’re set on following that unusually muscled man. • Go down the street Pursue the man 

36. The Glassmakers’ Street • You walk down the street with Tiberius. The man was probably a messenger or slave, which explained why he was so muscular. All that running or labour would make you really strong. • You scream in pain as you step on a bloody knife. The blood is fairly fresh and it stains your sandal. Tiberius picks it up carefully and his eyes glint with glee. • “There must be a mystery! Someone’s been murdered! We have to take this for evidence.” He tucks it in his belt and carefully drapes folds of his tunic to hide it. • You say that for now the mystery can wait. You should go and do something else. • Go to the baths Go to the amphitheatre 

37. Pursuit • Throwing Tiberius onto your shoulders, you chase after the man. He’s in your sights for a while, but he suddenly turns a corner and disappears. You take the same turn, but he’s gone. You put Tiberius on the ground and notice he’s got a knife in his hand. You’re appalled and ask where he got it from. • “I found it, and there’s fresh blood on the blade, so it means someone’s recently been murdered. We must investigate!” • You laugh, but assure him there hasn’t been a murder. Tiberius tucks the knife secretly away in his belt and asks what you’re going to do next. • To the amphitheatre To the baths 

38. The baths • You arrive at the baths and deposit your clothes in the changing-room. Tiberius is a little embarrassed to be naked, but he doesn’t say anything. In the exercise area, you play with wooden swords and get a bit sweaty. Slaves come and put some olive oil on you, which has ash and lavender in it. Then it’s scrape time! They get their strigils and scrape the oil off you, making you squeaky clean. • You take him to the cold plunge pool and jump in. The freezing cold water is invigorating, but Tiberius emits a scream as high as a girl’s and gets out immediately. When you get to the warm pool, you slide into the water and relax. There are a few groups of people and a few intriguing conversations going on. Who do you talk to? • The old menThe athletesThe philosophers • The rowdy teenagersThe poets and playwrights

39. Old men • They are lounging in the water and gossiping. You wade over to them, but Tiberius hangs back. You greet the old men, who mutter a general salutation in incomprehensible tones, then forget you’re there. • “Tell me again how they found Gemellus?” one asked. • “Beheaded on the sands! Messy. Next to him was a couple of young men and a poor guy with his neck broken.” • “When was this?” • “This morning, just after dawn! People have some weird theories about who killed them…” • Talk to more people 

40. Who to talk to? • Who are you going to talk to? • The old menThe athletesThe philosophers • The rowdy teenagersThe poets and playwrights • No one, I’m going to the amphitheatre  • No one, I’m going to explore Rome 

41. Athletes • You ask them what they’re talking about. • “Did you hear those noises last night?” a handsome man asks you. “I was woken up at the crack of dawn by some terrible wailing. It sounded like someone was being killed!” • Another one interrupts. “Didn’t you hear that screaming? Worse than the wailing, I say! That was the sound of someone being killed!” • A blonde man flicks his hair out of his eyes and speaks. “I heard all that, but there was a scratching sound, like fingernails down some stone. Sent chills down my spine…” • Talk to more people 

42. Philosophers • “Why do you think someone would be so opposed to the building of the Flavian anyway?” one of the philosophers says to himself. • “It’s probably because they believe our Empire is corrupt and any material progression is only for the worst… A terrible philosophy in my opinion. The amphitheatre is only a forwarding of the greatness of Rome.” • “It could be because of their anger towards someone or something deeply involved with the building. A desire for vengeance, perhaps?” • A smiling man butts in. “Or as the superstitious people say, that ancient king doesn’t want anyone disturbing his tomb!” All the philosophers laugh. • Talk to more people 

43. Rowdy teenagers • When you go over to them, the teenagers spit at you and insult you. You move closer to sort them out, but one of them expertly directs a stream of their urine into your face. Spluttering, you try to tell them off, but they are challenging you to a fight. A stout boy pulls some of your hair out and asks you to fight back. Do you… • Fight back Ignore them and talk to someone else 

44. Fight! • With skills you learned from some Gaulish ruffians, you try to break the boy’s arm. But you’re sixty, so you’ve lost a bit of your strength. He counterattacks with a vicious jab to your eyes, which temporarily blinds you. A teenager, who was once Tiberius’ friend, jumps on your back and holds you under the water until you drown. • Continue 

45. Poets and Playwrights • One of the poets is humming a catchy tune as you come towards them. He stops and asks if you have any ideas about words to go with it. • “The poem will be about the legend of the Titan King. Have you heard of it? The story is very in vogue right now, as it’s said he has risen to stop the building of the Flavian Amphitheatre! If I make up a brilliant poem about the legend soon, I can perform and sell it to make loads of money.” • “I’m writing a play of the legend,” a playwright interrupts. “Do you know anyone who could play the Titan King? I need someone with a loud, intimidating voice and who looks good in black.” • Talk to more people 

46. The amphitheatre • There are lots of people around as you arrive at the amphitheatre. Everyone is nervously talking and avoiding the bodies in the middle of the arena, which are being picked up by soldiers. You ask them what’s going on. • “Last night these four men were murdered, and we’re just collecting evidence.” He stops, then gasps. “You’re the detective Vespillo aren’t you? The head of the Praetorian says that you’re supposed to solve this mystery. He’s been looking for you all morning!” You agree to solving the mystery, then begin to examine the scene. There is a hole in the middle of the arena, which is massive and quite deep. At the bottom of it is a dirty wine cup, which Tiberius picks up. On many of the stones are scratch marks, which look like someone has dragged three fingernails down them. The only thing left to do is talk to people to get some information. • Talk to people 

47. Talking • You need to know if anyone has any information about the murders. Who do you talk to? • Slave MurmilloSoldierRich manBuilder • WomanRetiariusGladiator trainerGlassmaker • PriestNo one, I have enough information 

48. Slave • You ask the slave what he knows about the murder. • “I heard some weird noises last night. There was one that sounded like wailing. There was one that sounded like scraping, or someone chiselling something out of stone. There was also this strange jingling noise, like chains or something.” • Talk to more people 

49. Murmillo • “I saw a man come to the amphitheatre last night,” he says. “He was in a black toga, and I couldn’t see his face. I tried to follow him, but he saw me so I ran away.” • Talk to more people 

50. Soldier • “I didn’t see anything, but you need to know your mission. Let me tell you it in short, so you can understand. Last night, a man came to the amphitheatre and murdered four people who were working there. It happened just before dawn, and the victims were just starting work. We came immediately, but the murderer had run away. You have to find out who the murderer is and arrest him somehow. Hopefully you already have a bit of information, so you can just get some evidence from people and make your deductions. I’m sorry it’s so chaotic, but the murders are so unexpected and we’ve got to hurry if we want to stand any chance of capturing whoever did this. And be warned, some people have some crazy theories about the murders…” • Talk to more people 