The Times New Roman

THE TIMES NEW ROMAN

Q. Julius Maximus wishes it to be known that he offers two days of Games at the Flavian Amphitheatre, starting on the Kalends of Julius, as part of his campaign to be elected for public office. Q. Julius Maximus is a respectable and upstanding citizen of very good family, whose own father held the position of Senator under the Emperor Vespasian, rising to the rank of Consul.

As a measure of his generosity and public spirit, Maximus will be distributing tickets free of all cost, and has pledged to provide refreshments, snacks, drinks, as well as lucky tickets for valuable prizes to the crowd throughout the three days of the Games. Hurry and obtain your ticket from the usual outlets to secure your place at what will certainly be a most spectacular event.

Earth Tremors Near Naples

We have received alarming reports of new tremors in the bay of Naples, coming only a few years after the devastating earthquake and subsequent eruption of Vesuvius which destroyed the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The citizens are rightly alarmed, and have called for sacrifices to be made in all cities to appease the Gods and persuade them to spare the country further devastation.

HAVE THE GREENS LOST THEIR FORM?

No fan of chariot racing in the city can have failed to notice that the performance of the Green team has been rather disappointing since the start of the year, and it appears to be affecting their support. Most bookmakers are offering very high odds on the Greens, and the winnings from a successful bet could make a man a small fortune, yet even their biggest fans are not risking their money. Is it all over for the Greens? We talk to Vincentius, their foremost charioteer until his injury in the notorious mass pile up at the Circus Maximus last September.

Vincentius, do you think your absence from the team is the reason for the Green’s lack of success this year?

Vincentius: Of course. I was their best charioteer and I hardly ever lost a race. They have yet to find someone with my skill and courage to replace me.

And is a return to the arena off the cards for you?

Vincentius: For the moment, yes. My trainer is working very hard with me to try and get me back to full fitness, but it was a nasty injury and healing will take time. It is frustrating, but what can I do?
Are you still involved with the team while you recuperate?
Vincentius: I have to earn a wage somehow. I am working with the other charioteers, teaching them a few tricks of the trade, and helping them train.
Is there anyone you have your eye on, who you think could turn the team around?

The life of a gladiator seems to be a glamorous one! We interviewed Spiculus to get the ‘inside story’ of what it is like to be a gladiator.

Spiculus, thank you for agreeing to be interviewed for The Times New Roman, our readers will be very interested to know what life is like for gladiator such as yourself.

Thank you! Gladiators come from all walks of life, slaves, criminals, people from countries Rome has conquered and even some free men choose to become gladiators. Its a way of becoming popular, and of course of becoming rich!

Vincentius: There is no-one of my quality, but Flavius might be a man to watch. He has a good technique, although he needs to keep his temper in check, as it can make him over-aggressive towards the other teams. You need a firm hand and a cool head to get on in this business.
As you have shown us on many occasions. Thank you Vincentius, and we all wish you a speedy recovery.

VIINCENTIUS
THE
INTERVIEW

GLADIATOR FOCUS

Gladiators eat well, three healthy meals a day consisting of fish, meat, cereals, eggs, cheese and goat’s milk. We only drink water and milk.

We keep ourselves healthy of course with training, but also cleanliness is very important so we bathe regularly.

Training is intense and is essential for general fitness but also in developing our skills with weapons. Different gladiators focus on different skills because of the different weapons and armour involved.

We generally fight only 3 to 5 times a year and most people don’t realise that a fight to the death is rare - fewer than 20% of gladiators die in the arena.

ADVANCE WARNING

TERRIBLE FIRE DESTROYS BUILDING

Many people have been left homeless after a fire in the Vicus Drusianus destroyed a series of apartments and business premises. It is believed to have broken out in the courtyard of the building, where a strong wind blew the flames from a cooking fire into laundry which had been hung out to dry across the courtyard.

The flames spread quickly, and the wind blew sparks towards several apartments, which caught quickly alight. Fortunately there were no fatalities, although several people were injured when a wooden staircase collapsed as they fled the burning building.

The building is owned by the Julius Maximus family, although a spokesman for the family assures us that it has always been well maintained and the fire was no more than an unfortunate accident. Whether there is a legal case to answer remains to be seen.

Owing to essential repair work on the Aqua Claudia aqueduct, there will be some road closures near the Campus Martius, and a one way system will be in operation around the Baths of Helena until further notice.

Marcus Crassus has available, at very reasonable rates, apartments in several buildings in all neighbourhoods of Rome. He also seeks to purchase similar.

He welcomes customers at his place of business, at the North West corner of the Forum of Augustus, behind the Temple of Mars, where you can discuss the wide range of properties he has available, both in the city and in the surrounding countryside. Leases, short rents, and purchases are all available. Land by negotiation.

PROPERTY AVAILABLE

THE MONTH OF CAESAR

Perhaps it is appropriate that Q. Julius Maximus should be holding his Games on the first day of Julius, since the month was named for another politician of the same family name - G. Julius Caesar, the great military leader and ruler of Rome for many years. In honour of the great man, and his ancestral connection with Q. Julius Maximus, we are awarding a VIP ticket to the Games to anyone who can crack the code below, based on Caesar’s own cipher, and reveal its hidden message.

The Caesar Cipher was said to have been invented by Julius Caesar, who used it to write secret messages to his generals. It is a code by which the letters of the alphabet are shifted by a pre-agreed number, so that to decode the message you would have to look along the alphabet to the relevant letter and substitute it for the text you see. Caesar favoured a shift of three letters, although any number can be chosen by the communicator as long as he has told the recipient of his message what that number is. So crack the code if you can, and win yourself a ticket to the Games.

VI FACTS ABOUT JULIUS CAESAR

I He was married three times.

II He was kidnapped by pirates.

III Born on July 13, B.C. 100, his name was in fact, Gaius.

IV He wrote a lot, including poetry.

V The month of July is named after him.

VI He was never actually a Roman Emperor. His son Octavian was the first Roman emperor.