Did Nero fiddle while Rome burned?
While Miriam investigated the desecration of the Torah mantle in The Deadliest Fever, Nero, in his desire for recognition as a musician,...
Monster: Imagined or Real?
In Greek mythology, Cerberus, the monstrous three-headed dog with a serpent for a tail, guards the gate to Hades to prevent the spirits...
Miriam’s in Trouble
In The Deadliest Lie, Miriam follows her quarry to a sleazy saloon squatting on the corner of an alley and listens from behind the...
Creating a Traffic Jam with a Falx
A falx (Latin) is a hand-held knife. Like a sickle but smaller, it has a curved blade with a sharp inner edge. A charioteer, standing...
WHAT’S A ZOONOTIC DISEASE?
“Yes, Lisa.” “You’ve told us in your blogs on April 17, 2018 and May 15, 2018 about how rabies was regarded in ancient times, as a...
The Ubiquitous Pleasures in a Roman City
In THE DEADLIEST FEVER, the thieves who staged the jewel heist in Ephesus met in the backroom of a tavern there. One explains to Miriam:...
We Can All Use Some Aletheia
In THE DEADLIEST THIEF, the next Miriam bat Isaac mystery, the scribe Esdras swears by Aletheia to have faithfully recorded and sealed in...
Caligula: “Little soldier’s boot”
Born Gaius Caesar, the third Roman emperor was nicknamed “Caligula,” meaning little soldier's boot, the diminutive form of caliga. His...
THE ORIGINAL BRAIN DRAIN
In ancient Egypt, mummification was a way to provide a place for the person’s spirit to return after death. The process began with the...
A RARE ESSENTIAL OIL
Miriam first meets Gershon, an acquaintance of her late-father, in THE DEADLIEST HATE. He was hardly the potbellied businessman she...