Falco readers are, I must say, the most strikingly nice group of people. It is a pleasure to write for them. It is an inspiration too, and while I cannot obey those who urge me to “Write faster!” at least for the time being I can promise not to stop. I do hope that some of you reading this will be new to Falco and Helena, just setting out on the series and about to be converted. To you, a warm welcome. While to old friends, welcome again—and as always, thank you for your continuing loyalty.

Lindsey Davis
London, March 2000.

AUTHOR’S INTRODUCTION TO NEW AMERICAN EDITION

I am delighted that St. Martin’s Paperbacks are now to reissue The Silver Pigs and Shadows in Bronze, which have been long out of print in America. I know the early books have been missed in the States and it is wonderful to have them available again. I try to write the books in the series so new readers should be able to pick up any one and start, and then continue in any available order; nonetheless, there is a running story and this is where it all begins. This is where Falco first meets Helena Justina and her family, while the plot he uncovers will continue to have repercussions affecting all the Camilli. I won’t say any more—but if you like to see a story through from its beginnings you will definitely want to start here…

I do know that The Silver Pigs is often used in American schools and colleges. Up to a point this is good news for an author, but I really write for your private pleasure and entertainment. My novels are emphatically not textbooks. I think novels are for reading when you bunk off from your real assignments. So if you are a student who is reading this book because it is on your school or college reading list, I hope you will enjoy it—but I heartily apologise. I do hope I have given a good picture of Roman life and that it may make you eager to learn more about this fascinating period, but please remember the novel is fiction—and honestly, it is meant to be fun.

And now, happy reading to everyone!

Lindsey Davis
London, January 2006

PART I

Rome

SUMMER–AUTUMN, AD 70

I

When the girl came rushing up the steps, I decided she was wearing far too many clothes.

It was late summer. Rome frizzled like a pancake on a griddleplate. People unlaced their shoes but had to keep them on; not even an elephant could cross the streets unshod. People flopped on stools in shadowed doorways, bare knees apart, naked to the waist—and in the backstreets of the Aventine Sector where I lived, that was just the women.