The Slave-girl from Jerusalem by Caroline Lawrence

There are 17 stories in The Roman Mysteries series published between 2001-2007. Lawrence also wrote a number of spin off books including The Roman Mysteries Quiz Books and From Ostia to Alexandria with Flavia Gemina: Travels with Flavia Gemina. The BBC adapted the stories for television in two series that were broadcast in 2007 and and 2008. She says that her idea for the Roman Mysteries series was to create a 'Nancy Drew in Ancient Rome'. Lawrence studied Classics at University and later taught French, Latin and Greek in schools. Rosemary Sutcliffe's 1954 children's book, The Eagle of the Ninth, and its sequels used Roman Britain as a setting for one of the classics of children's historical fiction. The stories are also full of drama and suspense, with plenty of cliff hangers and plot twists. The books are full of very accurate historical detail of everyday life in Rome during the rule of the Emperor Titus, including historical events and people such as Flavia Gemina's meeting with Pliny the Elder during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in the second book of the series. Their investigations take them into unexpected and sometimes dangerous situations but Flavia Gemina is unstoppable once she's on the trail to solving a mystery. A young Roman girl Flavia Gemina sets out to solve the mystery of who is killing the city's watchdogs, helped by her three friends, Jonathan (son of Jewish doctor), Nubia (an African slave girl) and Lupus (a mute beggar boy). The Thieves of Ostia is the first book in the Roman Mysteries series.

The Slave-girl from Jerusalem by Caroline Lawrence