History Literature / MarcusDidiusFalco

# ''Death On The Tiber'' (2023)

* SaunaOfDeath: the plot point of ''The Body In The Bath-house''.

** The men of the Fourth Cohort of Vigiles [[note]]The nearest thing to a police force in Rome - the Vigiles. think of where the word "vigilante" comes from. [[/note]] also mete out rough justice to one of their own who was in the pay of a criminal overlord; Porcius, the corrupt vigilus, was indirectly responsible for the death of a comrade who was on an undercover investigation. Knowing this, the Fourth show him no mercy whatsoever.

** In ''Three Hands in the Fountain'', Helena suggests that Marcus start a "portfolio" of Italian landholdings by buying the farm near Tibur (modern day Tivoli) where he and Petro are staying while they investigate the surrounding countryside. Falco scoffs that ''"no one of any taste or sense"'' would want to own land in that area. Approximately 50 years later, the Emperor Hadrian will build his famous villa within a stone's throw of the same farm.

* HappilyAdopted; Flavia Albia first appears as a street urchin in Londinium. Falco and Helena speculate about her origins, and tentatively conclude her parents were most likely Roman settlers who were slaughtered during the Boudicca uprising.[[note]]This is never established: she might have been British by parents as well as birth[[/note]] They decide they can't just leave her there, and she returns to Rome with them as a ward and later as an adoptive daughter.

* HeroicBSOD: Falco had one after seeing the aftermath of the Boudiccan Revolt as a young man, as a result, he and Petro faked medical problems to get out of the army.

** In ''The Jupiter Myth'', Falco reflects bitterly that Rome should have abandoned Britannia as soon as it became clear that its fabled mineral wealth didn't exist, but Boudica's revolt and its aftermath made staying there a matter of national pride, which is why the Empire has continued to occupy a worthless province that holds nothing of value and only bad memories for himself and Petro.

** Falco states that the members of Legio XIV Gemina, who gained fame fighting in the Boudiccan Revolt, are not fond of Legio II Augusta -- which Falco served in — due to the latter's refusal to fight during a battle in the revolt. It is Falco's own bad luck that he has to deliver the titular iron hand to them in ''The Iron Hand of Mars'' at the behest of the Emperor.

* NoodleIncident: The ''Primus Pilus'' of the Legio XIV Gemina "innocently" asks Falco exactly how Poenius Postumus, TheNeidermeyer who idiotically refused to march Legio II Augusta to the XIV's aid during the Boudiccan Revolt, died. Falco smiles and says Postumus [[DrivenToSuicide fell on his sword]], while reflecting that he and every other legionary of the II swore an oath to never reveal the truth to outsiders (including the reader). However, it is heavily implied that Postumus was [[UnfriendlyFire fragged]] by his own men for his cowardice and stupidity.

** Falco and Petro were both in the army at the same time, and they served in Legio 2 Augusta/the Second Augusta, the infamous legion whose leader refused to fight against Boudicca. As a result, Falco has to be very careful about saying what legion he was in to certain people who he knows will take it the wrong way (usually soldiers, ex-soldiers and ex-army officers).

* PleaseShootTheMessenger: Falco suspects his mission to Germania in ''The Iron Hand of Mars'' is a UriahGambit by Titus (who is courting Helena Justina); Falco is not carrying any specific message for the Legio XIV Gemina stationed at Moguntiacum[[note]]Mainz[[/note]], but his mere status as a former legionary of the Legio II Augusta (who left the XIV twisting in the wind during Boudica's revolt) is as good as a massive target painted on his back.

* NoodleIncident: The ''Primus Pilus'' of the Legio XIV Gemina "innocently" asks Falco exactly how Poenius Postumus, TheNeidermeyer who idiotically refused to march Legio II Augusta to the XIV's aid during the Boudiccan Revolt, died. Falco smiles and says Postumus [[DrivenToSuicide fell on his sword]], while reflecting that he and every other legionary of the II swore an oath to never reveal the truth to outsiders (including the reader).

* JustForPun: The very title of ''Ode to a Banker''.

# ''Fatal Legacy'' (2023

** In ''The Jupiter Myth'', Falco reflects bitterly that Rome should have abandoned Britannia as soon as it became clear that its fabled mineral wealth didn't exist, but Boudica's revolt and its aftermath made staying there a matter of national pride, which is why the Empire has continued to hold on to a province that holds nothing of value and only bad memories for himself and Petro.

* HonorBeforeReason: Falco rejects a social promotion at the end of ''The Silver Pigs'', as it's an obvious bribe for keeping quiet about a political scandal. Falco then realises he's thrown away the chance to marry Helena legally and changes his mind, but by then Vespasian has withdrawn his offer.

* MeaningfulName: Musca, the fly in ''Master and God''. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musca Musca]] is [[ADogNamedDog the Latin word for fly]], and also the name of the constellation otherwise known as the Fly.

* ShadyRealEstateAgent: Newlyweds Marcus Didius and Helena Justina are looking to move out of the shabby apartment in downmarket Fountain Court and to move into their first marital place together, ideally in a slightly better area of Rome. A plausible and helpful apartment broker called Cossus gets them the seemingly ideal place in a spanking new build among other aspiring young professionals. The only problem is, all the little creaks and shifts which the helpful estate agent assures them are down to a new build ''settling.'' The building eventually settles so far it collapses. After fearing Helena is dead, Falco looks the other way while enraged survivors lynch the estate agent.

* NewOldFlame: The oft-mentioned "Tripolitanian rope-dancer", that Falco was carrying on with before the events of the first novel, finally makes an appearance in "The Jupiter Myth".

* MosquitoMiscreants: In ''Ode to a Banker'', Marcus and Helena are awakened in the middle of a summer night by the buzzing of a single mosquito. Since their infant daughter is sleeping in the next room, this is their [[AdultFear worst nightmare]], and they [[DisproportionateRetribution spend an hour flailing around in the dark, until they are absolutely sure they have killed it]].