The Thieves of Ostia

Flavia Gemina is a natural at solving mysteries. The daughter of a ship’s captain living in Ostia, the port of Rome, in AD79, she and her three friends, Jonathan, a Jewish boy (and secretly a Christian); Nubia, an African slave girl; and Lupus, a mute beggar boy, must work together to discover who is beheading the watchdogs that guard people’s homes, and why.

One of the best qualities of The Thieves of Ostia is the interesting and diverse characters. While Flavia is the main protagonist, the addition of Jonathan, Nubia, and Lupus adds interest and allows the reader to see how people in different social groups interact. Despite coming from different backgrounds, Flavia, her father, and her friends treat Jonathan, Nubia, and Lupus equally. This highlights the importance of treating all people kindly and allows the reader to see Flavia’s compassion.  

When Flavia first sees Nubia, who is naked and chained, Flavia decides to purchase Nubia instead of buying an expensive book. From the start, Flavia treats Nubia like a friend instead of a servant. Likewise, when Lupus enters the scene, he’s in filthy, threadbare clothes and is unable to talk because his tongue has been cut out. Despite this, Lupus is treated with care and quickly joins Flavia’s friend group. Flavia’s friend Jonathan is also well-developed, and through him and his family, readers learn how Christian Jews are discriminated against. This topic isn’t explored in detail. Instead, the story affirms the importance of treating everyone with respect. Flavia’s father explains how Jonathan’s family has different customs that must be respected. Flavia and her father accept each other’s differences and create a welcoming atmosphere that allows friendships to bloom.  

In addition to the interesting characters, The Thieves of Ostia revolves around a fast-paced mystery with Flavia and her friends roaming different parts of Rome. This gives a glimpse into the harsh realities of life, including slavery and death, which were common during this period. These scenes are often graphic and may upset some readers. One character who is especially cruel is Venalicius, a slave trader who is rumored to kidnap children to sell as slaves. In one terrifying scene, Venalicius sends his men to capture Flavia and her friends. This heart-pounding scene shows the perils of children who live in Rome. 

The Thieves of Ostia has many positive aspects, including interesting characters, a compelling mystery, and several positive life lessons. Through Flavia and her friends’ adventures, readers will learn the importance of forgiveness. In addition, the story’s conclusion shows the dangers of judging people based on their appearance. One reason people did not suspect the culprit was because he was attractive. Flavia says the criminal was “polite and handsome. . . It just never occurred to me that he might be bad.” Readers who get squeamish by graphic descriptions will want to avoid reading The Thieves of Ostia. However, readers who are ready to delve into the hard topics of death and slavery will enjoy The Thieves of Ostia because of the exciting action and adventure.  

Sexual Content  

• None 

Violence  

• A pack of dogs chases Flavia into a tree. While she’s trying to figure out how to move to safety, “One of the yellow dogs yelped and leaped to his feet, as if stung by a bee. Then the leader snarled and writhed in pain. A stone had struck him!” A boy slung rocks at the dogs until they “slunk off.”  
• When Flavia goes into town, she sees “terrifying men with broken noses, mangled ears, and meaty arms. Some had lost arms or hands or legs.” It is unclear how the men were injured. 
• \While by the port, Flavia hears “the crack of a whip and clink of chains. Out of the mist emerged a pitiful sight, a line of women, naked and chained at the neck. . . Some had open sores.” The women were naked and wore “wooden tags with prices scrawled on them.” 
• Venalicius is known to kidnap children and sell them into slavery. It was rumored “that he had kidnapped a nine-year-old girl named Sapphira and sold her to a Syrian merchant.” 
• Venalicius had one ear “bitten off by a slave he had afterward crucified, if the rumor was true.” 
• Flavia sees a young girl who is being sold by Venalicius. Flavia asks her father what will happen to the girl, and he says, “She may become a lady’s maid. Or a cook’s assistant. Or perhaps someone will buy her for a wife. . . You know that eleven or twelve is not too young for slaves to marry.”  
• When Shanakda, a slave girl, was too afraid to walk the gangplank, “without warning, Venalicius had furiously unlocked her collar and pushed her into the water, though her hands had still been tied. . . Nubia would never forget the sight of bitter seawater filling Shanakda’s screaming mouth and silencing her forever.” 
• Flavia’s family’s cook “had died shopping for leeks in the forum when a donkey kicked him in the head.”  
• Flavia’s neighbor, Cordius, was an officer in Germania, and “his whole family had been slaughtered by barbarians. A lovely wife, three fine young sons, and a baby girl, now all gone to the underworld. . .” 
• Jonathan’s family’s watchdog is killed. Jonathan tells Flavia not to look because “someone has cut off his head and taken it away.” Later, another dog is found with its head cut off.  
• Avita, a young girl, “died horribly, in great pain, of hydrophobia. . . The disease is also known as rabies.” Avita’s mom says, “Avita lost her appetite, and then she began to be terrified of the sight of water. She even refused to drink. Finally, she began to see things that weren’t there. But the end, when it came, was peaceful.” 
• Avita’s father goes to several taverns, gets drunk, then travels to a lighthouse and jumps off. “There was a cry from the onlookers as the figure struck the edge of the first tier, bounced, and tumbled like a rag doll down to the concrete below.” 
• A young boy climbed a tree to get away from a pack of dogs. Someone begins shooting arrows at the dogs. “One of the dogs yelped, leaped into the air, then fell back with a shaft in his gut. . . the second arrow struck the leader. . . Two dogs with arrows in them lay writhing on the ground.” Jonathan’s father, Mordecai, grabs a sword and “cut the dog’s throat with a single stroke, putting her out of her misery.”  
• The other dog “leapt directly at Mordecai’s face. Jonathan’s father reacted by instinct. The bloody sword flashed again, and the dog’s head and body fell in two separate places.”  
• Flavia befriends an orphan boy who cannot talk because “someone has cut out his tongue.” The reason for this is never stated. 
• Flavia’s dog begins to whine. Then, Flavia sees “a trident, the kind fishermen use to catch fish. Its base was wedged tight between paving stones, and its three prongs pointed up toward the cold stars. On each of the three points was planted a severed dog’s head.” Flavia faints. 

Drugs and Alcohol  

• Jonathan uses marjoram oil for his asthma.  
• When Flavia hurts her ankle, an adult applies ointment to help it heal. 
• Flavia and her father purchased a young slave. Flavia “bathed the sores on her neck with a sea sponge and applied some of Mordecai’s soothing aloe balm.”  
• At Flavia’s birthday dinner, the adults drink wine, and the children drink “well watered” wine. Jonathan becomes “slightly tipsy.”  
• Flavia lives close to the graveyard. “She often went there with her father to honor her mother and twin brothers. . . Wind could be poured into [amphora] necks to refresh the ashes of the dead below.” 
• A boy follows Avita’s father to several taverns, where he sees men drinking and gambling.  
• Flavia’s family has friends over for dinner, and they drink wine. Flavia notices that her father has drunk too much wine. 

Language  

• An adult exclaims, “Great Neptune’s beard!”  
• “By Hercules” is used as an exclamation twice. 
• Flavia and Jonathan both exclaim, “by Pollux” one time. 

Supernatural 

• A boy overhears a soothsayer talking to Avita’s father. The boy “guessed the soothsayer was poking at chicken entrails or staring into a sacred bauble.” The soothsayer tells the father, “Unless you offer a sacrifice to the god Anubis, your daughter’s spirit will never be at rest. . . May the gods curse you!” 

Spiritual Content  

• Flavia wears an amulet. “One day, when she married, she would dedicate this bulla to the gods of the crossroad.” 
• When Flavia finds her father’s signet ring, she says “a silent prayer of thanks to Castor and Pollux,” who are deities and the patrons of athletes. 
• Jonathan’s family is Jewish. When Flavia meets his father, he is reading the Torah. Jonathan says the family moved after “our old neighbors wrote things on the wall of our house, and once they threw rotten eggs at Father.” 
• Jonathan’s family are Christians who aren’t allowed in the synagogue. The Rabbi tells Jonathan, “I suppose you can’t be blamed for your father’s misguided beliefs. Besides, the Master of the Universe, blessed be He, tells us to act justly and to love mercy. . .” 
• Flavia tells Jonathan, “I’ve heard that Christians eat their God, and my father says they burned Rome.” Jonathan defends Christianity. He says, “Christians are peaceful. We are taught to love our enemies and pray for them.” 
• Jonathan’s father, Mordecai, encourages the children to forgive. He says, “Our faith teaches that if you say sorry to God for the wrong things you have done, and if you forgive the people who have done wrong things to you, you will be forgiven.” 
• When eating at Flavia’s house, snails are served. When Jonathan asks if he can eat them, his father says, “God has made all things clean.” After a discussion that lasted a page, “Flavia closed her eyes and tried to imagine which god she was speaking to. Finally, she settled on the beardless shepherd with a lamb over his shoulder.” 
• While discussing the criminal who killed the dogs, Mordecai says, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”   
• Flavia’s father sets off on a journey after he “visited the temple of Castor and Pollux, to make sacrifices for a good and profitable journey.”  
• Avita’s mom says, “I believe that after we die, we will go to a place more wonderful than we can imagine. Not the cold, dark underworld, but a sunny garden, a paradise. I trust Avita is there now. She was also a believer.” This implies that Avita’s mother is a Christian.  
• Flavia and her friends talk to a sea captain who sailed through a terrible story. The captain says, “All of us are thanking whatever gods we believe in that we’re alive . . .” 
• When the slave dealer sends his men to capture Jonathan and his friends, Jonathan prays that they reach safety. 
• When Emperor Vespasian dies, he says, “Oh, dear, I think I’m becoming a god.”