Curses and Smoke (28 page)

The bones of gladiators still shackled in their cells have also been found in Pompeii. Most gladiators were slaves, and they could indeed earn their freedom in the arena — if they survived long enough. Deaths in the arena were not as common as Hollywood movies want to make us think. Gladiators represented a huge investment, and school owners expected to be compensated accordingly if their fighter was killed.

Free men sometimes “sold” themselves into gladiatorial slavery as a way to get out of debt or to gain fame or notoriety. Occasionally, rich Romans also trained and fought as gladiators, though it was rare. Those who did were reviled by the upper classes.

Graffiti

The graffiti quoted in the novel is real and pulled from walls on streets I imagined Lucia traveled on the way to the market. Pompeii’s graffiti provides a rich and often entertaining look at life in the city. Many of the scrawls are bawdy, and many were aimed at influencing votes in elections. Apparently, public defecation was a problem in some areas of town, as several inscriptions either bragged about it or warned against it. Near one city gate, there is even a formal notice posted by the local government that says: “[Defecator] — make sure you keep it in until you pass this spot!” I was fascinated too that in between all of the earthy sayings and the political mudslinging, the occasional philosopher carved his or her observation about the nature of life and the inevitability of death.

A big thank-you to my wonderful editor, Cheryl Klein, for pushing, pulling, and cajoling me into making this story better, even when I thought I couldn’t. Thanks too to my brother, Michael Alvear, for taking me by the lapels and shaking the fear out of me on numerous occasions. Bruce, Matthew, and Aliya — thanks for listening to my endless ruminations as I worked out the story in the car or at the dinner table. And, of course, a huge thank-you to my mother, who swept me off to Pompeii when the project became a reality.

Thanks also to my readers, Elizabeth O. Dulemba, Kara Levy Beitz, and Stephanie Dray, as well as my terrific agent, Courtney Miller-Callahan. What would I do without you guys?

Many other people helped with this project, including ancient Roman experts Caroline Lawrence and Irene Hahn. I am indebted to both of them for their kind attention to the work as they searched for anachronisms and errors. Fellow docent and Latin teacher Conway Bracket checked the Latin usage as did Latin teacher Ginger Emshoff. Hank and Kim Siegelson provided medical insight in regard to the sword injury. Thank you all! Any mistakes or errors in the book are completely my own.

Finally, I want to thank Mario Grimaldi, archaeologist and professor at the University of Naples, Suor Orsola Benincasa. He was kind enough to devote almost an entire day to my questions during a personal tour of Pompeii and his excavations. It made my first trip to Italy even more wonderful than I’d thought possible.

Vicky Alvear Shecter loves doing historical research almost as much as she loves losing herself in stories of the ancient world. Vicky is the author of three nonfiction books for young readers, most recently
Anubis Speaks! A Guide to the Afterlife by the Egyptian God of the Dead
, and a young-adult novel,
Cleopatra’s Moon
. She lives near Atlanta, Georgia. Please visit her website at
www.vickyalvearshecter.com
or follow her on Twitter at @valvearshecter.

Text copyright © 2014 by Vicky Alvear Shecter

All rights reserved. Published by Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.,
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Shecter, Vicky, author.

Curses and smoke : a novel of Pompeii / by Vicky Alvear Shecter. — First edition.

pages cm

Summary: Tagus is a medical slave who wants be a gladiator, Lucia is the daughter of Tag’s owner and betrothed to an older man, and the two teenagers are in love with each other — but it is the year 79 and soon Vesuvius will alter their lives forever.

ISBN 978-0-545-50993-0 (hardcover) — ISBN 978-0-545-50994-7 (ebook) — 1. Gladiators — Juvenile fiction. 2. Slaves — Italy — Pompeii (Extinct city) — Juvenile fiction. 3. Volcanoes — Juvenile fiction. 4. Vesuvius (Italy) — Eruption, 79 — Juvenile fiction. 5. Pompeii (Extinct city) — Juvenile fiction. [1. Gladiators — Fiction. 2. Slavery — Fiction. 3. Love — Fiction. 4. Vesuvius (Italy) — Eruption, 79 — Fiction. 5. Pompeii (Extinct city) — Fiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.S53822Cu 2014

813.6 — dc23

2013029143

First edition, June 2014

Cover design by Elizabeth B. Parisi

Cover image © 2014 by Trevillion and Getty Images

e-ISBN 978-0-545-50994-7

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.