List of The Roman Mysteries Characters - V

V

Venalicius

An evil, cruel and impossibly horrible slave trader who plies his work in the port of Ostia. Flavia fears him dreadfully and he often threatens her that one day he will enslave her and sell her abroad where no one will ever see her again.

Later in the series it is revealed that he is the uncle of Lupus who, after murdering his own brother, Alexandros, in a mad fit of jealous rage, cut out Lupus's tongue to stop him telling the tale. He shares his life story with Jonathan's father Mordecai when they share a cell. He reveals that his name is really Philippos and he has been badly treated by everyone all through his life due to his ugliness and the only one who truly loved him was his mother, who died giving birth to Alexandros when Philippos was seven, hence why he loathed him so. Then his father sold him to slave traders saying he needed the money. Venalicius vowed revenge. He returned to his family home where he saw his childhood love and only friend, Melissa, now a beautiful young woman with a husband and son. Her husband was Alexandros. Philippos went mad and killed his brother, made Lupus mute and abducted him to Ostia. He later feels remorse and guilt over his cruelty and dies after battling a giant octopus. He leaves all his worldly goods to Lupus and dies in Miriam's arms; in his delirious state he believes she is his beloved mother come back to care for him.

NB 'Venalicius' is Latin for slave-dealer.

Vibia

Vibia is the mother of Cartilia and Diana. She is well-read, and has tried without success to interest her daughters in the classics. She is naturally grey-haired, but wears an elegant wig.

Vulcan

A handsome sixteen-year-old blacksmith and Christian who travels through Pompeii with his donkey. His name is in fact Pulbius, but due to his trade and his deformed foot he is nicknamed Vulcan after the lame god, which he detests but puts up with anyway. He, like so many others, becomes entranced by Miriam's beauty and makes her a silver bracelet as a token of his affections. He turns out to be the long-lost son of Rectina and her husband, who left him to die on the banks of a nearby river when he believed that Rectina had been having an affair with Pliny. However a slave girl found him and took him to her master, who allowed one of his freed slaves to raise him as his own. Vulcan is a solemn, subdued boy who rarely smiles but is very kind-hearted and understands morals a lot better than Flavia or her friends do. When he asks Flavia what her ideal treasure is, she replies material goods. He is disgusted.