The Man from Pomegranate Street
First edition cover
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| Author | Caroline Lawrence |
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| Cover artist | Peter Sutton, Fred van Deelen |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Roman Mysteries |
| Genre | Historical novel |
| Publisher | Orion Children's Books |
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Publication date
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18 June 2009 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback |
| Pages | 264 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | |
| Preceded by | The Prophet from Ephesus |
The Man from Pomegranate Street is a children's historical novel by Caroline Lawrence. The novel, the seventeenth and last in the Roman Mysteries series, was published in 2009. It is set immediately after the death of Titus, primarily in the countryside around Rome.
Pomegranate Street is a residential street of wealthy townhouses on Rome's Quirinal Hill. The title probably refers to Domitian, the brother of Titus, who lived on the street in his youth. However, Gaius Valerius Flaccus also has a house on the street.
The novel is set in September, AD 81. The four friends set out to warn Titus about Domitian. Devastated to hear that Titus died of a fever, they decide to investigate his death, believing his brother Domitian to be guilty of murder and unworthy to be the next emperor.
The main story is introduced by a framing sequence set three years later, at the time of Flavia's wedding. Her friends Nubia and Pulchra and her stepmother help her to prepare, while she explains to Pulchra why she stopped being a 'detectrix'.
Still under the shadow of the imperial edict, Flavia, Nubia and Lupus follow Jonathan to Italia, hoping to help him warn the Emperor Titus that his brother Domitian is trying to kill him, and to clear their names. In Rome the children and their tutor Aristo discover Titus has died of a headache and fever whilst on his way to his villa in the Sabine Hills, and that Domitian has been proclaimed emperor.
The children meet Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, once betrothed to Flavia, with his new tutor, Hilario. Tranquillus helps them investigate Titus's death. On the road, they find some clues and Flavia contracts a fever.
Flaccus arrives to tell them that Domitian has issued a decree saying he will give pardons to any who go and ask for his forgiveness. They go to Domitian's villa on Lake Albanus and obtain a pardon. They run into old acquaintance, Ascletario, Titus's Egyptian soothsayer. He tells them where to find Jonathan who has been starved and beaten by the emperor's blind torturer Messallinus, but a trap has been set and the children are captured.
While Nubia is forced to recline beside Domitian, Flavia bravely stands up to him, fuelled by her anger at Flaccus's apparent indifference toward her. Aristo declares his love for Nubia but is led away to fight in the arena, while Nubia and the emperor watch. However, it is learned that the beast Aristo is supposed to fight is actually a small black rabbit. When he succeeds, Domitian gives him his reward: Nubia. The two marry in the arena that same day.
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