Time to Depart is a 1995 historical mysterycrime novel by Lindsey Davis and the seventh book of the Marcus Didius Falco Mysteries series. Set in Rome during AD 72, the novel stars Marcus Didius Falco, an informer and imperial agent. The title refers to the law which stated that no Roman citizen who had been sentenced to death might be arrested, even after the verdict, until he has been given time to depart, the idea being that for a Roman citizen to choose exile outside the boundaries of the Empire would have been a fate worse than death itself.
Plot summary
Falco's closest friend, Petronius Longus, has finally caught one of the leading criminals in Rome, Balbinus Pius. But a quirk in Roman law allows a convicted felon, even a murderer, time to depart before the sentence is carried out. Balbinus' departure has left a vacuum in the underworld of Rome, and there is a crowd of criminals trying desperately to fill the void. Their first step is to engineer a robbery that reverberates throughout the city.
Falco is again called upon by the Emperor Vespasian to supply answers, as quietly and quickly as possible. A couple of murders, a kidnapping or two, and more suspects than Falco cares to count takes him, and his patrician girlfriend Helena Justina, to places a family shouldn't have to go.
Characters
High Society
Anacrites – Imperial spy
Camillus Aelianus – Eldest son of Decimus Camillus Verus
Camillus Justinus – Youngest son of Decimus Camillus Verus
Decimus Camillus Verus – Senator and father of Helena Justina
Helena Justina – Daughter of the Senator Decimus Camillus Verus
Julia Justa – Wife of Camillus Verus and mother of Helena
T. Claudius Laeta – Imperial clerk
Titus Caesar – Eldest son of the Emperor
Vespasian – Emperor
Low Society (Fountain Court)
Cassius – Baker
Castus – Junk-dealer
Ennianus – Basket-weaver
Lenia – Laundress
Marcus Didius Falco – Informer and Imperial Agent from the Aventine.
Smaractus – Landlord
Law and Order
Arica – Member of the Sixth Cohort
Arria Silvia – Wife of L. Petronius Longus
Fusculus – Member of Petronius' enquiry team
L. Petronius Longus – Enquiry chief in the XIII region and friend of Falco
Marcus Rubella – Tribune of the Fourth Cohort of vigiles
Martinus – Deputy
Porcius – Recruit
Scythax – Doctor
Sergius – Punishment officer
Tibullinus – Centurion of the Sixth Cohort
Other Citizens
Alexander – Doctor
Balbinus Pius – Crime boss
Flaccida – Wife of Balbinus
Florius – Husband of Milvia
Lalage – Proprietress of the Bower of Venus
Little Icarus – Member of Balbinus' Gang
Macra – Employed at the Bower of Venus
Milvia – Daughter of Balbinus
Nonnius Albius – Court witness
The Miller – Member of Balbinus' Gang
Major themes
Investigation into the underworld of Roman life,
Developing relationship of Marcus Didius Falco and Helena Justina.
Allusions/references to actual history, geography and current science
Set in Rome in AD 72, during the reign of Emperor Vespasian.
