Read The Time Travelers' Handbook Online
Authors: Lottie Stride
The Time Travelers' Handbook (14 page)
Splat
âyou've landed in a lumpy substance that smells suspiciously like horse poop, in a filthy street in the middle of Florence, Italy.
The first thing you notice is the smell. In the 21st century, Florence is famed for magnificent art and architecture, but there isn't much evidence of that now. There's just a foul stench and a sense of impending doom. You've arrived when the city is in the grip of the Black Death, a deadly disease that will eventually kill about a third of all the people in Europe.
You have two optionsâhit the EJECT button and get out of here (it really does smell awful), or stick around to see what's going on.
Caution
⢠The Black Death, otherwise known as the plague, is highly contagious, and can cause a painful death.
⢠Avoid anyone who looks sick. They may be coughing up blood that contains plague bacteria.
⢠Avoid rats or anywhere they might be hiding. Rats don't cause the disease, but the fleas that live on the rats do.
⢠Don't worry if people don't want to speak to you. Everyone is so scaredâsome parents have even abandoned their sick children to avoid being infected themselves.
Running Scared
At the side of the road, you see a man running along with his face covered. When you go over to speak to him, he looks very afraid. However, once you have assured him that you are not infected in any way, he lets you accompany him to his house. His name is Giovanni. He apologizes for his rudeness, but explains that so many people have died from the disease everyone is now terrified. People are too scared to look after their loved ones when they are sick, or even bury them when they die.
So far, nobody has found a way to stop the disease. Some people have barricaded themselves in their homes. They believe the plague is a curse from God, and that by living well and praying, they will escape. Other people have left the city altogether in the hope that they can outrun the disease. A few people seem to have gone mad, trying to have as much fun as possible. They drink and eat as much as they like, and steal from people's abandoned homes.
They believe these are going to be their last days, so they are going to try to enjoy them as much as they can.
Medieval Medicine
Giovanni has seen many people die from the disease and hasn't yet seen a treatment that has worked. Here are some of the crazy cures people have tried:
⢠Bloodletting. This involves cutting the body and letting the infected blood run out. This does not work and will only make the patient weaker and more likely to die.
⢠Cutting open the swellings caused by the disease and putting dried toads on them to draw out the poison. This would probably only result in the wounds becoming infected.
⢠Holding a garland of strongly scented flowers and herbs. This might block out the smell of rotting corpses, but it won't stop people from being infected. They are infected not by the foul smell, but by the bites of infected fleas. A bunch of flowers isn't going to ward off fleas.
Giovanni stops at a door and knocks. It opens slightly and someone inside asks if he is alone. He says no and explains that you look perfectly healthy and are a traveler from a neighboring town. There is a commotion inside and a lot of shouting. Your friend apologizes to you, but then pushes himself through the door and slams it in your face.
You look down the street and it looks completely empty. Time to go, there's nothing left for you to do hereâEJECT.
Sickly Symptoms Warning
Phew! You're back in the present. Your TT handset is equipped with an
ImmunoShield
, which protects you from catching the diseases of the past and stops you giving modern coughs and colds to the people you meet. However, in the rare event of a malfunction, look out for the following symptoms over the next few weeks:
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⢠An itchy, black, pus-filled spot. This is an infected flea bite and may mean you are infected with the most common type of plagueâbubonic plague. This can occur up to a week after having been bitten.
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⢠Swellings in your armpit or groin. These are called buboes and can grow to be the size of an apple. Buboes are a sure sign that you have been infected by bubonic plague. The swellings are, in fact, your lymph nodes (organs in your body that work to fight against disease).
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⢠An unusual rash without buboes. This could be a sign of septicemic plague. This is when the body is completely overwhelmed with plague bacteria and is always fatal.
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⢠Coughing up blood and a high temperature. Take care because you may have caught an even more fast-acting form of the disease, pneumonic plague. This is when the plague bacteria has been transmitted in the coughed-up blood of other people and is now in your lungs.
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If you feel at all unwell, seek medical attention. Modern antibiotics have proven very effective in treating the disease.
You have landed on a long, dusty road in Northern Italy. Behind you, you hear the loud
crunch, crunch, crunch
of marching soldiers coming toward you. Eek! It sounds like the whole Roman army is at your back. As you turn around, the crunching comes to an abrupt halt. Mistaking you for one of the soldiers in his century, or unit of 80 men, the centurion, or leader of the century, tells you to get in line with the rest of the soldiers.
A Lucky Escape
You get in line next to a soldier named Curtius Balbas. He tells you that you are very lucky to get off so lightly. Punishments in the Roman legions are very harsh. Soldiers who misbehave are flogged and if the centurion had suspected you of making a run for it, every tenth man in the whole century could have been killed. This is called
decimatio
and the centurions use this as a warning to anyone wanting to flee from battle. Curtius says he has seen this happen before and that it is terrifying waiting to find out if it is going to be your turn for the sword.
Life In The Legions
Today, the soldiers are on a training march. They do this three to four times a month and travel at speeds of up to 5 miles an hour and cover up to 25 miles in just five hours wearing full armor. In addition, they have to carry all the things they will need to set up camp. Curtius says that training is hard, but that it is much better than fighting or building long, straight roads like the one you are walking on now. Curtius has fought in 15 campaigns since he was called to serve when he was just 17 years old.
A Good Meal
By the time you stop to make camp for the night, you are very tired. You are so hungry you could eat a horse, but Curtius has something much smaller in mind. He suggests feasting on a highly prized Roman delicacyâroasted dormouse. Dormice would usually be served at elegant banquets, but luckily for you, he keeps a jar with live dormice in it and offers them up for the meal. Not wanting to sound chicken, you accept his offer and watch how he prepares his Roman rodent recipe.
Delicious Dormouse Delight
In the present, the dormouse is an endangered species in its native En gland. Curtius uses real dormice for his recipe but he says you could use chicken pieces instead. ALWAYS cook with an adult and ask permission to use the oven.
You will need:
⢠3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts ⢠1 cup of Italian-seasoned bread crumbs ⢠½ cup Parmesan cheese ⢠1 teaspoon salt ⢠1 teaspoon thyme ⢠1 teaspoon dried basil ⢠½ cup butter/margarine, melted
1.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2.
Cut chicken breasts into 1½-inch size pieces. In a medium bowl, mix together bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, salt, thyme, and basil. Mix well. Put melted butter/margarine in a bowl for dipping.
3.
Dip chicken pieces into the melted butter/margarine first, then coat with bread crumb mixture. Place well-coated chicken pieces on a lightly greased cookie sheet in a single layer, and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.
Serves six hungry Romans.