| Introduction | May | November |
| Game Start | June | December |
| January | July | Endgame |
| February | August | Things Not to Bother With (Semi-spoilers) |
| March | September | Acknowledgments |
| April | October | Visit Ancient Worlds |
It is 205 A.D., and Septimius Severus reigns over the vast Roman Empire. But an oracle has predicted disaster: the Calamitus, a clever saboteur whose mission is to destroy Rome. The ingenious inventor Cornelius has summoned you to identify and foil the Calamitus. He has put at your disposal his Navitor, a prototype device allowing you to travel about the city at will, find the necessary clues, and save Rome from destruction. (See Game Start - The Navitor for the workings of this technological marvel.) You must accomplish this task within the space of a year. But the Calamitus is very slippery, and there will be various acts of sabotage throughout the year that you must investigate. There are five suspects, whose notebooks and journals you will find and read along the way; one of them is the Calamitus.
This Walkthrough will help you get the clues you need, zero in on the correct suspect, and stop the Calamitus in time to preserve the Empire. Each section contains a "Just Hints" area for those who don’t want to be totally "spoiled." Just go to the section you want help with, and click on "Just Hints" for subtle hints or "Spoilers" for a complete walkthrough for that section’s puzzles.
Saving your game and quitting: Remember that you can save your game at any time by pressing ESC, pointing your cursor at an empty space on the list to highlight it, and clicking Save. The saved game will indicate the location and date at the point you saved. To load a saved game, press ESC, highlight it, and click Load. You can overwrite an old saved game by highlighting its entry and clicking Save; you’ll be asked to confirm that you want to overwrite it. "Exitus" exits this window and returns you to the game at the point you saved it; "Quit" quits the game.
This Walkthrough was the result of hours of play, but by no means my own alone. Many thanks to my fellow Citizens of Rome, whose cleverness in solving the puzzles they generously shared with me and other desperate gamers by responding to our cries for help on the old Rostra (now at Ancient Worlds, where you can play SPQR online) and the old GT Interactive Software Corp.’s S.P.Q.R. Forum. Special thanks to Birba, who helped me realize that I had not yet lost the game, to FeAudrey for her unflagging support, to Julilla Sempronia for keeping the faith, and to all those whose comments, suggestions, and corrections have helped me avoid too much embarrassment, especially L. Aelius Stilo, Larissa Fronzina, Jim Foy, Carol Burrell, and Terry Dwyer.
The Unofficial S.P.Q.R.TM Walkthrough © 1997 Linda Cantoni.