Treasure lies beneath your feet.
You pay your money and you take your chances.
Every picture tells a story. (See Verania's notebook.)
The Lupercal Cave (a.d. XV Kal. Mar.)
The scrolls and Acta report vandalism at the altar of the Lupercal Cave during the Lupercalia festival. Enter the Lacus Curtius well in the center of the Forum. Pick up one of the coins. Turn right; you'll see a loose brick. Click to break a hole open. To the right is Xanthus's lair (nothing important there, but you can play with the wooden horse picture); go to the left. At the big stone block, turn left to find an open passageway. Follow it to the end (past another block) and turn right. Go up the stairs and to the right to exit; you're under the Arch of Severus (if you turn back around toward the left, you'll find a staircase leading up to the top of the Arch, where there are some lovely views of Rome. In December there will be a clue there). Go east through the Forum and turn right (south) at the Temple of Vesta. Go up the stairs (this is the Via Nova) until you see a slot. Click on the coin; it flies into the slot and you'll be transported up the hill. Go through the doors in front of you and down into the cave. At the altar, rearrange the tiles in the chronological order of the story of Romulus and Remus -- babies, wolf, twins, man wielding sword, dead man, victorious man (clue in Verania's notebook). Then click on the final picture; the altar box will open, revealing a wooden horse, a stone key, and a scroll. Click on all three. Note that the scrolls you find in the monthly puzzles will name the "useful" item you've found (here, it's the stone key) -- the other item is a clue to the identity of the person who left it there (see ENDGAME). These scrolls also give a hint as to how this person would destroy Rome; click on the picture in the scroll to run an animation of how it would be done.