The Unofficial S.P.Q.R.Tm Walkthrough
for CyberSites' "S.P.Q.R.TM: The Empire's Darkest Hour" on CD-ROM
by Venusta

  Introduction
  Game Start
  January
  February
  March
  April
  May
  June
  July
  August
  September
  October
  November
  December
  Endgame
  Things Not to Bother With (Semi-spoilers)
  Acknowledgments
  Links to Roman Citizens' Sites

  New! 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 view "Just Hints" for subtle hints or view "Spoilers"
  for a complete walkthrough for that section's puzzles.

  Introduction

  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.

  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.

  Game Start

  Just Hints

  Sewer: Examine the machinery.

  First room: If it's broke, fix it!

  Second room: Reading is fundamental.

  Spoilers

  Sewer: You are in a sewer; ahead of you is a gate with a ladder
  behind it. To open the gate, click over to the crank. Pick up the
  little handle and place it in the hole on the top of the crank.
  Then click to turn the crank until the boat rises; continue until
  it stops. The gate should now be open; go up the ladder and turn
  the door handle.

  Useless things to play with: the brazier to the left of the crank
  (pick up the coal on the floor, put it in the brazier, and watch
  the flame flare up); the skeleton on the wall (running the cursor
  over the missing thighbone area produces a "click" -- but remember
  this for the Endgame).

  Cornelius's Office: At the model city, click on the fallen
  buildings to pick them up; a scroll pops up; read it, and click on
  the picture to run the little mini-video that shows you where
  Cornelius's desk is. Picking up the little buildings also opens
  the door to the next room, where Cornelius's desk is. Go to the
  desk, read all the scrolls and the note, click on the box to open
  it (you can't open the box until after you've clicked on the
  note), and get the crank. It will fly over to the Navitor. You
  might also want to play with the four machines a bit; each one is
  associated with a season. Ver=Spring; Aestas=Summer; Autumnus
  =Autumn; Hiems=Winter. Notice that there are also doors marked
  "Ver" and "Autumnus". This will give you an idea of what to do and
  where to go when you need to restart the Navitor after its
  seasonal breakdowns in March, June, September, and November.

  The Navitor

  Start the Navitor by pulling the crank to the right. Here's how it
  works:

  Time. The crank can be manipulated to slow down or speed up the
  passage of time; slower to the left, faster to the right. All the
  way to the left brings you back to Cornelius's study; pull to the
  right to restart. All the way to the right will go extra fast if
  you hold it there; very useful for advancing to the next date that
  something will be open if you don't feel like wandering around
  waiting for time to pass automatically. Keep it at a
  slow-to-moderate pace at the beginning, until you've familiarized
  yourself with the Forum and done everything you need to do the
  first month. You cannot go backward in time, unless you reload a
  saved game (see below). The center of the timebar indicates
  today's date in ancient Roman reckoning: "a.d." stands for "ante
  diem," or days before; "Kal." stands for Kalends, the first day of
  the month; "Non." stands for Nones, the 5th or 7th day of the
  month; and "Id." stands for Ides, the 13th or 15th day of the
  month. "Pridie" stands for the day before, i.e., the "eve" of the
  Kalends, Nones, or Ides of the month. Thus, for example, "a.d. XII
  Kal. Aug." is 12 days before the 1st of August -- in other words,
  you're in July, but past the Ides (or middle) of July. Nearly all
  of the places you have to visit to solve the puzzles will have
  specific opening dates (e.g., the Regia sign says "Apertus XIV
  Kal. Nov.", which is in October). Some dates will be indicated in
  the scrolls or Acta. You cannot get inside the place to solve the
  puzzle until on or after the specified date.

  Calendar: The scroll just above the timebar brings up a visual
  clue to where you'll need to solve that month's puzzle. There is
  one major puzzle each month (in addition to many minor ones).
  Press the button to the right to go forward and get a preview; the
  one to the left moves backward.

  Info. The nameplates contain the characters' notebooks, containing
  useful historical information about all aspects of ancient Rome,
  as well as clues to some of the puzzles you'll encounter as you go
  along. To get a table of contents, click on the initial on the
  bottom left of the notebook scroll. To move forward in the
  scrolls, click on the right; backward, to the left. The "Exitus"
  button exits the notebook. When a name is lit, click to read the
  notebook entry; it may contain clues. You can read the notebooks
  any time, even when the name isn't lit.

  Storage: Most of the non-scroll items you pick up (i.e., those not
  to be used immediately) will be stored in one of the two cabinets
  at the bottom left and right of the Navitor. The doors move down
  to open and up to close.

  Maps: The storage doors, when closed, have two maps. The one on
  the left is architectural, and allows you to click on individual
  buildings to see their layout. The one on the right is of the city
  itself. The places you visit are marked with circles; a flashing
  circle is where you're at now. You can hyperjump from one place to
  another by clicking on a circle near where you want to be. The
  names of the places are indicated at the bottom of the map as your
  cursor moves over them. Look for the turned-down edges indicating
  that you can turn the page to see more maps. "Exitus" exits.

  Compass: Bottom right. For use in conjunction with the city map.
  Shows you which way you're facing.

  Acta Diurna: Bottom left. Dated official mouthpiece of the
  Emperor; flashes when there's a new one. Can contain clues and
  indications as to when an important festival will be or when and
  where a crime you need to "investigate" was committed. Can be read
  anytime, even when not flashing, and you can go backward and
  forward (click "Retro" for backward; click on the right to go
  forward) but you cannot go into the future. Some Acta go beyond
  one page -- look for a "Cont." button. "Exitus" to exit.

  Scrolls: Each character's dated scrolls are stored on the
  five-slot shelf below the viewer. (See January for where to find
  all five.) A new scroll is indicated when it unfurls; click on it
  to read it. You can read scrolls even when they're furled; click,
  and the most recent one appears. Like the Acta, you can go
  backward or forward (look for the furled edges), but not beyond
  the date you're at. Scrolls contain textual and visual clues to
  minor and major puzzles, as well as giving an idea of each
  character's history and personality, and his or her possible
  motives for being the Calamitus.

  January

  Just Hints

  Where are the scrolls? Ask someone with a map.

  Getting the scrolls:

  Verania: Under your nose.

  Lucius: Drinking and boating DO go together -- count on it!

  Gordian: Pick one from column A, one from column B, etc. -- but
  get it right from the ground up. (See Lucius's notebook.)

  Xanthus: A stone is a many-sided thing. (See Gordian's notebook.)

  Sibyl: Mirror mirror on the wall . . . . Monkey see, monkey do.
  (See Sibyl's notebook.)

  The strongbox:

  The twins have the key, and the box.

  In Gordian's journal, between a nag and an inconvenience lies a
  security precaution, especially on January 22nd.

  Trust Gordian -- he knows all the angles.

  Spoilers

  You'll find yourself in the Forum, behind the Arch of Severus, on
  the first day of the year, Kal. Jan.

  1. Get all five scrolls:

  Locations are marked on one of the maps in Gordian's notebook.

  Verania - under the Arch of Severus -- you'll see it as soon as
  you get to the Forum from Cornelius's study. Verania is the
  Vestalis Maxima, or head of the Vestal Virgins.

  Lucius - upstairs at the Wineshop (just west of the Senate House).
  Go to the cabinet with the two levers and set both at VII. (The
  clue to this is at the bottom of the stairs -- if you click on the
  tree in the boat picture, grapes appear; click on the grapes, and
  dolphins appear. There are 7.) The cabinet opens, revealing
  Lucius's scroll. Lucius is the drunken son of a Senator, now a
  sort of private eye. Notice the wooden soldiers on his desk.
  Useless things to play with: the box by the stairs (which opens to
  reveal an animated helmet); the items on his desk; the other
  pictures in the wineshop downstairs.

  Gordian - up the Stair of Sighs in the Tabularium (next to the
  Tullian Jail), left, straight twice, and through the door to the
  right. Pick up the compass, which draws a circle and opens a door
  to the center office (Gordian's). Behind his desk is a picture of
  four columns with four boxes. Click to see the names of the column
  types; then click and drag to put them in the boxes in the right
  order from the ground up: Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, Composite.
  (Clue in Lucius's notebook entry on the Colosseum.) A gate to the
  right of the desk will open; go into that room and get Gordian's
  scroll. Gordian is the Curator Fori (curator of the Forum) and a
  prominent engineer. Useless things to play with: the other
  pictures on the walls.

  Xanthus - the third of the offices in the Tabularium. At the desk,
  place the stones in the numbered grooves according to the number
  of sides each has (i.e., the pyramid has four sides, so place it
  in the groove marked "IV" - clue in Gordian's notebook). You'll
  hear a click; turn around and click on the cabinet door to get his
  scroll. Xanthus is a foreigner working for Gordian.

  Sibyl - go to the alley next to the Temple of Vespasian. Turn the
  skull to open the curtain. On the table to the right is a note
  saying, "Who is the greatest Sibyl of them all?" Turn to the left
  wall (which says the same thing in Latin) and click on "Roma" on
  the map. The back curtain will open. Look at the box on the table
  to the left, then repeat the sequence of skulls in the dishes to
  the right (i.e., the third dish should be empty). The box will
  open -- get the scroll. (Clue in Sibyl's notebook on Dreams.)
  Sibyl is a fortune teller. Useless things to play with: the Zodiac
  wall; the things on her tables.

  2. Open Gordian's strongbox:

  A. Find the key to Gordian's Taberna. Gordian tells in his scrolls
  of finding a mysterious document, possibly belonging to Xanthus.
  On Gordian's desk in the Tabularium is a notebook with "Castor and
  Pollux" written on it. Turn the pages to find a key. Click on it;
  it will automatically go into your storage cabinet.

  B. Find Gordian's Taberna. Go to the alley on the west (Basilica
  Julia) side of the Temple of Castor and Pollux, where you will
  find a locked green door. Click on the key in your storage cabinet
  to open the door (the key remains in your storage cabinet in case
  you want to go back). You'll see a strongbox with a combination
  lock and two other closed wooden boxes.

  C. Open the strongbox. Enter XXIII on the strongbox by turning the
  wheels so that the numbers appear in the second set from the top,
  leaving the last number blank. (Clue to number: Gordian has a
  "hidden scroll" for a.d. X Kal. Feb. -- his scroll doesn't unfurl
  on that date, and if you click on the furled scroll on a.d. X Kal.
  Feb., you get his previous scroll for a.d. XIII Kal. Feb., called
  "The Nag." Notice, though, that on a.d. X Kal. Feb., the upper
  right corner of "The Nag" scroll is turned down, indicating
  another scroll after it. Click on the corner, and you'll find a
  scroll entitled "A Security Precaution" with a picture of a
  column, a circle over the column, and a number at the right. Point
  at the small circle at the bottom of the larger circle and drag it
  down until it reaches the bottom of the column. A right angle
  appears and the number changes to XXIII. If you're past a.d. X
  Kal. Feb., Gordian's next scroll is "An Inconvenience" on a.d. VII
  Kal. Feb., and you can flip backwards to "A Security Precaution"
  from there.) Press the button to open the box. Then pull the left
  lever ("sinister"=left). This opens the box to the left. Pull the
  left lever and go to the third box. Pull the right lever
  ("dexter"=right) and go back to the strongbox. There, you will
  find a partial list of ways in which Rome can be destroyed,
  presumably written by the Calamitus. This is a preview of the acts
  of sabotage you'll be investigating over the next year.

  February

  Just Hints

  Treasure lies beneath your feet.

  You pay your money and you take your chances.

  Every picture tells a story. (See Verania's notebook.)

  Spoilers

  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.

  March

  Just Hints

  Restarting the Navitor: You'll get it by hook or by crook in
  Spring.

  The puzzle: Get thee behind me and figure out the difference
  between then and now. Then light my fire!

  Spoilers

  1. Restart the Navitor.

  It is now Spring (Ver), so on Kal. Mar. the Navitor breaks down
  and you're back in Cornelius's study. Go to the double doors at
  the back of the study (to the right of the Navitor) and click on
  the handle. A note appears under the door with a code number (59).
  Go to the Ver table (to the right of the Navitor),enter LIX on the
  box, and take the machine piece out. Insert the piece between the
  crank and the vents and run the machine. A slot opens along the
  table edge; pull the knob. Find the door marked "Ver" by going to
  the left of the Navitor, and then to the right. Go in, climb the
  ladder, and attach the hook to the bellows. The Navitor will now
  run; go back to it, pull the crank to the right, and find yourself
  back at the Arch of Severus.

  2. The Vestal Flame (Id. Mar.)

  The scrolls and Acta report the Eternal Flame going out. Across
  from the back of the Temple of Vesta is a set of doors. Go through
  and get the lens holder. Turn around and pull the lever by the
  door; a backdoor to the Temple opens. Slide the upper wooden knob
  to enter "Kal. Mar." -- the date of the old New Year and when the
  Vestals relight the flame -- at the top. With the lower knob,
  enter the number of days between Kal. Mar. and today (if today is
  Id. Mar., enter XV). Pull the lever; a little door at the bottom
  right opens to reveal a lens. Click on it and enter the front of
  the Temple. Attach the lens to the holder above the brazier; the
  flame lights up the Temple, revealing on the side a skull, a vial,
  and a scroll. Get them.

  April

  Just Hints

  Play the ancient fiddler.

  The right isn't right, but be quick.

  Patience is a virtue when you want to leave.

  Spoilers

  Temple of Antoninus and Faustina/Water Organ (Pridie Id. Apr.)

  This temple is at the northeast end of the Forum, just past the
  Temple of Caesar. Inside the temple is a pump and an organ. Pull
  the pump lever, then go to the organ and slide the knobs on the
  doors to open them. You'll see that you need to enter a
  four-letter word. Press the 8th, 9th, 1st, and 2nd keys, spelling
  "NERO". (Clue: this is referred to in scrolls and notebooks as
  "Nero's water organ," and if you press all twelve keys in order
  from left to right it spells out "ROMA INCENDIT" -- "Rome burns".)
  VERYQUICKLY click to the LEFT (there's a niche there) -- the back
  wall is opening. (Although it appears that the opening is to the
  right, all you'll find on the right side is a soldier statue,
  which doesn't help you very much. If you miss the left-hand
  opening, just start over and enter NERO again.) Inside you'll find
  a wooden soldier, a piece of marble, and a scroll. Get them, turn
  around, and wait until the niche turns into a door, which leads
  out to the back of the temple. If you try to exit too soon, you'll
  wind up back in the organ room, and you can't get through the
  front doors; the head of the horseman statue turns to look at you
  (shades of "Jason and the Argonauts"!). You can retry all of this
  if you don't get it right the first time.

  May

  Just Hints

  What really weighs what -- and where?

  Remember your multiplication tables.

  Spoilers

  Aerarium/Weights (a.d. XIV Kal. Iun)

  The Acta and scrolls will tell of a break-in at the Aerarium and
  the possibility that the weights were tampered with. Go to the
  alley on the east side of Castor and Pollux (not the one where you
  found Gordian's strongbox in January, but the other side). Go
  through the Aerarium doors on the right and go around to the back
  of the room (right, ahead, left, ahead, left, left). You'll see a
  scale, a lever, some numbered weights, and a funnel marked "XXXV"
  (35).

  Hang the weights in this order: I, II, V, IV. Pull the lever so
  that sand flows into the scale pan, until the scale is even (if
  you go too far, just keep letting the sand flow until the pan
  dumps itself, then pull the lever to start again). Remove the pan
  and pour the sand into the funnel. A niche above the funnel opens,
  revealing a stylus, a weight, and a scroll. (Clue: in one of the
  scrolls or Acta, there is a reference to the weights being
  tampered with. IV is debased by 1/4; and the hooks increase in
  multiples, i.e., 1st=x1,2nd=x2, 3rd=x3, 4th=x4. Thus, the 1 1b.
  weight on the first hook is 1 lb., the 2 lb. weight on the second
  hook is 4 lbs., the 5 lb. weight on the third hook is 15 lbs., and
  the debased 4 lb. weight on the fourth hook is 15 lbs. Total: 35
  lbs.; you have to put 35 lbs. of sand in the funnel to open the
  niche.)

  June

  Just Hints

  Restarting the Navitor: Optimum is best where Spring leads to
  Summer.

  The puzzle:

  The Sacred Grove holds many secrets. Can you dig it?

  Was this the face that launch'd a thousand ships, And burnt the
  topless towers of Ilium? (See Verania's notebook.)

  A very jarring situation.

  Spoilers

  1. Restart the Navitor:

  On Kal. June the Navitor breaks down. Again, get your clue (19)
  from under the double doors. Enter XIX on the box at the Aestas
  table (left of the desk), get the piece, attach it to the side of
  the rocket launcher, run the machine, and pull the knob. Enter the
  Ver door and find the Aestas door to the right. Get the water
  running by clicking on the wheels (the right one first) until the
  level is at OPT. Back to the Navitor.

  2. Sacred Grove/Palladium (a.d. III Id. Iun.)

  The Acta and scrolls report the theft of the Palladium, a small
  sacred statue kept hidden in the House of the Vestal Virgins. Go
  to the Sacred Grove behind the House of the Vestal Virgins (to the
  southeast) by going up the Via Nova and making a left at the
  fountain. Go straight and turn right at the gates. Go through the
  gates, turn around, close the right-hand gate, and go through the
  secret door. Get the shovel, turn around, close the door, and go
  through another secret door at the left. Go upstairs, straight up
  the hill, left, straight, three rights, and find the grass patch
  that looks disturbed. Click on the shovel to dig up the Palladium
  (a small statue of a woman). Then go left and straight down the
  hill to the other exit(not the one you came in). Go down the
  stairs, turn right, open the door, go in, turn around, close the
  door, and click on another door to the right to exit.

  Turn left and go through the back door of the House of the Vestal
  Virgins. Put the statute in the niche. You'll hear a door open. Go
  through the door and press "Troia" on the map (Verania's notebook
  tells the story of Aeneas bringing the Palladium to Rome from
  Troy; the scrolls and Acta tell of its theft from the secret jar
  it's usually stored in). Find the room with the jars. Pull the
  jars to the right, then the left, which sends a jar to the next
  room (the button rearranges the jars in case you make a mistake).
  Go back to the niche and click on the Palladium, which flies over
  to the room with the single jar in a groove. Click on the jar.
  Look up to find the Regia capstone (marked "V"), an acorn, and a
  scroll. Exit by going back up the stairs and out to the Grove
  gates; you can also exit by going through the small wooden door
  into the House of the Vestal Virgins.

  July

  Just Hints

  What comes up, must come down, then go out, then go up.

  Veni, vidi, vici -- chronologically. (See Gordian's notebook.)

  If heat makes things bigger, then cold . . .

  Go with the flow of hot to not so hot.

  Spoilers

  Temple of Caesar/Baths (a.d. IV Id. Iul.)

  You'll read about the flooding of the Temple of Caesar due to a
  malfunction at the nearby Baths. Go to the temple (east end of the
  Forum) and insert the stone key into the altar in front. Pull it
  right, then left, revealing an unlit torch. Light the torch at the
  flaming torch to the altar's left. You'll be transported inside.
  Go down to the pot and release all the water by pulling on the
  handle at the bottom. When the pot rises, go up, turn so you're
  facing the pot, and look up. Attach the rope hook to the pot hook,
  which sends you out of the temple, but opens the main temple
  doors. Go up to the main doors and enter. At the map, press
  Gallia, Aegyptus, Asia, Africa (clue in Gordian's notebook entry
  on Julius Caesar ñ the order of his campaigns.)

  Go through the gate at the right of the map. You'll find yourself
  on the other side of the room with the pot. Go through the tunnel
  and enter the barrel-shaped door. Pick up the bar in the sunken
  area and bring it to the Frigidarium; dip it in the water to cool
  it down and shrink it. Go to the pump room and attach the bar to
  the pump by placing the center over the brass knob between the
  pumps. On the left(marked "Intro") press "C"; on the right
  ("Exitus") press "T", which drains water from the Calidarium into
  the "Tepidarium" (i.e., the sunken area you saw before). When the
  Tepidarium is full, enter the Calidarium and look into the tub --
  it should be empty except for a gold box. Open the box and get the
  curved wire, wooden horse, and scroll. (Clue to all this is in the
  scrolls -- complaints about the temperature of the baths.) Examine
  the scroll carefully and play with the animation; you can't take
  it with you and you can't re-open that gold box once you leave the
  room. Note that turning the animated valve clockwise shuts the
  flow of water off; counterclockwise turns it on. This is relevant
  to one of the possible endings.

  August

  Just Hints

  Can cows swim?

  I shot an arrow into the air, it fell to earth with a bang over
  there.

  Spoilers

  Tiber River/Crossbow (a.d. IX Kal. Sep.)

  You'll see reports that someone has flooded the cattle market down
  by the Tiber. Go down to the river by following the street to the
  left of the Temple of Saturn until you hit some wooden machinery
  (to the right of which is where Gordian's temple is being built --
  you can check on its progress periodically).Click on the machinery
  and continue to the river steps. To the left is the flooded cattle
  market mentioned in the scrolls and Acta -- playing with the
  animals does nothing important, but it's fun. Downstairs, you'll
  see a bunch of junk and a box marked "Explosive." Go back up the
  stairs and continue to the bridge; make a left. On the left-hand
  railing is a crossbow. Click on the wire thing you found in the
  Baths and it will attach itself to the crossbow. Click on one of
  the arrows to "load" it. Watch the wind indicator to the right,
  and try to fire at the spot near the temple in the distance (where
  the junk is). Keep trying until there's an explosion; a wooden
  horse, a "water key", and a scroll come flying down.

  September

  Just Hints

  Restarting the Navitor: Get the connection in Autumn.

  The puzzle:

  Whaddaya got that Vespasian ain't got?

  Crawlin' through the wreckage.

  Jupiter has something to relay.

  Find in the light going up what you couldn't find in the dark
  going down.

  Spoilers

  1. Restart the Navitor.

  The Kal. Sep. breakdown brings you back to Cornelius's study.
  Again, go to the double doors and get the note with the code
  number: 95. Go to the Autumnus table to the right of the desk,
  enter the XCV in the box, get the piece, attach it to the bolts,
  run the machine, and pull the knob. Find the Autumnus door to the
  left of the double doors. Set the switches at 1 down, 2 and 3 up,
  and 4 down. Remove the fuse from the bolts at the left to make the
  electrical connection; you'll see blue sparks. Back to the
  Navitor.

  2. Temple of Vespasian/Finance Office/Relay Station (Id. Sep.)

  You'll hear about an explosion at the Finance Office, allegedly
  caused by a thunderbolt from the Temple of Jupiter. At the corner
  of the Temple of Vespasian, at the alley near Sibyl's taberna, is
  a stone map with "Id. Sep." carved into the missing map area.
  Click on the marble piece you found earlier to fill it in. The
  door at the end of the alley opens. Enter and go through the door
  to find the burning Finance Office. Go out into the rubble, turn
  right, look down, and get the fuse attached to the wire. Turn
  around and go straight up the stairs, which transports you to a
  hill behind the Tabularium. Go left and up the stairs toward
  Jupiter. Look for a golden door with a wire leading down from the
  Temple of Jupiter. Open the door and follow the wire down the
  stairs, press the button to open the door, go down the hill, and
  go to the right, where you'll see a small building (the Relay
  Station). Enter the building and click on the fuse to attach it to
  the connector on the left (this lights the stairs you just came
  down). Go back up to the stairs and look in the right-hand wall
  (as you're going up) for a wooden niche, where you'll find a
  second fuse. Get it and return to the Relay Station. Attach the
  second fuse to the first, then pull the fuse on the right over so
  that it attaches to the ones on the left. At the left of the room,
  you'll see a switch; throw it, and the big box opens. Get the arch
  form, soldier, and scroll.

  October

  Just Hints

  Spell it, outside and inside.

  Who conquered what? (See Gordian's Notebook.)

  Spoilers

  Regia/Shields (a.d. XIV Kal. Nov.)

  The Acta and scrolls report tampering with the sacred shields of
  Mars at the Regia. Enter the Regia(near the Temple of Vesta). On
  the floor to the left is a circular inscription; click on the
  "capstone" you found earlier. This opens the courtyard door. There
  are three circles on the ground here; each has three rings. Move
  the rings on each circle so that each forms a letter: PAX.
  (There's a fun animation on one of the blank niches here, by the
  way; move your cursor over the figures to see them twirl.) This
  process opens a second door; enter it, open the cabinet, and solve
  the anagram puzzle: BELLUM ET PAX(war and peace). This opens yet
  another door, to the shield room. Hang the appropriate shield on
  each emperor's name (clue in Gordian's notebook on Emperors):
  Arabia on Severus, Gallia on Julius, Egypt on Augustus, Britannia
  on Claudius, Dacia on Trajan. A hole in the floor opens up. Go
  down and get the acorn, Regia tunnel key, and scroll. Open the
  door, and you'll find yourself in the House of the Vestal Virgins.

  November

  Just Hints

  Restarting the Navitor: See Cornelius's sketch and go from Spring
  to Winter.

  The puzzle: Rebuild, and add your own touch.

  Spoilers

  1. Restart the Navitor.

  On Kal. Nov., it becomes Winter. This one is complex; there's a
  sketch of part of it in one of Cornelius's scrolls. Again, at the
  double doors, get the note with the number code (41); go to the
  Hiems table at the left of the Navitor, enter XLI, get the piece,
  attach it next to the similar piece on the right of the machine,
  run the machine, and pull the knob. Then go through the Ver door
  to find the Hiems door at the left and the final machine. Each of
  the three levers has three positions; the big one on the
  left(marked A in Cornelius's drawing) goes from left to right, I
  II III; the next (B and C) go from down to up, I II III. Put A at
  II, B at III, and C at II. Then press the button (D) and WORK
  QUICKLY: B at II, C at III, B at I, A at I. If the machine dies
  down before you complete the second sequence, just start over.
  When it's running, go back to the Navitor.

  2. Gordian's Temple/Arch (a.d. XVI Kal. Dec.)

  You'll see references in the scrolls and Acta to the building and
  destruction of Gordian's temple. Go to the building site (south of
  Saturn, near where you entered the Tiber area). You'll see a
  toppled arch and a crane with a lever. Rebuild the archway by
  clicking on a piece to get the crane to pick it up, rotating the
  piece with the lever, and clicking on where you want it to go.
  Start with a rectangle at the bottom left space, a square at the
  bottom right, a rectangle to the left, a square to the left, a
  rectangle to the left, a rectangle with a curve on its right side
  to the left, and a rectangle with a curve on its left side to the
  right. Then get the big wooden arch piece, rotate so that the
  straight side is on the bottom, and put the piece on the top. Then
  add the small arch piece, rotate it, and place on the right side;
  click on your arch piece and put it on top. Then add the small
  curved pieces and, finally, the keystone. When it transforms into
  a completed archway, click on the top of it to go through into the
  building site. Among the rubble, find the axe, a wooden soldier,
  and a scroll. You'll notice when you look up that a wall has
  opened just beyond this area; this is the Elements Door, but don't
  try to solve that one until you've completed December's puzzle and
  are ready to proceed to the Endgame.

  December

  Just Hints

  On top of old Severus, all covered with clues . . .

  The glittering monument has got your number.

  You can run rings around Saturn.

  Able was I ere I saw Elba.

  Be forceful with the statue -- if you choose.

  Spoilers

  Temple of Saturn (a.d. IV Id. Dec.)

  You're in the home stretch now. You'll see references in the
  scrolls and Acta to the robbery of gold from the Aerarium. But you
  won't be using the same entrance as you did for the weights puzzle
  in May. Go underneath the stairs of the Temple of Saturn and click
  on the vault door there. The combination is CLXV. (Clue: go to the
  top of the Arch of Severus using the stairs at the end of the
  Lacus Curtius tunnels, only when you get out, turn around again
  and you'll see a staircase going up. At the top, you'll see a gold
  circle and batons, as well as graffiti saying "Cumae." Cumae was
  conquered in the year CLXV, as you'll see from the inscription on
  the Golden Milestone near the Aerarium vault door.) Go to the
  planetary map and get the ring of Saturn. Go out and up Saturn's
  front stairs. Click on the ring; it reappears on the doors, which
  open when you click on them. To the left is an anagram/palindrome
  puzzle. Solve it by picking up each letter and running it over the
  board until it magically appears in several places. Or, enter,
  from top to bottom (or left to right), ROTAS, OPERA, TENET,
  AREPO,SATOR. Go to the statue; what you do now will determine the
  ending of the game:

  1. Ignore the statue and proceed to Endgame. (I prefer the ending
  that results from this one.)

  2. Click on the panel beneath the statue to open it slightly, then
  click on your axe to get it out and click on the axe again to
  break the panel open. Get the wooden soldier, bone, and scroll.
  Proceed to Endgame.

  Endgame

  Just Hints

  Brave the elements.

  Not all woods are created equal. (See Gordian's notebook.)

  Go out with a bang, but don't give up!

  Who left the most toys?

  If I were Calamitus, I'd enjoy Winter, where:

  I could be rather cutting,

  OR

  the shinbone's connected to the . . .

  Spoilers

  Must be completed before Kal. Jan.!

  1. Identify the Suspect.

  To help identify your suspect, the final scrolls of all five
  characters will open simultaneously at some point during
  Saturnalia (after Id. Dec.). Each describes what he/she would do
  if he/she were the Calamitus and how to stop him/her. Check to
  make sure you have all the items they mention: the axe (Lucius --
  but if you used the axe in Saturn, make sure you at least have the
  bone), the Regia tunnel key(Verania), the "water key" (Xanthus),
  the vial (Sibyl), and the counterweight (Gordian). Then look at
  the bottom shelf of your storage area; here are all the soldiers
  and horses etc. that you haven't had any apparent use for. But
  each different item is a symbol for each character, and Cornelius
  said in one of his scrolls that the person associated with the
  greatest number of crimes must be the Calamitus. The soldiers
  stand for Lucius (on his desk in the Wine shop), the acorns for
  Verania (on her desk in the House of the Vestal Virgins), the
  horses for Xanthus (on his table in the Lacus Curtius lair), the
  skull for Sibyl (in the back room of her taberna), and the stylus
  for Gordian (on his desk in the Tabularium). If you used the axe
  in Saturn, you should have 4 soldiers, 3 horses, 2 acorns, 1
  skull, and 1 stylus. Lucius, then, is the Calamitus. If you didn't
  use the axe, you'll have 3 soldiers, making Xanthus look like a
  likely suspect too, but Lucius is the man. If you stay in the
  Forum long enough before going on to the next step, Sibyl
  exonerates herself in a final scroll, in which she says that
  Cornelius speaks through her "from beyond."

  2. The Elements Door.

  Go back to Gordian's destroyed temple site (through the rebuilt
  arch) and straight ahead to a court yard. To the right is
  Cornelius's Elements Door. You'll need to click twice on each of
  two of the panels and once on each of the two remaining panels --
  it doesn't matter which ones. For example, click twice on the
  first panel (upper left), once on the second (upper right), twice
  on the third (lower left), and once on the fourth (lower right).
  (Clue in Gordian's "Measures" notebook on the properties of wood ñ
  he mentions what the door is made of, and in the chart of woods,
  the number of times "max" appears is the number of times you
  click. There's also a clue in the final scroll in Saturn, assuming
  you used the axe and got it.) Turn the door handle and enter. The
  Navitor promptly shuts down and explodes, scattering the five
  "stop the Calamitus" items on the floor, along with the first
  initial of each character's name.

  3. Stop the Calamitus.

  Clicking on the initials will re-play the "If I Were Calamitus..."
  messages. Click on your suspect's item to pick it up.

  A. Lucius. If you're going with Lucius (as you should, but the
  other endings are fun to see), click on the axe or bone. You
  already know from his "If I Were Calamitus" message that he plans
  to blow up Cornelius's manure boat in the sewer (the one you
  cranked up at the game start, and which powers the Navitor), and
  that you can stop him by cutting the boat free with the axe. Go
  through the wrecked Ver door and to the left through the old Hiems
  door, where the conveyor belt is, and click on the belt. You'll be
  transported to the sewer -- the same sewer you entered the game
  from. If you chose to keep the axe, get over to the rope holding
  up the boat and click on it. The axe cuts the rope, sending the
  boat out of the sewer and into the Tiber, where it blows up. This
  ending I like best; you'll see the ancient Forum morph into the
  way it looks today, in modern Rome. If you went for the bone, go
  over to the skeleton and click on the missing thigh. The wall
  crashes forward, knocking the boat out of the sewer. This
  transforms Rome into an ancient technological Utopia -- the ending
  Cornelius would have liked, I think.

  B. Xanthus. He's not the right man, but his ending is fun. Click
  on the water key and go out through the courtyard. You'll be
  transported all the way up the Via Nova stairs and through those
  mysterious wooden doors you couldn't do anything with. This is the
  Valve House. Click on the machine and the water key appears.
  Xanthus says that he can be stopped by rotating the water key "in
  the opposite direction" until it runs off the teeth. Remember the
  scroll in the Baths. If you turn the key counterclockwise, it
  causes a flood, and Byzantium takes over. If you turn it
  clockwise, Rome burns, the Goths take over, and Xanthus is made
  king.

  C. Gordian. Click on the counterweight and try to go out the
  courtyard door; you won't even make it, for Rome burns, the Goths
  take over, and Xanthus is made king.

  D. Verania or Sibyl. Click on their respective items; as with
  Gordian, you won't make it out the door. Rome burns and Byzantium
  takes over.

  Things Not To Bother With

  (Semi-Spoilers)

  Places you can see but can't get into: The Senate House, the
  Temple of Concord, the Tullian Jail, the Temple of Castor and
  Pollux, the Cloaca Maxima (no, not even through that grate in the
  Lacus Curtius tunnel!), the alcoves along the Via Nova, the Tiber
  River, the Temple of Hercules (at the Tiber); the pool in the
  House of the Vestal Virgins, the Temple of Jupiter.

  Places you've heard about but can't get into: The Valve House
  (except during the Xanthus ending), the cistern under the Regia,
  the Imperial Palace, the reservoir on the Palatine Hill, the
  mundus, the Field of Wickedness (where Verania was buried alive),
  the Colosseum.

  Places you can get into but that hold nothing of importance
  (except possibly generating notebook entries): The Basilica Julia,
  the Basilica Aemilia, the Rostra, the top of the Arch of Severus
  (unless you really need that clue to the Aerarium door in
  December).

  Things that do nothing: The gates, stone blocks, and grate in the
  Lacus Curtius; the mysterious wooden doors on the stairs of the
  Via Nova -- they only open for the Xanthus ending.

  Things you can play with but that do nothing important: Most of
  the items on the characters' desks make some kind of appropriate
  noise when you click on them; the chains across the doorways in
  the Lacus Curtius tunnel rattle, and some of the closed gates make
  a clanging sound; the livestock in the Cattle Market make barnyard
  sounds; wall pictures not mentioned above often display some kind
  of fun animation.

  Acknowledgments

  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 Rostra of the S.P.Q.R.TM on-line version and GT Interactive
  Software Corp.'s S.P.Q.R.TM Forum. Special thanks to Birba, who
  helped me realize that I had not yet lost the game!

  Please please PLEASE send your comments, suggestions, and
  especially corrections to me at lcantoni@msn.com. Thanks to those
  who have already helped me avoid too much embarrassment.

  Links To Citizens' Sites

  Players of the online version of S.P.Q.R.TM have formed a
  tight-knit community of Roman citizens, whose expertise de rerum
  romanae is well represented on the World Wide Web. Visit these
  sites to enrich your Roman experience:

  When in Rome, do as the Romans do and visit FeAudrey's SPQR
  Companion Page, (www.techinter.com/~feaudrey/spqrcmpn.htm) chock
  full of resources on ancient Rome and the S.P.Q.R.TM on-line
  version, including links to esteemed fellow citizens' sites.

  L. Aelius Stilo's comprehensive and scholarly Encyclopaedia Romana
  (cgi.pathfinder.com/@@sWRDEgcAK6luxzeD/cgi-bin/boards/read/76/85)
  is an invaluable compendium, updated in installments, of Roman
  history.

  Make yourself at home in Rome with M. Didius Festus's lovely
  Domus, (plaza.interport.net/logomanc/domus/about.html) where you
  can see how the ancient half lived.

  The Women of Rome are celebrated in Livia Drusa's
  (www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/2116/) beautiful and
  informative site.

  Cave canem at Canis Venaticus's witty version of S.P.Q.R.TM, The
  Adventures of Canis Venaticus in the Roman Republic and Empire as
  Related and Embellished by Fredericus Pinguinus.
  (langmuir.physics.uoguelph.ca/~freddy/)

  The Unofficial S.P.Q.R.TM Walkthrough © 1997 Linda Cantoni.

  S.P.Q.R. and S.P.Q.R.: the Empire's Darkest Hour are trademarks of
  CyberSites, Inc. © 1996
  CyberSites, Inc. All Rights Reserved.