For the next person who runs across this (and possibly only for WP 1.5.x) try this:
Add a new line 1 to your wp root’s index.php file:
1 <?php include('rotator.php'); ?>
2 <?php
3 /* Short and sweet */
4 define('WP_USE_THEMES', true);
5 require('./wp-blog-header.php');
6 ?>
And put rotator.php and images.ini in your wp root as well. This was the only way I could get the rotator to work when using <?php showImage(); ?> from (an embedded location) within a theme.php file.
