Gil

I just finished reading an Inspector Lynley crime/murder mystery - "This Body of Death" - which happened to turn around the discovery of some Roman loot in the New Forest of England. So that was kind of fun! I've never watched the TV show (BBC?) made from the books. But I can HIGHLY recommend the entire series of books by Elizabeth George. (If you like contemporary "murder mysteries")

Caia Lupa - 20 - Gil Tamm (Apius A.L. Ursus) - 55 - Gil

In her father's wake, Caia had moved, noiselessly at first, trying hard to avoid the notice of any malevolent spirits. She had risen when he had, and as he had washed and prepared himself for the ritual, she had fetched a pot of hot water, kept ready for just this purpose since when they had gone to sleep earlier. As Caius moved from room to room, Caia took the pot and a spoon and spun about in his wake, cleansing each room with the water, casting it about in a circle. By the time her father was done, her sister and the slaves who slept in the apartment with them were all awake and ready, and they each began to beat upon metal pots or cups or plates - whatever was available, doled out between them. Caia joined in, beathing her spoon against the now empty pot she carried, as they all began to howl and make a great noise, to scare away any last remaining spirits who might have lingered. Then they all fell to, with more water and soap, and began to wash every nook and corner, every surface and piece of furnishing, missing nothing until the sun was well risen and the house was pure and clean from top to bottom. Then it was the time to pay homage to their ancestors with offerings set before the lalarium. It would be a bittersweet day for Caia, as the loss of her mother was brought home in such a marked way. Yet knowing too that her spirit watched over them brought great comfort to the young woman. With this in mind, she approached her father and laid a gentle hand on his arm. "Alright, father?" she asked quietly, looking into his familiar face. She was certainly old enough to note how it had aged, as she had grown. It was lined with hard work and toil, cares and setbacks, not the least of which was the loss of his wife. But it was rugged, and strong, and inspired a great deal of faith and certainty in Caia. She always believed her father would be there for her, and take care of her, and her sister. When it came to family, Caius was in every sense of the word a good Roman family man. @Gothic

Calvunus shot the other two a look and asked with a grin, "Delos? Isn't that where they have all those statues of gigantic pricks?" He snorted in amusement as he stuffed some bread in his gob. @Chevi

Phaedo listened with rapt attention, as Calvunus began attacking his food with gusto, and a good amount of lip smacking, chewing and slurping at the wine that had been delivered to them. Against this backdrop of noise, the slave murmured appreciatively, "...But when I saw the house of Artemis that mounted to the clouds, those other marvels lost their brilliancy, and I said, 'Lo, apart from Olympus, the Sun never looked on aught so grand'."* He smiled, bemused, at Theodorus. "You are fortunate. I was close to Ephesus, once. When I was brought from the northern shores of the Euxeinos Pontus, and then by ship to Delos, where my first master bought me. But, I was only a small child. Even if I had the good fortune to see the temple, I would not have known it for what it was. My master had seen it though. He told me of its wonder and taught me those words." *from Antipater of Sidon, a Greek poet of the second century BC, found in the Greek Anthology IX.58 @Chevi

The suggestion had Phaedo's eyebrows rising with mild surprise. He wasn't at all sure his own mistress would be pleased for one of her slave's to be quite so free as to stay out all night, somewhere else. Yet it was Saturnalia - a festival when roles reversed and slaves could act as masters, for one night. Lexus was not his master, so Phaedo was not quite sure it applied in the same way to the two of them. They were friends, or so he liked to believe, whilst burying any realization that their status was worlds apart. But it had seemed like the domina of the Venus had pretty much given them all liberty, to go out and enjoy themselves. So perhaps...it would be alright if he stayed away, just this one night. Besides, the offer made by Lexus would still have to be approved by his mother too. So in response, Phaedo said, quite truthfully, "I would enjoy that. But come, first we must get there." He grinned and with his arm about his friend, they continued to make their way through the dark streets, heading towards Lexus' dwelling. It seemed to Phaedo that were coming close to their destination, although he wasn't entirely sure that the alley they had chosen would empty out into the street they needed to be on, when a dark shape loomed up out of the shadows, joined by another right beside it. A gruff voice sounded. "Here, now. Who are you?" @Atrice

Life was a bastard sometimes, and Calvunus had not been a happy man these last few weeks. Oh, yes, he should have been grateful that damn bitch hadn't ripped his balls off - there was that. But the bite wound had been painful and its placement on his inner thigh had been the source of both extreme inconvenience and amusement - the amusement of his friend Marcus, that is. Calvunus had been in a right terrible mood for too long, and even as the wound continued to heal as it should - without complication - he still felt abused by fate and the gods and dogs and his fellow man in general. Possibly the worse part of his ordeal had been being forced to spend far more time at his own domicile than he'd ever wanted to. His wife was a nag and she'd shown him no sympathy. Of course, he'd not told her the details of how the dog had happened to come upon him, and Helios, in that alley - or more precisely, what they'd been in the middle of when the protective mother canine had attacked. But even without such information, she had been able to disparage and scold, and he was thoroughly sick of her voice, and the sound of his many young children running in and out of the insula constantly. So he was at least a shade more pleased than he had been when he could quit his home and return to mostly hanging out at the Venus and finding any excuse to sleep there as well. Thus it was that early morning found him in need of relieving himself and then hunger prompted him to go poke about in the kitchen to see what he could find to still the rumbling in his belly. What he found was Helios, the golden haired minx that was now so interwoven into that tale of woe. Yet Calvunus laid no blame at the whore's feet for what had happened. In fact, Helios had been the hero that night, getting him back to the brothel and attended to by their drunken quack of a medicus. Calvunus was indebted to the man. He acknowledged that. And upon seeing him, he grinned in response to the teasing greeting. "And such a beautiful sight to behold so early in the morning!" he said, clapping Helios on the back and then sliding his arm around his shoulders as he sat down beside him. He gave him a squeeze, looking at him. "Our lovely ray of sunshine," he quipped, a play on the slave's name. "How have you been keeping? I've seen little of you these past few weeks," he asked in a genial tone, his mood improving already, for that was Calvunus' way - he wasn't a man to stay down and bitter for too long. He reached past Helios for a slightly blighted pear that someone had abandoned in a wooden bowl, and brought it to his lips, biting into it heartily, the juice wetting his lips. @Atrice

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/exhibit-spotlights-roman-delicacies-baked-dormouse-carbonized-bread-180972731/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20190726-daily-responsive&spMailingID=40294090&spUserID=ODgzMDkwNjQxMzY2S0&spJobID=1562216600&spReportId=MTU2MjIxNjYwMAS2 So I'm dropping this here because I didn't want to have 15 different places for Roman cooking/baking/eating links - I hope you don't mind! Is there a thread on the site for things like this???

Making an attempt to tear his thoughts away from what he'd witnessed a short while ago, before he'd had the sense to close his eyes, Phaedo asked Theodorus, "What parts of the Empire did you see, domine? Were you able to do anything besides march and camp and care for the others?" He was not filled with wanderlust himself. But he had always enjoyed hearing others speak about their travels throughout the known world. @Chevi

"Ah, good. A little civilizing influence then - bet your comrades taught you how to fuck properly!" Calvunus said with a laugh. In his mind, of course, the Romans, being far superior to the Greeks, were the ones to bring "civilization" to the world, and not vice versa. Also, the idea that either soldiering or fucking had anything to do with being "civilized" did not seem in the least bit ironic to him. His thought processes were simple, and far from logical, and in absolutely no way intellectual or appropriate. For Calvunus, life was all about the simple things, like...violence, sex and getting drunk. That's was about the extent of his existence. Oh and trying to somehow get rich. The woman was bringing the food to their table, and before she had even set it down, Calvunus was reaching for it with one hand while grabbing himself with the other, leering at her. "If it doesn't taste like pig shit, I'll give you a little something extra for the effort." He was the type of man who thought that any woman would count herself lucky to get a taste of him. @Chevi

Phaedo threw a consoling arm about his friend's shoulders. "That is true. But we cannot know how it is for her, in her life, as slave to the household and to her young mistress. Perhaps it is that which makes her sour and selfish. Don't take it to heart too much. Her words were probably not directed solely at you." He gave Lexus a friendly squeeze. "Come. It's time to get you home. Otherwise your mother will never let us out together again." He was teasing, but that thought was sobering enough to make Phaedo hurry Lexus along. Besides Helios, Lexus was his only real friend, and he did not want to jeopardize that by making his mother upset. @Atrice

Persephone had had quite enough. She saw now that the boy was just that - a boy still! In that case, she had no use for him - or so her wounded pride told her. She stepped back, far enough to let him move. "Fine! Go then! I'm sure you'll be puking along the way. You should learn - little boys shouldn't drink more than they can handle!" It was all said in a hushed, harsh tone. She had crossed her arms over her chest and was practically tapping her toe in impatience. Clearly, she was done with them, her night ruined in all ways. Phaedo, though, heaved a sigh of great relief! Just as soon as Lexus had mumbled his refusal, he had stepped closer to his young friend. And when the girl stepped back, Phaedo reached for Lexus' arm, tugging at it. "Yes, we should go." He made no pretense of good manners. The girl was a slave, like himself, and she obviously did not care at all about her poor mistress. He owed her no apologies, or good byes even, and neither did Lexus! They moved to the door and Phaedo opened it a crack, peering out. The coast seemed clear. Without letting go of his friend, he took Lexus by the hand and led him to the back gate. They slipped through and he did not stop walking. Not until they were well away from the home did his pace slow. Even if Lexus was a little worse for the wine he'd had, Phaedo would support him - but he had no intentions of stopping, until he got Lexus home. @Atrice

Calvunus frowned a bit, looking truly perplexed. "Don't you just stick your cock in between the thighs? I always wondered how a man could find any real satisfaction in that. As a way to get started, yeah...But in the end, don't you ever just want to...shove it in?" He gestured with two fingers and those of his other hand rolled into a cylindrical position. He was nothing if not blunt (and unrefined and crass and ill mannered). @Chevi

Phaedo had gone quiet. It was true - recalling the sight of what had happened, in the arena, a short while ago, it made him quite queasy. It was different from an accident, like the child who'd been kicked by a horse. That was bad luck. The gladiator matches, that was...planned brutality. He couldn't understand how anyone would want to see such gore, to find it...entertaining...or arousing! He imagined attending to soldiers would be almost as bad. But at least the sole impetus for rending flesh and opening up a man's insides was not so the crowds would cheer with enthusiasm. At least nominally, war served a more...pragmatic...purpose. @Chevi