Sharpie

"The pleasure is all mine, Pinaria," Gaius replied with a smile. "I am - I can't help wondering what my brother might have said about me." He glanced at Lucius. His brother was no longer his responsibility, but that didn't mean that Gaius wouldn't be affected by his brother's words and actions, whether directly or not. Or personally or professionally. "I am running for Aedile this year," he added, trying to place her. "I hope your family is well - and I am sorry for your husband's death," he added as it came to him; she was the widow of Gaius Gratius Varro, who had died suddenly two or three years ago. He thought it had been some sort of accident, but was not going to be crass enough to ask. @Chevi @Atrice

"Ignis," Jason repeated, turning back to the horse. "Is that because you're full of fire, hmm? That can be a good thing, but you need to learn patience and stillness too, my friend." He glanced at Tiberius, who had come a little closer although not close enough to encroach on the horse's space. He seemed to be in a strangely indulgent sort of mood today, which was unusual although not out of character. He didn't seem in a hurry to mount and ride anywhere - he hadn't come in the direction of the stables until Jason had confirmed that his people rode, in fact. Was it possible he'd brought Jason here just for Jason's own pleasure? How utterly bizarre - not that he was going to complain. He wanted nothing more than to be in the saddle, but this was not his own well-trained and much-mourned Burdukhan, this was an Imperial horse with an Imperial master - and a temper to match - who didn't know him. And wasn't properly equipped with stirrups, although Jason wasn't about to let that stop him - he could ride bareback as well as with a saddle, though he'd never made a habit of it and never done it for very long. Ignis was starting to look impatient and had begun pawing the ground. He was about to take a risk, though it was one he thought worth it - for both the horse and Tiberius himself, in the long run. "Would you ask them for some apple or carrot slices, please, Domine?" @Sarah

"Titus has gone to the law courts with his tutor to listen to some of what he's being taught actually put into practise. Calpurnia went to the baths with her friends, I believe she's having dinner with them, at Menenia Lanata's house. I will send a litter for her later, and a suitable escort. They will be furious at missing all the excitement." He smiled. "I suppose we could always do it properly for them at the proper time." He looked up at his wife's slave-girl. "Have the crib made up and brought in." "Yes, Domine." He turned back to Horatia. "Will you be all right nursing him tonight and tomorrow - I will get a wet-nurse but I doubt I'll be able to find one before tomorrow afternoon, at the earliest. I hadn't expected to be looking for at least a week or two, after all. And of course I will write to your father, he will no doubt be delighted to hear he has another grandson." @Sara

"You delivered the consul's wife's baby in a temple." Consul, ex-consul, whatever. Someone so far above them that it'd be like trying to touch the sun. "You know, bathing in the blood of your enemies would be a bit more believable!" Their master was never going to believe her - Attis wasn't quite sure that he did himself, except for the fact that Metella was covered in blood and had been going to the temple. And the consul's wife was pregnant. And it wasn't as if Metella made stories up - and certainly not wild incredible stories like this. "And how are you?" She looked half done in - Mira would just have to look after Cassia for a bit longer than planned, that was all. Not that looking after Cassia was exctaly hard; it was mostly that she needed entertaining, and adult company when she went out anywhere. At least, from what Attis could tell, though he wasn't an expert on things and had his own duties and chores. "I've nearly got Ragum trained to shake hands. I'll have to show you when you're more - well, less done in." @Chevi

He was fully prepared to help her dispose of her enemies - if he'd learned one thing, it was that he was glad Metella liked him. He could completely believe she was capable of dispatching those she didn't like, or who didn't like her. She blinked at him and then looked down at herself. Apparently she hadn't realised that bathing in the blood of your foes left some rather obvious traces. "This, Attis, is what childbirth looks like." Childbirth? Childbirth - "Oh, no - we haven't...!" "Not me. I'm fine. But I just helped deliver a baby at the temple. So. How was your day?" Not me. Not me... Attis sagged against the plain plaster of the wall behind him, and then gaped as the rest ofher words sank in. "Same as ever - but you can't just waltz in, covered in the blood of your foes and tell me you randomly delivered a baby in a temple. What happened - the goddess was pregnant and you helped deliver the latest addition to the Pantheon?!" @Chevi

"I was hardly about to tie you to your bed, but you shouldn't have been going anywhere in your state - of course I was worried." He took a breath and let it out. "Isn't that what the men are supposed to do when their wives are giving birth? Although had you been here, you would have had the very best attendants Rome has to offer." He smiled. "We will have to thank her somehow." How, remained to be seen - and Cassius Longinus would no doubt be pleased that his girl was there, and able to give such valued assistance. "I believe she is the nursemaid to his daughter, or something along those lines," he said, though he couldn't be sure - as if he'd paid attention to any of his friends' slaves at all. He was just about able to name his friend's impertinent body-slave as Attis, after all, never mind tell what any of his other slaves might do in the household. @Sara

He carefully transferred the baby Quintus back to Horatia's waiting arms once she was settled in her bed, sitting upright against the pillows. He kissed her forehead, lingering to see his new son, looking even tinier than Titus had at his own tollere liberos - although Titus had been the proper nine days old for his. He could only pray that he hadn't tempted the Fates by naming Quintus on the day of his birth. "I shall," he said, finding her high-backed chair and settling into it. "I shall offer Juno all the sacrifices and prayers I can - and what in the name of Jupiter Optimus Maximus have Lucius Cassius Longinus' slaves got to do with any of this?" He needed to do one other thing, and a lot sooner than he'd expected to have to - find a wet nurse for the boy. @Sara

"Or get your girl to -" he began but was interrupted as his wife (his beautiful stubborn wife!) bent herself to place the bundle on the floor at his feet. One quick glance was all it took for Horatia's girl to step closer to support her mistress, even as Aulus stooped in turn to pick the baby up, trying to be as careful with him as Horatia had been. He flicked the blanket back just enough to see that it was a boy - not that he expected Horatia would have told him anything other than the truth, especially when she knew he would be happy whatever the baby's sex. "Quintus. Quintus Calpurnius Praetextatus," he said, looking from the tiny newborn to his wife's tired but proud face. "Help your mistress to her room," he said to the slave-girl. "I'm coming too, my dove - I know you want to spend time with him. And he needs his mother." And quite possibly Titus and Calpurnia were going to be furious at missing everything. Oops?

The afternoon had been a fretful one for Aulus, who was utterly thankful that his term as Consul was over because he had been able to slip out of the Curia the second the session was over - the message had been passed to one of the Curia slaves and thence to him. His mind had not been on what was being discussed, although he could not leave the Curia immediately. The rational part of his mind had helpfully reminded him that childbirth was the province of the womenfolk and he would only be in the way, and he had about as little right to intrude on the premises of Juno Lucina as he did the Temple of Vesta, or the rites of the Bona Dea. And no longer being a Consul meant no longer being preceded everywhere by twelve lictors - who might have been helpful in clearing a way for him, admittedly. Once he reached home, he dismissed Xanthos - he was not going to get any work done whatsoever - and found himself pacing until the sound of the door closing announced his wife's return. "You're fine?" he said, looking at her pale face. "You - gods, Horatia! I shouldn't have let you go anywhere!" What if it hadn't been fine - he had the city's best midwife on retainer, ready, and... "My son?" He probably wasn't supposed to see the baby yet - every tradition said he was supposed to wait, to let the mother have time to heal after the birth, but he was already looking at Horatia and the bundle she carried. They had never managed very well at observing tradition, beginning with their very unconventional wedding. "Would you - can you - put him down? Even if it's not nine days after the birth, we ought to do something right." @Sara

January 77AD, a few hours after Juno, bless us Metella had gone out earlier to pray at the temple of Juno Lucina, with the full blessing of Longinus. Attis was still trying to get his head around the fact that he was going to be a father - the only person in the house who was an equally unlikely paternal figure already had a daughter of ten. He was trying to teach Rugam to lie down and roll over when a commotion from the slaves' side entrance caught his attention, and he turned to see what was going on. "Oh... Um." Metella had returned, looking more as if she'd been bathing in the blood of her enemies than praying at the temple of a respectable goddess. "Who did you murder, and do you need help to dispose of the body?" @Chevi

"Life in the Senate is much as it ever was," Gaius said, giving his brother a keen look. Variety, that was what Lucius had always craved, and it seemed that he was getting it. He'd have had that in the legions too, of course, but somehow he thought that Lucius felt the monotony outweighed it - after all Gaius had thrived in the legions, and he wasn't known for appreciating or responding to variety and challenges. At least, Lucius had never seen that side of him. Forget two peas in a pod, they were more like two sides of the same coin, related but opposite. And there was someone coming towards them, a woman, whose slaves were trailing her at a discreet distance. She was dressed suitably for the weather, in clothing whose colours gave away the cost of the dyes and fabrics, and his eyes widened as she addressed Lucius. Another one of his brother's friends, perhaps? @Chevi @Atrice

"That man would have been wasted as a slave" Aulus raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure Quintus Augustus thought so - but then, I think his value was probably more in the symbolism than in his intrinsic value in the marketplace." "If I become consul... Well, I have Quintus Augustus' support so it's almost a given, Jupiter willing. As for my plans for afterwards, a great deal depends on the security of various of our border provinces, and on what the Augustus has in mind. A proconsular appointment somewhere is not beyond the realm of possibility, after all, and I have held a propraetor governorship recently." There was no real upward progression after consul, but ex-consuls went on to govern some of the more troublesome provinces, and often returned for subsequent consulships. But so much depended on the will of the emperor, and Aulus was grateful, again, that Quintus had reassured him that his loyalty was known and unquestioned. He had no reason to ever be disloyal to Quintus, especially after that reassurance. "And what are your own plans now - apart from arraying yourself in all the colours of the rainbow like Iris?" he asked lightly, reaching for some olives from the provided refreshments. @Chevi

"Did I see... Oh. Oh, shit." There was a very unnatural looking silver flash over to their left, down the river. That wasn't sunlight on water, it was far too bright. "If they find Burdukhan and Borena..." he added, pressing lower into the grass. Of course the Romans couldn't hold to a treaty the way they expected his and Azarion's people to - utter nonsense. They'd put their own fort up on their side and woe betide any Sarmatian who came down to the river on this side. Maybe they should come down here every so often and set up camp, just to show they could, that this was still their territory. That would be something to think about later on, though. @Chevi

Jason had thought that his master was simply going to show his horses off, maybe letting him stroke the noses of one or two. "I want two horses saddled." That simple order, expressed as a wish, earned his master an incredulous look from behind his shoulder. The stable master wasn't the only one who thought he might have misheard. And of course, Tiberius being who he was, it wasn't long before two horses were being led out, both of them far finer creatures than the sturdy horses of the steppes. It was obvious which of them was intended for Tiberius, of course; the chestnut stallion was wearing tack inlaid with gold. No stirrups, naturally. Tiberius' quiet next order - "You take the chestnut" - earned him a protest from the stable master and a jaw-dropping moment from Jason before he gathered himself enough to reply quietly, "Yes, Domine." And Tiberius might be different in his temperament and expectations from all other Romans in this over-crowded city, but there were still things which gave him away as being as Roman as anyone else. Everything suggested that he expected Jason to get on the back of a strange horse he'd never met before, which had a fiery temperament and probably wouldn't appreciate it, and all without the security of stirrups, which the Romans had never shown any sign of adopting even though they had had plenty of clashes with Jason's own people and people like the the Parthians who also used them. He was probably going to risk being snapped at, or earning that silent disapproving look that had made the stable master's protest become merely a "Yes, Dominus" - but he was not about to climb on the back of a horse he'd never met, which seemed intent on kicking its stable mate. He approached the big stallion from the side, where he could be seen, speaking softly in Sarmatian to it. "My name is Tiranes. I am sorry they didn't tell me yours, but you are very beautiful." He lifted his hand to the animal's soft nose, pausing as it nickered at him, and blew gently into its face as it lowered its head again. "Ssh, easy, easy now..." He switched back to Latin, raising his voice enough that his master could hear him. "What is his name, Domine?" @Sarah

CHARACTER NAME Vipsania Roscia Suggested Face claim: Rachel Weisz (from Agora) Age & Birth Position. 31 (born 46AD), second child of three and only daughter Position: Patrician and wife Parents: Father: Marcus Vipsanius Roscius Mother: Claudia Lemonia Other family: Brothers: Gaius Vipsanius Roscius, Lucius Vipsanius Roscius (birth name) Personality: Up to you - Gaius is a senator and Lucius completely lacks any political ambition whatsoever History: Established facts: Born in 46, she's seven when Lucius is born. Her childhood was a relatively happy one until her brother Gaius takes up a position as military tribune in Britannia and her father is killed in 62AD. She is married sometime between then and Gaius' return to Italia in 64. Anything more is up to you. Other information: Vipsania has connections via both her brothers to a wide spectrum of Roman society, including senators, their wives and (thanks to Lucius) both members of the Imperial family and those of plebeian and equite backgrounds, although she might not appreciate the latter. Her husband and his family and their connections are also entirely open to you to invent and request as you choose. Her relationship with her brothers is likely to be close if somewhat strained by Gaius' being away for several years and Lucius' wish to join the vigiles and the need to leave his patrician family to do so. Who to contact: Chevi and/or Sharpie

"Well, sort of. It's like the house is built around a courtyard that they fill with plants and things." They could be hard work to maintain at their best, of course, as Davus knew only too well - but his master's new young gardener seemed to have a magic touch which made things somewhat easier for the other slaves who had to help there at times. "I think this is your wine stall," he said, indicating a few stalls up from where they were. "And maybe you will, one day - stranger things have happened, after all," he added. She seemed somewhat sad, and too nice to have ended up where she had. He hoped that she would find herself in a better place one day than running errands for a hard master. @Sara

"Hispania lies to the west - it's easiest to travel by sea to reach it, I think," Teutus said. Easier, and quicker, and therefore cheaper, for both goods and people. "I would like that, I think - though I will make sure to travel in summer. I don't think I would do very well in the cold of winter." And of course winter travelling was extremely arduous and hazardous for all concerned. "And yes, I would like that, too. And of course if there is anything I can do for you, you only have to say." He was sorry that Wulfric had not had a better reception from Tertius, although knowing his father as he did, he knew why Wulfric had found it hard there. It didn't help that he was a barbarian in Roman eyes as well, of course, although the fact that he was a barbarian had meant that he was not a rival to Teutus for their father's favour as Peregrinus was. @Atrice

February 77 AD, the Gardens of Maecenas It had been Lucius' idea to come to the Gardens of Maecenas, for some reason of his own, and Gaius had agreed, it was neutral enough territory after the various conversations and disagreements they'd had over the last few months, culminating in Lucius' finally leaving the household to pursue his crazy idea of joining the vigiles. Apart from that, Gaius wasn't entirely sure why he was walking in the Gardens of Maecenas in February; the last time he'd visited one of Rome's public gardens in the winter, the girl had finally decided to call it off. Not that it had ever really been 'on', so to speak, but he hadn't pursued the matter and her father had been willing to let it drop even if he had the right to carry on making arrangements for the marriage. Gaius was rather glad he hadn't; he would rather not marry Ovinia if marrying him would make her unhappy. And there was the complication of his brother - the two of them knew each other somehow, that had been glaringly clear from the way they'd interacted at that dinner, although he hadn't been able to get anything out of Lucius about how, and of course it wasn't something he could have asked Ovinia. "So, how are you finding life with the vigiles?" he finally asked, pulling his cloak a little tighter around his shoulders; he had elected not to wear his senatorial tunic and toga for this informal outing, but was comfortably clothed in a dark green woollen tunic with a warm cloak over his pallium. @Chevi @Atrice

"You should see if you can borrow a mirror some time, you're pretty, uh..." Rufus trailed off; telling a half-tamed barbarian from gods-knew-where that he was 'cute' (or even 'kind of cute' or 'pretty cute') could not end well. Even if the barbarian was rather friendly with you. "Pretty good-looking. Just the sort that'll catch the ladies' eyes." Though it wasn't the ladies who'd declared they'd like to fuck him, surely - although a bit of graffiti on a wall was anonymous enough that it could have been. "I think there's bound to be more, somewhere - if there isn't yet, there will be." @Chevi

"Domina," Jason said again, smiling his slow and crooked, but genuine, smile at her in response to her own earnest look. "I know." He squeezed her fingers in return and carefully stowed her gift to him inside his tunic before stepping back and bending his head, then turned and followed the other slave to the side door he probably should have used in the first place. Someone had gathered who he was, and he found his cloak pressed into his arms - he'd thought he'd lost it for good when Ovinia had been whisked away into the house still wrapped in it, that day. Well, his master would be glad he hadn't lost that, he thought, ducking under the low lintel of the slaves' side door into the street, and pausing to wrap the warm brown wool around his shoulders before turning to head back up the hill to the Palatine, where Tiberius was no doubt waiting for him. @Sara - thank you; it was a fun thread!

"Well, maybe - but I'm not the only Rufus in Rome," Rufus said, voicing his thought of a moment before. "As for you, I'd say it means you've caught someone's eye, somehow." There could only be one Azarion in Rome, after all - and if you ignored the scars on his arms (and he probably had even more hidden by his tunic, too), Azarion was a rather good-looking young man. In a half-wild sort of way. But some people liked that kind of thing. "You're the charioteer, someone obviously admires you already - you didn't even have to wait before you got an adoring fan." He elbowed Azarion in the side, teasingly, like an older brother might. @Chevi

The silence stretched, growing awkward - they each knew how and why they had met and really, that was the only point of connection they had. Jason served at the parties Ovinia attended as a guest, they had nothing else to really talk about at all. She stood abruptly, and Jason was on his own feet, blinking with the rapidity of the change as she told him to wait there. She was gone in a moment, leaving him waiting, wondering. It seemed an age (and yet wasn't, the shadows were the same length as when she'd left) before she returned, holding something wrapped in a square of linen. She pressed it into his hand, a soft and genuine smile on her face, making her look younger and happier than she had been for any of this visit. He unwrapped the linen to find a ring, battered and slightly tarnished, but set with an intaglio carved with an archer carrying a recurved bow. He rewrapped it reverently, accepting the simple heartfelt gift. He would not be able to wear it, as a slave, but he would treasure it nonetheless. "Thank you. And if there is anything else I can do for you, you only have to say. I hope you stay safe, and well, Domina." @Sara

He nodded, accepting her decision - if she wanted to do it, it didn't have to be in front of someone she barely knew, after all. "He lets me visit - friends, when he doesn't need me around," he told her. She wasn't exactly a 'friend', the chasm between them on a social level was too vast for that, after all, but Tiberius hadn't asked for precise details and Jason wasn't about to give her away by telling his master that he was planning on calling on the respectable daughter of a Senator just because he was worried about her. "He didn't ask for details. He knows I visit my cousin sometimes, after all. And I was worried about you." So long as he was back before Tiberius was, everything would be all right. He couldn't dismiss himself, of course; her position wouldn't allow that, and he'd rather not risk upsetting her, or making her angry. @Sara

There was something inscrutable, unreadable, in her expression as she repeated, "Eight years." Probably she thought he was to blame for his own enslavement or something - a lot of Romans thought that, about the people they captured. Possibly she thought he was stupid to have let his memory still turn so easily to his own people. She'd be the same though, surely, if their positions were reversed? "I'm sure you weren't very good at spinning or weaving the very first time you tried either," he said. He probably hadn't been very good at archery with the very first arrow he'd loosed - but that was so long ago he couldn't remember not being good at it, and the same was probably true for her. "Sometimes you have to be bad at something first, to learn how to be good at it. And that can take courage. The thing is, to be willing to try." But really, to learn to be good at anything, you needed someone to show you how it was done. But she had got up from her seat to look at it, which was something. "Do you need someone to pump it for you?" he asked, looking at the contraption. There was a lever or something at the bottom, that seemed to be some sort of mechanism. She was probably going to laugh at the silly Sarmatian slave with Tiberius at some point in the future. He couldn't help hoping she would, anyway - she didn't look as if she'd laughed at all recently. @Sara @Sara