Cerealia: Five minutes' respite

[Sharpie]

Azarion's race was over. Jason didn't know whether his master had purposefully waited until the riders had crossed the finish line or not before sending Jason to chase up the slaves who had been supposed to be bringing the wine up to the Imperial Box, but either way, he'd seen his cousin beat the Red who'd beaten him in the chariot race that Jason had missed, the Equirria races.

The tunic he was wearing was a decent rust colour, with two strips of violet cloth sewn to it, obtained by overdyeing red cloth with blue dye (or blue cloth with red dye), a mimicry or mockery of the pristine white tunics with the bright purple stripes worn by the Senators, of whom Tiberius was one. It was enough to mark him out as an Imperial slave, though, which was something because it meant that he reached his destination without too much hassle.

If only the slaves with the amphora were there... They were not.

"How typical!"

 

@Faustus

[Faustus]

Caturix did not understand the need for watching horses race around a track with their riders. He did not know what the fascination had been with him performing simple feats of battle against someone else who did not want to be there, however, it had been something which had allowed him to survive up until this point. He had been picking at something on the ground, entertaining himself in a manner which he had done once the fight had been over. He was a slave to a warrior's family, they had provided him with an inch of freedom. Glancing up, Caturix began to standing, seeing the similar colours to what his Dominus wore, or at least what he believed to be something they wore - squinting as he watched the man approach.

 

@Sharpie

[Sharpie]

Jason

 

There was someone there, who had been squatting or sitting by the wall and who had begun to straighten up as Jason approached, seemingly thinking that he was higher-ranking than he actually was. Although, to be fair, as the body-slave to an Imperial, Jason was about as highly-ranked as it was possible for a slave to be.

He was still a slave, though, something the collar he wore made all too obvious. It had been fastened around his neck years ago, by the man who'd given him to Tiberius, who hadn't trusted him not to run away. Even though Tiberius had said he trusted Jason, he still hadn't had the collar removed... Apparently a Roman trusted his slaves only so far, even if that Roman was Tiberius Claudius Sabucius.

"I don't suppose you've seen a slave or two with an amphora of wine, have you?" he said, drawing closer to the other man. He didn't recognise him and he didn't have the look of a Palace slave. Probably he was here waiting for his own master.

 

@Faustus

Edited May 9, 2023 by Sharpie