Rome - 11. Chapter 11

That evening in the quiet of his room, Lucinius read his letter from his brother. The news was good, he was planning on coming home soon. The campaign was winding down, and he had gifts for Lucinius. "Make sure I have a room at your house." Lucinius would make sure.

The time for Lucinius guests to leave was approaching. Lucinius wanted his mother and grandfathers to stay, but he knew that wasn't possible. The night before his guests were to leave, he served a banquet. The wine kept getting a little stronger as they sat around eating. By midnight, they were falling asleep where they were lounging. All except Aumen and Lucinius, who were drinking water. Lucinius helped them to their rooms, "Maybe I should let my father sleep here?"

"Or place him in one of the rooms that the men are using." Laughing,

"He would probably kill the man. No, help me take him to his bedroom."

A sleepy group came to the courtyard in the morning. Calliope and Aumen had prepared a breakfast of oats, bread, and cheese for the travelers. They drank cold water. By noon, they were ready to start their trip home. Lucius and his men were going to stay at Gaius for the night and then proceed home early the next morning. Lucinius was sad to see his family leave, especially his mother. The night before, he prayed for Apollo to give them a good trip home.

As he watched them leave, he realized that the men were leaving as well. He knew that these men were sent to him by his grandfathers, and now he needed to have his own men.

"Aumen, we need to get some men to help with the Villa."

Aumen looked at him, "Do you have enough money to hire some men?"

"I think I'll go to the slave market and get the men. I'll treat them as freedmen once we are home. We need to be very careful who we select. They may look like the ones we want, but they may not be truthful." "How will you know?"

"Apollo will show me."

On the way to Rome's slave market, they met a slave trader with several young men. "Those men don't look like soldiers."

"No, they don't. I'll talk to the trader. You talk to the slaves, find out what you can."

Lucinius stopped the trader, and he asked him where he was heading. He knew where but needed an opportunity to open the discussions. Aumen started to talk to some of the slaves. Lucinius offered the trader some wine, which he accepted. The wine wasn't cut with water, as was the custom, so it was strong.

"If you take them to the trader, he will try and cheat you. I see some of them have sores. He will charge you to have them treated, and then he won't treat them. I know because the last slave I bought had a broken foot and hand from the shackles. He wanted five hundred denarii. I gave him half of that. I later heard he only paid a hundred denarii. Why don't you sell me some of your slaves? I'll pay a fair price."

The trader thought if what he said was true, this might be the best deal. So he agreed, Lucinius nodded to Aumen, Aumen, pulled one of the slaves, a young boy of maybe twelve tears. The trader wanted a hundred denarii. Lucinius told him to wait until he has his selection, then he would bid for the group.

That is what they did. Aumen selected several, the first boy he picked pointed to a man, "He's my father." Aumen picked him, with further information from these two, he selected a total of twelve.

"I'll give you one thousand denarii for this group."

The trader never saw the group. He saw one thousand denarii. So he agreed, Lucinius gave him the bottle of wine as well. Asking for the papers, the trader opened his satchel and pulled all of the documents. Lucinius asked Aumen to help him sort through the papers. While they did this, the trader continues to drink the wine. Aumen, handed Lucinius the papers, placing the others in the satchel. Having the documents for the men he bought, he loaded the men in the cart and headed home.

They spoke about the trader, and the twelve men they had bartered for. "Not twelve, thirteen."

"Thirteen?"

"Yes, when I had the twelve pulled aside, one came to me and said Apollo told him to come."

"Which one?"

"The one with light hair."

Lucinius turned to see the boy who was picked by Apollo. He was a young man, about the age of Lucinius. As he looked at the boy, he felt a strange sensation. He knew it was the right decision to take him.

Upon arriving home, he removed all of the shackles and then led them to the Baths. While Aumen attended them in the Baths, he prepared a meal of oats, cheese, and bread. As Aumen brought them in for food, they were naked. While they ate, he asked Aumen to get some clothes for them.

"I have some in my room. Get them as well." As they finished eating, they stood with their heads down. Not knowing what to expect, Aumen brought the clothes.

"Please, go through these clothes and take what you can wear. As soon as I can, I'll get more clothes for you. I don't have enough sandals, but I'll get them as well. Follow me, and I'll show you where you will sleep."

As he came to the first room, he asked for two people to share this room, the son and father opted for that room. He did this for the next three rooms. Of the thirteen, he had five that needed rooms. He used the rooms that Deacon, Calliope, and Niciu used. He gave the room Niciu used to the boy appointed by Apollo. That night, Lucinius prayed to Apollo, thanking him for the men.

The boy and his father talked about how lucky there were. "We would have been separated at the slave market. Our young master will treat us kindly."

"How do you know that, Father?"

"Look around, from what I have heard this isn't a room for slaves. The meal we had was more than any slave ever had. I think this house is blessed by the gods."

"Then we should thank the gods, but which one?"

"Did you notice the statue in the center? That was Apollo, we'll pray to Apollo thanking him." And that is what they did.

The next morning at daybreak, the newly acquired slaves were wakened by Aumen and asked to meet in the courtyard. When they went to the courtyard, they found a table of cheese, bread, and these round things. The young boy, "Dad, look eggs."

"I want to welcome you to our home. My name is Lucinius, and this is Aumen. We prefer to be called by our name or sir. I do not want to hear the word master. I need you to help run this Villa. I need men to take care of the animals, the grove, the vines, and the gardens. Now, I need you to eat breakfast after we'll tour the Villa." They sat there, not fully understanding what had just happened. Apollo's pick took the young boy by the hand and led him to the table. That started it, they all lined up, helping themselves. Aumen and Lucinius watched. If one of them thought they hadn't taken enough, they would put more on his plate. "Aumen, get some rags to bind their feet as we give them a tour."

When they had finished eating, Lucinius started to gather the plates and headed to the kitchen. The young boy saw this and started to help. Soon others joined in. When Lucinius went to check the table, it was cleared. The young boy started to clean the plates. Lucius smiled, since he needed twelve men and ended up with thirteen, he would assign the boy to the kitchen.

"Follow me, and I'll give you the grand tour." The first place they stopped at where the animal sheds. "Have any of you worked with these animals?" Two of the younger men raised their hands. "Would you tell me your names and what you did?"

"My name is Curzio."

"My name is Nour."

After they told Lucinius what they knew, he left these two to attend to the animals. The rest moved on.

"Do any of you have experience with tending grapes and fruit trees?" Several of the boys raised their hands, Lucinius picked those he thought were strong enough.

"Lucinius, maybe we should just recycle the boys through the grove and gardens to see what they prefer after some experience."

"That's a good idea. We'll do that. Aumen, can you show them what we have been doing?"

He just smiled and started to point out the different trees. Felix, pointing to a tree, asked his father what kind of tree it was. Aumen heard him, "It's a cherry tree." Felix smiled.

When the midday sun had passed its apex over the Villa, Lucinius sent Felix to tell the men it was time for the noonday meal. Curzio brought a basket of eggs. Felix showed Lucinius how his mother used the eggs. Lucinius watched as the boy broke several eggs into a bowl. Using a spoon, whipped the eggs and then added oats. When he was satisfied, he added a little honey and whipped them again. He added wood to the fire, took a flat pan, placed it on the stove, added a little oil, then dropped the mixture by the spoonful onto the hot pan. As they cooked, he turned them over. When they were done, he gave one to Lucinius. It was hot, Lucinius almost dropped it, but Felix was there with a platter to catch it. Lucinius touched it, and when he thought it was cool enough, he tasted it.

It was good, smiling at Felix, "Make enough for the midday meal. This is good."

Wait until mother taste these. Felix was happy. He made enough for everyone to have several. There were a few leftovers when everyone had finished eating. After the boys ate their fill, they went back to work. They were confused. This wasn't the way slaves are treated: no branding, better clothing, and good food. Aeneas heard whispers when he passed the statue in the center of the house. He looked around but found no one.