Rome - 12. Chapter 12

Lucinius took Felix and Aeneas and headed to the city. He needed to buy sandals for the men as well as better clothing. Before he left, Aumen reminded him to replace the clothes they had contributed to the men. He would stop and see his mother and Gaius.

On the trip, he let Aeneas ride one of the horses, Felix rode on the cart driving the mules. Actually, the mules just followed along, but Felix felt like he was in charge. Lucinius had made this trip enough times he knew where he could take shortcuts. Even though they still got in late at night. Rather than going to see his mother, he went to the home of Gaius, who was glad to see him. Gaius had his cook prepare a quick meal of oats, bread, and cheese for them. Lucinius introduced Aeneas and Felix to his grandfather. “After you all left, I realized there was no one to help with the Villa. We were on our way to buy more slaves when we met a slave trader on the road. I thought we bought twelve, but it seemed we had thirteen. Aeneas said he was told to come to us by Apollo. Tomorrow we’re going to the Temple to pray to Apollo.”

“How long are you planning on staying?”

“I need to purchase sandals for my men and clothes. We gave them our old clothes, and they wrapped their feet in rags until I bought them sandals. So I need to buy clothes, sandals and some food.”

“You’ll have a busy day, better get some sleep.”

Lucinius knew where his room was but the other two. He wasn’t sure he wanted them to sleep in the slave barracks, but Aeneas solved that problem, “Sir, we can sleep in the barracks we saw when we were arriving.”

Lucinius looked at Aeneas to judge if he was sincere or not. Aeneas just nodded his head yes and smiled. Gaius knew that Lucinius didn’t like slaves. He knew what he did with Aumen. He left the decision to Lucinius, who agreed with Aeneas.

Early the next morning, the boys were ready to go shopping, but first, they had to go to the Temple. On the way, Lucinius bought a pig to sacrifice to Apollo. With new clothes and sandals for Aeneas and Felix, the boys have dressed appropriately for Temple. When they entered, the old priest who was there when Lucinius was dedicated to Apollo greeted Lucinius as his grandson. Aeneas and Felix were surprised but kept quiet. After the prayers were said and Lucinius had said goodbye to the priest, they left.

Now they had fun, they bought sandals for the men, tunics, sleeveless and with sleeves. Then they headed to the Baths, leaving in new clothes and sandals. The boys had smiles on their faces. Many people commented on Aenais because of his light hair and blue eyes. Hungry, they went to see Celia. She was glad to see Lucinius. His father wasn’t home. He was at the Senate. Lucinius introduced the two boys to his mother. She offered them a light lunch of cheese and fruit. As it was getting late in the afternoon, Lucinius didn’t want to be there when his father returns. Saying goodbye to his mother, he promised to come and see her soon. On the way back to Gaius’s, they stopped and bought fruit, cheese, and salt. They also bought some kitchen utensils, wine bottles, and food that would keep until their gardens started to provide for them.

When Gaius saw what they bought, he told Lucinius he would regularly send them food until they were self-sufficient. Lucinius promised he would send him fruit from the trees he didn’t have. Early the next morning, they left, heading toward home. When they arrived at home, Aumen was glad to see them. The boys were happy when they saw the sandals and the clothes. Felix’s father asked about the tunics. They were not what a slave would wear. Lucinius just smiled, “Wear your old clothes when you are in the field, in the evening after you visited the Baths, wear the new clothes.”

The boys he bought didn’t understand this, and they were confused. They are slaves, and this isn’t the way a slave was treated. A nice room to sleep with a bed that only free Romans had, clothes a free Roman wore, and food that only free Romans ate. Aenais responded, “We are being treated as freedmen. We need to thank Apollo for being bought by Lucinius. We need to show Lucinius we appreciate this by working hard. He deserves our loyalty as he has shown his loyalty to us.” As he said this, he held up his tunic, that he wasn’t wearing, and pointed to his sandals. The men got the message.