Rome - 14. Chapter 14

At breakfast in the morning, “Lucinius, I would like to stay longer, but I need to go and see mother and father. I’m planning on leaving tomorrow early.”

“I’ll be sad to see you leave, but I understand. You’ll always be welcome to my home.” That night, they roasted one of the pigs in celebration of Duccius’s visit.

With Duccius gone, the Villa returned to its day to day activities as usual Lucinius thanked Apollo for his brother’s visit and prayed for his well being. A hunting party went north and brought back more rabbits. The live ones were added to those they had. The boys had to increase the rabbit shed. They also captured a small wild boar, so a new shed was built for it. Lucinius thought if he could have a mate for the boar, they could sell them in Rome. He was already thinking about selling rabbits.

At dinner that night, he asked who knew how to make cheese. Several men said they knew how. “I would like to include some of our herbs in the cheese. Do you think you could do that?”

They said they could try, but they might have to heat the milk with the herbs to get the full taste. Lucinius told them to try it with sage and rosemary.

The next time they made cheese, the men did add sage and rosemary to the milk before it curdles. They pressed the cheese, the liquid they gave to the pigs. Lucinius and Aumen tasted the cheese and liked the taste. So it was decided they would add herbs to their cheese.

The wheat and oats were ready for harvest, and now the work began. Cutting the wheat and oats, then separating the kernels from the stalks, occupied almost all of the boys, including Lucinius and Aumen. Lucinius told them to set aside some of the grains for seed. Now they needed to separate the hulls, the dry, thin layer around the seed. They did this as has been done for ages, using the wind. They tossed the kernels in the wind. The wind blew away the shells leaving the kernel, which would be grounded into flour. This was a tedious job. They had to work in small batches and only when the wind was blowing. Again it seemed that the gods were helping. The wind blew strong during the morning. The afternoon wind was considerably less. The boys got up earlier than usual to begin the process as soon as it was light enough to see.

When all of the wheat and oats were ready for market, Lucinius was surprised at the amount of wheat and oats he had. He set aside several containers for their use, the rest he bagged to sell in the city. He did have a bag for Gaius and his mother. That would be his first stop. He had a bag for the Temple as well. The night before he was to leave for the city, he prayed to Apollo to watch over his Villa while he was gone.

In the morning, he loaded the cart with bags of wheat, Lucius, Aumen, and Paxton left for Rome. The group was happy, they had a good crop, and the money would help them buy clothes, new sandals, and food they didn’t have on the Villa.

Arriving in Rome, their first stop was the Temple, where Lucinius gave a bag of wheat to the old priest who addressed him as his grandson. While there, they offered their prayers to Apollo. Their next stop was at Gaius’s, who was in the Senate. Lucinius gave the sack of wheat to one of the women in the kitchen. His next visit would be interesting. He was headed to his mother and father’s home. He was anxious to see Duccius as well. Arriving at this father’s house, he was hoping he wouldn’t be home. Unfortunately, his father was home. As he approached his old home, his father met him at the gate. He intended to send him away, but Duccius saw him and came and greeted him.

“Lucinius, I’m glad to see you. Aumen, Paxton, I’m glad to see you as well. Father, we have guests. We should invite them to have a glass of wine with us, at least.” Appias just walked away, Duccius smiled.

“I’m glad you were here, brother. Otherwise, we’d be leaving without seeing you.”

“What do you have in the cart?”

“Wheat to sell in the market, but I have a bag for mother.”

“Come, let’s give it to her, and then we can have a cup of wine.”

But we must go to the market before they close and then I need to go home and bring a cart of oats. We have had a very good harvest this year. In a few more weeks, we will have some fruit, you need to come and see us.”

Lucinius was glad Duccius was with him. The merchants didn’t agree to the price Lucinius wanted for his wheat. One of the bakers was at the stall when he was bartering with the owner. He picked up some of the wheat, smelled it, and tasted it. “I’ll give you your price for this wheat. It has a good smell, it’s fresh and has a nice taste. I could get a good price for the bread made with this wheat.” The owner of the stall was shocked by what the baker said. Now he had lost, Lucinius sold the wheat to the baker and delivered it to his shop. He smiled as he pocketed the money. Now they needed to buy supplies to take home. Besides the usual tunics, shoes, equipment, and salt, they purchased a large quantity of honey, several urns of wine, and a pair of geese and guinea fowls. A happy group left to go home. At the city gate, they said goodbye to Duccius, promising him they would be back soon with bags of oats to sell.

Arriving home, there was a welcoming committee. Lucinius looked at Aumen and smiled. Aumen was learning a lot about human nature. Paxton told them about the baker, they laughed. The boys who were taking care of the animals saw the geese and guinea fowls. Looking at each other, they laughed. “We’ll need two more animal sheds.” Off they went with the geese and guinea fowl putting them to run with the chickens, temporarily. They were going to go north to find trees to make enough wood for two more sheds.

That evening at dinner, Lucinius had the boys line up. He gave each boy a denarii as their part of the proceeds from the sale of the wheat. The boys just stared at Lucinius when he gave them the money. If they didn’t feel like freedmen before, they did now. That evening Felix spoke to his father, “Father, why did he give us this money?”

“I’m not sure, but he treats us as freedmen and not slaves. We need to thank the gods he chose us, and we didn’t go to the slave markets.”

And that is what they did. They weren’t the only ones thanking the gods. But in every group, there seems to be one who either doesn’t believe what he sees or wants to test the waters. In this group of boys, Dante approached Lucinius. “Sir, I wish to leave.”

“Dante, if that is your wish, I’ll give you your papers, and when we take the oats to the city, you can come as well.”

Aumen heard this, “Are you going to let him go?”

“Yes, if I don’t he’ll be angry and will cause a problem. Can you think of a better way to let the others know that they could do that and they are being treated as freedmen and not slaves.”

“Suppose he wants to come back?”

“I don’t know about that. It depends on why. If he wants to come back and encourage the others to leave, then no. If he wants to come back because he realizes how well he was treated here compared to what he’s experiencing in the city, then maybe. Now we must get the oats ready for the city.”