Rome - 16. Chapter 16

With the money he made on the wheat and oats, Lucinius bought a small olive press. He planned on using it for grapes as well. One of the boys told him he would need two wheels and two bases to prevent olive oil from getting mixed with grape juice. Licinius thought about that and realized he was right. Since the grapes wouldn’t be ready for a while, he would wait before buying the extra wheels. Duccius saw a way to help his brother. He would buy a second press. They would have a press for olive oil and a press for the grapes for wine.

A couple of the older boys convinced Duccius to go hunting with them in the northern mountains. Duccius agreed, thinking he was going to make sure none of them ran away. He was a little alarmed as the boys put on old clothes and took spears with them. He looked at Lucinius, “Go, and maybe you’ll bring back a wild boar. We’ll have a feast.”

Early the next morning, after breakfast, Felix had cheese and bread to take with them. Lucinius smiled as Duccius realized they would be walking. While they were gone, Lucinius checked the grove and the vineyard. He noted he wouldn’t have any grapes this year. The vines were still young. They needed to mature before producing enough grapes to make a substantial amount of juice for wine. The trees were bearing fruit, but the olive trees wouldn’t be productive for a few more years. He was proud of his Villa. He helped one of the boys harvest some cabbages, working in the garden alongside his boys.

“Take the leaves from the cabbage and feed them to the animals.”

“Sir, do you think we could sell some of this in Rome?”

“We might, but we need a cold place to store some for our use. We can replant. If we leave the roots in, will they grow?”

“I don’t know, Sir. Maybe one of the other boys will know.”

“Let’s ask them at supper tonight.”

Smiling, the boy continued to work the soil around the plants. He wielded a wicked hoe as he chopped up the weeds. When Lucinius looked around, he saw other boys doing the same thing. He smiled, looking into the heavens, “Thank you, Apollo”

Three days later, he heard the group coming back from their hunting trip. Duccius was laughing with the boys. They were chatting a mile a minute. Lucinius listened to a difference in Duccius’s voice. He was joking with the boys, who he thought should be treated as slaves. Welcoming them back, he noticed the boar the boys carried and the deer Duccius had slung over his shoulder.

Seeing Lucinius and Aumen, “You should go with these guys, they are great guys, they let me take this deer. I watched how they killed this boar. I’m glad they didn’t hunt me. As soon as the boar fell, they had it ready to carry. They showed me how to get the deer ready. Which one is for the feast tonight?” Lucinius just smiled. He had a convert.

“We need to keep the meat cold, or it will spoil, and we won’t be able to eat it.”

Aumen had the answer, “Let’s cut it up, wrap it in cloth and take it to the stream. That water is cold and will keep it for a little while.”

That is what they did except the boar, which would be roasted for the feast. Lucinius was thinking, if we had a deep hole lined with rocks, would it be cold enough to keep meat from spoiling. He was going to find out. The next morning, he picked a spot close to the well and started to dig. Aumen asked him what he was doing.

“I thought if I dug a hole deep enough, lined it with rock, would it be cold enough to keep meat from spoiling.”

“How deep do you think you need to go?”

“I don’t know, but I know already it is cooler here than where you’re standing.” Aumen knew better than question Lucinius. Somehow he was getting ideas from the gods.

Lucinius worked all day on his hole, but he wasn’t finished. Based on what he had removed, he figured at least two more days. That didn’t happen. One of the boys saw what he was doing, “Sir, may we help?”

Lucinius thought; the boy didn’t ask why just he wanted to help. The boy needed to understand why he was digging the hole.

“Seth, I’m digging this so we can have a cold place to store meat.”

“Sir, my father had what he called a cold hole, there was cold water flowing in the bottom, and he stored food in the water.” Lucinius looked at the boy, of course, cold water, the stream. He would need cold water, but he would need a flow of cold water. Otherwise, the water would warm up. He looked at the boy, “Seth, you’re brilliant. Suppose you help me figure this out. I can tie this into our well, but I need to find a way to keep the water flowing.”

“We could put a deep drain that would feed water to the roots of the trees in the grove.”

Lucinius just smiled at the boy, “Seth, on the next trip to the city, you’re coming with me.”

The boy smiled. For a fourteen old boy, he made significant contribution to the Villa. That evening at supper, Lucinius announced that Seth helped solve storing meat so it wouldn’t spoil. He gave Seth a denarii for his suggestion.

Duccius looked at his brother, “Why do you pay him for his suggestion? He should have offered it since he will benefit from it as well.”

“If you were one of my boys and saw what I just did, what would you do?”

Duccius thought for a while and then smiled, “You’re clever. I knew you were smart. Our father doesn’t realize what you’re capable of doing.”

That night at the feast, everyone ate all they could, and there was still a lot of meat leftover. Felix wrapped the meat in cloth, placed it in a bowl, and poured cold water over it. It would keep until morning breakfast.