Roma Amor: A Novel of Caligula's Rome by Sherry Christie

Author:Sherry Christie [Christie, Sherry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bexley House Books
Published: 2016-08-23T04:00:00+00:00

The scandal broke the next morning like a hailstorm. When I took my horses out for exercise, I had to skirt a throng outside the Palace demanding that Caesar punish Livilla. Walls bore new scribbles in charcoal: Exile Livilla and Palatine Whore, with obscene drawings of her and the charioteer.

On the way home I paused to rest the horses across from the house of the Marcomanni. It stood silent, doors shut against the raucous traffic of the Clivus Palatinus.

Flavus had said the Winter Feast would start tomorrow. Twelve miles to Bovillae, more or less, on the Via Appia: an easy morning’s ride.

Foolish whim. What would I do amid a horde of unfriendly barbarians? I eyed the clearing sky to gauge the hour and continued home to the anthill frenzy of cooking, cleaning, and garland-hanging as our household prepared to feast the most valued clients.

When they and we had all gathered on our couches, Father made a little speech asking the gods to preserve the bonds of loyalty and friendship that had held fast over the years but would continue to be tested, presumably by me.

As the heir of the house, I was expected to offer a few words of my own. So when we had spilled a libation, I rose to my feet and said to the seven guests, who were waiting impatiently for their dinner, “I cannot equal my father’s eloquence”—he smiled frostily at this—“but I share his pride in the strength of our family. Rome has need of men with courage and honor, men who will uphold justice for every free person in our dominion. If we stand together for truth and order, then may we hope for the favor of Fortuna Romana and of Mithras, Lord of Creation, who will judge us all.”

A short silence greeted this. Then someone said, “Bravely spoken,” and they applauded politely.

As the evening passed, there was much speculation about Caligula’s future. His silence on the matter of Livilla’s infamous behavior had caused him to be defamed in public. Rumor had it that the Tiberians hoped to use the scandal to prevent him from adopting Agrippinilla’s boy-child, should it live. We drank to a long life for him, then to Fortuna Augusta, the gods, our family’s ancestors, my father, Lepidus, each other, me, and so on.

After the guests had gone, clutching gifts and leaning on their slaves in various degrees of inebriation, my father put his arm around my shoulders. I yawned, longing for bed. Phormio, who had inched along on a walking stick today, was no doubt already snoring in exhaustion.

The many toasts had caused Father to drink more than usual; he had some difficulty focusing on me. “Marcus,” he said in a hoarse whisper. “This”—he moved his free hand, searching for a word—“this passion for Mithras. I did not believe you could worship him, so unrelenting a god. And I thought less of you, I admit, for believing in gods and not in the ideal of reason.”

I took off my crown of flowers and cast it into the atrium pool at our feet.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.