Eli
is a young slave on Palatine Hill. His master, Emasceus, sends him to market on
a regular basis to purchase goods for their compound. Eli’s freedom is quite
limited, but he aspires to one day become a member of the Senatorial class. On
a particular afternoon, he goes in to the Forum Boarium to purchase meats for
his master. After a failed transaction with the merchant Jaredocus, Eli is made
a fool for not having offered adequate money. Jaredocus threatens that he will
have Eli arrested for being a no good thief. Suddenly, a young girl steps in to
Eli’s defense. She is the daughter of a prominent Roman senator. Jaredocus
claims that she needs to back off, because she would be in immense trouble if
her father were to find out that she defends slaves.
After
this encounter, Eli and the young woman, named Ethema, begin talking. However,
Eli is afraid that someone will see them and get them both into trouble. Ethema
shrugs it off because she is clearly interested in Eli. The two leave the
Boarium and head to the waterfront. Enjoying the beautiful Mediterranean day,
the two sit along the shore and get to know one another. Eli explains his life
on Palatine Hill, and his aspirations for advancing in society. Ethema talks
about how she tired of the stringent societal structure and wishes they could
have more control over their decisions.
Despite
trying to be relatively discrete that afternoon, their conversation was
witnessed by a fellow slave, Luc. Luc immediately recognizes Ethema as being
the daughter of a Senator. He understands the magnitude of their behavior in
terms of it’s disruption on Roman societal order and feels the need to tell
somebody. Luc heads back to the compound on Palatine Hill to report this crime
to his master. Master Prutus attempts to exile Eli, but Eli flees to join
Ethema in the night. Her father catches wind of the crime, proceeds to have
Prutus killed, and attempts to catch Eli.
