There
was once a slave boy named Cassius who lived with on the Palatine hill with the
Nero family. Cassius’s daily routine was to get up early every morning before
the sun had risen above the Palatine hill and make breakfast for his ‘family.’
Everyday he would see the darkness of the night slowly fade away from each
house as the beaming sunlight would rise from east to west. As the sun started to
shine, Cassius gather some fish, which had been salted the night before, and
mixed it with some spices to give as a meal. However, he realized that there
would not be enough to satisfy his family’s hunger.
Cassius
immediately left his home to buy more at the Forum Boarium. He walked out of his
home and started walking his way down the Palatine stairs. After a few minutes
of walking, Cassius took another set of stairs down from the Velia hill. As he
was taking each step downward, he could see the sun shining on the marble roof tops
of the basilicas down below. Cassius finally reached the bottom and made his
way through the Forum Romanum passing the beige marbled Regia on his left and
the Basilica Aemilia, with high vaulted archways, on his right.
Cassius
finally entered into the Forum Boarium where he followed the path directly to
the Horrea where goods were stored and sold. Cassius felt the warmth through
his sandals as he walked into the market; the Horrea floor was raised in order
to keep the goods from getting damp. Cassius finally bought a bundle of fish
and quickly started running through the building in order to get back to his
‘family.’
