Marc
returned home from his trip to the Forum Boarium to find his father arguing
with his mother about how Marc needed to find a suitable woman to marry. Marc
came inside and snuck into the other room to overhear what was being said. They
intended for him to marry a long-time family friend, Cornelia Africana. He was
disappointed to hear his parents discussing the topic of marriage because they
expected him to marry a senator’s daughter. Marc was horrified by this news
because he was secretly in love with a girl named Julia. Julia also lived on
Palatine Hill, but worked at the palace nearby as a slave. Marc knew that as a
male citizen he would never legally be able to marry a slave so he never told
his parents about his secret relationship with Julia. He felt that the class
structure of Roman society was corrupt because more than 25% of the Roman
population was enslaved. Marc’s only option was to run away with Julia to
escape the social obligations of his family and the state.
They
planned to leave at sunrise, but he would have to find a way to cross the Tiber
River. Whether it required stealing a boat from the harbor or building a raft,
he knew that he had to get out of the city of Rome to be with Julia. The escape
reminded him of a few years earlier when Caesar’s army crossed the Rubicon. The
act of crossing the Rubicon River was a sign of rebellion and Marc wanted to
show his distaste toward Roman government. He knew it was going to be a
difficult feat but his personal relationship with Julia was worthy of his
efforts. He asked himself if the recent death of Julius Caesar would change the
Roman law regarding the citizenship and freedom of slaves, but he had many
doubts and would continue on his mission.
He
waited for Julia to come to the porch of the Temple of Vesta where they had
planned to meet days earlier. Time kept ticking but Julia was nowhere in sight
and he wondered if something had happened. When he reached home he found a letter
from Julia explaining that her master was angered when he found out about their
secret love affair and took her to the slave market near the port of the Tiber
River. Tears filled Marc’s eyes because he knew that he would never see Julia
again, or would he?
