Sophia Wildwood

Assignment 2

She could feel the sun warming her back as she walked from the large, two-story villa. The sun was bright and illuminated the flowers tangling the vines as they crawled up the walls bordering the property of her dominus. Market day was perhaps her favorite. How she so enjoyed that long walk down the sloping side of the Palatine to the Velia! And how exciting and full of life the market was! But, most importantly, she was alone, away from the demands and rules of her work.  Despite the heat, she quickened her step and, following the path down the Velia, had soon passed the Forum Romanum. For her, the Forum had little to offer, if anything. The games of the elite – the Orators, Senators and Politicians – showed on the faces of those who were walking in the Forum. Even Cicero, she had heard, had begun to harden. The sun had risen higher by now and she stooped down at a small fountain to satiate her thirst. She could smell the Forum Boarium, the market, before she had fully entered it. Pungent smells of the incense and sandalwood used in temples mingled with roasting meet, overripe fruit and the refuse of the Tiber to create a smell so unique that any Roman, were his eyes closed, could tell you when he had arrived. After passing the storage buildings, she paused at a merchant’s stall, admiring the collection of votive offerings. Minerva would like this one, she thought as she caught sight of a clay face, the eyes are as round as an owl’s! Yet her task was heavy on her shoulders and turned toward the granaries without a backward glance. Heaving a sack of grain onto her back she crossed the market towards the docks of the Tiber, dreading the inevitable outcome of the day’s work her dominus had so carelessly ordered.