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Assignment 4 – Introduction of Characters
Sophia Wildwood
Arsinoe stood on the banks of the
Tiber, the smell of the wet air mixing with the exotic scents of the Forum
Boarium. Usually this combination excited her, but today it only filled her
with dread. She had been instructed to wait for him, and her dominus had
emphasized the importance of this meeting with his whip. She could still feel
the sharp, cruel, stinging welts brushing against the rough linen on her back.
Yet, this meeting held a secret meaning for her as well and, as the black bile
rose in her mouth, she remembered. Shivering despite the heat, Arsinoe pulled
her rough tunic around her and stared at her worn sandals, dusty from the
summer roads. Her black hair was tightly bound with a leather strap and she was
unadorned except for the hard metal slave collar that told the world what she
was. Suddenly, she looked up, noticing a figure walking along the docks. Is
this him? He is so young… I would have expected someone older. The young man approached her, all at once
apprehensive and yet so apparently accustomed to his station. A station made
clear by his piercing eyes and long toga, woven from wool so fine it looked
like silk. Arsinoe took a step back, shaken by this young man who had come
suddenly and was clearly a member of the elite – perhaps of an even higher
status than her master. Mustering her courage, she stepped out of the shadows.
“Are
you Gaius Portius Caepionis?” Arsinoe was surprised at the clarity of her own
voice.
“I
am. You must be the one I sent for. Good, we have much work to do and night is
nearly upon us. Come.” Gesturing, the young man, led the way past the docks. As
he turned the light hit him and Arsinoe saw that his toga was bordered by a
purple stripe, a Toga Praetexta. He is a consul or senator, she thought. This goes much deeper than I
had anticipated and I had better be prepared.
