Richard
Corlett
7326853
2/16/12
Assignment
5: Historical Detail
Note:
Part I is a correction from last week where I was confused about tunics vs.
togas, Part 2 is this week’s assignment.
Part
I:
Appius shook his head
in attempt to rid his mind of his bloody past. Although it was early in the
morning and the sun was not up yet, he felt that it was best to get dressed and
begin with the day’s tasks. He put on his sandals and reached for his work tunic
only to realize it had been moved. He had a clean tunic which he wore when
preparing Brutus’s meals, but he did not want to risk getting it dirty while he
did his morning labor. Luckily, in the corner he found a bed cloth which was
about 5 meters by 2 meters in size and quickly folded it into an appropriate
toga-sized tunic.
Part
II:
Mist covered the
landscape as Appius walked to the stable where the horses were kept. His feet
were cold as the dew from the grass collected on them. He recalled that wet
feet had always been a problem when he was fighting in Gaul as one of Caesar’s elite
troops. He recalled an incident when a unit of soldiers had such a severe foot
rash going into battle they stopped and allowed another unit to charge forward.
This act was seen as a cowardly one and the unit was decimated; every tenth
soldier was beaten to death by other members of that unit. None of Caesars
soldiers ever complained about their feet after that day.
The horses were asleep
when Appius arrived, but were soon awakened as he tripped over some tools which
had been left out of place. “This is strange” Appius thought to himself, “I
should have been the last person in the stable last night”. This and the fact
that his work tunic was missing that morning was starting to make him
suspicious that there may be an intruder on Brutus’s estate. But who and why?
Appius was hired by Caesar to keep an eye on Brutus, so perhaps this trespasser
was not here for political reasons. Whatever the motivation of this man, he
needed to be caught and questioned
Appius was no stranger
to tracking and hunting individuals. After the Battle of Pharsalus, Appius was
chosen by Caesar along with eighty other soldiers to follow Pompey to Egypt. He
and the other of Caesar’s chosen soldiers didn’t get the opportunity to capture
Pompey since he was beheaded by Ptolemy XIII, but the instincts he had and the
lessons he learned could serve him well in this situation.
Making sound was no
longer an option. Appius quietly exited the stable and surveyed the landscape.
The air was crisp and cold; he could see his own breath and realized that he
could use this to his advantage. Whoever was trespassing would be leaving a
misty trail, which could be followed.
