Freedom was something Clodia never thought
she would have. She spent her entire
nights, trying to imagine what her life is going to be like, a freed slave. The
thought of so much freedom frightened her in some ways. Clodia was not aware of the limitations and opportunities
freed slaves had in society. As excited as Clodia was, she realized that her
father Lucius was not, but looked more worried and that frightened Clodia also.
Clodia was in the master’s quarter
doing her daily chores, lost in her thoughts about her new free life when her
thoughts were quickly interrupted when she overheard her master speaking with
one of the other senators. Clodia knew
it was not right to listen to her master’s conversation, but Clodia enjoyed to
because she took interest in politics and government, which was unusual for a
woman of her status. They were discussing the civil war that was occurring
between the great Caesar and Pompey. Clodia’s master was a supporter of Pompey,
he argued that if Caesar won the war he will become a very powerful dictator
and have too much control over Rome. The other senator explained that Caesar is
having a lot of success on the battlefield.
He also explained that Caesar was an amazing military leader. He was
very much loved by all his soldiers and his military tactics were genius.
Caesar was continually winning battle after battle, gathering captives of war
to sell to slavery, which was an economical commodity for the Roman economy. The fall of Pompey was soon to come. The master of Clodia bitterly agreed with his colleague,
and explains that the victory of Caesar is the reason for his departure. And with
his departure, he would leave everything behind and free the slaves that he
had. This idea only excited Clodia even more;
her appreciation for the Great Caesar grew. It was he who was responsible for
her freedom, which is how Clodia saw it. When Clodia was about to sneak away back to
her chores, she overheard her master say her father’s name. The master said, “Lucius my very loyal slave
explained that he was very grateful for his and family freedom. Explained that
he did not have many options for a stable life outside the slave life, but was
deciding on whether he is going to be forced to arrange a marriage for his
daughter or sell her back into slavery. Considering these things are making
Lucius sick. “
