It was a lovely morning, the skies
were clear and the birds were chirping. It was time for Spuria to go to her
tutoring session at the Forum. Clodia put on her stola as she began to walk
Spuria down the Palatine Hill towards the Forum. As they reached the Forum, it
was as if the clear skies had suddenly turned grey. An eerie feeling of death
and sorrow filled the air. As they walked to the Basilica for Spuria’s tutoring
session, Clodia stopped to listen to one of Caesar’s men as he informed the
city of the happenings of the civil war. All of who had sided with Caesar’s
jumped for joy as it was announced that Caesar had defeated Pompey’s sons in
Spain. Clodia was relieved as she sent Spuria off to her class. She looked
forward to receiving a letter from her husband, explaining how they defeated
Pompey’s sons.
As Clodia did some shopping at the
Market, she overheard a conversation nearby. One of the ladies who were
listening eagerly greeted one of Caesar’s men. They seemed to have been friends
from before the civil war. As they were talking Clodia made sure to stay close
so she could hear any other details pertaining to the war. The next thing she
knew, the woman was in the man’s arms, nearly screaming she was crying so hard.
Clodia turned to see what had happened; all the man could say was “I’m sorry,
I’m sorry. He died in honor, fighting for what he believed in. I’m sorry…” Once
Clodia saw this, she put her things down and rushed home, eager to see that her
husband had wrote her. As she was making her way back to her house, all she
could think about was being in that woman’s position. What if she lost her
husband? What would she do? How could she tell Spuria?
As Clodia got closer to home, she
was able to see a letter on her front door. A feeling of relief fell over her.
She reached for the letter, opened it, and began to read her husband’s writing,
he explained that they had defeated Pompey’s sons, how much he missed her, and
longed the day that he would be able to see her again. He exclaimed his love
for both Clodia and their daughter Spuria, and hoped them well. As she put the
letter down, tears of joy streamed down her cheeks, as she was so relieved to
know that he was still alive.
