Marcus woke to a grey dawn. It was not quite time to get up, but Marcus
felt particularly energized this morning. He rolled out from his sheets,
careful not to wake his sleeping wife, Julia. Usually Julia would be awake and
bustling about the house, having already prepared Marcus’s breakfast at this
time. But lately, their newborn son, Titus, had proven to be a robust infant
and had taken an especial toll on his mother.
Marcus changed into his work clothes and headed out to take stock of
his farm. What herds he owned and grains he grew were vital to the continuation
of his livelihood. Thus, it was important for him to take a daily account of
his wealth in a rather fastidious manner. Unlike many other farmers, Marcus
liked to join his slaves in the fields so that his farming work was personal.
He began walking the path which ran alongside the whole area of worked land. As
he passed one of the many apple trees which grew alongside the dirt path, he
plucked a ripe-looking one to call breakfast. Continuing on his way, he reached
the first emmer field just as Helios
drove his sun-chariot to crest over the Apennine Mountains. Marcus veered off
the path and immersed himself among the various slaves in his emmer, the wheat crops used to make
Roman bread. Since bread was such a staple in Roman homes, the emmer crops were particularly important
to Marcus and his fellow farmers. He walked with the slaves one row at a time,
carefully inspecting the plants for signs of disease, bugs, thirst, and other
indicators of health. As he made his way through both of his wheat fields,
Marcus was pleased to see that overall, his crops were growing to a healthy bloom.
The oncoming harvest would be a good one.
After seeing to the crops, Marcus gave further instructions to his
slaves on how to water and weed the crop fields, as well as how to plow the
fallowing field to sustain the soil’s nutrients and ability to produce crops. Next
season, Marcus would attempt to cultivate olives for the first time. Then he went
over to the pasturing field. Marcus could afford only two donkeys to plow his
fields, so his pasturing field was a paltry one. However, he did not mind. He
liked his farm.
