Julia awoke to the sound of voices. She climbed out
of bed and called out to her personal attendant, Clodia. Clodia came quickly
and nervously presented the new stola
she had picked out for Julia the day before in the Forum. Clodia was new in the
household and so badly wanted to please Julia; Julia had so far shown only
kindness to Clodia. To Clodia’s relief, Julia was satisfied, and she busied
herself dressing Julia and combing her long hair.
Julia
walked out into the atrium and saw
her husband, Appius, speaking to one of his client’s during their daily salutatio. Appius was handing the client
a large basket of assorted foods and Julia couldn’t help but smile thinking of
Appius’ political motivations for the daily interaction. With the support of
his clients, Appius dreamed of one day becoming Consul. Julia always encouraged
him but in her mind never expected him to move further than his current
position as Aedile. The client left and Appius turned to his wife and
exclaimed, “Oh my beautiful Julia, I must leave immediately. The Senate has
been summoned by the consul.” Julia smiled and nodded, quickly asking if she
could take a trip to the Forum today. Appius agreed but ordered her to be
accompanied by Decimus, their Greek slave, for protection. This pleased Julia
immensely. She had found in Decimus everything that Appius lacked: handsome,
large build, piercing blue eyes, and the intelligence of a Greek scholar. She
could listen to the lessons he taught their daughter, as tutor, for hours,
getting caught up in the stories and myths.
Julia walked with Decimus
down the Palatine Hill and past the Temple of Vesta. She watched as a Vestal
Virgin tended to the fire, burning eternally on the shrine. She stopped at the
temple and said a prayer before moving toward the Forum. Julia spotted her
girlfriends, gossiping beside the bathhouse, and quickened her step to meet
them. She had not been to the Forum in weeks and was looking forward to
catching up with her friends. She noticed that her best friend, Terentia, was
not present and frowned. It had been months since Cicero had divorced Terentia
but still Terentia refused to leave her room. Julia made a mental note to stop
by the house on her way back from the Forum to consol her grieving friend.
