Previously on Graecus…
A flash back to 48 BCE when Rome is
receiving word of Caesar’s success in the Battle of Pharsalus. Lucius Claudius
Valerius, a former Consul and aspiring Censor, expresses his concerns about
Caesar’s growing popularity and would rather see Pompey’s victory because they
share a similar political background and because of his constant confrontation
with Mark Antony (right hand man to Caesar), see’s Pompey as the lesser of two
evils. Lucius believes that if he supports the victor, when this Civil War is
over that censorship is as good as his. He is not the only one who feels this
way about Caesar and has formed a group of allies that have presented the idea
of sabotage, a plan three years in the making.
Now…
It is 45BCE and the scene opens with Lucius son apologizing
for telling some men in the forum about his allegiance to Pompey. Apparently
young Lucius had over heard a conversation between his father and an ally, the
young master wasn’t the brightest and didn’t see the harm in jumping into a
political conversation and spouting what he knew. This would ruin Lucius; he
had no time to try and salvage his reputation, and had to run. He called his
most trusted slave Graecus, a servant in the Valerius household since he was
eight from the pious city of Delphi, and told him of his plans to flee by
nightfall. “Here take this,” Lucius whispers as he tucks a small sack of drachmae
into Graecus hand “go to the curia and ask for a man named Marius, he’ll know
what to do”.
When Graecus returns it is
nightfall and proceeds to help the master carry his bags to the courtyard, but
as he is passing through he hears a loud cries and sees two figures struggling.
The larger figure reaches up with something heavy in his hand, perhaps a wine
jug, it was too dark for Graecus to see clearly, his hand came down and a
forceful blow echoed through the villa. The figure looked up, saw him and ran,
Graecus did not know what to do, either run after the murderer or help his
master. If he runs it may look like he was apart of it and risk looking like a
runaway with this collar on, but if he is seen anywhere near his dead master he
is sure to take the blame as well as his fellow slaves of the house. Instead he
decides to turn around the way he came, wait until someone else finds the body
and come back.
A week passed and the matron of the
house, Clodia, prepared her husbands body for burial with the help of her son
and Graecus who was often called on as the family physician. Her eyes were red
and puffy from crying and no sleep, clothes torn and scratches on her chest
from such devoted lamenting. She could barely speak until she noticed something
unfamiliar about the body. “Young
Lucius look at this leg here” she points to the left thigh.
“ I don’t see anything mother but blood and rubble” he rolls
his eyes at his obviously delusional mother.
“Just as I thought”, Clodia said in a raised voice, the
loudest we had heard anyone in days “this is not my husband”.
“What do you mean Domina?” asked Graecus “This is his tunic
and toga praetexta is it not?”
“Well yes”
“And his calceus patricius?”
“Yes very well you recognize his clothes of which every man
on this hill (Palatine) possess, but this is not him!” she says exasperated “His left thigh has no scar”,
everyone looks as Clodia explains “it was a terrible battle wound from the
Gallic Wars and look his citizen ring is missing”.
Graecus was suddenly terrified and
began shaking. Who is this man that I
saw get killed last night and where is my master? I need to find him and plead
for manumission. Word had spread about Lucius and his preferred victor along
with a rumor of how he was to make sure Pompey won. When news gets out that he
is still alive, because eventually it will, he will be put on trial and you
know what that means for any slave, especially the one who is the most trusted
head of household… torture. It is Roman law that any slave to speak on his
master’s behalf is to be tortured first to ensure that nothing but the “truth”,
or whatever they want you to say to prove their case, is spoken. Graecus walks
away as the others discuss the mystery body, “tonight I set off to look for my
master, if I find him and explain the situation, maybe he will free me” he
pauses to consider the possibility that it would actually happen then re assures
himself by shaking his head “he must free me”. He then walks off into the slave
quarters to prepare for his journey.
