CRASH! Wine splashed across the floor and spattered onto the walls. Shards of the broken amphora lay strewn about the entryway, darkened with stains as the precious liquid it had once protected lapped over it. The slave that had dropped the vase looked down at the wreckage in utter horror.
With news that Marcus would be returning that night, the house had been in an uproar. The household slaves were scrambling to finish the list of tasks that had been laid out for them that morning in preparation for the feast celebrating Marcus’ arrival. Felix understood the stress his fellow slaves were under and rushed to help clean up the mess, silently hoping his master would have some mercy and not turn to any physical punishment for the accident.
The night was sure to be one of merriment for his master’s family. Marcus had been away fighting Caesar’s war for a considerable time, and through his valor and expertise had been appointed the position of military tribune. Though Felix was a slave, he had known Marcus since boyhood and he wondered if the battlefield had changed the young master he’d grown up with. Marcus had a penchant for telling a good story, and from the rumors of Caesar killing Pompey’s sons that had already reached the city, the night was guaranteed to be filled with Marcus’ riveting anecdotes.
Though he was happy for his master’s return, Felix couldn’t help but dwell upon the cloud of uncertainty and angst that had followed these rumors of Caesar’s actions. While walking through the Forum Romanum he had overheard countless mentions of doubt and worry. Was Caesar getting too powerful? Why was he killing fellow Romans? Will there ever be true peace in the empire? The thought bothered Felix, he had been looking forward to the end of the war because his master had insinuated at one point that Felix would be manumitted for his faithful service once Marcus returned home. But this threat of political unrest would surely rearrange his master’s priorities, pushing Felix’s freedom to an undetermined and seemingly unreachable date.
