Jeremy Herman
2/24/12
Assignement
6
It was the morning of February the 15th in Rome
and the city was full of energy, the festival of Lupercalia was being held
today, which meant it would be a busy day for Triarius. The day started off like any other, Triarius
and his wife Adela wake up and go to wake their children Bartholomaeus and Cassandra,
and tell them to prepare for the big day ahead.
By the time the children were up and out of bed, breakfast was sitting
on the table for them, and after an offering of food to the goddess Vesta and
saying grace, the family dug into the meal.
Everyone at the table was in a good mood; today there was to be great
feasts, celebrations, wine drinking and lovemaking. It was an off day for everyone, the children
were happy they did not have to attend school, the parents happy that they did
not have to work, even the slaves were happy as their work would be very
minimal.
After breakfast the family began
to prepare for the day. Triarius and his
son Bartholomaeus wore their toga praetextas to represent their position of
importance in the roman hierarchy, Adela and Cassandra wore their stola, tunic,
and palla. The family was now ready to
leave their home on palatine hill and walk down to the roman forum where a
large part of the festivities were to be held.
Each member of the family was excited for different reasons. Triarius was looking forward to feasting as
well as being able to chat with his fellow senators and magistrates, Adela for
the food and prayer, and the children for the chariot races and the food. Not too long after they left the house they
made it to the forum and were immersed into the vibe of the festival. Wine was free flowing and people were
generally merry; Rome was happy to finally have a day off for celebration and
relaxation. Bartholomaeus, already drunk
after the first half and hour and 4 glasses of wine had been bugging Triarius
about wanting to see the chariot races, so he obliged and rounded up Cassandra
as well, but could not find his wife. He
found this to be peculiar, but upon further nagging from his children went off
to Circus Maximus where the race would be held, figuring his wife would be
fine.
On his way down out to the races,
out of the corner of his eye he thought he spotted a man with a toga praetexta talking
to, with his hand on her waste, a woman who looked like his wife, but when
Triarius turned around the two figures had been lost in the crowd, so he
continued on to the races.
