“Why did everyone have to be so slow?” Aemillia pondered as
she waited in the vestibulum. She was
dressed as rich and beautifully as she could manage. She proudly patted her hair, feeling the
gilded beads intricately braided into her curls. Demetrius popped his head out of her father’s
room. Spying her, he grinned broadly and
came over.
“Your father says to tell you that there is plenty of time.” He reached up to tuck a stray hair behind her
ear. Her eyes locked with his and his
smile faded. “Are you really in such a
hurry to gain fertility for your betrothed?”
Before she could react, he turned and walked away.
Determined to ignore his jab about her upcoming marriage,
she walked purposely to rush her father out of the door.
Later that day, Aemillia was squeezed in a tightly packed
cluster of young women with her arm twisted with Publilia’s. She watched the near naked young men
preparing to run. Aemillia rocked from
her heals to the ball of her foot and back multiple times before Publilia sent
her a reassuring smile. Though Aemillia
had been looking forward to participating in this particular aspect of
Lupercalia for the first time, at the moment the men looked barbaric stripped
of their togas, holding goat hide strips, and grinning at the group of women in
their path. Suddenly, Caesar shouted for
the race to begin and the men started sprinting. The men who had been enjoying the wine
already began to slow and weave slightly, but they continued to run on the path
around the Palantine hill. Aemillia felt
a very strong urge to flee seeing the men run straight towards them. The men hit women in their path with their
goat strips as they ran. Aemillia had
always been told that this was supposed to increase fertility in the
women. The front runner was just steps
away when Aemillia tried to flee.
Publilia held her steady as the man hit them with the strip on his way. Immediately Publilia sprinted into the
spectators on the sidelines dragging Aemillia behind her. “By the gods!
Was it really supposed to hurt so much?” was all Aemillia could think as
she rubbed her arm. Publilia gave her a
tight hug, and they enjoyed the excitement and freedom of the festival.
