Finally the day of the festival had arrived, and
Lucius could hardly contain his excitement.
The great pompa to begin the
celebration, the chariot races, the plays, the feasting; it was going to be a
wonderful day. The rest of the household
had already left for the city, which left Lucius waiting for Julia. Someone needed to stay behind for she could
not venture into the city on her own. Afraid
they were going to miss the procession, Lucius quietly prayed to himself for
Julia to hurry; he would hate for them to miss even seconds of the celebrations. Just then, he heard her coming down the
stairs, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
They were going to make it in plenty of time.
They
arrived just in time to see the beginning of the procession, pushing through
the crowd to find a spot with a clearer view.
The magistrates led the way, displaying their power and influence over
the festival itself. Following behind
were the teams of chariot racers dressed in their designated colors. Lucius looked down and saw Julia wore a
bracelet with green accents, her subtle pledge of allegiance to her favorite
chariot team. Close behind the racers
were the musicians and dancers. The
crowd cheered as each component of the procession passed. Soon it would be time for the games and theater
performances, as promised.
Lucius
and Julia made their way to the chariot races.
He escorted her to her seat. Because
of the social status of her father, she was ensured a good seat in the arena
with an incredible view of the race. The
racers in their chariots pulled by the biggest, strongest looking horses Lucius
had ever seen began to line up at the start.
The races were about to begin. An
old magistrate took his place, white cloth in hand. All the racers steadied their gaze, preparing
to start the moment it lowered. Lucius
turned to leave, heading for the theater.
There was a sudden uproar from the stands; the chariots were off. Lucius personally enjoyed the theater. He hoped he would be able to find a mime
performance, though Julia would scoff at this.
She could never understand why a woman would want to become an
actress. Julia: so opinionated. Soon she would be gone from him forever… Lucius
stopped, and turned, heading back toward the races.
-Elizabeth Reed
