As the days went on following the Circus Maximus, Decimus had continued to find ways to see Julia, the merchants daughter working at the Forum Boarium. As this infatuation began to become more than just that and had moved towards him considering leaving his wife, Decimus pondered on the potential for this to work. While Decimus had enjoyed being the husband to the daughter of a magistrate, he had lacked the attention and needs he had once had as his marriage progressed. The urge to have someone who would be more dedicated to a relationship and more caring for his personal desires began to outweigh the devotion he had maintained to his wife. As Decimus finally convinced himself he would be happier being with Julia as she would surely give more to their relationship, he remembered a major piece he had forgotten about.
Decimus, in all of his excitement and eagerness for something new and young, somehow had forgotten about the dowry he had received upon marrying his wife. Decimus was a man who, while wealthy before marriage as a land owner, had fully embraced the lifestyle of having an excess of wealth and privileges that came as being married to a magistrates daughter. The fact that he would have to not only give up all ties to the elite families controlling the Roman Republic but also the dowry which was given to him brought him crashing back to reality. While the loss of connections to the government was enough to make him fully reconsider, the repayment of the dowry, which could ultimately send him into poverty, seemed to halt all thoughts of Julia in an instance. Decimus did not have the monetary funds available to sustain being able to repay the generous dowry provided by his wife’s family and thus decided to move on and concentrate on rescuing his marriage for fear of her father revoking the marriage.
