For two weeks, Galeo and Dulcitius
remained in captivity after they were ambushed upon arriving at the Roman
shores. For what felt like an eternity, they did slave activities, such as
copying manuscripts, acting in theater plays, and fighting in the arenas. They
adjusted well to the life of a slave, but they never forgot about their
original lives. The rest of Caesar’s legion escaped the ambush virtually
unscathed, but Galeo and Dulcitius were the only two soldiers taken prisoner.
Thus, they were believed to have been dead. They wanted to escape. They wanted
to return to their families. Galeo yearned to see his dad and brothers as a
high ranking solider, and Dulcitius wanted to return to Aurelia and their son.
At the local theater, Dulcitius and
Galeo were waiting backstage during the intermission of a play. Galeo had his chance right here to escape,
because his character had no more scenes to play. He turned to Dulcitius. “We
can escape now. Our families are waiting for us.” Dulcitius wanted to happily
accept his offer and escape with Galeo, but with a slightly disappointed face,
he turned around and bared his back. On it was an inscription burned into his
skin. My name is Dulcitius. If I am
found, please return me to my master. That inscription hindered all
possibility of escaping, because if he was caught, he would be sent back to his
current household and be punished. With that, Galeo worked his way around the
back of the stage, and broke into a sprint once he reached the main streets. He
looked back at the theater to remember his old mentor, but reminded himself
that he could see him whenever a play was being showcased.
Galeo continued to run, eventually
reaching the foot of palatine hill. In the distance, he spotted a large, white
villa. As he fixated his gaze on his house, he slowly started walking, savoring
every step which brought him closer to home.
