It was a normal day; Clodia had
followed her simple routine by taking Spuria to her tutoring session in the
morning. As Spuria’s tutoring session came to a close, the two of them walked
back up the Palatine Hill from the Forum, back home. As they drew closer to
their house, a letter was visibly attached to the door. A rush of happiness
came over Clodia as she exclaimed, “A letter! It must be from your father,
Spuria, go fetch it for me.” As Spuria ran to the door to get the letter for
her mother, Clodia began to run behind her. As Spuria reached for the letter,
Clodia could see that it wasn’t from her husband. It wasn’t his handwriting. A
rush of sadness and panic came over her. Why hadn’t he written her? It had been
a couple days now, and she was expecting a letter. As Spuria handed her mother
the letter, Spuria became confused. It seemed to be a very professional letter,
one that she had never received before… It was from the army. The color in
Clodia’s face began to disappear as she opened the letter. As she did, she
collapsed to the ground, bawling. Terentia, hearing Clodia’s fall rushed to her
side. Terentia grabbed the letter from Clodia’s hands. She read it silently to
herself. “To whom this regards, we regret to inform you of the loss of the
great soldier Spurius. Our condolences go out to you and your loved ones.
Signed Julius Caesar.”
Spurius
had been killed in war. He would never be able to meet his daughter. Terentia
hugged Clodia as tight as she could, telling her that everything would be ok.
Spuria, confused, stood to the side, watching as her mother cried and cried.
Clodia
reached out to Spuria, hardly being able to talk, cried, “I’m sorry baby, I’m
so sorry.”
That
night was a solemn and depressing night for everyone in the house. At dinner,
everyone was quiet, except when giving thanks to Vesta for their meal. Clodia
barely touched her food, having no appetite since she had heard the terrible
news about her husband. After dinner, Clodia went back to her room, not wanting
to speak to anyone, not even her daughter. For whenever she looked at her
daughter, all she saw was her loving husband. Terentia followed Clodia to her
bedroom. “Clodia dear, you need to be strong. You cannot let Spuria see you
this weak. You must be strong for your daughter. I have recently lost my
husband and only daughter. Now look at me, you have taken me in as your family,
and taught me how to live again. The same I shall do for you. We are all here
for you, here to support you. I know this is not an easy time, but you need to
be strong for not only Spuria but for yourself. You cannot allow yourself to
act this way. Crying in your room and not eating, it’s not healthy. We will get
through this together, as a family.”
