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Authors: Luke Devenish
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memory rushed back sixty years, to when I had felt such a tremor before. It had been in the cave of Cybele, where my domina and I had heard our destinies revealed. The earth bucked again now and I staggered in my shoes. I looked around but I knew the truth already – no one else had felt the tremor. I was alone in my experience. For a moment or two more I tried to appear as if all was right while the fair screeched on around me. But the beast continued to churn below the earth while I appealed in desperate silence to the skies.
'What is wrong with you, Iphicles?' said Agrippina. 'The carnifex 's man is gone.'
I smiled and went to make a joke, but then my eye fell on the statue of my domina . The updated hairstyle, cast in bronze, slipped from the statue's head, striking the skull of the sculptor's assistant. The man fell to the ground as his fellows rushed to him. The heavy bronze hair had snapped in two.
My mouth grew dry. The slave woman, the carnifex , the tremor and the statue – they were a portent, an omen. Together they made a signal meant for me and no one else. But what did they mean?
The mangon clapped his hands, casting winks and smiles, anxious to get the proceedings underway and lift the spirits of the crowd. The stick-wielding assistants forced the disgorged captives to strip off their rags.
'Shall I bid for any of these, Lady?' I asked, hoping I had pulled myself together.
'These men are good for nothing but field work – they'll last two years at best. Health and skills are what I want today – good vernae . Slaves born in captivity – like you.'
'Agrippina!'
A voice behind us made us turn. Castor was approaching with a large retinue of his own. Agrippina's older sons, Nero and Drusus, were among them.
'Good morning, Mother,' Nero called out.
Her face lit up with pleasure as Castor's mass of rowdy followers merged with her own. 'Well, this is nice – some extra company while I shop today,' Agrippina shouted above the noise. She and Castor kissed, and then the boys exchanged embraces with her, before everyone greeted Sosia and Claudia.
Nero looked at the captives for sale. 'I don't think much of these – where will you put them all?'
'I don't want those poor men,' Agrippina said. 'I'm after household slaves to replace the ones I lost. They're just selling off the dross first before they bring out the decent men.'
Castor exchanged a quick look with the two boys. 'You won't need to be too extravagant today,' he said to Agrippina.
Sosia laughed.
'When am I extravagant?' said Agrippina, knowing why Sosia thought it funny. Agrippina was famously frugal. 'All I want to do is restock my house in a fashion that Germanicus would have approved of.'
The deliberate mention of her dead husband made Castor flinch a little; Germanicus had been his adopted brother. Castor shifted on his feet, where his right arch pained him with an abscess that never seemed to heal. 'All the same, Father is encouraging us to show new restraint with household expenses,' Castor said. 'It sets a good example.'
The three women stiffened. If anyone else but Castor had presented Agrippina with one of Tiberius's petty directives, all three would have spat in his face. But Castor was one of the family members of whom Agrippina was fond. She beamed with grace, but gave no assent that the Emperor's word meant anything to her. Instead she turned to me. 'A fan slave, I think, should be added to our shopping list, Iphicles. I feel a need for one of those. And a scissors slave. How can I be expected to cut up my own meat?' She was being provocative for Castor's benefit, but I nodded obediently.
Another look passed between Castor and her boys and Agrippina saw it this time. 'What is it – do you think Tiberius will be shocked?' she asked dryly.
I had noticed a change in the way Nero and Drusus stood next to Castor, no longer as nephews might with their uncle, but with the deference shown to a man with whom they shared a closer
'What is wrong with you, Iphicles?' said Agrippina. 'The carnifex 's man is gone.'
I smiled and went to make a joke, but then my eye fell on the statue of my domina . The updated hairstyle, cast in bronze, slipped from the statue's head, striking the skull of the sculptor's assistant. The man fell to the ground as his fellows rushed to him. The heavy bronze hair had snapped in two.
My mouth grew dry. The slave woman, the carnifex , the tremor and the statue – they were a portent, an omen. Together they made a signal meant for me and no one else. But what did they mean?
The mangon clapped his hands, casting winks and smiles, anxious to get the proceedings underway and lift the spirits of the crowd. The stick-wielding assistants forced the disgorged captives to strip off their rags.
'Shall I bid for any of these, Lady?' I asked, hoping I had pulled myself together.
'These men are good for nothing but field work – they'll last two years at best. Health and skills are what I want today – good vernae . Slaves born in captivity – like you.'
'Agrippina!'
A voice behind us made us turn. Castor was approaching with a large retinue of his own. Agrippina's older sons, Nero and Drusus, were among them.
'Good morning, Mother,' Nero called out.
Her face lit up with pleasure as Castor's mass of rowdy followers merged with her own. 'Well, this is nice – some extra company while I shop today,' Agrippina shouted above the noise. She and Castor kissed, and then the boys exchanged embraces with her, before everyone greeted Sosia and Claudia.
Nero looked at the captives for sale. 'I don't think much of these – where will you put them all?'
'I don't want those poor men,' Agrippina said. 'I'm after household slaves to replace the ones I lost. They're just selling off the dross first before they bring out the decent men.'
Castor exchanged a quick look with the two boys. 'You won't need to be too extravagant today,' he said to Agrippina.
Sosia laughed.
'When am I extravagant?' said Agrippina, knowing why Sosia thought it funny. Agrippina was famously frugal. 'All I want to do is restock my house in a fashion that Germanicus would have approved of.'
The deliberate mention of her dead husband made Castor flinch a little; Germanicus had been his adopted brother. Castor shifted on his feet, where his right arch pained him with an abscess that never seemed to heal. 'All the same, Father is encouraging us to show new restraint with household expenses,' Castor said. 'It sets a good example.'
The three women stiffened. If anyone else but Castor had presented Agrippina with one of Tiberius's petty directives, all three would have spat in his face. But Castor was one of the family members of whom Agrippina was fond. She beamed with grace, but gave no assent that the Emperor's word meant anything to her. Instead she turned to me. 'A fan slave, I think, should be added to our shopping list, Iphicles. I feel a need for one of those. And a scissors slave. How can I be expected to cut up my own meat?' She was being provocative for Castor's benefit, but I nodded obediently.
Another look passed between Castor and her boys and Agrippina saw it this time. 'What is it – do you think Tiberius will be shocked?' she asked dryly.
I had noticed a change in the way Nero and Drusus stood next to Castor, no longer as nephews might with their uncle, but with the deference shown to a man with whom they shared a closer
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