A Mixture of Madness, Book II of The Bow - By Levkoff, Andrew Page 0,17

now, they were cold and empty of color.

“Humble apologies. I misspoke. To be fair, you don’t see one hanging about mine, either, do you?”

“No, and I won’t, but that is of little consequence, since you are only required to don yours when you leave the grounds.”

I could have shown him my slave plaque, unique in all the Roman world, but it was becoming clear that nothing I could do or say to this man would put me on an equal footing, so why bother? It was also dawning on me that the ground upon which he stood was no place where I wished to stand.

I held out my hand for another scroll. “You know, I’ve been meaning to ask you, why is it, since Lucius Piso has given you your freedom and you have taken his name as is the custom, that you are not his client and he your patron? What brings you to the house of Crassus?”

“Have you ever been to Macedonia? Piso’s been governor there since his consulship, and every step since our departure has been a stride taken in the wrong direction. How I have longed for the art, the culture, the speeches from the rostra, the games, the baths, the forums. I’ve even missed the smell.”

“You are a true Roman.” Imagine the burning sarcasm I could not quite extinguish.

It went unremarked, for Curio was far more interested in the words about to come from his own lips than the two he watched, impatiently waiting for them to stop moving. “Piso is a man of his word. I was born into his house. He swore to my mother that on my 30th birthday he would give me my freedom, and this he did. A shame she did not live to see the day.”

“I am sorry for your loss. And what of your father?”

“I did not know my father.” A nerve unintentionally struck, Curio’s voice failed to hide unmistakable shame. My mind began its inevitable calculations, and could not help but wonder how close senator Piso and Curio’s mother had been.

“Forgive my intrusion,” I said.

Curio’s mask of imperturbability was back in place before I had finished speaking. “Governor Piso agreed that Thessalonica was no place for my ambition. He wrote your master who graciously gave me a place in this household. Lucius Piso formally released me of my obligations of respect and gratitude, and Marcus Crassus has done the same.”

“Very generous of them both, and most unusual. I find it strange, though, that dominus never spoke to me about it beforehand.”

“Or to me, that I would be taking direction from a slave.”

That put the hammer to the egg. “I see. There are many freedmen employed on this estate, or on several dozen other properties. Would you be more comfortable in some lesser post?”

Curio’s nasality rose a muffled notch. “I should confer with your dominus before I did anything unilaterally.”

“Be very clear about one thing, Lucius. Whether, when you stroll into town, your neck is free of obligatory ornamentation, or like me, for the past thirty years, you have devoted every waking moment to this man and his family, everyone in this household is a servant of our dominus. That includes his slaves, his freedmen, his children, his wife, me and most importantly as regards this conversation at this very moment, you. Is that understood?”

We completed our business in silence, and I almost apologized for my rant, born as it was not so much by what Lucius had said but by what he had implied: dominus wanted the man right where he was, and that frightened me. Later, when I asked Crassus about it, he responded by inquiring if it was now his duty to delay every decision he made until after he had laid it upon my table to receive my seal. Then he added that the day he actually gave me my own seal he might consider it, but neither circumstance was very likely. It was a short discussion.

Chapter IV

56 BCE Fall, Rome

Year of the consulship of

Cn. Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus and L. Marcius Philippus

I never gave the scars on my back much thought anymore; the tug and pull of the pale ridges had drifted into the background of my consciousness. One can get past just about anything, given enough time, even when one shouldn’t.

Hanno was the only member of our society who regularly saw the ugly stripes. He became accustomed to the sight, but the first time it happened, unsettling for us both, he was assisting