Domina Triumphans

Chapter 8: 46 AD, Rome and Antioch

Scauria, the tavern keeper's wife, lifted a pot of warm stewed fruit and poured it into a dolius or wide-mouthed pot on the counter. She and her husband, Lorus, had inherited this business and prime location across from the main gatehouse of the castrum from her father and would, in time, pass it off to their son, who was completing his sevice in XII and retiring soon.

In the over fifty years she had stood behind this counter, she had fed all kinds of people. Antioch was the third largest city of the Empire, not far from a busy port, and boasted the largest military base outside of Italia. Men from all over came to serve here and many decided to stay. She had seen her fair share of drunks, fights, and odd behavior. The big Celt from Britannia was not the first smart ass, nor would he be the last. She could grant that he had likely mixed up his words and was not trying to be smutty. It was his attitude toward Spurius Crispinus, who tried to correct him, that had pissed everyone off. The Crispinii were a longstanding local family, and no one crossed them, not even an officer. Somebody needed to explain things to the dumbass Briton and soon.

She saw Gannicillus and his father in the line for lunch. The taberna was catering the combination birthday and anniversary banquet later that evening. Gannicillus reached the counter, put some sestercii down, and stepped aside for his father to place an order.

"You have a dutiful son, there," Scauria said.

Gannicus chuckled.

"I have a son who's trying to keep me out of the house where his sister is planning a party," he said. "But, yes, Lady, I am blessed."

They got their food and found a table. He was blessed. His son respected him, was proud of him, and now that he was earning good money, liked to spoil him every now and then. It was more than Gannicus could have imagined with his own father. In the decades following Vercingetorix' defeat by Caesar, generations of Gauls had grown up in poverty and bitterness. His family were free sharecroppers on an Imperial estate not far from Vesontio, the tribal city. His father was a mean-ass drunk who hated his son for defending his mother from near constant beatings. School was a refuge, when he could get there. Then the conscript gang came for him, and he was ready to go. He never saw his parents again, but the only one he missed was his mother.

Gannicus entered the military as a young tough with an attitude and addiction problem. His earnings went to drink and hashish, though he had tried opium and even mushrooms. He had a disciplinary record that went on for several pages. What saved his ass from discharge was his courage and skill with weapons and horses. That he was allergic to animals was beside the point. Pain was a good motivator and he dragged his beaten back, busting head, and snotty nose to work each day. Then, his superiors found out that he could read and write and he was specialized as a clerk tracking straw and feed for the horses.

A pretty Araveci washerwoman turned his life around for good. Amaina was not afraid of his temper and made her expectations clear from day one. He curbed his drinking, left off the hashish, and tried other remedies for the pain of his migraines. Then Garos was born and a flame lit in Gannicus' soul. He vowed that he and his son would have a decent relationship, and it was up to him to make that happen. Eithne came three years later. The whole family caught a fever and Amaina, worn out nursing them, died when Eithne was a year old.

What saved him then was Nyssa, already a competent midwife and nurse. Nyssa, Garos, and Eithne formed a tight squad around him. Dicea, Ilenia, and Millia rounded out their joy. Gannicus watched his son grow into the hard worker Amaina had been. A fan of Bolt and Artos, Garos knuckled down in school and grew close to his stepgrandfather Camalus. He and Nyssa's nephew Carnutos were brothers from other mothers. Tarbantu and Duberdico fit right in. Tarbantu, also Araveci, had an eye for Eithne and Gannicus was strongly considering it. He wrapped a flat bread around some roasted meat as Garos munched a pork chop.