Claudius' ban

5

Pianna, several grown children of Parisius and their spouses, two elders and their wives arrived at Tamila's village. With them also came the former Queen consort Anna from Savaria, the widow of both Ludo and Parisius. Ludo's daughter with Anna was there at the village (she's also named Anna), she was 37 years old which is the same age as Tamila. She, however, didn't receive anything from her father's inheritance. The two daughters of Anna and her former husband Parisius, Taianna (12) and Celine (11), Anna's latest husband and their five year old son joined her when she joined Pianna. Anna's husband felt left out. To prevent marriage problems she agreed to bring him too. The group moved into the village, still guarded by the 17 hirelings, and they exchanged stories. Anna's daughter Anna, let's name her Anna the younger, asked her mother permission to leave. She wanted to go into town. Her mum gave her 40 silver coins and two Aureus coins as pocket money upon the 120 silver coins she had earned with her own job as a hairdresser and tailor. The pocked money was Roman currency from Lower Germany. The coins were minted during the time of Emperor Caligula. They were transported to Cimbria by postal services by soldiers who imported goods from the Frisian industry at the Vidrus (Dutch: de Vecht) river.

Anna the younger, also nicknamed Philianna (Greek mixture of ''familiar love'' and ''Anna'') left the that same evening. She rented an ass (donkey) at the harbor and traveled on a Celtic road towards the border with the country of the Coritanians. She traveled the whole night and she arrived in the early morning (around 07:20) at the border. There was a small Roman town that was erected just two years before - it was a Celtic settlement of less than 50 people that became transformed into a small town of 200 people. Most of the civilians were poor peasants, who lived far removed into the swamp region, that were invited by the Roman soldiers to civilize themselves by adapting to Roman life. The town had no aqueduct, but it had seven wells nearby where the people would get their water from. Instead of a bath house there was a large artificial pond made inside an extended flat, with warm water. The town had 10 soldiers, recruits from among the Coritanians, who patrolled through the town to police the people. At the town, there was also a small building which represented a synagogue. Among the 200 were also 41 Judeans who were expelled from Italy, in accordance to the decree of Claudius. But that's not all. There was a big famine going on in the Mediterranean region, especially in the East. Britain, being rich with natural resources and fertile land, was the easiest place for these people to flee to. And besides that, there were already Israelites living among the Coritanians. The ''synagogue'' was just a large apartment complex, with five rooms, a bath room, a kitchen and a basement where they hid their manuscripts, books and food supply. Every Sabbath they read from the Torah, the Prophets and they eat unleavened bread accompanied with Gaulish wine. From the town there were new roads that led to all other Celtic settlements and new Roman towns in the region. The Coritanians had much gold and they decorated their streets with many religious symbols. When Phillianna entered the town nobody noticed her. She didn't look much different than the local women. She arrived at what seemed to be the central square of the town. There was no market and only some people were passing by. At the square was a small shop that sold meat, jewelry and bread. The shop owner didn't appear to be a local. He had Mediterranean features.

''Good morning Sir..''

''Good morning dear. Just call me Julius. I'm from Sardinia''

''Good morning Julius. I'm Phillianna..''

''Ah.. a Greek!''

She smiled and got off her ass.

''Please, I would like some food for this animal..''