APOLLONIA

Eight

Soon, the party had started. Guests filled the halls and rooms so that it was difficult to get around. Squeezing past her uncle Lucius, who was quite fat, Apollonia found her mother and sister-in-law sitting, laughing with more relatives. She stood behind her mother and listened to the conversations all around her. Old men squawked about politics, women jabbered about fashion and art, and unruly children ran about, screaming. Besides her parents, her brother, and a few other uncles and cousins, her entire family was perfectly boring and uninteresting. Many people here she did not recognize because her sister-in-law's family was here too. She was finally getting sucked into a conversation between her mother and great aunt, when her cousin Fabius came up behind her and said, "Hey there, Polly! What have you been up to lately?" She turned and they both went to get a plate of food and they talked and talked amongst themselves for a good long while. Fabius was born in the same month as her and they had grown up seeing each other at parties such as these. The evening went well, no one complained about the missing beef on the 'anser anas pullus in bos in porcum', and Apollonia enjoyed the company of the few agreeable people that she knew. That night she dreamed that her Great Aunt Caecelia had an olive in the place of her nose and her hair stuck up in points. It was such a sight that she woke up laughing the next morning.- Weeks before, she had gotten a tear in her blue dress. Mahalia had fixed it for her, so she wore the long, flowing gown today. There was a new hairstyle that she had seen on one of her aunts the night before and she tried it with her own hair. Combing it out after failing, she noticed how long her hair was. Deciding to be practical, she grabbed her headband and put it on. Tucking the long strands up in the band she opened the door and headed to breakfast. Halfway down the stairs, she saw her mother walking towards her; tears were welling in her eyes. An unfolded letter was clenched in her hands and she stared at Apollonia, passing her a silent message. The letter had a red, wax stamp. Now, at the foot of the stairs she could see the pattern of the signet ring's imprint. This was a letter from the princeps senatus of Rome. The head of senate was in charge of writing to families of men that had been killed in battle. She gasped. Her father... Apollonia's eyes went blurry and her voice broke when she looked at mother and asked, "Father...?" Her mother shook her head and handed her the letter. "Nerius." Apollonia took a moment to understand what she meant. Suddenly she cried. "Oh no!" She busted out crying and her mother held her tightly. Her poor, dear friend was dead. If she hadn't been so arrogant and hard he might not have joined. He might not have... died, and on such a bad note with her. She was such a terrible, rude person. She cried harder and harder. Soon, her mother pulled away and looked into her eyes. Sobbing, Apollonia turned and ran up to her room again and did not come out again that day.

princeps senatus  is the head of the senate, or the person in charge of writing letters to family, notifying them of a soldier's death.