Chasing Blue- The Final Saga (Book 4)

Chapter 16: Back to Basics

We must fend for ourselves. The streets will eat us alive if we don't.

Clitus words were so simple, so concise, yet frightfully chilling. His words echoed in my head as we traveled deeper into Rome. The deeper we were going, the more we were finding out about the city, but yet there were still more hidden enclaves of the city yet to be discovered. We had already discovered some of the ugly of the city with its hunger pains, poverty, lust, and violence. But there was something else we were learning too. Lessons you could not read in a book or scroll. Lessons I could never learn living back in Aegea. I was too sheltered to experience the complexity and immensity of this world. Was this the world my father tried to protect me from?It seemed to make so much sense now. Back at home I would be leading a comfortable life. I would be studying law and oratory under a great instructor. I was certain to attain the role as Mediator at the council meetings. I would always have a steady supply of wealth and a comfortable place to stay...but I threw it all away like a pebble into the river.

The smooth pebble quickly sank below the currents. The old me had died with the pebble.

"The auction is about to begin!" came the loud proclamation of the Announcer. The voice must be coming behind from the Forum. The abrupt announcement seemed to take my mind off the stench of animal dung and fish that hung over the air. We were only 50 paces away from the edge of the Tiber River, which marked the boundary of the district that marked the Campus Maximus. The small wooden vessels were clear in view bobbling in the flowing currents, as men in short tunics hauled loads of cargo of various kinds from foodstuffs, lumber, and exotic looking birds and beasts.

If I saw a man by himself or with another person carrying or wheeling a heavy load I would run over and ask the men if they needed any help. They would carry on as if I did not exist while others brusquely told me my help was not needed or they had no time for "pleasantries." I am not here for pleasantries I felt like retorting. So I stood around watching my surroundings. Men from every direction were hauling goods on wheelbarrows or carrying the wooden crates with their bare hands.

"Any jobs left for us?" I sighed to Clitus.

"There are a variety of different crafts to get into. I suppose it depends on what skills you have. I could take anything. Most of these jobs are done by slaves anyways," he replied matter-of-fact. What was I good at? I did not have the skills of a carpenter to make furniture and handicrafts. I did not know how to melt pieces of ore until it glowed under the intense heat of the flames that slowly cooked the iron out the stones. I could not blow out beautiful molten glass ornaments that cooled and hardened into beautiful vases and goblets let alone bake a single loaf of bread! I always had someone else do it for me. The very people I overlooked were the same ones I found myself marveling at.

"I need skills to do half these tasks," I snorted. "So are you telling me most of these craftsmen are slaves?" Clitus merely kept on walking towards the Forum in silence.

I shrugged. "I take that as a yes?"

"We have five good slaves! Fresh, healthy, male slaves," the Announcer boomed, interrupting my thoughts. My eyes turned to the face of the Announcer who stood in the middle of the circular public square. I could not help but notice his big ears that protruded from his black hair cut short around his ears as he spoke. The man held the folds of his toga as he paraded in front of the slaves, while flashing a toothy grin at a group of dealers that had stopped by to inspect the slaves. "They have no defects. They are strong slaves," the man boasted pointing a stick at one of the male slave's stomach muscles. Along with the sale of cattle, men were being auctioned one by one. On a raised wooden platform in the middle of the public square, five half naked men stood on display with whitened calves and heavy placards hung around their necks.