Misfortune, melancholia, and malnourishment had hit hard for Ancient Rome. The year was 439 BCE, and the Romans were amid one of the worst famines they had encountered to date. Farms and fields outside the city lay dry, dusty, and barren, the stench of rot and pestilence permeated the area like a wall of repugnance and death. For many caravans and traders, it was a sign to stay away, lest they too fall to the same curse.
For months, rain had threatened to sate the thirst of the crops, but only thunder was given, a sign to the people of Rome that more misfortune was to come. Though the city and its people suffered, the gates remained open to travelers and caravans, all with the hopes that someone would come to trade and that someone would bring sustenance and relief to those who suffered.
As Lilith, cloaked in multiple layers of brown, dingy clothes, walked down the dirtied streets, her heart broke and her stomach twisted at the sight of scrawny and gaunt men, women, and children. They lurched about and begged for a scrap of food from her and any passer-byer who looked relatively healthy. Unfortunately, she was in a similar predicament to the humans; she, too, was without food, and her stomach grumbled frequently as a loud and painful reminder. Lilith felt pity for them, for she knew her Father wouldn't do anything to help. It had been roughly one hundred and ten years since God spoke to the humans, the last one he revealed himself to be a man named Samuel. Since then, few angels stopped any kind of intervention and God left most prayers, if not all, unanswered and unacknowledged. "He always has a plan," Lilith thought to herself, "even if it involves the humans he loves to suffer and feel pain, he always has a plan... right?" She looked upon the people who cried and begged for help, who prayed for mercy that wouldn't come, and she started to regret her decision to come to Rome. Despair weighed on her as she passed through unmanned gates into the inner sectors, and now, as she looked over the desolate town, she fought the urge to turn and run.
She walked through an area that can only be described as the 'poorer' district, which would later be named Trastevere, and felt ill at the sight of many children, so skinny and frail, who lay in the streets. Many wore scraps of clothes, and some wore none. Their cheekbones protruded from their faces, their eyes abnormally large for such small and frail bodies. As Lilith walked by, she tried to resist the urge to count the number of ribs visible. She kept her head down and tried to ease her nausea and unease when she paused and saw a grayish-pale woman who lay on her side a few feet ahead of her and held a small baby. Both she and the baby were still, eyes vacant and ghostly. They did not flinch at the flies that crawled around their faces, over their open eyes, into their mouths. She gave into the human impulse, turned, and ran from the scene as tears fell from her sore, puffy eyes.
After she became winded, she stopped in an alley. She over-hyperventilated, which caused her nausea to become more apparent. After she painfully retched for a few minutes, she slowly composed herself and wiped her bile and tears on her sleeve. While she glanced up at the partially clouded sky, Lilith sent a silent prayer to her Father. "Why would you allow that; a mother and child, starved to death and left in the street to rot for people to gawk at? Shame on you! If you love them so much, then please, help them!"
With a steady breath, she continued to walk about and found herself near the riverbank of the Tiber River, where a large group of men and women, all different ages, flocked around many large wagons and carts. A man in flowing robes stood upon the tallest cart, his voice loud as he commanded and directed the crowd of people. Many people chanted the man's name and shouted "Praise Spurius Maelius!" as he offered them baskets of food. A group of guard's men, along with strong, healthy men, stood behind him and helped hand people small bushels of corn, packs of grain, packages of salted meats, and small loaves of bread. It was when she drew near and their eyes met that she recognized one of the men who gave food to the townspeople. His robes were of a darker color, almost black, his even darker hair was tied back in a long braid, and his eyes shined emerald green and seemed to glow as they reflected the sunlight.
YOU ARE READING
The Origin of Temptation
Fantasy(The First installment of the Split-Soul Series) You've heard the story before of Lucifer's fall from grace, but have you heard it told like this? Recently expelled from Heaven, fallen angels Lucifer and Lilith are exiled to Earth. While there, God...
