On the house-tops was no woman

But spat towards him, and hissed;

No child but screamed out curses

And shook its little fist

 

   

Slavery has been an inseparable part of human’s history throughout the age. Nearly every country, kingdoms, and empires has performed ius gentium on their collonialized areas. A sign of power, said many, yet stolen freedom and civil rights are its truest victim of the power-thirst leaders. Marianne, like any other slaves taken into custody, had no power that protected her rights. The great Roman Empire had subdued her motherland and every single individual of the area were taken to be slaves to the empire. It was never a problem of racialism nor social status at the beginning. It was all started by these power hungry leaders, thrusting their idealism and greed towards lands who had been living in peace for years, innocent to the greeds of evil. 

 

Marianne was a beautiful young woman, tragically standing atop no noble social status, hence our story will be told from the slave’s perspective. She worked at an aristocrat’s house, working her arms and legs into all the household chores to obtain some sestertius. Life was not generally bad as long as she could save some and spent some. 

 

As if life as a slave is already not tragic enough, what comes after Marianne was nothing like the stories of Perseus and Andromeda. 

 

The lord of the house was noticed to pay extra care towards her. The poor lady did not mind getting closer with her master because then, she thought, there might be a better life coming ahead. Secrecy was not in the way of the nobles of these eras. The lord’s moves were bold and dominant, and it was up to the point where both of them were tangled in the thorns of almost every romance story. They eloped one night, drunken and sailed off towards the forgotten land of Ludus. Nothing was spoken out of their secret encounter that very night, as no one would believe such maudlin humiliation happened between the two. 

 

And like any other slave, Marianne kept her lips shut. 

 

Be it hope for a better life, be it the poison of Love, she was silent even through her demise. 

 

But the Consul’s brow was sad,

And the Consul’s speech was low,

And darkly looked he at the wall,

And darkly at the foe.

“Their van will be upon us

Before the bridge goes down;

And if they once may win the bridge;

What hope to save the town?”

 

Some walls have ears, said every rat stealing the cropped harvests from farm boys and girls.

 

Tricky, they must be tricky, yet words spread like wildfire. As there were no changes in her appearance for the next five months, life had been peaceful and calm. However, in the beginning of the sixth month, her signs of pregnancy were becoming  more apparent. The curiosity was uncontained, it became a daily gossip between them. Poor Marianne was desperate to keep them quiet, for as much she would love to trade the life of slavery into a better living one, the steps had to be taken arduously.

 

Eventually, the news reached the lord of the house. For the sake of his dignity and power, he decided to stop the growing cluster of mayhem within his household.

 

Marianne's banishment.

 

It was like a curse, going continuous from one life towards another life. For what sin she might have done, that our poor Marianne had to suffer from her silence?

 

She was exiled, banished into the island of abandonment where the poor dreads their way of living by all sorts of meager effort possible. The dread in her chest thrived, yet Marianne still could not bring herself to completely resents the lord. Detrimented by the heartache, treason, and pain, our Marianne restarted her life in the slums. 

 

Year 244 AD, the same year of her banishment, our dear Marianne finally went into labor and delivered a healthy, baby boy. A mixed feeling she must bear, and joy upon the birth of the child was definitely one of them. With her thin arms, she cradled the baby close into her chest and the untold prayer of the heart was delivered. Sanity became an extraordinary thing as each day passed, and she never knew when she would stop hoping for a brighter and more positive turn of life.

 

A life, that was probably should not be born,

 

Although tears of joy has been shed,

 

A child with malice,

 

Cradled safely within the arms of Mother Marianne.

 

Caelius Valerius.

 

Marianne whispered the name of the child into his ears, cradling him even closer now. While the happiness was present, our dearest Marianne was not blinded by the fact that now there is another mouth she had to struggle to feed. 

 

Laborious day of work greeted the new mother, one work after another. A week after, our Marianne started to go up on her feet. It was crisis time, where the longer she denied work, the longer the two would be starving. Her child, the love born between her and the lord, needs to be fed.

 

One work after another, from a housemaid to street vendors, Marianne did all the work meant to prolong their chance of living. Our beloved Caelius was often left alone or undercared, because what kind of worker brings a baby to the workplace?

 

Days where the sun burns the earth or the weather is icy cold especially, the young mother is often forced to leave her son at home. For the next few years, at least, they had a rather stable life and our beloved Caelius grew into a healthy boy.

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Partum decus Daemonis

 

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The life of man is a series of continuous struggles. It is a hike to a mountain today and it could be rolling down the valley on the next day. Changes are predictable and it is in fact, the only thing that is constant for those living in the slums. Every single day, brought our Marianne a different story. Some places still have pity stored in them, some and most treated the new mother just like any other lowest class people. Marianne, like every mother should be, often did her best to fulfill everything that her beloved son needs. Yet no matter how hard she tried, Life continuously brought her another test to be done.

 

The constant changes in work, payment, and environment, gave her pressures, leading her into a state of constant mood change. It was not all the time that she would be emotionally stable. For being such a happy mother on the day of Caelius' birth, she would sometimes get angry or even beating the innocent child as well. By the time our dear Marianne started having fluctuating emotion, she was already working in a brothel; believing that money comes faster from dipping her feet into the luscious poison. Everyday, different men come into their house to trade money with pleasure. Curiosity may have risen the boy's mind, but he dared not to ask.

 

Our beloved Caelius grew very, very thin. Despite the beatings from his mother, Caelius at that time was still an innocent soul. Once, he asked Marianne how desperate they are for money to which curiosity was answered indirectly. There were perturbing whispers, to be of help for his mother, to stop their suffering and to live decently, whispers in which it drove Caelius into thinking of stealing a bread one day. It was an initial thought, at first, before the sight of money inside the seller's drawer, flashed before his eyes and our beloved Caelius decided to steal it in desperation.

 

The seller, alerted by the attempt, caught him red-handed and immediately dragged the six years old boy back into the place where him and Marianne lived. All while the beating ensued even after they reached Caelius' home. The action only stopped after Marianne separated the two. After the seller left, it was now her turn to scold her son. Poor Caelius' true intention was not acknowledged and since then, he had been quiet. Life was already hard as it is, there was no need for another problem to be dealt; yet news quickly spread like wildfire where they lived.

 

Soon, almost everyone knew about what Caelius' did and Marianne's work became harder to come through. Even at this point, selling her body to these men still didn't give them enough money for survival. The humiliation, poverty, and pressures were getting harder for our dear mother Marianne, until one day, in the year ahead, she finally made a big decision.

 

A slave born from a slave, will remain a slave.

 

A cursed saying, made by those in control to seal the fate of those limited in power and knowledge to remain as it is. On his 7th birthday, Marianne decided to take her son into the town. Under the guise of asking him to help her with work, she took him to look around for a bit. Caelius' was of course excited to see a different sight, a much more wonderful place than what he normally sees in the slums. There were beautiful houses, mouth-watering foods, and people wearing good and nice clothes. However, the pleasure of taking these views was not granted for long.

 

A man approached them while they were in town. His action was completely natural that it seemed as if Marianne and him were long known acquaintances. He promised to take care of Caelius while he is in town, to treat him well and proper. Marianne bid her farewell then, one that will be the last time for Caelius to see for she has decided to sell off her own son in return for money.

 

'We will meet again,' said her. An irony of a fabricated lie. Was there regret? Possibly, but at such time, Marianne has no time to tend to the feeling.

 

Then out spake brave, Horatius

The captain of the gate:

“To every man upon this earth

Death comes soon or late.

And how may man die better

Than facing fearful odds, 

For the ashes of his fathers,

and the temples of his gods?”

 

After the farewell, the man took our beloved Caelius into an aristocrat's home to be introduced to the field of work he was deemed capable of doing for his age and body proportion. He was given new clothes, his looks tidied to appear at least proper and he was given training and necessary basic education. Caelius was definitely enthralled by the new things he had in his hands right now. Everything seemed to be going fine until it started going darker. Our Caelius thought of going back home, excited with the new things he could tell his mother about. And yet, the excitement completely diminished before he could even speak to his mother about it. A servant caught him going out of the mansion and asked where he was going.

 

Confused and lost, Caelius answered that he was going back home and seeing his mother. The servant, astonished and amazed by his naivete, revealed that Marianne has sold him to work as a slave in this house. Fate has been locked on him and Caelius now has nowhere to run to. This is one of Caelius' biggest heartbreaks, wherein its wounds and cracks, malice began to stem and bloom inside his mind.

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Inter spem et Velis relinquere

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Our beloved Caelius threaded his life on a single, thin line alone. The heartbreak still ached and the lonely feeling sometimes haunted him in his restless nights. The mansion was really huge to compare with his previous living space, exploring it might take a full day tour to see everything that is inside. Marble stones and gold did not fascinate him, not even the finest clothes or jewellery. This place might have everything that he needed, but their presence no longer has a value.

 

While not everyday was not as monotonous as everyone might think of, one day, our boy found out an interesting treasure; his addiction. The moment Caelius discovered the library in the mansion's area, he fell in love. He was enamored by the parchments that the lord of the house collected. There was no denying that we have our thanks to Marianne that she had once taught Caelius how to read and write in his early years, although not much is able to be properly taught. Often, he successfully snuck into the library to 'borrow' several parchments to distract his mind from thinking or feeling; redirecting it to study and see the world further with his own eyes instead.

 

Days turned to months, and months to years...

 

In his seventh year, the only daughter of the house finally found out about Caelius' sneaking habit into the library. There was no confrontation at first, for the young lady was attracted by his desire to read and study; unlike other slaves who did their rough work and didn't care about their education. Acknowledging his eagerness to study, the sole daughter of the family then decided to teach him better about reading, writing, and counting. She was Valentina.

 

Let's get a little flashback, shall we?

 

In the ancient times, Roman girls were not allowed to go to school (paideia) like Roman boys did. Usually, boys of merchant and noble classes were the ones going instead. In school, they were taught to pay respect to their parents, the Gods, and other strangers, since they would most likely be going to be a member in the army. The boys started school at 7 to 14 years old. In the mornings they would learn to read, write and do simple maths. They worked in one small room, which had stools or benches, without desks. Pupils read aloud and learned poetry by heart; which goes into saying, there were no books or parchments about certain subjects. Certain rich students would specifically learn about philosophy. Paidagogos, or an older man, often a trusted family’s slave, is one of the important figures in Roman school who would accompany the boys to school and he is responsible for the boy’s well being and teaching the boys good manners. The other important figure is the schoolmaster himself, of which there were three types: grammatistes, who taught grammar; kitharistes, who taught music; and paidotribes, who taught physical education or better known as wrestling at the time. 

 

In the afternoons they went to wrestling schools where they would learn how to stay fit, how to fight and to be strong physically and mentally. Wrestling contests were also present at that time and were held in a building known as the Palaestra. Often it was easy to see which students would go for higher education or going for the army and public service. At the age of 14, children of tradesmen began to learn a trade. The children of rich Athenians went to the Assembly, the marketplace and the gymnasium to watch, listen to and learn from the older men.

 

The education that the girls practiced came from the teachers that they called to their home. Mostly, it was about housekeeping and looking after their family, basic literature and math, also dancing and gymnastics. Valentina was also one of the Roman girls who received her teachings at home.

 

Now, let’s return to our previous timeline..

 

Valentina taught our beloved Caelius patiently, in each field she would ask once or twice if Caelius has any trouble understanding. At that time period, Rome was heavily influenced with Latin and Greek language and blessed by the Gods, the child was born with high intelligence. Our beloved son has no qualms in understanding the materials thrown at him. He was and is extremely talented and a quick learner that when Valentina taught him something new that day, he would have mastered it in less than half a day. Caelius' intelligence soon caught the attention of the lord of the mansion.

 

"Unbelievable," he remarked. The matter was not being overlooked, however, as he agreed to test him out. Starting from reading, then writing, and counting, our beloved son managed to prove himself to be capable of mastering the said topics. The young woman was elated by her decision and boldly proposed that the boy has to be schooled. A decision that took Caelius by surprise. Seeing the joy Valentina expressed, the lord initially agreed. But they still need to tell the mistress about it. 

 

In which, as they all may have guessed it, was strongly rejected. The mistress was a woman who held pride up high. She would do any means necessary to keep a strong and beautiful profile of both herself and the family. Allowing a slave to study in school? What would the neighbors say about it? However, Valentina insisted and the lord of the mansion persuasively talked about it constantly. And the mistress finally gave up. She allowed Caelius to be schooled and paid for his study under one condition: our dearest son must never speak anything about being related or paid by their family. 

 

It was not a big price to trade with the proper education he has been longing for, and Caelius agreed to it in an instant. 

 

He started going to school early in the morning, carrying a wooden board that is covered with layers of wax, and a wooden stylus to write. This was also when he would meet his teacher, Agrippa. In school, Caelius proved himself to be a brilliant student. He quickly excelled his peers and often received a full score on every subject, even wrestling. This made him receive yet another negative treatment from these students. So much for studying manners in school, really. The boy survived and for a short moment, life was a little lighter for him. 

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And for the tender mother

Who dandled him to rest,

And for the wife who nurses,

His baby at her breast,

And for the holy maidens,

Who feed the eternal flame,

To save them from false Sextus,

That wrought the deed of shame?

 

His first day at school went smooth. No one was thoroughly suspicious of his background and accepted him as a student. Caelius was indulged and absorbed in his study that he stayed a little later outside to study. How surprised he was upon remembering that he had forgotten to deliver Valentina’s night snack? Immediately he rushed home and asked the servants if any of them had delivered the snack. It turned out that no one has done the job. One of the servants even told him to not go as it was late already and probably the young woman has already slept. Caelius knew proper manners and responsibility, my dear, and he knew that the reason why he was able to study right now, was because of Valentina. At least he would still try to deliver the snack first. 

 

Hurriedly, he made his way to Valentina’s room. A copper tray of food and drink were present on his hands as he made his way towards her room. What he saw next was something that he didn’t prepare himself for. After not receiving any reply from calling her, Caelius peeked inside the room to make sure if she had gone to sleep or not. Instead, he was greeted with the sight of the young woman making out with none other than her own father, the lord of the house himself. Shocked, the tray fell from his grip and fell crashing on the floor. Our dearest Caelius had been introduced to different expressions of love, but he had never seen anything like this before. Not with Valentina. 

 

The couple stopped their action then, Valentina gently hushing the other before she hurriedly dressed up and walked outside. She knew what sound it was and who might be on the other end of the door. Caelius has not recovered from the shock when the young woman greeted him. From how our beloved son’s reaction, the young woman could tell that he had seen something unexpected. Still, she remained gentle and instead of scolding him, she told him to tidy up and that she wouldn’t be having her night snack tonight. Caelius then hurriedly tidy up and cleaned the mess before going back to his room. 

 

The next day, there was no school, thus the young servant had been busy doing his work since early morning. Valentina had specifically called him that day, asking the other servants to be away as she talked with Caelius. Valentina admitted that she was in love with her own Father, confessing that her love was true and sincere. While his mind was still unable to fully comprehend her form of love, Caelius agreed to keep it quiet and not to tell anyone, especially the mistress. The day went like how it has always been afterwards, our beloved son returned to do his work and the young woman was back at doing her routines.

 

One day, after he was finished with school, our dearest Caelius saw a fine carriage making a stop in front of the lord’s mansion. A wealthy gentleman seemed to have paid a visit into the mansion. What was happening?

 

Earlier in the day, the family received a visit from a young man who was charmed by Valentina’s beauty. Love at the first sight, it would seem because later it was known that he planned on proposing to her for marriage. Understanding that this was not his field to trample, the teen went straight towards his room and proceeded to continue with working around the house. Caelius was full on his hands, getting his job done one by one so that he would have more time for studying tonight. To his surprise, the guest went home earlier than what he thought before. 

 

Several days later, not too far from the day he first dame, our beloved son once again noticed the gentleman’s arrival. Strangely enough, the man was not riding his carriage or bringing his servants along with him. The man moved swiftly and quickly, making Caelius wondered why he was in such haste? Still, this was not something our child would randomly trample upon. As usual, Caelius proceeded with his work, washing and folding the linen carefully. And that was until he heard a familiar scream. Valentina’s scream. 

 

It didn’t even take him another minute to be on his feet. Caelius’ position was quite far to reach the room, but he ran anyway. In the middle of running, he saw a quick, black shadow, moving around just the corner then out. Caelius hesitated at first, whether he should chase the shadow or check on Valentina. Her room is closer though, hence he decided to drop the mysterious shadowy figure and headed straight towards Valentina’s room. 

 

Again, he was stunned by the sight that greeted his eyes. Valentina’s clothes was abruptly torn here and there, there were signs of brutal rape and beating but most of all, she seemed to have been murdered. Still in shock, Caelius approached the young woman’s body to close her eyes. Just what had happened earlier? Could it be that the gentleman from earlier is the suspect? He was about to leave the scene when one of the servants suddenly screamed, “Caelius murdered Miss Valentina!” loudly. His brows knitted into a frown, panicked and confused by the blatant accusation towards him that he had just heard. 

 

Time was not spared for him as the servant then brought him to the lord and mistress, still with the same accusation in her tongue. 

 

“I was not the murderer!” he pleaded immediately, his mind gruelled with every possibility of being falsely framed of the crime. The lord of the house was not reacting quickly towards the plea, in contrast, it was the mistress who took the servant’s words as the truth. A slave, poor, sick-minded person, and many disregarding words were said and pointed at our child’s throat. He was even forced to ‘admit’ to the act of murder, in which Caelius also strongly rejects. Different kinds of emotions ran inside his mind, our child swore by the gods that he was not Valentina’s murderer, even mentioning what he heard and saw earlier before going to the room and eventually entering the room. The mistress got even angrier and walked out to summon the guards around the house to arrest him or hand him over to be punished by the city. 

 

Much to his surprise, the lord seemed to know what was going on, and hurriedly, he told our dear child to run away, to run as far as he could and never coming back to this place. He also warned that once he is caught by the guards, then there might be nothing he could do to save him. Without further talking, Caelius hurriedly went out to grab his hood and his parchments before running out of the mansion as far as possible. 

 

This marked another time of survival, a cruel, merciless time as he didn’t even have time to gather his savings or even grab something to eat. Despite being in a big city, it felt like he lived in the slums once again. There was no proper food that he could eat and despite running under hard circumstances at the moment, our dearest child didn’t quickly submit to the idea of stealing food. He held it all in, even considering eating wild fruits and drinking. But these were not enough. He grew physically weaker, until one day when he was avoiding the crowds and the possible people who might be on their way to find him, did our beloved son finally pass out. Whether it was for good or bad, it was right in front of his teacher’s house, Agrippa, our beloved Caelius fell.

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