 First of all, I want to begin by saying how much I really, really HATE mud. But more on that later. Perhaps you are wondering why it is been so long since I have told you any stories about the Verus family. Well here is the reason: After the incident with the parade and the senator’s decision to put up a statue to mollify the emperor, everyone received some rather unexpected news. It seems that the emperor was more than satisfied with the family’s generous gift. So much so that he promoted Flavius to a higher and more important position at another fort in Gaulia. His parents were naturally thrilled and decided his rise in status entitled him to various gifts.
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 They gave me to him as a servant, since his mother believed
an officer of his rank should have a civilian servant. So off I went to Gaulia, along with
a cart load of new furniture that the senator and his wife bought for their favorite son.
Among other things, he received a beautiful bed finely trimmed with gold leaf. I tried to
object that such a thing would hardly be practical in a fort, but Ullia was very insistent
and went as far as to threaten me with various horrible tortures if I damaged the bed at
all on its journey. So while Flavius rode ahead on a horse, I was forced to slog through
the mud with some stubborn mules and an unwieldy cart. I still count it as a miracle that
I wasn’t robbed and beaten along the way.
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 After many months we arrived at the fort of
the XIII Gaulia, or "The Turtles" if you prefer. The person responsible for
giving them their standard must have had a sense of humor, because the legion fits its
name very well. Slow and ponderous, the legion would rather run and hide in a shell than
fight. Fortunately, the fort is located in a fairly peaceful area, leaving the legion to
carry out various boring bureaucratic tasks and which they excel. Being an officer for the
Turtles is consider a plush position indeed.
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 Flavius settled in quickly and became an immediate favorite
of the commanding general, Drusus Questus Antonius. The old man frequently invited Flavius
into his private home to play board games and the two shared an interest in historical
battles. Soon, Flavius was to be seen everywhere with the general and was given
increasingly more important jobs.
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 About a month after we arrived, the
general’s daughter, Questa Antonia, came to the fort to visit her father. At first, no one
saw her, because her father had deemed it prudent for her to spend most of her time in his
private quarters, away from the soldiers, which was probably a good idea. I only knew she
was there because I happened to see her when I was delivering a message to the general.
She was sitting in the garden with her father and her slave Livia. Questa Antonia
was a very
beautiful girl. I should have anticipated what happened next.
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 One day several weeks later,
Questa Antonia came out with her
father to attend him while he reviewed the legion. Flavius was also in attendance. I could
tell just by the look on his face when he first saw Questa Antonia: he had fallen passionately
in love with her. Throughout the rest of the parade, he paid more attention to her than he
did to the soldiers and he wandered around, distracted for the rest of the day.
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 That night, Flavius confronted me with the
situation. It wasn’t as if I didn’t already understand what was going on. He was
sick with love. Since he had come to regard me as a close friend, he asked me for advice
in dealing with the situation. I have always held the radical view that two people in a
relationship should feel mutual affection for each other. Therefore, I advised him to find
out how Questa Antonia
felt about him in order to determine if the love was mutual, since I had
not perceived that she had any interest in him at all.
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 The next week, Flavius caught
Questa trying to sneak over
to the bath house by herself. I can’t imagine what possessed her to go out alone, but
I imagine she felt safe being the general’s daughter. Flavius called to her with
words of love and attempted to embrace her. Evidently, she did not share Flavius’
feelings and struggled away and ran back to her father’s house.
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 Flavius was not to be deterred. Despite her
apparent disinterest in him, Flavius brought up his love for her with the general. Flavius
asked to marry Questa Antonia, which struck the general as a very good match. He was very fond
of Flavius and he regarded the marriage as an excellent alliance between the two families.
The general’s family was very wealthy, but they were only equestrians. He realized a
match between Flavius’ patrician family and his own would be very beneficial. He
agreed happily to the proposition.
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 Unfortunately,
Questa Antonia was less than
happy to hear her father’s news. She had been used to a great deal of freedom and had
somehow gotten the idea in her head that she would have a say in who she married. Her
father, ignored her pleas to reconsider and she sunk onto her bed, crying in helpless
rage.
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Downloads Download Flavius's Beautiful New Bed Download Questa Antonia's Pink Dress Download the Military Standard for Legion XII Note: I want to give a great big thank you to Sim Freaks for letting me use one of their faces and hair styles for Drusilla. If you would like to have Drusilla's head and hair, you should visit them at http://www.simfreaks.com You will also find lots of other really great goodies to download.
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