 This week, my mistress, Ullia Concorida, received a
letter from her son via imperial courier. The letter confirmed what the family had already
been hoping for a very long time: Flavius Verus Rufus, the Senator's son, was coming home
at last for some highly desired leave from his position as an officer in a fort in Gaulia.
Flavius was already on his way home at the time the letter was written and we expected him
in only a few days. Naturally, preparations had to be made. |
 gh Our lady had all the servants busy in no time,
preparing for a fine welcome home banquet she decided to hold in her son's honor. There
was to be live entertainment and the finest food imaginable. Ullia gloated for an entire
day thinking of all the high society ladies she could brag to about the coming dinner and
then "forget" to invite. Actually, she planned the whole time to confine the
dinner to family members only, but why tell her friends that when it was far more fun to
make them feel unworthy? Meanwhile, my fellow slaves and I toiled polishing the silver,
sweeping every corner and weeding the garden until not a single weed dared rear its head. |
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 Just a few hours before dinner, I went around and
lighted all the lamps in the house, using the olive oil Dora had bough earlier. There are
two kinds of lamps in the house, those on tables and those on stands, but all are oil
lamps. The bigger ones have as many as three or four wicks and the little ones one or two.
Even very good quality olive oil smokes and smells when lit, so it is advisable to keep it
away from the inhabitants of a room; explaining the popularity of the oil lamps on tall
stands. |
 Soon the family entered the Triclinium and sat down
to wait for Flavius's arrival. The floor was clean, the lamps glowed, and everyone was
freshly bathed and dressed in their finest. They eagerly awaited his arrival....
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 And waited....
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 And waited. It became clear after waiting late into
the night for Flavius's arrival that he was not going to come. The senator was very
worried about his son. Ullia was furious because of how silly this would make her look to
her friends. And Vera was mad because this whole thing had kept her up much too late.
Regretfully, the entertainment, which had waited outside all night was sent away, and the
cold food was returned to the kitchen. The slaves were the only happy people THAT night,
because they were able to eat a meal finer than anything they had ever had before, at
least in my humble opinion. |
 A few hours before dawn, the family awoke to a great
commotion in the Atrium. As I was still the only one not in bed, having been still
finishing my excellent supper, I ran out to see what was happening. I found Flavius passed
out in the doorway, obviously incredibly drunk. It became obvious he had decided it would
be more fun to stay out drinking with his friends than it would be to dine with his
family. With all the care I could muster, I managed to drag him into his room and put him
to bed. |
 Everyone was absolutely furious with Flavius Rufus
the next morning. His mother went about in a huff, while his sister refused to talk to
him. Only the slaves and the senator were not mad. The slaves because they had received a
wonderful meal on his account and the senator because he was too fond of his son to stay
mad for long. He promised they would have an even more splendid dinner for him tomorrow
night.... |
 ....Which he naturally failed to attend. |
Downloads Download the Verus Family Oil Lamps Download the infamous wine amphora
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On morning before
Flavius was expected home, the mistress sent Dora to the market for supplies. It took her
the better part of the morning to return. Ullia believed this was because she was shopping
with extra care. In fact, Dora had spent an hour gossiping with the wine salesman.
Nonetheless, she still managed to bring home several amphorae of fine wine, flowers to
decorate the house with, ingredients for supper, and an amphora with enough olive oil to
light every lamp in the house for the grand celebration.
The afternoon was
spent in frantic preparation for the evening meal. In addition to the fine wine Dora had
purchased, there were some exquisitely expensive dishes in the offing. Ullia unlocked her
spice chest to make the dinner extra special. There was to be song birds and quail eggs
with asparagus in egg sauce, fresh Greek olives with rosemary, rose pie, fresh fruit for
dessert, and most impressive of all, a whole swan, roasted and then reassembled with its
feathers on. There was no question this would be an affair to remember.