The lady sat in the shade by the small table in the courtyard garden of her home. On the table beside her were glass filled with excellent Etruscan wine, a plate with cheese and some bread and a bowl with fruit. On the pavement beside her chair was the wine jug containing the rest of the wine. Inaras was waiting for the runner carrying the torch from Sorrento to Tarquinii. She was getting a little anxious to start her part to the relay.

The litter was near the gate… and near the litter 2 Romans slept on mats on the pavement. Gnaeus Caelius and GnaeusCato Domitius had graciously volunteered to carry the litter over hill and dale to Narnia. But they had been celebrating the previous night and didn’t look that well even in sleep. But maybe those books were better than their covers.

While waiting for Strabo (and what kind of a name is that?) to finally make his appearance, Inaras thought about her cherished city. It had a long and noble history.

The Legend of Tarchon.

The mythical Tarchon, believed to have established the prinicpal cities of the Etruscans, was held to have founded first of all Tarquinii, which said to be named after him. And it was the holy city of Tarquinii, through agency of Tages, who supposedly rose from the ground in the its midst, that claimed to have taught Etruria the rules regulating the relations between the gods and men.