Casca Didius originally posted this story at AncientSites. He's given me permission to repost it here at AncientWorlds


Message: A Saturnalia Carol!!!
Author: - Gaius Didius Casca
Originally Posted: December 21, 2000

Stave Sextus: The Promise

The bright sunshine that flooded the peristylium finally worked its way back into the sleeping area. Scropa came fully awake but he refused to move. Slowly, ever so slowly, he lifted his head and let it swivel around so that he could peer into every nook and crevice of the room. At every moment he expected some new specter to jump from the shadows and say "I'm the Ghost of Saturnalia Far in the Future." Once he was sure that he was alone in the room, he began to slowly feel along his body from his neck to his knees. He didn't seem to be missing anything. He had enough recollection of those vivid explosions to want to do that. Finally, after putting it off for as long as he dared, he swung his legs out of the bed and sat up. He looked around for his robe, realized he was still wearing it, stood and made his way to the front door.

It was a cool, bright, sunny day. Yes! But what day? A boy was sitting on the steps across the way. Scropa called out to him: "You! Boy! What day is this?"

"Today?"

"Yes!"

"Why it's the first day of the Saturnalia Festival."

Scropa was about to ask another question, when the boy pulled a small knife from his tunic, ran up to a man struggling under a load of packages, grabbed the man's purse, slit the leather strings that fastened it to his belt, and hared off down the street before the victim even realized what was happening. It all happened so fast. It reminded Scropa of his first days in Capua as a youth.

So the Spirits had done it all in one night after all. He hadn't missed a day of the Festival. Now he had sufficient time. He would use it to his advantage. Oh yes! He promised himself. He would make them pay; Crachicus, the trainers, the Cohort commander, all of them. They would all pay for making a fool of Aemilius Scropa. He walked back to his study where the whole sequence of events had begun. He had been so sure of himself, so sure of his world and his place in it. But Marlius and the other Spirits had shown him for what he was, a fool. Well they had come to teach him and he HAD learned.

The Ghost of Saturnalia Past had shown him that if you wanted to get to the top, and what's more stay on top, you had to be ruthless, tougher than the next guy, not be afraid to do whatever was necessary. He had shown him to never trust or believe anybody, even your own mother. They were all a bunch of selfish, lying, bastards.

The Ghost of Saturnalia Present had shown him that as smart as you are, no matter how many angles you knew, there was always somebody smarter and with a new angle. Well it was time to do a little housecleaning. Crachicus and all the rest were going to pay and pay and pay.

The Ghost of Saturnalia Future had shown him that nothing was permanent, not his life, not his business, not his city, not even the gods themselves. The smart thing to do was take care of number one, grab as much as you could as fast as you could. The world was a hard and cruel place, and if you didn't want to be trodden under with the weak and infirm, you'd better eliminate all pity from your heart.

His first thought was to go to Crachicus's domus, drag him out by the neck and force him to make restitution. But as he closed the door behind him, it struck him that Crachicus would simply deny everything and make Scropa look foolish. So Scropa headed directly for his office instead. For the first five days of the Saturnalia he poured over every scroll, every ledger, every entry, beginning with the day Crachicus was hired. He barely took time to eat. He even slept in his chair in the office. On the sixth day, he visited the homes of his Lawyer, the Praetor, and the Chief of Vigiles. He bought himself a new tunic to symbolize his new life, ate a hearty meal, soaked in the Baths, then spent the last day of Saturnalia by sleeping around the sundial.

And Scropa Gloated!


Copyright © 2000-2001, Gaius Didius Casca Longinus Calvus. All Rights Reserved. All copyrighted material is the property of the original author.