DISCLAIMER: We've written this purely for our own and our readers' entertainment. We make no money whatsoever and we don't own anything (apart from the plot and our student debts, and you're more than welcome to take the latter if you so wish).
A/N: All the things about the relative freedom/conservatism/sexual openness is taken directly from a module gaia caecilia studies at Uni (you can imagine how fun those lectures sound), so the social details are actually right. The details about individuals are slightly looser and have a certain amount of authors' licence going on. It should be fairly obvious which bits are which, hopefully. The numbers refer to notes at the bottom.
CHAPTER 26
Rome had swiftly become the three elven Lords' favourite city, it being what they considered to be one of the most civilised parts of the world. Though, in this new world, 'civilisation' was definitely a relative term. At least the old men here didn't proposition them.
Though at the beginning of Rome, the people were conservative, as time passed, there was more freedom. The most noticeable difference was the freedom of women. The people seemed to remember that women had minds. Adindel vaguely placed Ginny into the two worlds of the Hellenes and Rome, mentally deciding that the young human would definitely fit into Rome rather better. He then mentally grinned as he put her in the eastern kingdoms of Mesopotamia and Assyria. Her reaction to the most sexually loose parts of the world would have been funny. She was more at the Roman-level of conservatism. He had learnt a lot of interesting new things to imagine doing with the little red-head, though...
Unfortunately, Celeborn had also seen the shockingly open nature of the East and had promptly taken up a new line in his circular teasing game about Adindel's artistic leanings.
XXX
Though a part of the Elf-Lords winced at them kicking out their King, the Roman people had a point. The rise of the Republic was fascinating, however, if an exercise in how to be corrupt. As the Republic went on, the more corrupt and loose the upper class became. On prime example of women who were shockingly loose was a young woman named Clodia Metella (1), sister of a prominent politician, who won awards for corruptness, called Clodius.
Thranduil had been rather annoyed about her actually, he had ended up on a jury for a person she was bringing a lawsuit against, a man name Caelio. What was annoying was that the last day was on a public holiday. The defence speech given that day, however, made up for missing the usual fun. Cicero was a wonderful Orator and Thranduil, like everyone else in the court, knew more than enough about the lady to find his speech very entertaining. The prosecuting side was not so amused, however.
Thranduil was a bit sad about what happened to Cicero, though. The man got executed, having his head and hands cut off and displayed in the Forum Romanum, largely because Mark Antony didn't like him. None of the Elves had ever liked him in return and were not so upset when Mark Antony also came to a sticky end.
Not too long after that, the reign of the Emperors of Rome came along, in all its glory. Not to mention all its corruption and fun games like that.
All three Elf-Lords had made friends with assorted notables of the time. Celeborn had become friends with a man named Titus Livius (2), who thoroughly enjoyed writing down the stories of Ancient Rome, though not always faithfully to actual events. Thranduil, on the other hand, got on rather better with Virgil, the great poet who chucked out one of the blonde Elf's most favourite works of literature for centuries to come: The Aeneid. The most interesting friendship, however, was that of Adindel and a man named Publius Ovidius Naso (3). Celeborn and Thranduil read the Ars Amatoria and then the Amores, and then began teasing the youngest of the trio mercilessly. Unfortunately, many of their teases had some point.
XXX
Adindel reclined, holding the glass of Falernian wine and watching its red colour as he swirled it round, while listening to another account of an amorous adventure by his human friend. The girl was another in a long string of married women of high class, patrician or equestrian, whom the poet had seduced. Ovid really did have very few morals, Adindel noted.
"What do you think, Secundus?" Adindel absently winced at the lack of imagination that his present 'public' name showed. He hadn't tried very hard, but it did occur to him that the name was monumentally unimaginative. "Oh, by the way, have you any ideas for what I should call the girl in my poems? It's proper love elegy, so I should really make it look like it was only one girl..." Ovid trailed off as Adindel looked at him with jaundiced eyes. Ovid had a personality that forcefully reminded Adindel of Elrond's twin sons occasionally, but he was sometimes far too bothered about appearances.
"How about Corinna?" Adindel asked lazily, selecting a name at random. "And to be totally honest, old boy, you are far too bothered about propriety. The world isn't going to end if you are too graphic, not self-obsessed, and be less euphemistic about being a soldier of love, saying exactly what your gladius is (4)." Ovid grinned.
"That is a point and it would be fun to shock the entire elite..." He trailed off, a grin that definitely wouldn't have looked out of place on either Elladan's or Elrohir's face decorating his own.
Adindel rolled his eyes in despair. His friend would get into serious trouble one day, he was sure of it.
XXX
Not long after that, the three Elf-Lords decided to go and explore more eastern parts of the Empire, like the province of Palestine. Adindel did have one or two points to make about it.
"Palestine? What in Morgoth's unholy name do you want to go there for? It's in political turmoil right now! All those Sicarii (5) running round causing trouble! Are you off your heads?" The other two calmly explained that they would still like to go there; they wanted to see the Jewish homeland before it got flattened for a start. Eventually, Adindel gave in.
"Well, if their 'Messiah' comes while we're there and we all get killed in the uproar, I blame you two," he snapped.
XXX
As it happened, there wasn't too much problem for them, crossing the large, arid lands and many of the families were friendly, if guarded of these foreigners. Many were in awe of their blonde hair, not a shade seen much that far east. With perfect timing, well perfectly annoying timing actually, Augustus called a Census. Every man had to return to his birthplace to be counted.
"What is this human obsession with numbers and counting?" Adindel griped, the only non-ruler of the trio. Celeborn laughed before answering.
"Money, dear boy, money. If he knows how many people he can tax, then he knows if he's being short-changed or not. It's not like it matters to us anyway, for we are neither Man nor are our homelands available to go to." Adindel smiled wryly at them.
XXX
One night a palace, the next a slum, Adindel thought as he regarded the 'stable' they were staying in for the night and sighed.
They were not the only 'guests' in the stable, though, there was a young couple there also. The man was, as per custom, rather older than the girl. She must have been about fifteen and had a very young baby with her. Adindel had a sudden feeling of Déjà Vu. More than once, he'd had what he was sure were dreams of premonition. Suddenly, Adindel felt there was something immensely important happening, or had recently happened.
He mentally sent a prayer of thanks to Eru for giving the Elves excellent hearing and he very quietly whispered to the others about it, so quietly that the humans couldn't hear. Eventually, once Adindel had finished telling them everything, Celeborn made an excuse to go outside.
XXX
Celeborn wandered around for a while, before climbing up a fairly rural hill, so deep in thought he forgot to control the glow that had surrounded him a lot when he had been in Arda as he knew it. He absently sung a song to Elbereth.
Once he finished that song, he switched to an old 'carol' that he had learnt off Virginia and Eleanor. He fell into ancient memories as he sang and let go of his powers, not realising he was projecting the images from the song around him to be picked up by anyone within a few metres.
Once he finished the song, he opened his eyes again to see a group of utterly shocked peasants. Grinning wryly, he bowed at them and wandered back to the stable, getting his glow under control again.
TBC.
Notes on history
Here be the bits of interest numbered in the main text. Email gaia caecilia if you actually want more info – she'll be very impressed if you do so.
1) Read Cicero's Defence Speeches for this lovely lady. Yes, she did exist and the event in question did actually happen, as can be read about in the aforementioned book. Get the penguin translation, it's by far the best and has good notes.
2) Livy – the book would be Ab Urbe Condita.
3) More commonly known as Ovid, the dirty poet of Ancient Rome and when we say dirty, we mean very dirty at times. Gaia caecilia's seminar leader apparently described the Ars Amatoria and its sequels as the Roman version of the Karma Sutra. She has a point; though there aren't any pictures, which slightly takes the shine off it.
4) These are all key themes for specific type of Roman poetry (love elegy) and once Ovid had written his elegies, there basically nothing more which could be done with them. A gladius is a Roman sword.
5) The correct name for the Jewish Zealots, because they used a little hooked knives called a Sica, thus Sicarius (singular, the double ii makes it plural) being the users of the Sica.