The vestals were delighted when Rome was revealed to be up and awake. The poor things cried when they saw him. They gave him a new toga they had weaved, partly dyed purple.
"How will I look wearing this, in a city not my own?" He shook his head "It's nice, but-"
"Please Roma!" Sextilia looked ready to cry again at him not wearing it, "We spent a lot of money to get the purple! We were so worried about you, we-"
"Oh, shut up," He ruffled her hair, "I'll wear it, okay?"
He didn't wear it for long. Togas were formal wear, and he didn't have many formal situations to attend. But still, he wanted to show his appreciation.
X
He received messages and reports about current plans. Everyone wanted to do something, but no one could agree on what that something should be. Camillus kept on being brought up. The gauls were unhelpful, and did not do anything. They were happy to sit and starve them out.
It became abundantly clear neither side would take any action. Rome frequently wondered what the gauls' god thought of this.
Rome couldn't throw off a slight sickness he had the whole time.
X
Cisra was in and out of his house. Leaving Rome alone most of the day. He seemed embarrassed about it, and always offered an excuse or apology. He did his best to insist on dining together, though. With always the best, sweetest wines, the smoothest olive oil, the whitest breads. Rome rarely ate that well in his own city.
At the end, when Cisra's tunic would fall from his shoulders, his face shiny with oil, his mouth loose with wine, Rome couldn't tell if he saw something that was not there.
Cisra had his hand in the air, gesturing, telling a story Rome was not listening to, "I didn't think anything of it, but Carthage—"
"You've met Carthage?"
Cisra stopped, his hand came back down to his cup. They were in the atrium again, the torch in the corner stuttering. It kept on reshading Cisra's body, "Have you been listening to anything I've said?"
Rome smiled, "No."
"Well," He leaned forward, his eyes looked amber in the lighting, "Yes, I'm quite familiar with Carthage."
"I'm curious—I haven't met him."
Cisra laughed, "You really weren't listening to anything I said—Carthage is a woman—honestly, how have you not met her?"
"I've… had many opportunities, but somehow we always just miss each other."
"And how did you not know she was a woman?" He rose his cup to a slave for her to refill, "That's a very important detail."
"I've been told I'm forgetful."
Cisra smiled. "We have to fix this. You need to meet Carthage—As soon as these gauls are gone I'll invite her here. I'll introduce you—maybe if you impress her she'll show you her inner alley."
Rome raised an eyebrow, "Does she fuck every man that impresses her?""
"I don't know. Maybe just me? Let's hope not for your sake."
X
On one of his few free days, Cisra hired an haruspex to divine Rome's future. The man was fat, and the little white hat on his head looked ridiculous. He brought a plump ram with him.
"Have you've done this for yourself before?"
"Only at religious festivals."
The haruspex raised his knife, and gored the animal quickly. It trembled for a long time before it died. The entrails sprayed into a zig-zag pattern.
"Did what they predict come to pass?"
"It didn't not come to pass." He switched to latin, not letting anyone but Rome understand. He had an accent, the Os were mixed up with the Us. But Rome didn't find it ugly.
The haruspex pulled out a diagram of a liver, and it struck Rome as oddly phallic.
"What does that mean?" He laughed, "Has none of it happened yet?"
"Some of it has, to the letter. Some of it hasn't."
"So maybe what he says will happen, maybe it won't?"
"All of my people think it will. I've existed long enough to see... that it doesn't always." He shrugged, "Maybe the gods change their mind. If anything, the ceremony is nice. You should at least thank me. This was expensive."
"Well, thank you so much. I'll never forget this. Truly the best thing anyone has done for me."
He frowned. "If this is how grateful you are at everything I'll make sure to never get you anything again."
"Don't say that—I do appreciate this, it's kind—and sure, you're right, the ceremony is nice."
The haruspex finished and turned to them, disheveled, speckles of blood on his hat, "You're in a bit of a touch spot right now, aren't you?." Back to Etruscan. A twinge of homesickness at leaving his own language.
Rome nodded.
"You're going to get through it, stronger then before. The gods look favorably on you. I suspect you'll achieve some personal dreams."
"Thank you." He turned to Cisra and switched to latin, "Do you hear that? Maybe I'll conquer the whole peninsula."
"Heh. If it be the gods' will."
"You etruscans always talk about that, what the gods say, what the gods want."
"Really? To use, you don't talk about it enough. Honestly, you should think about them more. You'll get smite if you don't honor them enough. They decide everything. "
"I honor the gods plenty! Did you not hear that haruspex? They look favorably on me. And again, there you go on again. I just don't believe everything is predestined."
"Well, come back to me in four centuries. We'll see if the haruspex was right."
Author's note/historical context:
Cisra: eats so slobby that his clothes fall off
Rome: I cant NOT fuck him
Tbh it legit makes no sense why rome wouldn't have met carthage yet. So... let's say that the senate is just really embarrassed of him or something and has been purposely making sure they don't meet.
Tbh I didn't do that much research on haruspex besides what their model livers look like. They strike me as oddly phallic... but that might just be me tbh. Anyway, I have no idea how authentic that scene was.
Etruscan religion was big on everything being the gods' will and predestination. I forget which ancient roman said this but a simple way to say the difference is that romans believe lighting is released because the clouds collide, while etruscans believe that the clouds collide to release lighting.
Next chapter I hope to end rome's little vacation with cisra. After that is the samnite and latin wars, but I'm not sure how much I'll focus on them.
Hope you enjoy! Reviews are very much appreciated.
Btw warnings for this story include (probably should have included this sooner...): war, slavery, there's a slight age gap with rome and cisra (nothing will be done until later though), period typical homophobia/misogyny/views on sex.
