Aurelia || SERIES ROMANA I

Chapter 45 ~ Supplicants

Aurelia had been gone for hours now and Gaius' thoughts kept straying to her. Again and again, he had to force himself to listen to the senators. Apparently, his senate had nothing better to do than to debate about the deification of his predecessors and to butter Gaius up. How these sycophants disgusted him. Was there nothing more important to discuss in this state? At such times, he was most grateful for his acting skills, acquired through hard training with his mother and with Tiberius in Capri. No fibre of his body betrayed his restlessness within.
Suddenly the attitude of a senator changed - as far as Gaius knew his name was Marcus Fabius and he had somehow made it to the Adil so far - but Gaius strongly doubted that Fabius had what it took to rise even further within the senators. His voice was so high-pitched that his speeches gave one a headache in the long run. Fabius' gaze flitted nervously so indiscreetly to Macro, who was at his post diagonally next to Gaius. Gaius bit back an amused smile as the senator swallowed hard and discreetly cleared his throat.
Let's see what Macro has cooked up this time, Gaius thought with interest, eyeing the youngest of the senators, who was over ten years older than himself. Fabius cleared his throat again, louder this time.
"Would you like a drink, Fabius?" inquired Gaius innocently, raising his hand to signal one of his slaves waiting at the edge. But Senator Fabius immediately replied in the negative.
"I would like to say something," he admitted, and Gaius leaned back in his chair. Immediately there was a polite smile on his lips as he wanted to know if the young senator had felt excluded from their conversation so far. Fabius swallowed hard again and at the last moment was able to refrain from looking at Macro helpfully. Suddenly a jolt went through the senator's body and his whole appearance became as dignified as it was possible for him to be.
"Today I stand before you, princeps, as the representative of the Senate and the Roman people," Fabius chirped, instantly losing all dignity. "I would be chosen to present to you the wish of all Rome: at the feast of the Bona Dea, none other than your wife, according to the customs of our ancestors, shall take her place as high priestess and lead the other women through the sacred rites of the Bona Dea, which no man has ever seen."
While Fabius began to emphasize about Aurelia's great popularity and her prominent position among the other wives, Gaius tapped his finger against his lip thoughtfully. The feast of the Bona Dea would take place in a little over a month and because he did not preside over this cult in his capacity as pontifex maximus, he had not considered it important until just now.
Unlike Vesta, the Bona Dea belonged to all Roman women, who had always faithfully guarded her secrets. This goddess, her temple and her worship had always been a mystery to him, but unlike Clodius Pulcher, he had never felt the urge to find out more. The mysterious festival of Bona Dea always took place on the night of the third and fourth of December. In the days of the Republic, it had been customary for the wife of the first consul to invite the other female disciples (the wives of the most influential men) to her home for the feast of the Bona Dea, where she would preside over the secret rituals. On this night no man was allowed to be in the house - no matter how young he was. Since Augustus it was only important that the husband of the high priestess (or whatever she was called in this cult) had the imperium. Thus, in addition to the houses of the consuls and praetors, the palace of the princeps was always an option for hosting the feast.
Basically, he was intrigued by the possibility of Aurelia leading the Bona Dea cult even now, but he had no clue how much she had to learn in the limited time. He knew how much the people were guided by their faith. If not only he but also Aurelia was at the forefront of the religious cults, they could use this orchestrated pietas to their advantage. But if Aurelia made a mistake during the secret rituals, she would lose her popularity in one fell swoop. Who would also worship a woman who had invoked the wrath of the gods on the Roman people? Even if she prayed flawlessly (or whatever was required of her) and some misfortune occurred in the coming year, Aurelia could be denounced as cursed by the gods because of her time in Germania.
Either way, they were once again in a position to win or lose everything. Gaius nodded slightly to Fabius and assured him that he would think about the proposal. Then he quickly asked when the next grain shipment would arrive and immediately everyone turned to the more relevant topic for the people.