Lilybaeum

Chapter 3

Saturnius barked orders across the parade ground at the new recruits; they were completely naive and thought they were proper soldiers. One of them Valentinus kept strutting around like he was some kind of hero, they had no idea what it was like to fight and it angered him extremely.

"Come on you maggots form up!" Saturnius roared, several of the recruits jumped at his harsh voice. They formed up in their slow untidy way, Saturnius marched in front of the weak ranks, one of the clumsy wannabes dropped his shield which landed in the dust with a thud.

"What do you think you are doing boy!" Saturnius screamed "Pick it up right now or so help me I will tear you limb from limb before the Carthaginians even get their hands on you!" The recruit went wide eyed in fear and scrabbled around and picked up his fallen shield, the front covered in dust which the recruit hastily rubbed off.

"Ok I've had enough of you fools get out of my sight!" The recruits march off back to the barracks. Saturnius putsch his head in his hands, how could recruits be so pathetic, they had to learn the hard way if they ever wanted to make good soldiers so kindness was not a luxury he could afford to give.

Amellius reached the villa and waved goodbye to the boy who tottered off down the hill to the small town in which he lived, smoke rising from the smaller houses. He was greeted by the Greek steward who turned his nose up in disgust at the blood that covered Amellius’ hands.

 “We ran into some of the wildlife” he grinned at the steward’s squeamishness.

 “Quite” the man replied “would you like to bathe and clean the blood off yourself sir?”

 Amellius nodded and headed off towards his bath house at the other side of the villa, he opened the door and quickly shut it behind him as not to lose the steam that had built up inside since the morning. He quickly stripped and then eased himself into the hot water, the dried blood started to flake off his hands and forearms. It floated around the pool before it started to disintegrate and disappeared off down the refuse pipe. After soaking for about half an hour, Amellius got up and swiftly dried himself before applying his tunic and toga.

Amellius proceeded down into the stiflingly hot kitchens, where the cook was busily rushing around with the food that had recently been bought from market. Gold and pink hams were being strung up from the ceiling, the meaty smell filling the air, Amellius’ stomach rumbled and the sudden aroma. Fresh herbs were being meticulously being placed in the perfect position for drying near the ovens, but not too close or they would burn, this too brought new smells to Amellius’ nose, was the cook trying to make him beg for food he chuckled. Ice was hurriedly being put in the cool room, the cook was overseeing this part personally, as the ice was awfully expensive, and its transportation had to be extremely fast as most of it melted on the way to the villas. The ice was becoming very popular in Rome as new desserts were being created to use the new novelty, Amellius thought it was too much of a fuss but he couldn’t disagree with the fact that it was refreshing.

The cook turned and jumped in surprise to see his employer wandering inquisitively around his kitchen.

 “Sir, what a surprise, if you bear with me for two minutes I’ll prepare you some lunch” the cook offered nervously.

 “Of course I’ll wait” Amellius replied, the cook immediately looked relieved.

 “If you can excuse me” The cook said over his shoulder as he scurried off to supervise.

 He headed out into the courtyard where bees hurriedly gathered nectar from the flowers that adorned the beautiful spot, their delicate flowers peaceful in the light breeze. A white marble statuette stood on a plinth in one of the flower beds, the grey veins of the marble crisscrossing the statues body like vines. He breathed in the scent of honey-suckle that festooned the walls, the rich fragrance attracting the bees and allowing them to get on with their work in a quite striking environment. A slave shuffled out of the villa with a platter in hand, he quickly gave it to Amellius before bowing and heading back to the kitchens. The platter was covered in different meats, all matured to perfection, the olive oil dressing was exquisite and Amellius decided he must thank his friends in Rome for recommending one of the best cooks in Sicily. The man certainly knew how to prepare even the simplest of dishes and make them seem even better than another cook he had tried could. Once he had finished the platter Amellius signalled for another slave to take it back to the kitchens.

 But night was coming on swift wings so Amellius decided to head into his bed chamber, he lay down on his fresh sheets and listened to the soft rustling of the silk that hung over his window, the only barrier to the outside world. The brazier crackled dimly in the background as the wood cracked occasionally as the moisture left the burning fuel, the light smell of smoke comforting to his soldiers nostrils. His eyes slowly closed and he smiled faintly before calmly drifting to sleep.