Bab 1: CHAPTER ONE

The hot Roman sun bathed the forum in yellow light as Claudia strode past the temple of vesta and toward the Senate building. His blood red cloak hung heavily on his shoulders, but he didn't want to take it off and be out of uniform for his meeting with Ammianus scipio, the colonial governor of Britain. He threaded his way through the crowd, dodging the litters of the nobility carried by liveried servants, ignoring the cries of the vendor hawking wares from stall and the speech of the politicians delivered to the small crowds gathered in front of rostra, or speakers platforms. Slaves of all colors from all part of the world trudged past him carrying burdens, and pi dogs as well as ragged children from the insulae, or low rent apartment houses, darted across his path. He nodded at several uniformed soldiers, dressed in vivid garnet like himself, and walked around the table of a Greek scribe who had set up shop to write letter ✉️ for the largely illiterate population.A poet recited his latest creation outside a tent where skins were tanned and cured for sale, and Claudius shrugged off the touch of a Persian rug dealer who assumed an officer would have money to spend on a heavily worked tapestry from Bithynia. Claudius stopped and purchased a soft drink, made from grape must and sugared water and presented to him in a wooden cup. He swallowed the liquid in one gulp and returned the vessel to the vendor, handing him a denarius in payment. Claudius looked at the bustle surrounding him but did not see it, his mind far away. He had an idea why he had been summoned to this conference, he had just returned from an imperial base in spain, from which he had put down rebellions in Iberia and North Africa, and he suspected that he would be sent off to quell another one. Since the death of Julius Caesar in march, all the disaffected colonies had seen an opportunity to escape Roman bondage while the central government was in disarray and Claudius had traveled around the world for the last six months, putting out fire. But now that mark Anthony and Caesar's nephew octavian had stabilized the power source in Italy, many of the outlying district had also settled down. The notable exception was Britain, whose Celtic tribes were always the most restive elements in the farflung Roman Empire.