A fast manip:Imagination counts too....
View attachment 168297 ... especially in the case of all the good writers, like Luna here, on cf
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Amica
- Thread starter Velut Luna
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Velut Luna
Sibilla Cumana
Amica 30
As quickly as it had arrived the raging storm ceases, the wind drives the clouds away to the mountains, all around are leaves, broken branches, the mud that swept into the inner rooms.
'Go on! Jump to it! Wash the floor of the peristyle, everything in there’s covered in mud now! '
Everybody’s working, the male slaves collecting broken branches, the slavewomen using sea sponges to wash mosaics on the villa floors, with a couple of others I’m cleaning the beautiful mosaics of the peristyle.
I’ve tucked up my tunic, lifting the hem and passing it under my belt to keep it out of the way while I’m kneeling to wash the mosaic of a great dolphin jumping out of the sea.
Suddenly I feel myself seized from behind, my groin’s groped, I scream, then react instantly, spin around brandishing a wet rag like a whip, and hit the pest in face. It’s one of the youths who roam about the house, they’re the children of slaves, slackers who take advantage of the younger slaves and stretch out their hands to grope the girls.
The older slavewoman who’s working with me jumps up and grabs him by the arm, the other woman’s also able to get hold of him. He wriggles and yells. Meanwhile Lucius, who was standing in the hallway in front of the library and saw the whole scene, arrives and grabs him by the hair:
'Tomorrow you’ll be flung into the brothel for perverts! Flog him! '
The two slavewomen bind his wrists, tying the rope around a column. He’s stripped naked and, with an ox-whip, violently lashed on his legs, thighs and buttocks.
The wretch is yelling, screaming and twisting about like a snake. I, meanwhile, hug another slavewoman who has rushed to my aid.
I’m crying, I’m in a little pain, but it’s more from fear and anger.
I pass off the invitation to beat him myself and get my revenge, shaking my head, instead I approach him and spit in his face:
'Damned bastard! Your hands will be cut off!'
It’s a curse, a prophecy. Some of the slaves who were near Fulvia Lucilla when I predicted the arrival of Fannius are horrified and groan in fear to hear my invective.
The youth writhes like one possessed by evil spirits, drooling from the mouth, kicking the air, screaming and cursing, while two male slaves grab him, bind him hand and foot and drag him away.
They throw him on a cart, and set off to hand him over to his fate.
Eulalia rushes in, hearing all the commotion and shouting.
She hugs me, I weep, resting my face on her breast:
'Come, let’s check what’s happened.'
In the cubicle next to Lucius’s room, I raise my tunic to reveal my buttocks, my thighs parted slightly, and bend forward.
'There’s a deep scratch on the skin of the pubis, but your virginity is safe. Now we’ll put a little silver powder simmered in water with some sap of willow, and after washing the blood from the wound with boiled water, it’ll heal in a few days.'
I’m very shaken by this nasty experience, I didn’t expect any such violent attack, least of all in the house while other people were present, but they’re shocked, most of all, by my reaction, that I didn’t whip the youngster but hurled a terrible curse.
And I’m surprised at the immediate and heavy punishment imposed by Lucius - so it’s true, he does have some business with brothels!
As quickly as it had arrived the raging storm ceases, the wind drives the clouds away to the mountains, all around are leaves, broken branches, the mud that swept into the inner rooms.
'Go on! Jump to it! Wash the floor of the peristyle, everything in there’s covered in mud now! '
Everybody’s working, the male slaves collecting broken branches, the slavewomen using sea sponges to wash mosaics on the villa floors, with a couple of others I’m cleaning the beautiful mosaics of the peristyle.
I’ve tucked up my tunic, lifting the hem and passing it under my belt to keep it out of the way while I’m kneeling to wash the mosaic of a great dolphin jumping out of the sea.
Suddenly I feel myself seized from behind, my groin’s groped, I scream, then react instantly, spin around brandishing a wet rag like a whip, and hit the pest in face. It’s one of the youths who roam about the house, they’re the children of slaves, slackers who take advantage of the younger slaves and stretch out their hands to grope the girls.
The older slavewoman who’s working with me jumps up and grabs him by the arm, the other woman’s also able to get hold of him. He wriggles and yells. Meanwhile Lucius, who was standing in the hallway in front of the library and saw the whole scene, arrives and grabs him by the hair:
'Tomorrow you’ll be flung into the brothel for perverts! Flog him! '
The two slavewomen bind his wrists, tying the rope around a column. He’s stripped naked and, with an ox-whip, violently lashed on his legs, thighs and buttocks.
The wretch is yelling, screaming and twisting about like a snake. I, meanwhile, hug another slavewoman who has rushed to my aid.
I’m crying, I’m in a little pain, but it’s more from fear and anger.
I pass off the invitation to beat him myself and get my revenge, shaking my head, instead I approach him and spit in his face:
'Damned bastard! Your hands will be cut off!'
It’s a curse, a prophecy. Some of the slaves who were near Fulvia Lucilla when I predicted the arrival of Fannius are horrified and groan in fear to hear my invective.
The youth writhes like one possessed by evil spirits, drooling from the mouth, kicking the air, screaming and cursing, while two male slaves grab him, bind him hand and foot and drag him away.
They throw him on a cart, and set off to hand him over to his fate.
Eulalia rushes in, hearing all the commotion and shouting.
She hugs me, I weep, resting my face on her breast:
'Come, let’s check what’s happened.'
In the cubicle next to Lucius’s room, I raise my tunic to reveal my buttocks, my thighs parted slightly, and bend forward.
'There’s a deep scratch on the skin of the pubis, but your virginity is safe. Now we’ll put a little silver powder simmered in water with some sap of willow, and after washing the blood from the wound with boiled water, it’ll heal in a few days.'
I’m very shaken by this nasty experience, I didn’t expect any such violent attack, least of all in the house while other people were present, but they’re shocked, most of all, by my reaction, that I didn’t whip the youngster but hurled a terrible curse.
And I’m surprised at the immediate and heavy punishment imposed by Lucius - so it’s true, he does have some business with brothels!
RacingRodent
Consul
Silver does act as an anti-bacterial agent. Even today you will find some wound dressings are impregnated with silver for precisely that reason. Hippocrates while failing to come up with anything close to germ theory did observe the metal's effect in reducing the infection of wounds.
Another brilliant episode Luna
Velut Luna
Sibilla Cumana
Here I want to thank all the friends who follow my story, that appreciate it, that comment, but most of all I must thank Eulalia that with her fine work makes it possible for everyone to appreciate following my thoughts and my writing style.
Last edited by a moderator:
and the willow sap would contain salicylic acid, the basis of aspirin.Silver does act as an anti-bacterial agent. Even today you will find some wound dressings are impregnated with silver for precisely that reason. Hippocrates while failing to come up with anything close to germ theory did observe the metal's effect in reducing the infection of wounds.
Another brilliant episode Luna
ranger1
Magistrate
Hello Velut Luna, I happen to be (re) reading Terry Pratchett's "Wyrd Sisters" (1988) and 'Granny Weatherwax may well have "landed" in such a fashion, gyrating on her temperamental broomstick, performing arcane magic. Bravo and thanks for the happenstance serendipity.
Warm regards, Ranger1.
Velut Luna
Sibilla Cumana
Amica 31
The days of this wonderful summer pass by, but now I'm restless, for some days now I’ve sensed something, but I cannot define it, just a strange feeling ...
Then suddenly there’s a noise, seeming to come from below, a violent tremor. I freeze, petrified, a slavegirl seizes my hand and drags me away, out of the house and into the square. Everyone comes running out.
It’s an earthquake, she explains, perhaps the gods are angry. I’d never heard anything like it in my land, like a huge animal stirring in the depths of the mountain. There’s only a little damage, some tiles have fallen off the edge of the roof, but my heart was pounding, seeming to rise in my throat, and now I’m thinking back to the moments before I realized what was happening, when the walls of the house seemed to be coming towards me, the pillars swaying, and the tremor invaded my body from my feet up my legs, shaking my bowels, which echoing in my chest , a horrible feeling!
I hug Eulalia, as if we’re survivors from a shipwreck in a tempest. We stand looking around as if we’re lost, trying to light on some sign to guide us to this turmoil came from, then we sit down on some rocks near the trees that surround the square, waiting I know not what, perhaps something that will appease the wrath of the gods, no one dares go back into the house.
Then there are a few more tremors, sudden alarm seizes each of us, but they are progressively lighter tremors, increasingly spaced in time, and calm returns, all of us dare to return. There’s been no damage, only a small statue placed in the lararium fell where it was, a Priapus with his exaggerated penis. I go into the garden to pluck a white rose to put in a small jar, I'll take it into the lararium to ask the Lares to protect the house.
'Ahhh!'
The pot falls out of my hand to the ground and breaks, the water spills. As if I’m seeing a ghost, I suddenly find myself in front of a man, with long, disheveled hair, an unkempt beard, a red cape, a wolf skin on his shoulders, armed and armoured. It’s him! It’s Fannius! He’s back!
I fall on my knees at his feet, trying to wipe the spilt water with my tunic. As I gather up some fragments of the amphora, he takes me by the arm, lifts me up, cuddles me. I’m still astounded, my mouth’s slightly open as if to say something , he kisses me, an indescribable feeling - my heart leaps into my throat, it’s like the earthquake! I’m breathless but unable to pull myself away, indeed, the very last thing I want is to take my lips from his. His tongue is exploring my mouth, our tongues meet, almost intertwine, a violent shiver runs through my body, the rings and nipples of my breasts swell up, a sudden tension takes hold of my pubic area, of my vulva.
'Come along!'
He drags me away, grasping my hand, to the door that I’d left open, lifts me up to sit sideways on his horse, then leaps up behind me on its ump, and off we go! I’ve been kidnapped, I can’t tell Eulalia, she’ll surely be looking for me, but now I'm his, I'm his prey. We ride to the west, without descending, keeping around the side of Vesuvius. Next we pass through a forest, I can’t say for how long. He’s still cuddling me, caressing my body and thighs, continuing to kiss me, I’m held strongly in his arms with muscles of iron.
We reach the piazza in front of a beautiful villa, with a colonnade at its entrance, and columns to the right along the outer wall, which forms as a wing beside the square. As he lets me slip down to the ground, my tunic rides up revealing my body, I giggle, he mischievously holds up the hem to prevent me covering myself, I’m so madly in love now I don’t care about the two slaves who approach to take the reins of the horse.
Fannius dismounts and lifts me with his left arm under my armpits and the other under my thighs. As we enter the house, two slaves rush to greet him, but they’re almost not worthy of a glance, there's only me for him and him for me.
We pass through the atrium, turn right along a short stretch of the peristyle, and enter in the balnea. I strip off, I'm naked for him. I try to help him take off his wrist-guards, but my hands are shaking. With rapid moves he takes off his cloak and armour. I kneel down to untie his shoes, I figure out how to undo them.
Now we’re in the warm water of the bath, a slave brings us sponges, soap, and towels, we laugh as we play with the sponges, and with the cup with which I rinse his head to wash his hair that’s dusty from the long journey. I caress his muscular body and rub it with the soapy sponge, he surrenders to the pleasure of my care, looks me in the eyes and smiles, pulls me towards him, kisses me on the mouth, shakes my breast, caresses my pubis – and I now dare to touch it, I take between my hands his erect penis, he looks at me mischievously and kisses me again, I wrap my legs around his hips, offering him my precious shrine.
But he gets out of the bath and helps me to get out. Naked, still wet, we run into his apartment, a large bedroom with a big wooden bed. He pushes me backwards onto the blankets and kisses me, I turn, he kisses me on my breast, bites me, my hands, feet, neck, throat, stomach, pubis, vulva, I abandon myself to his game, he’s the wolf that’s devouring the flesh of his tender prey, his hands are like claws. Now, kneeling, I offer myself as a she-wolf, opening my thighs, his penis pushes, I moan, a moment of fear, a prayer,
'Lente impelle!' (‘thrust gently!’)
It’s more desire, it’s more pleasure than slight pain. His dagger sinks into my flesh, my hands grip the blanket, he's squeezing my breasts. I arch my back, throw my head back, turning it, searching for his mouth. He bites my lips, seeks out my tongue, bites it! A hoarse moan, a prolonged groan, then a whirlwind, my body trembles, a divine feeling, my mind is overwhelmed with pleasure.
And then again, and again, we roll like snakes entwined on the bed, like animals we writhe, licking and chomping. And the night is as the day, the day as the night, we have no more any sense of time, it’s an eternal present, a pleasure unabated and without limit, with only brief truces when a slave brings some food, fresh water and sweet wine, - and we go on playing while we’re eating. I see the fresh fruit, grapes that are fully ripe, with my teeth I tear the berries from the bunch and then we share them from mouth to mouth, and contend for bites of meat, ripping it from each others’ mouths like wolves, wild beasts, sex-savages, invincible!
The days of this wonderful summer pass by, but now I'm restless, for some days now I’ve sensed something, but I cannot define it, just a strange feeling ...
Then suddenly there’s a noise, seeming to come from below, a violent tremor. I freeze, petrified, a slavegirl seizes my hand and drags me away, out of the house and into the square. Everyone comes running out.
It’s an earthquake, she explains, perhaps the gods are angry. I’d never heard anything like it in my land, like a huge animal stirring in the depths of the mountain. There’s only a little damage, some tiles have fallen off the edge of the roof, but my heart was pounding, seeming to rise in my throat, and now I’m thinking back to the moments before I realized what was happening, when the walls of the house seemed to be coming towards me, the pillars swaying, and the tremor invaded my body from my feet up my legs, shaking my bowels, which echoing in my chest , a horrible feeling!
I hug Eulalia, as if we’re survivors from a shipwreck in a tempest. We stand looking around as if we’re lost, trying to light on some sign to guide us to this turmoil came from, then we sit down on some rocks near the trees that surround the square, waiting I know not what, perhaps something that will appease the wrath of the gods, no one dares go back into the house.
Then there are a few more tremors, sudden alarm seizes each of us, but they are progressively lighter tremors, increasingly spaced in time, and calm returns, all of us dare to return. There’s been no damage, only a small statue placed in the lararium fell where it was, a Priapus with his exaggerated penis. I go into the garden to pluck a white rose to put in a small jar, I'll take it into the lararium to ask the Lares to protect the house.
'Ahhh!'
The pot falls out of my hand to the ground and breaks, the water spills. As if I’m seeing a ghost, I suddenly find myself in front of a man, with long, disheveled hair, an unkempt beard, a red cape, a wolf skin on his shoulders, armed and armoured. It’s him! It’s Fannius! He’s back!
I fall on my knees at his feet, trying to wipe the spilt water with my tunic. As I gather up some fragments of the amphora, he takes me by the arm, lifts me up, cuddles me. I’m still astounded, my mouth’s slightly open as if to say something , he kisses me, an indescribable feeling - my heart leaps into my throat, it’s like the earthquake! I’m breathless but unable to pull myself away, indeed, the very last thing I want is to take my lips from his. His tongue is exploring my mouth, our tongues meet, almost intertwine, a violent shiver runs through my body, the rings and nipples of my breasts swell up, a sudden tension takes hold of my pubic area, of my vulva.
'Come along!'
He drags me away, grasping my hand, to the door that I’d left open, lifts me up to sit sideways on his horse, then leaps up behind me on its ump, and off we go! I’ve been kidnapped, I can’t tell Eulalia, she’ll surely be looking for me, but now I'm his, I'm his prey. We ride to the west, without descending, keeping around the side of Vesuvius. Next we pass through a forest, I can’t say for how long. He’s still cuddling me, caressing my body and thighs, continuing to kiss me, I’m held strongly in his arms with muscles of iron.
We reach the piazza in front of a beautiful villa, with a colonnade at its entrance, and columns to the right along the outer wall, which forms as a wing beside the square. As he lets me slip down to the ground, my tunic rides up revealing my body, I giggle, he mischievously holds up the hem to prevent me covering myself, I’m so madly in love now I don’t care about the two slaves who approach to take the reins of the horse.
Fannius dismounts and lifts me with his left arm under my armpits and the other under my thighs. As we enter the house, two slaves rush to greet him, but they’re almost not worthy of a glance, there's only me for him and him for me.
We pass through the atrium, turn right along a short stretch of the peristyle, and enter in the balnea. I strip off, I'm naked for him. I try to help him take off his wrist-guards, but my hands are shaking. With rapid moves he takes off his cloak and armour. I kneel down to untie his shoes, I figure out how to undo them.
Now we’re in the warm water of the bath, a slave brings us sponges, soap, and towels, we laugh as we play with the sponges, and with the cup with which I rinse his head to wash his hair that’s dusty from the long journey. I caress his muscular body and rub it with the soapy sponge, he surrenders to the pleasure of my care, looks me in the eyes and smiles, pulls me towards him, kisses me on the mouth, shakes my breast, caresses my pubis – and I now dare to touch it, I take between my hands his erect penis, he looks at me mischievously and kisses me again, I wrap my legs around his hips, offering him my precious shrine.
But he gets out of the bath and helps me to get out. Naked, still wet, we run into his apartment, a large bedroom with a big wooden bed. He pushes me backwards onto the blankets and kisses me, I turn, he kisses me on my breast, bites me, my hands, feet, neck, throat, stomach, pubis, vulva, I abandon myself to his game, he’s the wolf that’s devouring the flesh of his tender prey, his hands are like claws. Now, kneeling, I offer myself as a she-wolf, opening my thighs, his penis pushes, I moan, a moment of fear, a prayer,
'Lente impelle!' (‘thrust gently!’)
It’s more desire, it’s more pleasure than slight pain. His dagger sinks into my flesh, my hands grip the blanket, he's squeezing my breasts. I arch my back, throw my head back, turning it, searching for his mouth. He bites my lips, seeks out my tongue, bites it! A hoarse moan, a prolonged groan, then a whirlwind, my body trembles, a divine feeling, my mind is overwhelmed with pleasure.
And then again, and again, we roll like snakes entwined on the bed, like animals we writhe, licking and chomping. And the night is as the day, the day as the night, we have no more any sense of time, it’s an eternal present, a pleasure unabated and without limit, with only brief truces when a slave brings some food, fresh water and sweet wine, - and we go on playing while we’re eating. I see the fresh fruit, grapes that are fully ripe, with my teeth I tear the berries from the bunch and then we share them from mouth to mouth, and contend for bites of meat, ripping it from each others’ mouths like wolves, wild beasts, sex-savages, invincible!
Very hot scene Luna,
and set nearly beneath the raging fires of Vesuvius too!
Powerful, and very erotic
, writing. Wow. 
...umm, yeah, what Barb said...
messaline
Crucified Amazon
I'd read somewhere that during an earthquake, men and women were feeling a great craving to make love : it seems that it's confirmed, and with a wonderful manner !
Bravo Luna, your description is so much real : Amica is a lucky girl, having given her virginity in such conditions !
It's alas not the case for some other girls ...
But I prefer imagine like you wrote ...
Bravo Luna, your description is so much real : Amica is a lucky girl, having given her virginity in such conditions !
It's alas not the case for some other girls ...
But I prefer imagine like you wrote ...
Velut Luna
Sibilla Cumana
Amica 32
'Take your little black satyr! These ten days he’s done nothing but look for you, in the first few days he toured the whole house smelling everywhere, came up on the doorstep and then went back out, he didn’t eat for three days, then he curled up on your red tunic and wouldn’t move any more, waiting for you. Whenever I went to look at him, he mewed like he was asking if you were back, then overcome by hunger he began to lick a little milk.'
'Oh, Eulalia you’ve come here! Forgive me, I haven’t sent any message...'
'No need to ask for forgiveness, we knew exactly where you were! Lucius's slavewoman came at once to tell me that Fannius had taken you off with him, and then one of his slaves arrived bringing a letter to inform us that you’d be here while Fannius is staying at his villa.'
Lucius and Fannius are together and they’re talking, walking in the beautiful peristyle. The little black elf is now in my arms, I caress him, kiss him on the nose, he's watching me, bites my fingers, sniffs, licks, then sneaks into the neckline of the light dress I’m wearing to hide between my breasts.
'It’s been a few days, and you’re changed a lot - you no longer have the look of a girl, now you look like a woman, and a beautiful one into the bargain, your look is quite different. In a few days, when Fannius goes to Rome, you’ll return to the Villa of Quarto. Don’t worry, Lucius wasn’t offended by the fact that you've come here, when he returned from Sorrento and read the letter from Fannius, he only commented, “The joys of youth, how I wish I could go back to them too!”'
A light lunch is served in the triclinium to the left, off the colonnade. Now I look more carefully at the beautiful paintings on the walls of the house, the wonderful mosaics on the floors. I’ve lived these few days without seeing anything, as if only Fannius and I existed, as if we were in a world apart, as if everything around us were unreal, and only our eyes, our mouths, our bodies remained in the clouds of an Olympus made only for us, as if we were gods.
The four of us stroll in the sparse woodland of pine-trees fragrant with resin, bushes smelling of aromatic oils, and sweet, succulent berries, in this 'pagus felix' (blessed plot) around Vesuvius. Then Lucius and Eulalia climb into the chariot to go back to Quarto.
I realise now that we’re not far away, the villa of Fannius is located closer to the sea, on the heights between Oplontis and Herculaneum. Towards the coast you can see other beautiful villas, one of these, says Fannius, is the villa of Poppea (wife of Nero).
But now time is just for us, indeed there is no time, it’s an eternal present, a moment that lasts for a time beyond measure, while we chase only kisses, caresses, looks and tongue-licks, running among the rocks, hiding among the scattered trees, in escapes and ambushes that end in the fire of love, desire and pleasure satisfied and immediately renewed.
We live as if we were the only inhabitants of this land, free as the first humans, as if everything belonged to us. On the little world of still unmown green grass, we lie flat on our backs, our faces gazing up to the sky, our beautiful faces, our light skin washed by the light, new faces, just created, our lips sinless.
Naked, standing on rocks, staring at the distant sea, I feel as if I'm newly created, a new life, new-born, the first woman of creation. He looks at me with a smile of happy surprise, and the glow of the setting sun tinges with ancient gold my long, soft hair, my skin smooth, white, skin, his strong hands shake my thrusting breasts, gleaming, shining, with a gesture of love.
'Take your little black satyr! These ten days he’s done nothing but look for you, in the first few days he toured the whole house smelling everywhere, came up on the doorstep and then went back out, he didn’t eat for three days, then he curled up on your red tunic and wouldn’t move any more, waiting for you. Whenever I went to look at him, he mewed like he was asking if you were back, then overcome by hunger he began to lick a little milk.'
'Oh, Eulalia you’ve come here! Forgive me, I haven’t sent any message...'
'No need to ask for forgiveness, we knew exactly where you were! Lucius's slavewoman came at once to tell me that Fannius had taken you off with him, and then one of his slaves arrived bringing a letter to inform us that you’d be here while Fannius is staying at his villa.'
Lucius and Fannius are together and they’re talking, walking in the beautiful peristyle. The little black elf is now in my arms, I caress him, kiss him on the nose, he's watching me, bites my fingers, sniffs, licks, then sneaks into the neckline of the light dress I’m wearing to hide between my breasts.
'It’s been a few days, and you’re changed a lot - you no longer have the look of a girl, now you look like a woman, and a beautiful one into the bargain, your look is quite different. In a few days, when Fannius goes to Rome, you’ll return to the Villa of Quarto. Don’t worry, Lucius wasn’t offended by the fact that you've come here, when he returned from Sorrento and read the letter from Fannius, he only commented, “The joys of youth, how I wish I could go back to them too!”'
A light lunch is served in the triclinium to the left, off the colonnade. Now I look more carefully at the beautiful paintings on the walls of the house, the wonderful mosaics on the floors. I’ve lived these few days without seeing anything, as if only Fannius and I existed, as if we were in a world apart, as if everything around us were unreal, and only our eyes, our mouths, our bodies remained in the clouds of an Olympus made only for us, as if we were gods.
The four of us stroll in the sparse woodland of pine-trees fragrant with resin, bushes smelling of aromatic oils, and sweet, succulent berries, in this 'pagus felix' (blessed plot) around Vesuvius. Then Lucius and Eulalia climb into the chariot to go back to Quarto.
I realise now that we’re not far away, the villa of Fannius is located closer to the sea, on the heights between Oplontis and Herculaneum. Towards the coast you can see other beautiful villas, one of these, says Fannius, is the villa of Poppea (wife of Nero).
But now time is just for us, indeed there is no time, it’s an eternal present, a moment that lasts for a time beyond measure, while we chase only kisses, caresses, looks and tongue-licks, running among the rocks, hiding among the scattered trees, in escapes and ambushes that end in the fire of love, desire and pleasure satisfied and immediately renewed.
We live as if we were the only inhabitants of this land, free as the first humans, as if everything belonged to us. On the little world of still unmown green grass, we lie flat on our backs, our faces gazing up to the sky, our beautiful faces, our light skin washed by the light, new faces, just created, our lips sinless.
Naked, standing on rocks, staring at the distant sea, I feel as if I'm newly created, a new life, new-born, the first woman of creation. He looks at me with a smile of happy surprise, and the glow of the setting sun tinges with ancient gold my long, soft hair, my skin smooth, white, skin, his strong hands shake my thrusting breasts, gleaming, shining, with a gesture of love.
Velut Luna
Sibilla Cumana
Amica 33
‘Why is my Falernum considered the best wine in the world? The Emperor himself, Vespasian, will only drink it! Look! Look at the grapes from which it’s pressed by divine feet, legs of young nymphs, wet with delicious nectar! That’s how the wine’s made unique!'
Lucius is happy with the good harvest. It’s the most beautiful time of autumn, and we are happy, beautiful girls laughing while we press the grapes with our bare feet. A small thong that covers my pudendum, held by a cord that makes a belt, with a band around my breasts, these are the only clothes that we’re wearing, we naiads who bathe in these vats where the freshly-picked grapes are poured, and immediately the precious sweet juice oozes from below, to be transported in dolia (big pots) to be made into wine.
How sweet and warm the juice is, I’ve drunk a little and now I'm like a Bacchante in the throes of ecstasy. What have I done wrong? Well yes! I’ve got drunk on grape-must! When, in the evening, I climb out of the vat, I can hardly stand, I’m laughing all the time, all the world’s turning around!
Yes Eulalia! Yes the world goes round! But Aristarchus was wrong, the world doesn’t revolve around the sun, it revolves around me! And I spin round and round in circles! And everything’s turning, the stars, the moon, the sun, the planets, the earth and the celestial spheres are all in the grip of this frenzy! All in this round dance, in a primordial chaos, we face one another, we push each other, we giggle, we laugh, we kiss, we touch each other, an orgy of girls, drunk and happy! And of course, it’s just so a wine can be born that’s worthy of an emperor!
‘Why is my Falernum considered the best wine in the world? The Emperor himself, Vespasian, will only drink it! Look! Look at the grapes from which it’s pressed by divine feet, legs of young nymphs, wet with delicious nectar! That’s how the wine’s made unique!'
Lucius is happy with the good harvest. It’s the most beautiful time of autumn, and we are happy, beautiful girls laughing while we press the grapes with our bare feet. A small thong that covers my pudendum, held by a cord that makes a belt, with a band around my breasts, these are the only clothes that we’re wearing, we naiads who bathe in these vats where the freshly-picked grapes are poured, and immediately the precious sweet juice oozes from below, to be transported in dolia (big pots) to be made into wine.
How sweet and warm the juice is, I’ve drunk a little and now I'm like a Bacchante in the throes of ecstasy. What have I done wrong? Well yes! I’ve got drunk on grape-must! When, in the evening, I climb out of the vat, I can hardly stand, I’m laughing all the time, all the world’s turning around!
Yes Eulalia! Yes the world goes round! But Aristarchus was wrong, the world doesn’t revolve around the sun, it revolves around me! And I spin round and round in circles! And everything’s turning, the stars, the moon, the sun, the planets, the earth and the celestial spheres are all in the grip of this frenzy! All in this round dance, in a primordial chaos, we face one another, we push each other, we giggle, we laugh, we kiss, we touch each other, an orgy of girls, drunk and happy! And of course, it’s just so a wine can be born that’s worthy of an emperor!
Velut Luna
Sibilla Cumana
Amica lying on the triclinium in the villa of Fannius with Capri in the background.
Velut Luna
Sibilla Cumana
Amica 34
Preparations are underway, we’re going back to Pompeii.
Compared to the day we came, my luggage has increased, a light tunic, a necklace of raw coral given me by Fannius, and I’ve a little more flesh on me that makes me even more beautiful! Even my little black night-elf has grown in weight, but also in liveliness, he’s more mischievous than ever, playing with everything and taking every excuse to play, and he’s offended if you don’t want to play with him!
But above all, my knowledge has increased, now I can read and write in Latin, but also a little in Greek. Almost every day, except when I was in Fannius’s villa, Eulalia made me do exercises in reading and writing, but also in calculation, and drawing, and I’ve learned a lot about the histories of Rome and Greece, and about what philosophers have taught and written on the subjects of poetry and astronomy. If all this had been food, I’d certainly be much fatter!
As we’re going down to Pompeii on the biga (two-horse carriage) driven by Lucius’s auriga (charioteer), the one who’d escorted us here at the beginning of summer, just before entering the city by the Gate of Vesuvius we are forced to stop - a screaming crowd are throwing stones at three naked bodies hanging from their crosses.
'Burn them! Burn them! '.
I’m terrified, petrified at the sight of such ferocity shown against them - even if they were terrible killers, such treatment can’t be right. But they’re women! I realize this as I read the titulum, the word that spells out the reason why they’ve been condemned to such a horrible death is feminine:
Their bodies are so distorted in their agony, their hair so tangled, their chest-muscles so stretched by the strain on their arms, forcing their breasts to stand out, their limbs so slender, their skin so bloodied from wounds inflicted by the scourge and by stones thrown from the crowd, with just a rope tied around their hips, knotted in front and hanging under their groins, all this prevented me from grasping their true nature.
I hug Eulalia, frightened that such ferocity could also affect us as we eventually pass near the place of execution.
'What does XPT N PRÆD mean?'
'It means that they’re Christians accused of sedition, because they’ve been preaching their religion.'
'But is it so dangerous, that religion?'
'In and of itself no, indeed it teaches love and goodness, but for the Romans it’s very dangerous because it says that there is only one God, their God, and all the other gods are false and lying, so Christians bring into doubt the authority of the emperor, who is considered a god.'
Under the titulum the judgment is transcribed in capital letters in full in four languages: Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Oscan.
'Why is the sentence is written in so many languages?'
'Christianity began in Judea, then it spread into Greece and Asia Minor, and now the preaching of Christians is emerging even among the Samnite tribes who speak Oscan. They were always hostile to Rome, they were only put down by fierce wars, and even nowadays their resistance against their Roman conquerors isn’t completely suppressed. Greek is used because the Christians here now are mostly Greek speakers, Hebrew, because many of them come from Jerusalem, which has been destroyed by Titus and they’ve scattered to escape persecution, and it’s also in the Oscan as a warning to the original peoples of these parts, who are liable to be easily persuaded by those who speak ill of the Romans.'
I hide my face against Eulalia’s breast, at last we can move off towards our home.
Fulvia Lucilla has already arrived with her many slaves. Udij’s there, we hug and kiss, she speaks to me, but in a funny way, as if she were talking to an illiterate foreigner, making gestures with her hands, using the infinitive like the barbarians do. She’s surprised when I answer in Latin, yes maybe with a bit of an accent, reflecting my sweet language - I don’t pronounce the consonants in 'gi','ge','ci', 'ce’ hard, as they’re articulated in Latin, but rather soft, 'ji', 'je', 'chi', 'che', and so my words seem more delicate.
We’ll have much to say in the next few days, we’ll tell our adventures, I want to tell her that I stayed with Fannius, that I’m his beloved, but now we’ve got to prepare the house for the arrival of the owners.
Preparations are underway, we’re going back to Pompeii.
Compared to the day we came, my luggage has increased, a light tunic, a necklace of raw coral given me by Fannius, and I’ve a little more flesh on me that makes me even more beautiful! Even my little black night-elf has grown in weight, but also in liveliness, he’s more mischievous than ever, playing with everything and taking every excuse to play, and he’s offended if you don’t want to play with him!
But above all, my knowledge has increased, now I can read and write in Latin, but also a little in Greek. Almost every day, except when I was in Fannius’s villa, Eulalia made me do exercises in reading and writing, but also in calculation, and drawing, and I’ve learned a lot about the histories of Rome and Greece, and about what philosophers have taught and written on the subjects of poetry and astronomy. If all this had been food, I’d certainly be much fatter!
As we’re going down to Pompeii on the biga (two-horse carriage) driven by Lucius’s auriga (charioteer), the one who’d escorted us here at the beginning of summer, just before entering the city by the Gate of Vesuvius we are forced to stop - a screaming crowd are throwing stones at three naked bodies hanging from their crosses.
'Burn them! Burn them! '.
I’m terrified, petrified at the sight of such ferocity shown against them - even if they were terrible killers, such treatment can’t be right. But they’re women! I realize this as I read the titulum, the word that spells out the reason why they’ve been condemned to such a horrible death is feminine:
SÆDITIOSA
XPT N PRÆD
XPT N PRÆD
Their bodies are so distorted in their agony, their hair so tangled, their chest-muscles so stretched by the strain on their arms, forcing their breasts to stand out, their limbs so slender, their skin so bloodied from wounds inflicted by the scourge and by stones thrown from the crowd, with just a rope tied around their hips, knotted in front and hanging under their groins, all this prevented me from grasping their true nature.
I hug Eulalia, frightened that such ferocity could also affect us as we eventually pass near the place of execution.
'What does XPT N PRÆD mean?'
'It means that they’re Christians accused of sedition, because they’ve been preaching their religion.'
'But is it so dangerous, that religion?'
'In and of itself no, indeed it teaches love and goodness, but for the Romans it’s very dangerous because it says that there is only one God, their God, and all the other gods are false and lying, so Christians bring into doubt the authority of the emperor, who is considered a god.'
Under the titulum the judgment is transcribed in capital letters in full in four languages: Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Oscan.
'Why is the sentence is written in so many languages?'
'Christianity began in Judea, then it spread into Greece and Asia Minor, and now the preaching of Christians is emerging even among the Samnite tribes who speak Oscan. They were always hostile to Rome, they were only put down by fierce wars, and even nowadays their resistance against their Roman conquerors isn’t completely suppressed. Greek is used because the Christians here now are mostly Greek speakers, Hebrew, because many of them come from Jerusalem, which has been destroyed by Titus and they’ve scattered to escape persecution, and it’s also in the Oscan as a warning to the original peoples of these parts, who are liable to be easily persuaded by those who speak ill of the Romans.'
I hide my face against Eulalia’s breast, at last we can move off towards our home.
Fulvia Lucilla has already arrived with her many slaves. Udij’s there, we hug and kiss, she speaks to me, but in a funny way, as if she were talking to an illiterate foreigner, making gestures with her hands, using the infinitive like the barbarians do. She’s surprised when I answer in Latin, yes maybe with a bit of an accent, reflecting my sweet language - I don’t pronounce the consonants in 'gi','ge','ci', 'ce’ hard, as they’re articulated in Latin, but rather soft, 'ji', 'je', 'chi', 'che', and so my words seem more delicate.
We’ll have much to say in the next few days, we’ll tell our adventures, I want to tell her that I stayed with Fannius, that I’m his beloved, but now we’ve got to prepare the house for the arrival of the owners.
P
Pia
Guest
For some reason beyond my understanding I don't seem to get notifications when you post new episodes on your thread... The upside is I get to read several in one sitting - and they are beautiful and amazing and utterly captivating!
You are not alone in not getting notifications PK....but it's always well worth the effort to keep checking the "Amica" thread. Wonderful writing Luna!