Chương 177: The Story of the Romans

As always, Cassia began her day by waking her younger brother.

"Come on, you need to get up. You're going to be late for class at this rate." As she shook him, Cassius squirmed beneath his blanket and whined.

"Just a little bit longer."

"Didn't you promise me yesterday? I told you there'd be no pasta for you if you slept in again."

"You're playing dirty, Cassia." After finally getting her still-whining brother out of bed, Cassia dressed him in the clothes she had washed the day before. The siblings were not the only ones awake. Everyone around them was beginning to stir as well. Over twenty people lived in the large tent the siblings shared, with each family using hanging curtains to mark off their own spaces. Since there were only two of them, Cassia and her brother occupied the smallest section, but it was comfortable enough.

"Good morning, Cassia. Are you already getting ready to head out?"

"Yes. The Vestal Virgins said they would be arriving early today," Cassia replied, stretching. Minucia occupied the adjoining section with her husband and two children.

"It's truly admirable how you work and take care of your younger brother at such a young age."

"I have to work hard if I want to keep food on the table."

"I wish my husband were half as hardworking as you."

"Is he still obsessed with playing dice these days?"

"Dice would actually be better. Lately, he's..." While Cassia chatted briefly with Minucia, her brother finished getting ready.

"I'll see you this evening, Minucia," Cassia said.

"Alright. Have a good day at work." Just as Cassia was packing her things to leave, her brother walked up to her and said, "I'll come with you and help you work today."

"I told you last time. You don't need to do that." Cassia bent down and looked her brother in the eye.

"All you have to do is go to class and study hard. That's what Mother would have wanted for you."

"But..."

"Do you have any idea how rare an opportunity it is to get an education for free like this? Count yourself lucky. Now, let's go." The two of them walked out of the tent together. The campsite was brimming with energy, as it always was. Rows of tents identical to the one they had just left stretched out around them as the camp came to life.

"There go your friends. Hurry up and go."

"See you later, sis!" Cassia chuckled as she watched her younger brother run off toward his friends. Soon after, she quickened her own pace. The day had only just begun.

"Good morning, Cassia!"

"Good morning!" She exchanged warm greetings with the neighbors she passed on the way. It had not been long since she had arrived at the camp, but it already felt like home. No, this was her new home now. Following the now-familiar paths between the rows of tents, Cassia stopped in front of one particular tent. Unlike the others, this tent was covered in pristine white fabric. The Vestal Virgins were already gathered outside. All the citizens gathered around bowed their heads, paying their respects to the Virgins.

The Vestals acknowledged them with slight nods before entering the tent one by one. Cassia hurried around to the back of the tent. The entrance used by the workers was located at the rear. A middle-aged woman tapped her lightly on the arm.

"You're late."

"I'm sorry." Cassia quickly washed her hands with Palmolive. The other women were already busy preparing the ingredients.

"The family in the section next to mine argued all night. I barely got any sleep."

"The old men next to me were awake all night too. They just kept rolling dice all night; it drove me crazy. I never thought I'd actually miss my insula." As always, Cassia and the other women chatted as they prepared the food.

"Still, we should be thankful we even have a place to stay. The entire Subura burned down. If we had to find new homes, we probably would've had to pay double the rent."

"Staying in a tent like this is definitely a hundred times better than sleeping on the streets." Cassia chopped the vegetables another woman had washed and sprinkled a pinch of salt over them.

"What about the pasta?"

"Just finished boiling it. Here you go."

"Thank you." Cassia portioned the vegetables and meat into the bowls. She tried her best to ignore the hunger gnawing at her stomach. Her own breakfast would have to wait a little longer. Every morning, the Vestals came to the Nova Troia camp to volunteer and listen to the grievances of the displaced citizens. Cassia and the other women were responsible for preparing the Vestals' meals. The Vestals always had far more food prepared than they could eat, deliberately leaving the rest for the women to take home.

Thanks to that, Cassia had been able to earn a steady wage and save on food expenses for the past few weeks.

"Cassia, could you take these bowls out?"

"Yes." Cassia carried the bowls toward the center of the tent. The Vestal Virgins were in the middle of their pre-meal prayers. Cassia waited a moment for the prayers to finish before placing the bowls on the table. Just then, one of the Vestals addressed her warmly. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

"Cassia, how is the pamphlet business going these days?"

"Sales are not spectacular, but I am making a decent profit." Cassia answered as she set the bowls down. Mamilla was a young Vestal, even younger than Cassia. But she was also a benefactor who had helped Cassia more than anyone else.

"I could not have started the business at all without funding from the Temple of Vesta. I am always truly grateful to you."

"You lost your parents in that fire, Cassia. Of course we at the Temple of Vesta should help you. If you encounter any difficulties, please let me know." Mamilla said with a warm smile.

"Actually, one of our former Vestals has recently expressed an interest in entering the pamphlet trade. If you're interested, I could introduce you to her."

"I would be incredibly grateful for that." After exchanging a few more words with Mamilla, Cassia excused herself when another worker called her.

"I'll mention you to her, then."

"Thank you, Vestal Mamilla!" Cassia returned to the back of the tent, where the women were preparing the food. The women were already dividing up the leftover food to take home.

"Cassia, you are not taking any pasta, are you? I'll pay you for it."

"No, I'll take it today," she replied as she washed her hands with Palmolive. Of all the food the women took home, pasta was by far the most popular. Even though pasta had become much cheaper recently, it still wasn't something they could eat every day. Because of that, many women chose to sell their pasta to others instead of eating it themselves.

"My brother is quite obsessed with pasta lately."

"It will be hard on you if he develops a taste for expensive food at such a young age. Anyway, here you go."

"Can I come back and pick it up later?"

"Of course. Are you going out to work again today?"

"No one's going to hand me money for just sitting around." After eating a little of her share to take the edge off her hunger, Cassia stepped outside. The sun hadn't even reached the center of the sky yet. She headed toward the empty lot behind the tent. Several handcarts were parked there, including hers. The Temple of Vesta not only provided funding but also rented out carts. Of course, a portion of her proceeds went back to the temple, but the arrangement was essentially an interest-free loan.

Her cart was filled with all sorts of pamphlets. A middle-aged man was waiting beside it.

"You're finally here! I thought I was going to die waiting."

"You barely waited at all. You old liar." Cassia pulled a leather coin pouch from her tunic, and the coins jingled inside.

"How many copies did you bring today?"

"Eighty new copies, all fresh from yesterday's press run." the man said, lowering the pack from his shoulders. He rummaged through it and pulled out a stack of pamphlets.

"You said that last time, but some of the pamphlets were more than ten days old."

"I explained that to you already. It was just an honest mistake." Cassia crossed her arms and glared at the man.

"I can easily find another supplier, you know."

"Alright, alright. I'll give you a special discount this time."

"For the next batch, too."

"Fine. I'll cut the price by a quarter on the next batch as well." the man replied with a sigh. After receiving a few coins from Cassia, he handed over the stack of pamphlets.

"I wish my wife was even half as sharp as you."

"None of this would've happened if you hadn't made a 'mistake'."

"Yeah, yeah. See you tomorrow." After the man left, Cassia untied the string and arranged the new pamphlets on her display. Deciding the order in which to display the pamphlets was a crucial task. The day's sales could vary wildly depending on how they were arranged. She began pushing the cart forward alone. The road was unpaved, but two parallel lines of wooden planks had been laid for construction carts. Cassia aligned her cart's wheels with the planks and pushed.

She stopped every now and then to wipe the sweat from her forehead.

"Do you want some help, Cassia?"

"I'm fine!" When Cassia finally reached her destination, she stopped to catch her breath. She had arrived at a construction site along a central stretch of the Tiber, where work on a new bridge was in full swing. Scores of laborers in tunics were hauling stone blocks toward the river. Not long after she arrived, the lunch break began. The laborers gathered in small groups to eat bread or take naps. That was when the customers began to arrive.

"Give me a copy of the latest issue of Mane(Morning)."

"Here you go." Cassia took coins from the customers and handed over the pamphlets. The pamphlet was just a single sheet of paper folded in half, but it was her best-selling item. [A Morning Collection of the Latest News from Rome and Italy] But the citizens simply called it Mane. As Cassia handed him the pamphlet, she asked, "By the way, what is that tall pillar over there?"

"Oh, they're setting it up to check the water levels. See those markings carved into it?"

"So you use that to see how high the water has risen?"

"Yeah." The laborer nodded.

"We need to keep an eye on it whenever the river begins to rise. It will take ten, perhaps twenty years to complete all the embankments you know."

"That takes a really long time."

"That is incredibly fast, actually." The laborer replied with a chuckle.

"Not when you consider that they are building a new bridge, along with aqueducts, sewers, and floodgates. I cannot even imagine how much all of this will cost."

"Why is Caesar spending so much money building Nova Troia?"

"Who knows. Good for us, though. At least we've got steady work for a long time."

"And I can earn a steady income from all of you too." Several other laborers came over to buy pamphlets as well. Usually, one laborer bought a pamphlet, then passed it around or read the news aloud to the others. So she didn't sell as many pamphlets here as she might elsewhere, but at least she had no competitors here. Once the lunch break ended, she prepared to move her cart again. It was time to move on to another selling spot. That was when it happened.

"Which pamphlets are popular these days?" the young man asked, holding up a fold of his toga with one hand.

"Excuse me?"

"Which pamphlets are popular these days?" The young man asked, holding a fold of his toga in one hand. Cassia found herself staring at him for a moment. His face looked strangely familiar. But there was something else that was far more odd. It was unusual to see a toga-clad man at a dusty construction site. Wealthy men in fine togas usually sent slaves in their place; they rarely visited dusty street stalls in person. Most strikingly, there were no attendant slaves anywhere in sight.

After a moment, Cassia recovered her composure. A toga-clad customer. She knew exactly what to recommend to someone like him.

"We have a serialized edition of Senator Cicero's latest book."

"Serialized edition?"

"Yes, the publisher divided the complete book into several installments. That way, people can read it at a much lower cost." Cassia nodded as she continued her explanation.

"And if you return each installment after reading it, you receive part of your payment back."

"That is a clever way to save money," the young man said with a smile.

"I suppose you could collect all the installments and have them bound into a complete volume."

"If you ask me, I could even have them bound for you. I know a few good bookbinders." Cassia replied with a smile as well. It was rare for Cassia to converse with a man of his apparent status.

"Did you come to watch the embankment construction?"

"That, and a few other things. I was planning to go see the construction of the Trojan Horse as well."

"You mean the one being built with funds donated by the Judeans. I heard they're going to use it for the gridiron match."

"It's a bit funny, isn't it? Using the wooden horse the Greeks used to destroy the Kingdom of Troy for the Nova Troia festival." Their conversation continued. After they had spoken for a while, the young man asked, "So is it your goal to open a bookstore, then?"

"Yes, I want to open my own shop to sell pamphlets and books. I would also hire delivery boys to bring rented books to customers and collect them afterward."

"That is a clever way to conduct the trade." The young man nodded and added,"I believe there would be considerable demand for such a service. It is no surprise that the Temple of Vesta has taken an interest in your work."

"Thank you." Cassia realized that she had become too absorbed in the conversation and cleared her throat. Until then, she had never shared her dreams with anyone but the Vestals. She had always been afraid someone would laugh at her. But this young man had listened with genuine interest.

"More and more citizens will be reading pamphlets and books in the future. If you offer rentals as well as outright sales, you will probably earn even more." the young man said, picking up one of the pamphlets.

"I am impressed that someone has already come up with such an idea."

"Ah, you have to pay before you read it," Cassia hastily pointed out. The young man looked flustered.

"Of course. But I slipped away without telling anyone, and I left my coin purse behind..."

"Just keep it," Cassia said with a warm smile.

"You listened to all my rambling without once looking bored."

"I don't really want to take it for free, though." Just then, a man in a tunic came running up to the stall.

"Young Master!" He gasped for breath as he spoke to the young man.

"You cannot simply disappear without telling anyone! Everyone is waiting for you right now."

"Sorry, Felix. I just wanted to take a quick look around the area." The young man replied cheerfully.

"Perfect timing. I need to buy this pamphlet, but I don't have any money on me. Could you spare some coins?"

"Young Master, really?" The man in the tunic handed Cassia a few coins.

"We may meet again soon at the Temple of Vesta."

"Pardon?"

"If you receive an investment from the Temple of Vesta, that is. My father works near the temple, you see. Then goodbye for now." Cassia stared blankly as the two men walked away. Just then, the young man turned his head and said,"If you do not mind some advice, try focusing on pamphlets covering the grid matches during the festival. They will probably sell very well."

"Oh, yes. I will." Cassia watched the two young men walk away in a daze. She finally realized why he had looked so familiar: she had seen him from a distance on the night the Subura burned.

"Don't tell me..." Later that night, Cassia sat in a daze, watching her brother devour his pasta. Midway through a mouthful, Cassius looked up at her and asked, "Are you okay, Cassia? Did something happen at work today?"

"Yeah." Cassia replied. At the sight of her brother with his cheeks bulging with pasta, Cassia finally burst out laughing.

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you."