cheek and hurried away. I called after her that I felt in no way bound to her as she had forced her kisses on me, but Claudia had vanished into the night. The wind carried the groans of the sick from the island, the water swirled ominously and I hurried home as quickly as I could. Barbus had searched for me at the library and the forum in vain and was furious with me, but he had not dared tell Aunt Laelia that I had disappeared. Fortunately my father was late as usual. The following day I asked Aunt Laelia in a roundabout way about Claudia. I told her I had met Claudia Plautia at the library and given her a quill. Aunt Laelia was appalled. �Don�t you ever get mixed up with that shameless girl,� she said. �Better to run away if you see her again. Emperor Claudius has many times regretted not drowning her, but at the time he didn�t yet dare do such things. The girl�s mother was a big fierce
76
Woman. Claudius was afraid of the consequences if he had got rid of the girl. To annoy Claudius, Emperor Caius would always call Claudia his cousin and I think he dragged her into his immoral life too. Poor Gaius even slept with his own sisters because he thought he was a god. Claudia isn�t received in any of the respectable houses. Anyhow, her mother was killed by a famous gladiator And he wasn�t even prosecuted because he could prove that he Was only defending his virtue. Urgulanilla became more and more violent in her love affairs as the years went by.� I soon forgot Claudia, for my father took me with him to Caere and we stayed there for a month in the winter while he saw to his property. The huge burial mounds of former Etruscan kings and nobles in their countless numbers on each side of the sacred road made a deep impression on me. When the Romans had capture Caere hundreds of years before, they had plundered the old tombs, but there were some large, more recent mounds untouched beside the road. I began to feel respect for my own ancestors. Despite everything my father had told me, I had not imagined that the Etruscans had been such a great people. From Emperor Claudius� book one could not imagine the melancholy exaltation of these royal tombs. One has to see them with one�s own eyes. �The inhabitants of this now poverty-stricken city avoided going to the burial ground at night and maintained that it was haunted. lint in the daytime, travelers walked here to look at the ancient mounds and relief carvings in the plundered tombs. My father took the opportunity to make a collection of old bronze miniatures and holy black clay bowls which the local people found when plowing and digging wells. Collectors had of course already taken away the best bronzes in the time of Augustus, when it was fashionable to collect Etruscan objects. Most of the statuettes had been broken off from the lids of the urns. I was not interested in farming. Bored, I accompanied my father while he inspected the fields, the olive groves and the vineyards. The poets usually praise the simple life of the country, but I myself felt no more longing to settle there than they had. Around one could hunt only foxes, hares and birds, and I was not very enthusiastic about this kind of hunting which required nothing but traps, snares and lime twigs, and no courage.
77
From my father�s attitude to his slaves and freedmen who looked after his property, I realized that farming is an expensive pleasure for a city man arid that it costs more than it brings in. Only huge estates worked with slave labor can possibly pay, but my father was reluctant to farm in this way. �I�d rather my subordinates lived happily and had healthy children,� he said. �I�m glad they can be a little better off at my expense. It�s good to know one has a place one can retreat to if one�s fortunes go awry.� I noticed that the farmers were never satisfied and always complaining, Either it rained too much or it was too dry or the insects destroyed the vines or the
76
Woman. Claudius was afraid of the consequences if he had got rid of the girl. To annoy Claudius, Emperor Caius would always call Claudia his cousin and I think he dragged her into his immoral life too. Poor Gaius even slept with his own sisters because he thought he was a god. Claudia isn�t received in any of the respectable houses. Anyhow, her mother was killed by a famous gladiator And he wasn�t even prosecuted because he could prove that he Was only defending his virtue. Urgulanilla became more and more violent in her love affairs as the years went by.� I soon forgot Claudia, for my father took me with him to Caere and we stayed there for a month in the winter while he saw to his property. The huge burial mounds of former Etruscan kings and nobles in their countless numbers on each side of the sacred road made a deep impression on me. When the Romans had capture Caere hundreds of years before, they had plundered the old tombs, but there were some large, more recent mounds untouched beside the road. I began to feel respect for my own ancestors. Despite everything my father had told me, I had not imagined that the Etruscans had been such a great people. From Emperor Claudius� book one could not imagine the melancholy exaltation of these royal tombs. One has to see them with one�s own eyes. �The inhabitants of this now poverty-stricken city avoided going to the burial ground at night and maintained that it was haunted. lint in the daytime, travelers walked here to look at the ancient mounds and relief carvings in the plundered tombs. My father took the opportunity to make a collection of old bronze miniatures and holy black clay bowls which the local people found when plowing and digging wells. Collectors had of course already taken away the best bronzes in the time of Augustus, when it was fashionable to collect Etruscan objects. Most of the statuettes had been broken off from the lids of the urns. I was not interested in farming. Bored, I accompanied my father while he inspected the fields, the olive groves and the vineyards. The poets usually praise the simple life of the country, but I myself felt no more longing to settle there than they had. Around one could hunt only foxes, hares and birds, and I was not very enthusiastic about this kind of hunting which required nothing but traps, snares and lime twigs, and no courage.
77
From my father�s attitude to his slaves and freedmen who looked after his property, I realized that farming is an expensive pleasure for a city man arid that it costs more than it brings in. Only huge estates worked with slave labor can possibly pay, but my father was reluctant to farm in this way. �I�d rather my subordinates lived happily and had healthy children,� he said. �I�m glad they can be a little better off at my expense. It�s good to know one has a place one can retreat to if one�s fortunes go awry.� I noticed that the farmers were never satisfied and always complaining, Either it rained too much or it was too dry or the insects destroyed the vines or the
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