Pisarchus a shipping magnate who may be sunk
Philomelus his son, a drudge with a dream
Stock Characters
Domitian a Young Prince (a hater)
Aristagoras an Old Man (a lover?)
An old woman a Witness
Perella a Dancer
ROME: MID JULY-12 AUGUST, AD74
`A book may be defined… as a written (or printed) message of considerable length, meant for public circulation and recorded on materials that are light yet durable enough to afford comparatively easy portability.'
[The creditor] examines your family affairs; he meddles with your transacations. If you go forth from your chamber, he drags you along with him and carries you of, if you hide yourself inside he stands before your house and knocks at the door.
If [the debtor] sleeps, he sees the moneylender standing at his head, an evil dream… If a friend knocks at the door he hides under the couch. Does the dog bark? He breaks out in a sweat. The interest due increases like a hare, a wild animal which the ancients believed could not stop reproducing even while it was nourishing the offspring already produced.'
I
POETRY SHOULD have been safe.
`Take your writing tablets up to our new house,' suggested Helena Justina, my elegant partner in life. I was struggling against shock and physical exhaustion, acquired during a dramatic underground rescue. Publicly, the vigiles took the credit, but I was the mad volunteer who had been lowered head first down a shaft on ropes. It had made me a hero for about a day, and I was mentioned by name (misspelled) in the Daily Gazette. `Just sit and relax in the garden,' soothed Helena, after I had rampaged about our tiny Roman apartment for several weeks. `You can supervise the bathhouse contractors.'