Pilate's Wife: A Novel of the Roman Empire Read Online Free Page B

Pilate's Wife: A Novel of the Roman Empire
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harsh, mountainous country began. Even in late July, long fingers of snow streaked the towering peaks. Often enveloped in the thick mist of clouds, we could only inch our way along the rim of savage gorges. Once a cart skidded on an ice patch and careened off the narrow road, dragging its braying, terrified mules into the abyss. The cries of the plummeting passengers, German prisoners, echoed for hours in my ears.
    That night we made camp beside a temple to Jove. "How can you bear it here?" I asked the priest who stood at the entrance. "This is the end of the world."
    "But near our god," he replied solemnly. "Listen, you can hear his thunderbolts." A jagged flash rent the sky as the earth trembled. I hastily slipped a coin into his coffer and hurried inside. Kneeling before the altar, I heard the clink of many coins and never doubted that everyone in our party gave something. I prayed that Jove was watching, keeping track of our pious prayers and homage.
    As we began our careful descent from the Alps I noticed changes, subtle at first but soon pronounced. The ice and snow were finally gone. Shades of red and amber carpeted the valley below. The sun was bolder, shadows sharper. Marcella and I exchanged glances, sensing laughter and gaiety in the golden light. Mother flung her arms about us. "Yes, darlings. This is Italy. We are almost home!"

     

    R OME WAS A CHALLENGE, A PROVOCATION, DARING EVERYTHING , promising more. Narrow streets reeked with a smell all their own, a heady mix of perfume and garlic, spices, sweat, and incense. They teemed with ballad singers and beggars, scribes and storytellers. I saw vendors everywhere, heard them cry their wares in singsong. Porters, bearing staggering loads on their backs, swore profusely at whoever impeded their progress. Almost all traffic was on foot, for chariots were rarely allowed inside the city gates. Those who could afford it were carried in curtained litters with slaves running ahead to clear the way.
    Even at twelve I saw these people, arrogant with power, as a different breed. How could they be otherwise? Stinking, dirty, brawling, brilliant Rome was--as Mother had said--the center of the world, and any man or woman less for living outside it. Now I understood her dissatisfaction with Gaul--with any place else--for I, too, was hopelessly besotted.
    Tears of pride stung my eyes, for we entered this glorious capital as heroes, its haughty residents paying tribute to us. It was my uncle, my beloved father, and all the men who had served under them who were being honored. Beginning some twenty miles from the city, Romans lined the roads, often five deep, cheering and flinging flowers. I felt as though the entire population had come to greet us. A gigantic arch erected near the Temple of Saturn proclaimed the glory of Germanicus. The throngs went wild as our triumphal procession passed beneath it.
    Germanicus and Father had planned our entry well. First came runners bearing laurel branches, a reminder of many victories. Floats followed, more than a hundred, heaped with spoils from German temples, some piled high with enemy shields and weapons. Others carried flamboyant tableaux of battles or depicted the spirit of Rome subduing German river gods. One bore a captured princess and her child, collars about their necks. Behind them an endless train of manacled prisoners plodded.
    My family rode in a lavish chariot flanked by outriders. Father's parade armor glittered in the sun. Mother eyed him proudly. Her personal triumph was that neither Marcella nor I wore Agrippina's cast-offs. This was my first grown-up gown. The sleeveless tunica, a chiton of pale lavender, fell in silken folds from shoulder to ankles. A silver ribbon drew the bodice of a violet stola together just under my breasts; I held my breath as much as possible to make them appear larger. Still a child then, despite my new dignity, I shared the triumph with Hecate, holding the kitten up from time to time so that she

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