Eventually, the meal was over and Attica was totally replete. I gave a sign to my two women to retire as I wanted to hear Attica's story and how she had survived Pompeii. We filled our glasses again and she began.

“The day you left Pompeii with Gaius Julius, you invited me to accompany you and foolishly I refused. There were several more big earthquakes that night and I was in bed staring at the ceiling and willing it not to fall on me. Just as dawn broke there was another big quake and I decided that was it, I was going to leave. I crept out of the house and ran down to the quayside to join you, but your ship had already left. I decided to take the road north to Neapolis and hope to find someone who would let me ride in a cart as after a couple of hours I was getting footsore. Most of the carts passed me and did not stop, but finally, a horse-drawn wagon pulled up and the driver, whose name was Justus, asked where I was bound.

“'I'm fearful to stay in Pompeii,' I said. 'The ground shakes so much and I am afraid the house will collapse.' He said he was going to Rome with some goods belonging to his master who had a holiday villa in Pompeii and helped me up to sit beside him as he directed the horses. We traveled quite quickly, which in retrospect was just as well. As we passed by Herculaneum, I happened to look at Vesuvius and saw that some smoke was rising from the peak of the mountain. I pointed this out to Justus and his face grew pale.

“'I don't like the look of that,' he said and spurred the horses on towards Neapolis. It was about one hour past noon just as we reached the town, that we heard the explosion and looked behind us to see the great column of smoke and flames rising from the mountain. Thank the gods the wind was blowing south or the ash might have fallen on us. The eruption continued for two days and everyone knows the results of it. I was afraid that Justus might want to turn back to help with the rescue party, but thankfully he decided to carry on to Rome to preserve his master's goods and also tell him what had happened and the possible fate of his house.

“We stayed overnight in a hostelry and since I had no money, I offered myself to Justus as payment for taking me, but to my surprise, after I explained what I was, he declined my offer, saying he preferred women. 'However, my master Claudius loves pretty boys and he might be very interested in you,' he said. 'I will make sure you are introduced to him when we arrive in Rome.'

“We arrived at his master's grand villa two days later in the most select area of Rome. Justus took me into the servants' quarters where I helped him unload the goods in the wagon. As we were doing so, Claudius, his master, suddenly appeared. Justus bowed low and told him about the eruption of Vesuvius and the possible destruction of Pompeii news of which had not yet arrived in Rome. Claudius frowned and then he noticed me and asked who I was.

“'This is Attica, my lord. She was on the road fleeing the eruption when I rescued her.' This was not quite true, but sounded more dramatic than the truth and I didn't contradict him.

“'I see,' said Claudius and beckoned Justus closer to him and said something quietly in his ear. After Justus's reply, Claudius looked at me wth renewed interest and spoke quietly to Justus again before leaving.

“'His lordship wishes you to visit him in his room tonight at an hour before the middle of the night. I will show you where it is,' he said. 'He likes pretty boys more than he likes girls.'

“That evening I had a bath and prepared myself, donning a new stola. Justus came for me at the appointed time and led me to a room and knocked on the door. A voice called 'Enter' and I opened the door and went inside. The room was dimly lit with one small lamp but I could make out that Claudius was lying naked on a bed.

“'Come closer,' he ordered, so I did as he asked, and his gaze swept me from head to toe.

“'Why don't you disrobe?' he said, so I did as he asked, and when I was naked too, he told me to come and join him on the bed. I don't have to describe what happened I'm sure. He was a very good lover, well endowed and with plenty of energy and stamina, even though he must have been about forty. He finally dismissed me about the third hour in the morning saying that he had to attend the Senate in the morning. After I had put on my stola again, to my great surprise, he said. 'Show Attica to her room.' and a very tall attendant appeared from the corner of the room. I had no idea that he had been there all the time, and I blushed, thinking about all the things he must have seen. I supposed that Claudius had him there as a bodyguard. Obviously his presence had not reduced Claudius's libido any more than if the attendant had been a piece of furniture.

“I was called to Claudius's room again the next night, and even though I guessed that the attendant was again watching, I could not see him, and I thought that Claudius would be displeased if I seemed less enthusiastic about our coupling, so I threw myself wholeheartedly into pleasing him.

“It seemed I became his favourite, although I had no doubt that I was not his only lover. Through Justus, he rented an 'insula' (flat or apartment) for me to live in. Some of these are not well built, but Justus made sure that I was in a modern building. I was given a generous allowance and all I had to do was make sure I was there whenever Claudius chose to visit me, which happened about twice or three times a week. He was obviously sure of me by now because his bodyguard waited outside while he took his pleasure. I can't deny that it was a great pleasure for me too.

“I bought some new stolae with the money I received and food from local vendors as nobody ever cooked in the insulae. Claudius also gave me some generous gifts I think he liked me because I'm intelligent, and after our coupling, we often lay on the bed together and discussed numerous topics. I wasn't jealous of his other lovers. This had been the undoing of his previous favourite according to Justus. Claudius had grown tired of his constant complaints and one day he disappeared from his insula. The rumour was that he had ended up as a galley slave and perhaps he was lucky as Claudius could easily have arranged for a more permanent solution to his problem.

“This arrangement went on for many years. I admit it was a bit boring at times as I had to be onhand any time Claudius wanted to visit me and that was sometimes at short notice, but I was well paid and what else should I do? I had seen the beggars in Rome, so now you are wondering how I came to be begging in the gutter with them and I will tell you. “One day about six months ago, I was with Claudius and we were in the throes of passion. We were facing each other as he pounded me when suddenly I saw a strange look come over his face. He made a sort of grunting noise and fell forward on my body. His head hit mine and I was temporarily knocked out. When I regained my senses I realised Claudius was still lying on me and he wasn't breathing. I managed to push him to one side so that I could get off the bed. There was no doubt about it, he was dead. I didn't know what to do, so I hurriedly dressed, but what was I to do about his bodyguard standing outside the door? Finally, I grabbed a gold aureus coin and slipped out of the door. The bodyguard was surprised to see me, and more so when I told him that Claudius was sleeping and not to be diturbed but had sent me back to his villa for a toga. As I handed him the aureus I 'accidentally' dropped it, and when he went to pick it up, I quickly locked the door of the insula in case he disobeyed orders and checked inside.

“Then I ran to the villa where I luckily found Justus and told him what had happened. He listened without comment and then said I must give him the key to the insula and he would arrange for Claudius's body to be brought back to the villa and put to bed where it would seem he had died in the night. I was so grateful to him. He gave me a denarius since I had left so hurriedly, I had brought no other money with me and told me to spend the night in a hostelry before going back to my insula.

“The following morning I went back to the block of insulae and asked the porter for my key. I was shocked when he said I didn't live there anymore.

“'Titus, you know that's not true,' I said. 'I've lived here for years.'

“I couldn't make him budge, so eventually I said 'At least let me in so that I can gather my belongings.'

“He looked at me strangely and took me to my insula. When he opened the door it was completely empty; everything had gone. I confess I started to cry. 'How could you let them do this, Titus?' I cried. He just stood there and said he didn't know what I was talking about. Now I realise they had bought his silence and the bodyguard's, using my money..

“I went back to the villa which you can imagine was in an uproar since Claudius's body had just been discovered. I found Justus and he wasn't pleased to see me.

“'What are you doing here? You need to disappear,' he said.

“'The men you sent to collect Claudius stole everything I had,' I cried, close to tears.

“'Too bad,' he responded. 'I had to make sure nobody talked. At least you've got your life. You might have been crucified if they thought you killed Claudius, and believe me you wouldn't want to die that way.'

“I was shocked. 'But I'm a citizen of Rome,' I protested. 'They don't crucify citizens.'

“'But can you prove it?' was his rejoiner and I knew he had me there; I had lost my birth certificate when I fled from Pompeii. I burst into tears.

“'Justus, I thought you were my friend,' I cried, and he smiled grimly.

“'I was never your friend. I saved your life at Pompeii and now I'm saving it again, just go and never be seen here again.'

“'But where will I go, what will I do?' I cried. ' I only have the clothes I'm wearing and all my money and goods, everything else is gone.'

“I think he had a touch of kindness or maybe it was guilt, because when I turned away sobbing, he called after me 'Here', and threw a golden aureus at me. I had to go down on my hands and knees to find it. It was probably one of the ones stolen from my insula. I took it and left the villa for the last time.

“It didn't last me very long. I enquired about work in several brothels but they all said I was too old. Eventually, I was reduced to begging in the street and that's where you found me.”

I felt greatly saddened at Attica's story. How easy it is to lose everything.

Now he smiled. “At least I have had a bath, new clothes, and a good meal, so all is not lost.” He stood up. “Thank you my good friend, now I must not impose further on your hospitality.”

As he knew I would, I immediately said: “At least stay for one night, Attica and we will discuss your future tomorrow. I am sure that with your talents, you will make your fortune again.”

“Very well, my good friend, if you insist,” he replied. One of the servants showed him to a guest room. I went to bed and since I had drunk rather more wine than usual, I fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning, I was woken by Flavia. “Your ladyship, your friend has gone!” she cried

“What?” I said, immediately sitting up in bed.

“We have searched everywhere and then we asked Quintus and he told us that she had left at dawn.”

I quickly dressed and summoned Quintus to find out what had happened.

“My lady, your friend came to my room as dawn was breaking and said you knew she was leaving early, so please to open a door for her. I hope I didn't do wrong, your ladyship?”

“No, Quintus, you did the right thing. I didn't think she would leave quite so early,” I replied.
After he left my room, I had a sudden thought and walked into the dining room which contained the cupboard where I kept my money chest. I opened it and there was still a number of aureii in the chest, but there was also a wax tablet with a message as follows:

'Dear friend, I have taken the liberty of borrowing 20 aurei which I will return with interest as soon as I can. Thank you for your hospitality, and for restoring my self-belief. May the gods go with you and me. A'

I couldn't help smiling. If Attica has asked for the twenty aurei as a gift I would have gladly given them, but perhaps it was beneath her dignity to ask for them. I wouldn't search for her as it was obvious that she would leave Rome, so in my heart I wished her well. I couldn't help wondering just how much of the story she had told me the previous night was true. I knew she had a vivid imagination and while I could believe that Claudius had taken her as a lover when she first arrived in Rome as she was very pretty, it seemed unlikely that their intimate relationship would last so many years. Perhaps he had kept her employed as a procuress to provide him with a succession of pretty boys to slake his lust, who knows? Perhaps they did still have occasional intimate moments, I really could not say.

There was a follow-up to Attica's visit; about five years later, upon arriving home with my two women from a shopping trip, I was met at the door by Quintus, who bowed low and said: “Your ladyship, a woman arrived today and asked to speak with you. When I said you were not available, she left me with this.” He produced a small box wrapped in silk.

I took it to my room and unwrapped the silk, which proved to be a beautiful scarf. The wooden box which was revealed was made of cedar and on the beautifully carved lid was a bas relief of two standing women in a friendly embrace. I opened it knowing what I would find and tipped the contents onto my bed. I counted the aurei, there were twenty-two There was a small parchment scroll too which I unrolled and read as follows:

'Dear Calpurnia,
As promised here are your 20 aurei with interest. Thank you for your kindness to me throughout my life. I now live far from Rome and I'm very settled and happy. May the gods go with you always.
Attica.'

I sought out Quintus and asked him about the woman who had delivered the box: “How did she look and was she alone?” I asked.

“She was well dressed, my lady and accompanied by a young man dressed in a toga. I felt that I had seen her before but I'm not sure where.”

“Thank you, Quintus,” I said. Obviously Attica had managed to restore her fortune. Who the young man was I had no idea and would never know. She was happy and financially secure, and that was the main thing.

I have recently been thinking about the disposal of my fortune when I finally cross the River Styx. In my will I have ordered that I be buried with the box containing Julius's ashes clasped to my breast. Thus we will be together forever. I have commissioned a small marble statue of a woman holding a bunch of grapes to put on my grave, and a plaque which says:

Having no living relatives, I will leave a modest bequest to all the staff of my house. The remainder of my fortune I intend to be used to set up a kitchen to feed the poor and beggars of Rome. I hope that before the money is exhausted, that some wealthy Romans will provide the money to keep the kitchen open. That is my legacy.

Epilogue

Although there was space at the end of the parchment, this is where Calpurnia's writing stops. Perhaps there was nothing more that she felt was necessary to record, or perhaps she was ill and died shortly after writing the scroll, there is no way of knowing. I have tried to locate her grave, but with the passing of nearly two thousand years, that has proved impossible. I wonder if the statue she commissioned for her grave still exists, perhaps in a museum somewhere in Italy, or in a rich man's home. My investigations in Sardinia did reveal in an ancient history of the island, a reference to a woman winemaker about the time when Calpurnia was there, but unfortunately, no name was given. Nevertheless, it would have been extremely rare for a woman to make wine, so I like to think that Calpurnia's contribution to the wine history of the island did not go unnoticed.

H Postlethwaite.