[Mkguild] Roman story part 13

[cokane8116 at aol.com]

A little slice of life in this part. We seem some background info


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    Food was always provided in uncooked form.Usually a sack of flour distributed every week along with several libra(pounds) of meat. The ration was actually several sacks of grain but the restwent to the legion bakers. This was used to make the daily loaves of bread.    The legion kept herds of cattle, sheep andgoats just to supply milk, cheese and of course meat. To supplement these thelegion sent out groups each day to go hunting. Adding whatever they caught tothe evenings meal.    The meat could be sausage, ham. bacon, beef,sheep or goat. At least he HOPED it was goat. He refused to consider the ideaof what else it could be. But it was rarely identified by the Centurion whosupervised its distribution. The Legionnaires half-jokingly called it Mysterymeat. Another common meat was fowl, Usually chicken or duck. And there wasalways fish of several different species. Usually salted to last longer. Somewere so heavily salted they had to be soaked in water for a while to remove theslat and make it palatable. Also there was a good amount of cheese (of severaldifferent types) and whatever vegetables were in season. They would supplementthis with some fresh meat or fish they’d purchased at the market. They also hada small supply of spices to help liven up the flavor.    Every morning, before dawn one the themwould go to the ovens located along the west wall. There they would collecteight loaves of bread. That was the contubernium’s ration of bread for the day.    Breakfast was usually a porridge made ofwheat or grain and some sort of meat in large slices either cooked or smoked. Asmall selection of fresh fruit was also there, most of which Bitt didn’trecognize. And of course there was always a small cup of that black liquid;coffee. Bread fresh from the oven was a welcome food. It tasted good but itwasn’t like the bread from back home.    The midday meal usually included cheese,fruit, some bread (of course), eggs (usually hard boiled) and whatever wasleftover from dinner the night before. Bitt kept it all safe by wrapping it incloth and placed in a large pouch he carried with him.    Dinner, the evening meal was always a bigdeal. There was always meat, always a good amount of it, It was usually grilledbut sometimes pan fried or boiled. With it was whatever vegetables were inseason. Everything had their flavor enhanced by a variety spices. Regardless ofthe recipe used it always included olive oil usually in large amounts. And ofcourse some cheese and a good jug of wine and beer. It was a time to relaxafter a long day and talk and gossip.  ***************     Time passed for the legionnaires, days andnights of patrolling or standing guard duty along the fortress walls. Bittquickly fell into the routine. It was mostly boring guard duty or patrol withtraining and drilling. Still most evenings were their own and there was alwaysthe occasional day off.    Drinking inside the fortressof Gamellae was strictly forbidden. It was limited to off duty and outsidethe fort. The legionnaires in the fortress still found ways to entertainthemselves.    There was always some sort of gambling goingon, usually in a quiet and hidden corner. But there was also boxing, wrestlingand even racing. A favorite game was Harpastum. It was played with a leatherball smaller than Bitt’s head. The field had two lines drawn across it. One oneither end. The object was for the team to get the ball across the line on theopposite side of the field. While keeping their opponents from doing the sameto their side. It was loud, energetic and violent. Lots of pushing, shoving andkicking but no claws or teeth and so relatively little blood spilled but lotsof bruises. But bruises and soreness were part of a Legionnaires lot in life.    And for those preferring a quieter and lessstrenuous form of entertainment there were several board games. Tossiusintroduced Bitt to Senet and Mehen and the two spend long hours rolling diceand moving their game pieces across the board avoiding the various obstacles.    Another favorite was Calculi it was playedon a large, square grid and involved moving pieces about and taking your opponent’spieces. It was popular and easy to carry. Later historians would recognize itas a form of checkers and chess. It was easy to play and portable. All youneeded were the twenty-four pieces. The board could be scratched in the dirt oronto stone using paint or chalk. There was even a grid scratched into the stonefloor just outside the entrance to their rooms. Put there long ago by some nowgone Legionnaire.    Vinius introduced him to a board game calledUr. It had as board with twenty squares arraigned in six rows and three squaresand two rows of one square each. They spent many an evening racing their tokensaround the board while sipping beer or date palm wine.    The city of Jerah had countless taverns,brothels and gambling halls all vying for the Legionnaires coins. But there wasmore to life than just drinking, gambling and whoring.    It also had more civilized entertainment.    The theater in the city was large and wellattended. The owners made sure to stage large and elaborate productions of allthe popular plays and dramas.    Bitt had never liked the theater. Hisparents used to take him weekly to see some play, drama or tragedy. But as akit he found them boring and after attending a playing of Orya by Epicharmus, herealized that they were STILL boring. The play was supposed to be a comedy buthe found very little funny in it.    It also had less civilized entertainment. Itoccurred in a place that the fox avoided. The structure itself didn’t botherBitt neither did the location. The location was on the edge of the city alongone of the main roads. It was large and built of fine quality stone transporteda long way. What upset Bitt was not the amphitheater but what happened there.Gladiator games. People, usually slaves or prisoners of war were dressed up inexotic costumes and fought each other or some poor feral. Usually to the death.    Bitts people; the Gaelach were not squeamishwhen it came to combat. Duels were common but rarely to the death and never forentertainment. Fighting was a serious thing to his people. Not something for acheap spectacle where good people die to entertain a drunken mob. On a morepersonal note too many of his ancestors had died in such a place for him toenjoy it. The introduction of Christianity into the empire had seen a reductionin such games but not it’s elimination. Too many early Christians had died insuch arenas for them to want anything but its elimination.    A place Bitt did enjoy was the hippodrome.And it seems he wasn’t the only one. The grandstands of the racetrack werealways filled with people. People, cheering, cursing, drinking and of coursegambling.    Horse racing was the most common event andthere were a dozen races every day. Another popular one but with a lot higher casualtyrate was chariot racing. A chariot race involved one, two, three or even fourferal horses pulling a (Very) flimsy looking chariot that seemed to be made mostlyof leather and hide. Bitt wouldn’t want to ride in one of them even if it wasat a walking pace. Racing at a full gallop looked to be suicide. Certainlyevery race had it’s share of accidents and injuries and were always exciting.    Bitt made sure to arrive early to get a goodseat down close to the rail. He usually brought a small jug of date palm wineand some fresh fruit. In the plaza that fronted the hippodrome there werealways various furs selling all sorts of trinkets, drinks and food. Bittusually bought something that he never did learn the proper name for. It wassmall slices of meat covered with dough and fried. He would usually stay theywhole day.    There were four teams that raced regularly.They had official names but mostly they were known by the colors they wore.Red, Blue, Green, Yellow. Each team had a favorite champion who was a feted andhonored celebrity. Bitt himself had no real favorite team but he did root forthe Greens. Their champion was a sandy colored fox called Marek the Undefeated.    The legion kept him busy and he didn’t haveso many free days to spend that way but he enjoyed them.  **********************
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