Nova Roma

Chapter 6 - In the farm

In front of a beautiful Roman farm, You can see a group of guards descending from their horses, while a group of slaves helped a young woman and a small child to descend from their horse.

"So this is my father’s country house, I have to admit that it has the perfect climate. If only I had a cold beer and roasted beef (Carnita Asada) with banda music to accompany the moment"

Flavio could only shrug his shoulders in a sign of disappointment.

Julia saw her son with a curious look "Although I do not understand what you said and why you suddenly got depressed son, The person approaching is Sadiki the manager of the farm",

A dark-skinned man with a bag at his side approached Julia and Flavio "Masters Welcome we were waiting for you"

Flavio pointed to Sadiki "So you are the one in charge of the farm, first of all, look at my eyes ..."

"Now can you tell me Sadiki what do we cultivate on the farm?"

Sadiki nodded to the words of Flavio and invited him to accompany him as they walked into the farm

"Currently young master, we produce rye and wheat, because there is no winter we can rotate the two crops throughout the year, we also produce a small number of vegetables for family consumption and we have a large cultivation area only for grapes, olives, and apples"

Flavio stopped and asked "How many animals we currently have? "

Sadiki took a papyrus from his bag "We currently have 46 cows, 122 goats, 59 sheep, 75 pigs, 33 horses, 45 donkeys, 20 mules, 158 chickens, and 56 ducks"

Flavio thought for a moment "Very good, take me to the blacksmith of the farm "

Flavio turn around and said to his mother "Mother the situation is something special, I think we will stay for a week, I need you to bring the craftsmen that I ordered and the materials to make paper, there are many things to do and little time, Sadiki please continue to show me the place "

In the courtyard of the farm, you can see a somewhat old blacksmith his name is Benicio and he is an auxiliary veteran of the war against Marco Antonio, after years of traveling through Africa he decided to accompany his general Vitelio to Lusitania to work as his blacksmith.

The payment was good enough that he could not complain, and the most important thing was that he could finally settle down. A year ago he married a beautiful lady, who a few days ago gave him the good news that she was pregnant.

Life could not get any better for Benicio, while he was thinking about his beloved wife he continued hammering on an anvil what appeared to be a horseshoe, occasionally cleaning the sweat caused by the heat of the forge, in one of the cleanings he was able to see Sadiki the trustworthy Egyptian slave of Vitelio who was also the one in charge of the farm, talking comfortably with a small child.

For Benicio, this was not unusual as he immediately guessed that this little boy was the son of his great general but what surprised him more was seeing Julia who was the emperor’s daughter had also come to the farm. She had only come twice to the farm before this.

Benicio was lost in the beauty of Julia, that he did not even notice the little boy approaching him

and when he said "Could you see my eyes please" he immediately regained focus and looked into the eyes of the Little master.

After that Benicio felt that he had to take great care of that child, he can not allow something to happen to him, and most importantly, the fidelity and trust of his little master should never be violated.

Flavius asked Sadiki to give him a papyrus and ink, as they approached a forging table"Very well Benicio you are going to see something that can change the future of the Roman Empire"

Sadiki delivered the papyrus and the ink Flavio received the materials and then saw Sadiki with an angry look "Very prompt Sadiki but how I am going to draw on the papyrus, perhaps maybe with my FINGER!"

Sadiki realized his mistake and took out a calamus (pen for writing in Rome) out of his bag

"Thank you"

Flavio accepted the calamus and began to draw on the papyrus. He made 3 drawings which heavily detailed on the papyrus

"Now Benicio, Listen closely as I will explain how I want you to make it"

Flavio pointed to his first drawing, which is a ring without part in the middle, everyone who was present saw this drawing and see towards Flavio with doubt and disappointment at the same time,

They wondered if that would change the empire, Flavio realized that they were doubting him so he could only drop his shoulders

"I know it does not seem like a great thing but you must remember that sometimes the smallest items can make the biggest changes, just wait and see"

Flavio looked towards Benicio "This hoop I need it to be bronze and it should have a size bigger than a horseshoe, and prepare at least 5"

Flavio pointed to his second drawing this looked like a horseshoe but with a wide joint at the bottom

"This is a stirrup, It consists of 2 items per set and in the bottom of it you must place a piece of wood which can be used as a platform, by the way, I need you to make 6 of these rings, both the stirrups and the hoops must be of steel or bronze, never pure iron as that material loses its durability very fast and the formed rust can damage the animal in the case of the hoop"

Finally, Flavio pointed to his third drawing "This is the most complicated of all, There are 2 pieces the first is an airlock, this small piece is fundamental try to mold as it is drawn in the figure so that no air can escape from it, the second important items are these metal tubes with threads , you can use any material that can be molded into this shape "

When Flavio saw the drawing he remembered

Flavio looked at Benicio "Now I will let you work, I require the hoops before tonight so please hurry."

After that, he looked at Sadiki "I need you to get me the most powerful relaxant there is and some bulls that have age between 6 months and one year, I will also need the strongest slaves we currently have and some red hot nails. All these things I need them today and remember when Benicio finishes the job immediately come and tell me, I will be with my mother enjoying the farm "

Flavio turned around and took his mother’s hand to retire to inside the farm.

In the afternoon Flavio was in the kitchen teaching the maids how to make sweet bread "That’s right now put the cow’s milk in the mixture and add the eggs"

At that time Sadiki entered the kitchen "Young Master what you asked for in the morning is ready "

"Very Well," said Flavio and proceeded to get off the chair that he occupied and washed his hands.

"Sadiki please tell my mother to continue teaching the maids, she will not refuse because she loves sweet bread"

In the courtyard of the forge it was possible to see 4 young bulls lying down and a group of very strong slaves also Benicio with the nose rings and a red-hot nail

Flavio looked at the scene and said "Very well let’s start, I need you to hold the bull as strongly as possible even though it is sedated it will hurt horribly to be penetrated in the nose, with a red-hot nail "

Flavio began to give directions to Benicio who took the red-hot nail with a pair of pliers, approached the bull, and without hesitation pierced in the nose the bull, who despite being sedated gave a terrifying cry of pain.

The slaves exerted strength over it to prevent it from moving, after piercing the bone of the nose placed the ring in it, the same process was done with the other 3 animals.

Flavio looked at the bulls and said "It was necessary, sorry little guys This is just a moment of pain for the sake of humanity"

After that, he talks to Sadiki and said "Let them rest for 2 days, after that I’ll show you why the hoops are required in the nose"

Flavio said goodbye and returned to the farm where he had dinner with his mother and went to sleep, He can feel that tomorrow would be a stressful day ...

Edit by: Chroniclemale