7: Walk to the Bactrian camp
Eighth hour (13:41)
Tita kept pace with Elena as they walked more quickly towards a large intersection with an arch on the north side. Tita recognized the place because she and the Bactrian dancers had passed through it when they first entered into Pompeii that morning. Tita was amazed at how empty the intersection was now. When she had seen it in the morning, the intersection was full of traffic. Tita noted the street they had just walked on had also been quite empty and the town had been eerily quiet. She asked Elena if Pompeiians did a siesta. Elena confirmed that people in warmer climates tended to do siestas.
Tita told Elena she had noted this custom in previous towns during her journey with the Bactrian dancers, starting with their night in Sinuessa. She had first heard the word siesta there, but did not quite understand what it was. In Neapolis, when she and the dancers spent the whole day in town, then Tita understood siesta meant to take an afternoon nap. Elena nodded, saying it was a traditional way to get through the high heat of the early afternoon, especially for people living in hot desert climates further south. Elena added they would stay dressed to get through the forum baths quickly. She did not expect to find the Bactrians there and did not want to spend time undressing and dressing.
The forum baths were full, and Tita was reminded of the much larger bath complex of Nero she had seen in Rome, in the company of the Bactrian women. She had never seen so many naked women before, and she remembered feeling delightfully excited, but also very hot and humid. She laughed at the memory of how the dancers had surrounded her, hiding her spotted white skin from view. She felt wonderful to be so well protected, and excited to have them so close to her, all of them naked with their darker skin, hair and faces made moist by the humidity in the baths. Somehow Tita thought of licking vaginas and she immediately felt fired up as she saw the other naked women in this bath. She blushed deeply, relieved that her shawl covered her face.
Elena briefly stopped and waved to a woman who was waving at her. Elena commented to Tita that the woman was one of her patrons. Tita noticed the woman was older, but very beautiful, with blue eyes, auburn hair and skin almost as dark as Elena’s skin. Elena noted her name was Aurora, and she was a former Greek patron of Aurelia, but now she liked to spend time with Elena.
Tita asked if Elena had many patrons. Elena replied that she only had a few, since most of her time was spent teaching the girls and helping Aurelia manage the business. Elena explained that when she had arrived the previous year, Aurelia only had twenty girls. But since Elena’s arrival and the reopening of the arena, their business had accelerated significantly. Tita was astonished that Aurelia had more than doubled her workforce in only one year. Elena replied that Pompeii was a wealthy area, and such dramatic changes could easily happen in a wealthy area.
The baths were crowded with women trying to stay cool from the hot day. Tita followed Elena around the various rooms, but Tita did not see any of the Bactrian dancers. They briefly paused in the frigidarium, along with a few other women, to cool down.
Elena guided Tita out of the forum baths and to the right towards the forum. The large forum was virtually empty. There were only a few people walking about or chatting under the arcades. Elena and Tita took advantage of the shade provided by the western arcade. Tita sighed with relief to be out of the strong bright sun for a few moments. As they walked toward the southern end of the forum, Tita saw some of the merchants she had seen earlier that day, tending to their goods or sleeping in the shade of the arcades.
Tita recognized the road the Bactrians had taken to get to Porta Marina. Tita commented that the Venus temple complex was still being repaired. Elena noted that the city was taking its time rebuilding the original temple of Venus, which had been damaged during the ’62 earthquake. Tita said she liked the little temple they had built in the complex, adding that the view from the temple terrace was wonderful. Elena agreed.
They both turned eastward and crossed the forum towards the decumanus. Tita reflected how curious it was that she was taking the same route she had taken two hours earlier to leave the Bactrians. Now she was taking the same route without her satchels and burdens. Tita smiled and felt lighter in her steps. She imagined Zina and Zine would be overjoyed to see her again.
Tita felt the hot sun on her head and back. It was oppressive. Tita noticed Elena did not seem bothered at all by the heat or the sun. She asked if Elena had always lived in warmer climates, and Elena nodded, complimenting Tita on her powers of observation, but then fell silent quickly. Tita noticed Elena was thinking deeply as they walked briskly along. Tita decided not to disturb her thoughts.
Tita and Elena proceeded east along the decumanus, which was eerily empty of heavy traffic. Only a few pedestrians and carts were moving along the street. Tita saw and smelled some horse manure in the street that had been left behind. The smell reminded her of Claudia’s farm in Gergovia. As they distanced themselves from the manure, Tita could smell Elena’s earthy citrus scent again. She noted Elena’s scent was stronger out in the sun.
But Tita also noted she was getting used to Elena’s scent. It excited her, but not as strongly as before. Tita could not describe the earthy scent that was mixed with the citrus perfume that Elena used. The only thing that repeatedly came to mind was clay mud mixed with lemons and oranges.
Tita wondered what kind of sensuality exercises they might do and how Elena’s vagina might be. Aware that she was blushing deeply while her heart was beating strongly, Tita pushed the erotic thoughts away as forcefully as she could. She tried focusing on more neutral things, like the bricks of the walls, and the hot stones of the streets.
Tita realized that before seeing the Bactrians in Pisae, she rarely had such erotic thoughts. She was very grateful that the Bactrian dancers, Zina and Zine in particular, had opened her mind to this universe of bodily pleasure. Claudia had often spoke about how good bodily pleasure felt, but Tita did not realize how powerful it was. Now that the dancers had given her a taste of this realm, she found her appetite was almost insatiable.
Trust your body. Tita recalled Elena’s most important lesson. She noted that she owed the Bactrians a lot. She hoped to make it up to them in some way, Zina and Zine especially. Perhaps she could have Claudia buy a gift for them and she could repay Claudia over time.
As they approached the cardo, Elena had Tita cross the decumanus and they entered a side street on the north side of the decumanus and proceeded north. At the first entrance on the right, Elena guided Tita into an entry way, noting these were the Stabian baths.
Tita saw a man recognize Elena and they greeted each other. Elena explained they were looking for a group of women and wanted to check the palestra. The man explained he had not seen any group, but allowed Elena to go in. They walked into the very large courtyard of the palestra, but there were only a few men wrestling.
Elena guided Tita back out, saluting the man at the entrance, who suggested that they try the women’s area, which Elena noted they would try next. They went north to the next entrance and entered a long corridor and then arrived at a room with benches and a lady who kept guard on the lockers being used by the bathers. Elena asked Tita how the Bactrians were dressed and Tita explained they wore dark reddish brown tunics.
The lady had seen a large group of women dressed that way but they did not stay for long. She believed they had left an hour ago or so. Elena then took Tita through the rooms of the baths for women. Tita noticed the rooms were only slightly larger than the forum baths, and equally crowded. But the Bactrian dancers were not there.
Tita and Elena exited the Stabian baths through a different entrance onto the cardo. They then walked south to the intersection with the decumanus. They crossed the decumanus and proceeded south towards Porta Stabia, walking on the west side of the road to stay in the shade afforded by the buildings. Tita kept pace with Elena’s flowing movements.
They walked quietly together, Elena still thinking as she kept Tita’s arm in hers. Tita liked Elena’s quiet stillness, noting how Elena differed from Claudia’s bubbly spirit. Tita smiled at how she sometimes felt like a slow mule to the galloping free-spirited horse that Claudia was. Tita intuited that Claudia’s steady patrons had probably welcomed Claudia again because they missed Claudia’s energy and sense of fun. Claudia had a way of always finding the positive. Claudia had often told Tita that even if the client was boorish or unpleasant, one could ignore the client and focus on enjoying one’s body for oneself.
Tita noted that Elena also had the same tendency to find the positive in everything, big or small. But while Claudia was naturally positive, Tita guessed that Elena had worked at cultivating such an attitude. Tita imagined that Elena rarely complained or spoke ill of others. Tita noticed that Zina and Zine and a few other of the Bactrian dancers were similarly focused on the positive rather than the negative. Tita hoped she would be able to develop this trait in herself.
She intuited that such positivity had to start with herself, with learning to like herself and her body and skin. You cannot love without your body, Elena had said. Tita understood that Elena meant that Tita had to love her body and skin, exactly as it was.
As they approached the gate, Elena saluted the guards, who apparently knew her by sight. They went through the gate, exiting the city walls, and Tita was surprised to see the amount of people in the area. The same area had been less crowded that morning when Tita was with the Bactrian dancers. Now it seemed like all of Pompeii had decided to come out of the gate and enjoy the riverside walk and the Sarnus river.
People were swimming, washing and playing in the river which was roughly thirty passus away from the road they were on. To the west was the cluster of buildings that constituted the commercial port. Beyond the port was a marshy, sandy point bar crowded with many families and children wading and splashing in the water and playing in the sand. Tita envied how the children played freely in the water without a care for how they looked or what people might think of them.
Tita saw there were people walking on the wooden bridge that arched over the Sarnus river to get to the south banks of the river. Elena noted the bridge and road led to the town of Stabia, just under three and half mille passus south of Pompeii. Tita saw people wading and swimming on the south bank, enjoying a large copse of trees opposite the sandy point bar.
Mostly, people were promenading along the tree shaded road to their east, which flanked the river for a good distance. Between the shade provided by the large trees and the cool breeze wafting from the river, Tita felt this spot was significantly cooler than the city streets. She sighed with relief, and breathed in the cooler air with delight.
Tita reflected on how many river towns she had seen during her journey from Gergovia. Most of the important towns had rivers with busy river traffic. She loved the idea of being able to refresh herself along the river banks, an opportunity she did not have in Gergovia, where the nearest river was a few hours of walking.
Tita was also surprised by the number of boats in the river, either sailing down towards the bay or paddling upstream. There were many more boats than there had been that morning. Many of the sailors in the boats were loudly talking, singing or shouting lewd comments at women swimming in the water. Tita delighted in the entertaining ruckus. She reflected how idyllic the scene was in comparison to the congested river traffic in Rome. The Tiber river in Rome had seemed like hundreds of Massalia ports all crowded next to each other. She had never seen so many boats in her life.
Elena stopped to take a sip of water from her pouch and let the breeze cool her face and arms. Tita followed Elena’s example, enjoying the orange water even though it was warm. After a few moments of cooling off, they continued east on the road. Elena noted that it was unlikely the Bactrians had gone to the port tavern again. Tita agreed.
After roughly three actus, the stone paving stopped and the road became a dirt trail. Tita saw the trail continued under the trees that flanked the city walls, staying under the shade. Tita imagined Pompeiians had created the trail over years of afternoon promenades along the river. Tita remarked that the dancers would have definitely taken advantage of this location since it was cooler and the river provided water. Elena nodded silently.
As they continued eastward along the trail, Tita saw the amount of people on the trail and along the river’s edge was gradually diminishing. Tita could see that much further ahead in the distance, where the trail went beyond the edge of the city walls, she and Elena would be mostly alone on the trail.
Tita heard birds in the trees and she smiled. She had always enjoyed the chirping of birds, especially when there were many of them. She loved how they sounded with their various tones and sounds and repeated calls during their eating times. She wondered what kind of language they understood.
Walking further ahead, Tita heard the distant shouting of thousands of people coming from her left. She spotted the top of the arena tent poles peaking above the tall defensive walls of the town. She remembered they were having the gladiator fights, which reminded her of Remo. She wondered if he had delivered her satchels and returned to the tavern. Or if he was already at the arena again, taking patron requests. Tita smiled at the idea that he might note requests for her some day.
As they walked past the city walls to their left, Tita saw the trail and riverside were mostly empty of people. The boat traffic was also less since some of the boat traffic at the port was coming from the bay west of Pompeii. There were still trees lined along the trail that provided shade. A breeze came up from the river and Tita could smell Elena’s exciting earthy citrus scent more strongly. Tita liked how Elena quietly walked with her and she liked the brisk pace they were keeping. Despite the heat and her sweat, she felt alive with vigor as she flowed along with Elena’s fluid gait.
There was another yell of the crowd from the arena now behind them. Tita recalled that Zina had said that a month ago, the Bactrians had performed dances for a week at the arena in Carthage, before crossing the Mediterranean and going to Arelate, Massalia, Genua and Pisae. Tita wondered what it was like to travel on the Mediterranean Sea and what it was like to perform in front of thousands of people. She found both ideas very scary. But the idea of performing at the arena also excited her. Tita assumed she would be very, very anxious if she had to perform there in some fashion.
Tita wondered if she had decided to join the Bactrian dance group how long it would take her to learn to dance like them. She imagined years. She could easily picture herself moving one way while the others moved the other way. She knew she would ruin their routines for a long time. She imagined she would get frustrated with practicing dance because she could not make progress.
Tita thought of Elena’s recommendation to feel her body. She hoped to be able to learn to do that. She knew that the Bactrians had mastered that ability, especially Zina and Zine. Tita understood that they danced effortlessly like twins because they easily got in tune with their bodies. Tita smiled at the thought she would see them again. She had teared up leaving them at the forum, and now she was elated to see them soon.
As they rounded a group of trees between the trail and the river bank, Tita felt a slight tug on her arm and Elena pointed to a group of tents in the distance on the right side of the trail, arranged along a tree line that ran from the trail to the river. It seemed the trail entered a little forest at that point. The tree line bordered the far side of a grassy embankment that gently sloped down towards the river. The grassy field took up a large area since the river turned away from the trail and then curved back towards the trail by the tree line beyond.
Tita noted it was an ideal spot to set up camp. As they continued walking, Tita recognized the large white colored tent with red stripes at its peak. She squealed with joy, indicating that was the group’s meeting tent. Elena smiled in return.
Elena kept Tita’s arm in hers, cautioning Tita that she should stay with her at least until Elena had finished talking to Zarina to make arrangements. Then Tita could have about half an hour to be with her friends again, while Elena spoke to Zarina privately. But after that, they would need to proceed to Aurelia’s villa.
Elena noted that if the Bactrians accepted the invitation to stay a few days, Aurelia would need time to set up supplies and a location for them to camp. Tita nodded, remarking that she could have Zina help translate to Latin. Elena thanked Tita for thinking about that, but she knew many languages, which left Tita dumbstruck. Was there anything Elena did not know about? she wondered.
As they neared the camp, Tita heard a familiar sound of four horn blasts. Tita deduced her Bactrian friends had spotted her by her light green dress. Tita smiled as she saw some women down by the river bank stand up while others who were swimming in the river stopped swimming as they heard the horn calls, surely made by Zarina’s son Adza. The horn calls signaled a tent meeting.
Then Tita heard faint shouting from the camp as a woman waved at the women by the river and pointed in their direction. Tita knew that had to be Zarina, though they were too far away to recognize faces. Tita heard other shouts as the women in the river started getting out of the river to dry off and get dressed. There was general commotion as other women appeared from the smaller tents, or from the tree line behind the camp. Tita giggled at their rushing about to welcome them in a proper way.
Tita was sorely tempted to run towards the camp, but she felt Elena’s arm around her arm slightly tighten. She sensed Elena had become a bit tense. But when Tita looked at Elena, Elena was smiling at the commotion they were causing. Tita was surprised how Elena seemed to enjoy the chaos, and yet seemed tense and also wanted to keep Tita close to her, almost as if by some invisible force. Tita realized Elena had truly incredible power and strength.
Tita wondered if Elena would be accompanying her these days and nights without a bodyguard. She asked if Elena had a pugio, and Elena quickly replied she had two of them, one on each thigh, under her dress. Tita gulped, understanding that Elena was a strong woman who could also fight. And yet, Tita thought, Elena seemed so graceful, so calm, so confident. Tita wondered if she could ever be like Elena. She felt privileged to be in her company.