The Death of Antinous || bxb ✔︎

VAE VICTIS

Imperator Caesar Publius Aelius Traianus Hadrianus Augustus, son of Trajan Parthicus, grandson of Nerva, to the young citizen Parthenos Antinous of the Bithynian Province, student of the Imperial Paedagogium at the Caelian Hill,

I am a thousand leagues away from you, yet I see your face everywhere. In the statues of the Temple of Venus at Baalbek, in the smile of an Assyrian princess and the waves of the Aegean.

Commodus has proven an erratic travel companion. He has shocked our hosts with his decadent flights of fancy. He is attended by more slaves than an Egyptian pharaoh. A parade of exotic animals accompanies him to every banquet, which he decorates with no fewer than a sea of lotus blossoms. He paints his face with flour to protect it from the sun and lately refuses to eat anything but ostrich eggs, which are impossible for our humble hosts to procure.

When I think of you and your gratitude for a single fig, Antinous, I am moved to tears. They have a saying in Mauretania: "Better a handful of dried figs and content with that, than to own the gate of peacocks and be kicked in the eye by a broody camel." It's silly perhaps but I feel your soul recognizes mine. I hope you are well and that school suits you.

All my best, beloved

September 26, from Smyrna

Antinous smiled at this letter, which he had discovered that evening on his bed, the seal detached from the parchment but not broken. The slave who delivered it caught his eye and quickly made himself scarce.

Antinous took a piece of papyrus and quill to draft his reply.

Parthenos Antinous of the Bithynian Province, student of the Imperial Paedagogium at the Caelian Hill to his Imperial Majesty,

School in Rome is different. The other boys do not like me because I am Greek. I don't like them either. I made one friend. He invited me to compete in wrestling and footraces.

Philosophy is my best subject. My teacher lent me the writings of the Roman philosopher Cicero. It is good but not as good as Socrates. My mathematics teacher thinks I have a natural aptitude for the subject but lack focus. My rhetoric teacher says I am behind in the Five Canons; invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery, especially delivery. I learn quickly, which pleases him. The only teacher who does not care for me is Tulius my Latin grammar teacher. He struck me with his staff because I lost my tablet and answered him in Greek.

Thank you for the figs. Tell Commodus to eat one so he doesn't get kicked in the eye by a camel.

All the best from your beloved

October 19, from Rome

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When the weather was mild, his mathematics teacher, Decimus, worked outside on proofs and formulas. The curious mathematician found inspiration in the geometry of Roman architecture, the branching pattern of a tree, and the symmetry of a boy's face.

Antinous walked alongside him, often tangled in the folds of his teacher's white toga that flapped wildly in the wind. He sought his counsel on a problem that he had scribbled down on his new tablet. New to him. Leonides must have owned it for years. The wood was worn where his thumb held the frame. Antinous placed his thumb in the same groove.

Because Decimus liked to keep the company of students, he invited Remus to join them. Math was Remus' strongest subject. Naturally. He was more calculating than Archimedes.

They walked up to the peak of Caelian Hill and looked down at Rome. The sun rose above the city's bustling markets like a shiny coin. Men in arms, like a river of gold, raced through the streets in horse-drawn chariots. It was Armilustrium, a festival in honour of Mars, the god of war.