Hindsight was much clearer, I thought.
“Oh, Apollo, tell me your truths, what could Livia want with Fannia? And what role do I play in this farce?” Apicius lifted his eyes skyward. I too crossed my fingers, hoping for a good omen. I wanted to go home.
After the baths, Apicius decided we should meet with the vendors Nasia had marked on a slim wax tablet to take his mind off the night ahead. By the end of the afternoon all of Apicius’s slaves were loaded with goods, ranging from fresh togas to game sets of ivory knucklebones to jewelry and silver statues of Fortuna and bronze likenesses of Apollo.
In addition to the gifts he bought for clients and for future cenae, Apicius also ordered complete sets of new furniture and bedding for the villa in Baiae as well as the villa in Minturnae. “What we have now can go to the slaves,” Apicius declared. “I’m sure you could use new blankets, eh, Thrasius?”
I agreed, but I was shocked by the cost of the new goods and by my master’s lack of concern for the waste of the old items. Wouldn’t it have been better to sell much of the furniture for a profit? It would be a healthy profit too, enough to give a small gift to all his slaves and have enough left over to justify some of the cost of replacing the furniture with new items. When I first started as his coquus, I thought that one day I would get used to how much money Apicius spent, but over time I found I was becoming only more appalled by the incredible waste.
On the way back to Fannia’s house, Apicius requested a stop at the Capitoline temple to Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva. Sotas and I followed him into the vast great court of the temple. I was amazed at the glory of the building. Everywhere I looked there was gold. The floors were marble, with intricate mosaics of every color. The ceilings were so high that I could not imagine how men could have painted them with so many stars.
I wished I could gaze upon the massive golden statue of the god but only priests were allowed. We waited near the doors of the temple while Apicius spoke to the priest and gave him the offering that would be left on Jupiter’s altar. “The last time I was here was seven years ago,” Sotas said to me in a low voice. “It is still just as beautiful. I wish we had time to visit the temple of Fides as well.”
Sotas had always been enamored of the goddess of fidelity, which made sense for a slave, but few believed in her power to reward those who remained loyal. I always wanted to ask, but the way he spoke of her made me feel like I would be intruding on something private.
When Apicius returned to us, I noticed he was missing the large emerald ring he had been wearing on one hand. He had left a generous sacrifice. As we exited the temple, Apicius handed each of us an amulet and instructed us to wear it that evening, tucked beneath our tunics. The charm he gave Sotas was heavy, made from thick gold, fashioned into the shape of a hand with an eye in its center. It was designed to protect against the evil eye. He hesitated for a moment before he handed me mine, which made me wonder. It was a slim golden disk with the shape of a leaf on one side—the precious silphium leaf. The other side was etched with an elaborate evil eye with a blue lapis lazuli stone in the center. It was beautiful, and so appropriate that Apicius must have commissioned it and brought it with him for a blessing. The import of such a gesture was not lost on me. We slipped the expensive charms around our necks. I felt proud, and in a small way a little powerful, that my dominus desired so much to protect me.
When we returned to the domus, Apicius convinced Fannia to let me guide her cook in making an asparagus patina for Livia.
“This is my chance, Fannia,” Apicius said as she led us to the kitchen. “Livia will marvel at every bite she takes. And if she likes it . . .” He trailed off.
“You hope that she will set Octavius aside. It may not be so easy as that, Apicius, my dear,” Fannia said, patting him on the arm.
“It is a start. She knows nothing of me and now she will.”
Despite Fannia’s command, her cook did not seem pleased for me to teach him how to make the patina. He was an older man with a brow full of worry lines. Only begrudgingly did he let me into his space and allow me to borrow his knives. If Apicius and Fannia hadn’t been standing nearby gossiping, I think he might have outright sabotaged my efforts.
I cut up the asparagus tips and instructed him to add them into a mortar with pepper, lovage, coriander, savory, and onions. Once they had been thoroughly ground, I added raisin wine, garum, and olive oil.
He looked at the mixture, skeptical. The lines in his forehead deepened. “This will not work.” His voice was gruff.
“Not like that, certainly. You need two of these,” I said, cracking eggs into the mixture. “Once you beat those in, you can put it into the oven to bake. When it is firm, take it out, cut it into wedges, and sprinkle with pepper.”
The old coquus was about to say something else when Fannia came over. “Make sure to follow his instructions exactly,” she told her cook. “We must make Empress Livia proud. The meal that comes out of this kitchen today must be your finest work.”
“I have seen his technique,” I said, hoping to make peace with the man and also to prevent him from spitting into the food. “It is no wonder you hired him for your kitchen, Fannia. I think there is much that he could teach me.”
Apicius laid a hand on the man’s shoulder and squeezed in approval. “Fannia has always had impeccable taste!”
The man beamed.
? ? ?
Before the guests arrived, Fannia and Apicius met in a cubiculum off of the atrium where a small set of couches was arranged. Sotas and I stood in a corner with four other slaves, ready to attend to our masters if the need arose. Fannia carried a glass of Roman absinthe in her hand as she paced the room.
“What on earth could she want?” She took a sip of the bitter drink. “She wants to shame me somehow.”
Apicius took a seat but didn’t recline. He sipped his glass much more slowly than his hostess. I wondered how quickly those glasses would disappear when the guests were introduced. It was not customary to drink before dinner and women were never supposed to drink.
“When was the last time she dined with you?”
Fannia’s voice quavered. “She has never dined with me. She wouldn’t stoop so low.”
“Think hard. What could she want?”
Fannia paused. “She wants me dead. I should have thought twice before I bedded that old ex-husband of hers.”
Apicius shook his head. “You exaggerate. I don’t think she wants you dead. And if she did, I don’t think she would have you killed in front of me, nor would she do it herself.”