“Wake up, wake up sir”,  was all my foggy brain could process as I slowly came into consciousness. As my eyes opened and the blurry room filled with the low light of the rising sun and candlelight, came into focus, Markus, my servant, helped me sit up in bed.

“You were asleep very deeply sir. But we must get you up or you'll be late for school,” said Markus.

“I dont want to go to school!” I whined.

But none the less I let Markus drag me out of bed, pull off my night attire and put on my school toga. He then left to me to wake up entirely and went downstairs to finish making my breakfast.

I went and stood on the balcony outside my room and looked down on the streets as the sun began to shine over the hill to the east shining its golden rays on the top stories of the surrounding buildings. I could see my neighbors start to move around their houses and some of the servants getting the houses ready for the day. This pleasant moment was short lived as I heard Markus calling from downstairs that breakfast was ready. I headed down the steps just in time to say goodbye to my father and seventeen-year-old brother Lucius. They were heading out to conduct business with merchants that were supposed to arrive from a far off land called China.

I quickly ate my breakfast of bread and juice with some nuts and berries.  Markus had already packed my bag and we started off to the school building.  It was a thirty minute walk from my house to the schoolhouse which was close to the center of the city. I enjoyed this time because Markus and I always had funny conversations. Today, as we walked down the cobblestone streets that became busier and busier as the sun started to warm the air, he was telling me about how when he was a boy his younger and brother and him would help their parents in the fields plowing the earth. 

“One time,” he said, “my brother was not paying attention and stepped in a large pile of donkey poop.  I thought it was hilarious and started laughing at him.  But since I wasn’t paying attention anymore I tripped and landed face first in a fresh pile!”

“Hahahaha oh Markus, you did some pretty silly things.”

We continued to talk and he helped me go over my times tables before we reached the schoolhouse4. I went inside and Markus went back to the house.  As I took my seat with my classmates, the teacher, Master Aregust, finished writing a poem on the board.  We all knew that by the end of the day we would have to have the whole thing memorized or we would receive an F for the day4.  A few groans of dread came from the class.  Aregust started his lesson and the class quieted down.

At the end of the school day, two hours after noon1 it was my father and brother that came and picked me up.  I ran to greet them and we made our way to the Baths, as was our daily routine.  I loved going to the baths because I felt grown up in there, being in the company of all the older boys and men.

As we made our way to the Baths of Agrippa, the massive bathhouse of the city, I listened as my father and brother discussed the business they had had. 

“Do you remember that man from this morning?” my father asked Lucius.

“ The one from China selling the silk cloth?”

“Yes, that one.”

“My Gods he had so much.  How do those squinty eyed barbarians create such a beautiful and fine cloth? The feel of it is like that of Venus’s Hair!”

“Well if I knew how, I would make it myself and not pay such outrageous prices for it.  But the wealthy will pay through the nose for garments made from the stuff.”

Their conversation was cut off as we reached the Baths and one of my father’s friends called out to him.  As they engaged in conversation I marveled at the elaborate architecture of the massive building.  Marble pillars, five feet in diameter and thirty feet tall stood strong and majestic at the entrance.  The huge archway that was the entrance of the baths was rimmed with elaborately sculpted molding.  Visible through the huge doorway were marble statues of Roman Caesars, war heroes, and Gods.

We went through the archway and entered the palaestra.  The palaestra was a huge court that had a regular unheated pool for recreation and swimming, a running track surrounding a big grass field.  My father, brother and I made our way to the dressing rooms .  We stripped our robes and handed them to the servants to care for before going to exercise in the palaestra1.

As I looked out I noticed, as usual, that there were different groups of men1.  The craftsmen and those who worked in the fields were together generally.  Then there were the groups of merchants and sailors.  And then the boisterous groups of senators and generals, always making it known that they were in the area. I saw some one of my friends from school and some other kids my age playing catch and ran to join them.  My father went to socialize  with a group of men, one of which I recognized as another senator, and another man who looked familiar from a market1.  He was a carpenter I think.  Lucius went to the swimming pool to swim with some guys his age.

We played and talked and enjoyed ourselves for a couple hours before it was time to go.  My father came and collected me and called out to Lucius.  Once he joined us we went to the oiling station.  This part of the ritual was always a little awkward, because it involved having a servant rub olive oil all over the body.  But after, when it all got scraped off, it took the dirt of the day away with it and kept everyone clean, according to father .  Thankfully it didn't take too long and soon we were on our way to the actual baths.

As we entered the building, the air, heavy with humidity, filled my lungs and instantly made my skin sticky.  Then we headed to the first bath, the frigidarium9. This bath was kept very cool. I watched my father walk in and submerge fully into the cool water.  After a few moments he resurfaced, pushed the hair out of his eyes and the water off his face and walked to the other side of the bath.  He then waited for my brother and me to join him.  As my brother followed the same process I readied myself for the shock of the cold liquid rushing over my body.  Slowly I walked in thigh deep then fell forward and under the surface to get it over quickly.  I could feel my heart slow down as my body cooled.  After the heat of the day running around for so long, the water was very refreshing.  I stayed under, suspended, until I couldn’t hear the bubbles of my splash anymore.  Then I came up and swam to my waiting father and brother.  As I reached them, they got out and I followed.

  I was shivering slightly as we walked across the cold marble floors to the warm bath, the tepidarium9.  This was my favorite bath.  It felt so good warming my skin after the cold bath we had just been it.  The sudden temperature change sent tingles all over my body.  My father and brother got into a conversation about some of the Chinese and other nationalities of men who came to Rome to trade. They were talking about the silk trade mostly.  But as my eyes roamed over the marble and granite room their voices faded away.  I admired the colorful murals on the walls depicting battles and Gods.  Then I studied the decorated white marble pillars standing strong supporting the roof.  The sun shone in through a skylight, reflecting off the polished white walls and floors filling the room with light8. 

I was snapped out of my daydream as one of the men my father had been talking to said something to me.
“Pardon?” I asked, as I had been too busy daydreaming to hear what he had said.

“I said ‘you look like you could be an architect.’ The way you are studying the structure of this room is quite unusual for a boy of your age.  An architect is a very respectable job. And it pays excellent as well.”

“Yes he’s a very curious one.  Always has been.  And smart too.  He is at the top of his class. We are hoping to find him a teacher for some higher education,” replied my father.

I simply smiled and nodded happy to be bragged about. 

Then it was time for the caldarium.  We got out of the tepidarium and started our way to the hottest of the pools.  I could feel the ground warming up as we got closer to the pool.  My father had once explained to me how they used furnaces underneath the pools to heat them3. 

All three of us entered the steamy water using the broad stairway at the side of the pool.  My skin burned for a quick second as it adjusted to the heat.  Once it had tho my muscles instantly started to relax.  I took a seat next to my brother.  I was happy that I was getting tall enough to sit regularly and keep my full head above the water.

As my father got into some conversation with two senators sitting next to us I asked Lucius about his day trading with the foreigners.

“It was incredible!  they brought so many different strange things.  Even some toys.”

He grinned as my eyes got wide

“Don’t say anything, but dad might have got you something” Lucius said with a wink.

I looked away for a moment, pondering what it could be.  But I decided I would just have to wait and find out because the possibilities were so endless.  So I asked Lucius what else they had done that day.

“Well, to start off the day we had to find a translator.  Those Chinese speak the strangest language.  Nothing like our beautiful Latin.  But anyway it took a while, but finally we saw one of Father's friends who had a chinese servant.  Father promised him a favor to borrow the servant while we negotiated on the goods.  It was slow going, but  Father was able to talk them into selling him three high-grade silk roles for the price of two ordinary roles!  He’s teaching me the art of banter.  He says you have to get them to think they are making the deal and you are grudgingly accepting it, when really you got them right where you want them.  He is really good at it.”

“Then we ran into an egyptian merchant who was lost.  We traded a role of the silk and directions to his destination for quarter pound of gold.  Father says we will use it to buy more silk later this week.  After that we did some more business with some Greeks and then came and picked you up.”

“Wow, that sounds so exciting! I wish I could come with you.”

“You will soon enough.  You are almost of age to start in the trade.  Just a couple more years3.” 

Once we were thoroughly heated and relaxed we went through the previous two pools in the reverse order, ending back at the palaestra.  We went back to the oiling station and had all of the oil scraped off using a curved piece of wood called a strigil.  It felt good to have my skin nice and soft, but I wondered why we needed to do it every time we visited the baths.  So on the way home I asked my father.

“Why must we bath every day father? And why must we get oiled every time? Would it not be quicker to only be oiled every other, or even every third time?

“Well,” he said “the oil and the baths keep us clean as a people.  That keeps us healthy and strong.  But bathing so frequently also serves a greater purpose than that.  It keeps us separated from the barbaric nations around us.  It shows that we are civilized.  We are not squatters scrounging around in the mud.  It also shows out great wealth to other civil nations.  Showing that we have the ability to be a great ally, or dangerous enemy.  Does that make sense?” 

“Kind of.”

“It will make more sense when you are older.  For now just be glad everyone keeps clean so the body odor does not kill the livestock,” my father said with a grin.

With my curiousity somewhat satisfied, I skipped ahead, behind and around my father and Lucius all the way home.  They were deep in discussion about tomorrow's business.
 
By the time we got home, my mother and Markus had supper almost ready.  I studied for tomorrow's lesson.  But it wasn’t long before I heard my mother calling. 

We all sat on the sofas around the square dining table while Markus brought out the food. Dinner was a very important part of the day my father would always say3. It brought the family together.  As he put it, ‘strong family, strong city, strong empire’5.

Mother asked about our days and all of us told our stories as we ate.  I loved supper, because everyone was always happy.  Then again, who could be upset with a full stomach and surrounded by loved ones.

As supper drew to a close, I helped my mother and Markus. Once that was finished, my father called me into the living room.  At first I was very confused as to why he was calling me.  But once I saw the smile on his face and the way he was holding his hands behind his back I remembered what Lucius had said earlier that day.

“You got me something!”

“Indeed I did,” said my father with a knowing glance towards Lucius. “Now which hand?”
“Mmmm, that one,” I said pointing to his left hand. 

He took it from behind his back and in his fingers was a small bamboo object.  I t looked like a T, with a narrow tube attachint the two slats at the top.  The slats were slightly angled the same direction.

“Wha.. what is it?”

My father laughed as he replied, “its a bamboo dragon fly10.”  Then he proceeded to twist the tube by sliding his hands together sending the little object spinning into the air before gracefully gliding down to the ground.

“Wow! How does it do that?” I pondered aloud as I picked up the light toy.

“Ancient Chinese secret my son,” was all my father said.

That one simple little toy kept me busy until Markus told me it was time to go to bed.  Grudgingly I made my way upstairs and pulled of my day clothes to put on my night wear, then sat on my bed thinking about the day.  That man had got me dreaming about becoming a famous architect, designing grand coliseums and huge aqueducts and elaborate baths.  Designing something that would last through the ages and bear my name the whole time.

Markus caught me staring out the window and daydreaming.

“What are you thinking about young sir?” he said, bringing me out of my own little world.

“I am going to be a famous architect when I grow up.  I will design the grandest structures the world has ever seen!”

“Ahh I see.  I have no doubt you will do great things when you grow up.  But for now, you must sleep.  Dream of the plans for your great coliseum.”

With that, Markus tucked me in, blew out the candle, and left the room leaving me to my dreams.