Arsinoe erred in despising her daughter, for Misme had good powers of comprehension. Having left behind the gloomy house and the ceaseless scoldings, she began to develop quickly in the freedom of country life. She loved animals, willingly took care of the cattle and even dared to climb onto a horse and gallop down the pastures. I kept a few of the Senate’s cavalry horses on my farm to augment my income, for at that time the Senate still provided the cavalry horses and during the winter quartered them in nearby farms. On certain days the horses had to be brought into Rome when the patrician youths gathered in the pastures of the wolf god for cavalry exercises. But in that way I could ride to Rome and back whereas I could not have afforded to keep horses myself. Fifteen jugera did not suffice for such luxury.
In a few years Misme’s skin turned rosy and smooth, her limbs became slender and she no longer moved clumsily although she still was scraggy as a calf. Because of my journeys I had to leave her with the slave couple for long periods, but each time upon my return I felt increasing joy at the glow of happiness in her dark eyes. She ran to fling her arms around my neck and to kiss me, and I could not bear to tell her that I was not her real father. As she grew she seemed beautiful in my eyes, her brows were slender and whimsical and her lips like rose petals. But by the time she had become a maiden the expression in her eyes reminded me increasingly of Mikon’s restless eyes and she learned to laugh mockingly at others and herself. Into such a girl did Misme grow.
3.
I will not describe Rome’s disputes with its neighbors or its perpetual raids. The problem of land distribution came up in the Senate but Ter-tius Valerius had long ago, because of Arsinoe, given up his favorite plan. Now that he had an heir he clung to his land tooth and nail and thus regained the confidence of his patrician brothers. He was no longer considered a simpleton but was pushed to the fore as necessity dictated to calm the people, who believed in him because of his former opinions. In that manner Tertius Valerius gained political influence and the patricians, the senators and even his own relatives began to admire Arsinoe more and more for having such a beneficial influence on the. old man.
Nor was he a stupid person. True, he granted Arsinoe the luxuries demanded by the new times and patiently endured her extravagance, but he himself retained his simple habits. Thus he remained healthy and strong and his head no longer wobbled when he made a speech in the Senate. That weakness he permitted himself only at home.
I learned all this by observing life in Tertius Valerius’ house from the sidelines and was greatly amused, upon occasionally seeing Arsinoe, to notice the sour expression usually on her face, as though Tertius Valerius’ surprising vitality had plunged her into the pit that she herself had dug.
From sheer vexation and boredom Arsinoe seemed to have aged much more than had tenacious Tertius.
News of the death of King Darius carried as far as Rome. Truly the whole world was shaken by it. The Greeks rejoiced and held festivals of thanks at Herakles’ altar, for they felt the danger which had threatened the mainland of Greece had receded, and that the revolts and disturbances which inevitably accompany a ruler’s death in such a large country as Persia would give the heir other things to think about than Greece. But Darius had built such a strong kingdom from the nations that he ruled that nothing happened. On the contrary, his son Xerxes, himself no longer a young man, was said immediately to have dispatched emissaries to Athens and other Greek cities with a demand for earth and water as symbols of submission. Several cities acceded, thinking that such a slight indication of sympathy carried no obligations.
All this happened far away, but as ripples from a cast stone spread slowly and break only on the shores of a pond, so were the effects of world events felt even in Rome. After all, the Persian empire comprised the Eastern world from the Scythians’ steppes to the streams of Egypt and India, so that the Great King rightly considered the entire world his play pond. He felt it his personal responsibility to be the bringer of peace and security to all lands, thus ending wars for all time. Thinking of that, it seemed to me that the quarrels of Rome and its steady expansion at the expense of its neighbors were as insignificant as shepherds’ quarrelings over pastures.
I met my friend Xenodotos immediately after his arrival in Rome as he was stepping out of the temple of Mercury where he had been offering a sacrifice for a successfully completed voyage. He had abandoned his Persian attire and was dressed in the latest Ionian fashion; his hair was fragrant and on his feet he wore shoes trimmed with silver. He had even shaved his curly beard. But I recognized him immediately and hastened to greet him.
When he recognized me he embraced me warmly and exclaimed, “Luck is with me, for I would immediately have sought you out, Turms of Ephesus. I need your advice in this strange city and have many matters to discuss with you once we are alone.”
I was in the habit of loitering with the others in front of the temple of Mercury whenever I was not practicing in the circus arena or teaching some chance pupil or trading cattle or passing my time in prophesying for the Suburran girls. There I caught a breath of strange cities and the expanding world of Rome, I could learn about a profitable trade, and because of my knowledge of languages could guide and otherwise be of use to wealthy foreigners. But I did not tell Xenodotos this, preferring to let him think that our meeting was a miracle arranged by the gods.
I found lodgings for him and his servants in the Etruscan inn which was the largest and best in Rome. Thereafter I showed Xenodotos what there was to show in Rome, but as one who had just arrived from Carthage he was not impressed by the wooden temples of Rome and the clay images painted by Etruscan artists. His interest was aroused more by the Roman constitution which effectively prevented the return of autocracy and also protected the rights of the people against the aristocracy. He also admired the order and discipline of the Roman army when I explained it to him. He considered it amazing that the state did not have to pay wages to the soldiers, who not only equipped themselves except for the cavalry horses but considered it the privilege and duty of a citizen to go to war for his native city without always sharing in the spoils. Any booty was sold for the benefit of the state treasury and so greatly did the Romans fear the return of autocracy that the commander-consul who distributed spoils to the army as gifts was immediately suspected as aspiring to become an autocrat.
Since I did not wish to show Xenodotos my room in Suburra I told him that I lived in modest circumstances in my little house outside Rome. He for his part did not wish to discuss matters at the inn, although we ate and drank there. Thus the following day we walked together along the bridge to the other bank of the Tiber, looked at the scenery and the cattle and finally reached my summer house. He said politely that the walk did him good and that the country air was fresh to breathe, but he perspired as he walked and it was apparent that he had not used his legs much in the past. He had also grown stouter and his former eager curiosity had sharpened to a tendency to cold-blooded criticism.