Agis stood there, looking much like I felt;too shocked for words, unable and unwilling to believe the kind ofmalice that was contained in these few simple lines of aletter.
Agis finally broke the silence, asking,"H-how m-m-much does that l-leave Master Gaius? And," he came tohis real question. "W-where does that l-l-leave us?"
Although Agis was the second-longest memberof Titus' household in terms of tenure, he had not been givenresponsibilities that included the financial running of ourmaster's affairs. That was on my shoulders, and I was happy to tellAgis that the news was not all bad, for either Gaius and hisfamily, or us. At least, I had to recognize, until Gaius decidedwhat he wanted to do, both with us and this villa.
"It's not all bad," I assured Agis."Augustus may know many things, but although it does make it moredifficult for Master Gaius, he's not crippled. Augustus' mistakewas in thinking that master had just the bare minimum to buy hisway into the equestrian class. But Titus could have purchased aseat in the Senate if he wished. So the barrier Gaius faces to getinto the equestrian class on his own, albeit using master's money,isn't financial. It's in the form of Augustus himself."
"A-and h-he's a young m-man still," Agispointed out.
That, I had to concede, was true.
"But Gaius will at least be a rich 'poor'man." I commented. As I thought about it, I told Agis, "I don'tthink Master Gaius will be tremendously disappointed. Iras, on theother hand?"
I looked over at Agis, and something in myexpression he must have found humorous, because he began howlingwith laughter, and I quickly joined in. Perhaps of all the thingsthat I learned during my time with Titus Pullus, it was theimportance of being able to find something to laugh about, nomatter the circumstances.
As it would turn out, I would have moreoccasions to remember that lesson. However, that, “gentle reader,”is for another time, and another tale.
