The Hippodrome resembled the Circus Maximus, though it was not as boisterous or as crowded as the huge amphitheater in Roma had been. The stands were full, but the people behaved more decorously than the Romans. Taking her seat beside Antonina, Olivia watched the stands, her expression carefully blank.
'Is this familiar to you?' asked Antonina as she directed her body slave to arrange her pillows more comfortably.
'To a degree, but it is also very different.' She looked down the length of the oblong stadium. 'In Roma, everyone was more active than I have seen the people of Constantinople be.'
'Yes, we do put more value on good conduct than the Romans,' said Antonina with a degree of complacency that made Olivia want to argue with her.
'Your ways are different than Roman ways,' she said.
'Yes,' Antonina declared, clearly relieved that this was the case. 'Roma was beset with strife and the presence of false gods.' She was satisfied with her cushions now and waved her slave to the back of the marble- faced box in which she and her guests sat.
'But still Roma thrived,' said Olivia in a light voice.
'What does that mean, but that the world of Roma was caught up in trade and that the Romans profited by the misfortunes of their neighbors.' She stopped. 'Not that I mean any disrespect. Your family was of the nobility, so my husband has informed me, and that certainly must mean more than a title and some estates in the country.'
Olivia shook her head and said truthfully, 'My family had lost most of the funds and property it had ever had by the time I came to be married, which is why they selected the husband for me that they did.' Even five hundred years after, Olivia found that she could be bitter for the bargain her father had made with Cornelius Justus Silius, and all the misery that alliance had brought her in the years she was married to the senator.
'How unfortunate,' said Antonina in a tone that indicated she was hardly listening at all.
The smell in the air—a combination of sweat, food, horses, and fabric—was strange to Olivia, for it was different than what she had known in Roma. The food was not the spiced pork and wine of Roma but something more exotic—grilled lamb with onions and cinnamon and pepper—than the fare of ancient Roma. The fabric, too, was cotton and silk, not linen and wool as it had been so long ago. Olivia adjusted her pillows and waved away the offer of food.
'In such a crowd,' she said apologetically, 'I find that eating makes me feel slightly ill.'
'I had such an experience when I was pregnant,' said Antonina, and waited in significant silence.
'I have been pregnant only once, and that was long ago,' said Olivia. 'I did not attend the Great Games then, for it was thought that the excitement might be dangerous for me.'
'What of the child?' asked Antonina.
'It did not live,' Olivia said, looking away across the stands toward the enormous statue of a quadriga pulled by a matched team of four horses. Unlike the Roman chariots, these harnessed all four horses to the vehicle they pulled, and the value of a perfectly matched team was enormous.
'I had two children by my first husband,' said Antonina, 'but both succumbed to fever before they were ten. It was a great misfortune, but I have bowed my head to the Will of God, Who gives and takes away all things.'
'Truly,' said Olivia, listening to the sound of the crowd. 'Will the Emperor be here today?'
'He has affairs of state, but Theodora will arrive shortly.' Antonina could not keep from smiling, for her friendship with the Empress had given her influence at court that many others envied, though few could emulate. 'I informed her that you would be with me today and she has expressed a desire to meet you. It will be a pleasure to present you to her once the races have begun.'
'That is very kind of you,' said Olivia, not at all certain that she wanted to meet the wife of Emperor Justinian.
'I have given my husband my word that I would do what I could to see you properly established in the world, and I intend to honor that obligation. You are a woman alone in Konstantinoupolis and it is fitting that you gain sponsorship of more than a pope or two. You are going to need friends at court as well as friends in the Church if you are to survive comfortably in the world.' She signaled her slave to bring her food, and once again offered a selection of delicacies to Olivia.
'Thank you, I had better not,' said Olivia. 'But do not let that stop you from enjoying your victuals.'
'I confess that good food is one of my special pleasures. My confessor has warned me that this might imperil my soul, but if that is the case, then everyone alive is in some danger, don't you think?' This was clearly intended to be thought witty and Olivia managed to laugh.
'Appetite is a factor with all of us,' she said and was favored with an appraising smile.
'You have a sharp mind, Olivia,' said Antonina in a tone of voice that suggested that a sharp mind was not entirely admirable. What she said next confirmed this impression. 'If you intend to make such comments, be sure of your company; women are expected to be circumspect.'
'Of course,' said Olivia.
'Ah!' Antonina turned her head at the sound of the salpinx. 'The Empress is entering the Hippodrome.'
Olivia listened to the sound of the ivory trumpet and decided she preferred the brazen voice of the lituus and buccina to the muffled and delicate fanfare that heralded the arrival of Theodora. She saw that everyone in the stands was standing, and she, too, rose to her feet. 'Which is the Imperial box?' she asked her hostess.
'There, under the statues of the chariot and horses.' Antonina did not point—that was much too rude—but indicated the direction with a nod of her head. 'There is a tunnel that is used by the Emperor and Empress when they are visiting the Hippodrome, so that they will not have to walk in the crowded streets.'
'I see,' said Olivia, thinking that it was a sensible precaution for anyone worried about the possibility of harm or death.
'Theodora is wearing her headdress and collar of pearls. It is her most impressive jewel.' Antonina again cocked her head to indicate where Olivia should look, then stood very straight, her smile widening as four women entered the Imperial box.
Olivia regarded Empress Theodora with curiosity, for doubtless Justinian's wife was the most powerful woman in all of Byzantium. There were rumors about her, attributing every vice and sin to her, just as there were rumors indicating that she was the most virtuous female ever to grace the world with her presence since Eve had smirched mankind in the Garden of Eden. Theodora stood slightly taller than the women with her, her large eyes accentuated by the enormous and elaborate headdress of pearls and jewels that adorned her, complimented by a collar large as a short cope, of pearls, some of enormous size and luminosity. The whole was worn over a paenula of rose-colored silk which in turn covered a dalmatica of gold-medallioned silk the same shade as fresh peaches.
'She is a great beauty,' said Antonina, not quite free of envy.
