Forvm Boarivm
Early morning in high summer a hunched figure jostled his way uneasily through the increasingly busy cattle market. The noise and clamour along with the combined stench of cattle and the close by Cloaca Maxima did not help his almost unbearable nausea. However, the cold of the morning and the slight breeze from the west that was blowing across his face helped relieve the young doctor’s heavy head. The reason for his affliction was one too many glasses of wine at his Patron’s house the night before. The young man was fortunate in his Patron as his late father, Antonius Musa was the doctor and saviour of the Princeps. Caesar Augustus had suffered from a grave illness in 23BC and his father had been hailed as his saviour after his cold baths had cured him.
Musa was making his way, with his back to the Capitol, to the Arch of Janus. The arch stood magnificently astride the great drain, the Cloaca Maxima, in the North of the Forum Boarium. He screwed up his face as the sewer's stench overpowered the hum of the cattle. He pondered how it must have smelt a great deal better when Agrippa sailed down it, surely no one could bare such a vile smell.
He gazed narrow eyed across the crowded forum. His eyes were lazily attracted to the large Aegina bronze statue of a bull that stood proud despite the backdrop of the great Herculean alter.(1) Leaning against the arch he watched as another chaotic Roman day began in the busy forum. The Forum was an important centre of traffic with many roads converging there. He faced full west into the breeze towards the Tiber, by its banks the bright colours of the flower sellers that frequented the Temple Portunus area could be seen. He could also glimpse the proud statues of the Principes Juventus (The adopted sons of Caesar Augustus, Gaius and Lucius). He sighed, the dreaded day had finally arrived. A young man, of even fewer years than himself was arriving from Greece to live and work in Rome as a doctor.
The young doctor arrived from the south-east along the Via Appia, he had travelled up from the port at Brundisium on the east coast of Italy. Musa hoped that after many days travelling the young man would be tired, thus postponing the tour of the city till another day when he was minus the hangover. He had no such luck, the journey into Rome had done nothing but excite the young man further. The aggressive nature of the traffic on the Via Appia, from the carts fighting to leaving the city before dawn combined with the ever increasing magnificence of the tombs lining the road side, had ensured the young man was wide awake and rearing to see the epicentre of the world. Musa sighed as his new companion, overflowing with the exuberance of youth declared he could not wait to see the rest of the city.
Musa thought where to begin the young mans tour, his first notion was the Capitol then decided against it. For where better to begin the young mans tour than where the city itself began: the Palatine. It was not only the birth place of Rome but the dwelling place of the man responsible for the city's rejuvenation; Caesar Augustus. "Yes" he thought, this was the perfect place, and it also meant he could get some good fresh air from the top of the hill. He was hoping that this might clear his heavy head.