A little slice of life in this part. We seem some background info
************
Food was always provided in uncooked form.Usually a sack of flour
distributed every week along with several libra(pounds) of meat. The ration was
actually several sacks of grain but the restwent to the legion bakers. This was
used to make the daily loaves of bread. The legion kept herds of cattle,
sheep andgoats just to supply milk, cheese and of course meat. To supplement
these thelegion sent out groups each day to go hunting. Adding whatever they
caught tothe evenings meal. The meat could be sausage, ham. bacon,
beef,sheep or goat. At least he HOPED it was goat. He refused to consider the
ideaof what else it could be. But it was rarely identified by the Centurion
whosupervised its distribution. The Legionnaires half-jokingly called it
Mysterymeat. Another common meat was fowl, Usually chicken or duck. And there
wasalways fish of several different species. Usually salted to last longer.
Somewere so heavily salted they had to be soaked in water for a while to remove
theslat and make it palatable. Also there was a good amount of cheese (of
severaldifferent types) and whatever vegetables were in season. They would
supplementthis with some fresh meat or fish they’d purchased at the market.
They also hada small supply of spices to help liven up the flavor. Every
morning, before dawn one the themwould go to the ovens located along the west
wall. There they would collecteight loaves of bread. That was the
contubernium’s ration of bread for the day. Breakfast was usually a porridge
made ofwheat or grain and some sort of meat in large slices either cooked or
smoked. Asmall selection of fresh fruit was also there, most of which Bitt
didn’trecognize. And of course there was always a small cup of that black
liquid;coffee. Bread fresh from the oven was a welcome food. It tasted good but
itwasn’t like the bread from back home. The midday meal usually included
cheese,fruit, some bread (of course), eggs (usually hard boiled) and whatever
wasleftover from dinner the night before. Bitt kept it all safe by wrapping it
incloth and placed in a large pouch he carried with him. Dinner, the evening
meal was always a bigdeal. There was always meat, always a good amount of it,
It was usually grilledbut sometimes pan fried or boiled. With it was whatever
vegetables were inseason. Everything had their flavor enhanced by a variety
spices. Regardless ofthe recipe used it always included olive oil usually in
large amounts. And ofcourse some cheese and a good jug of wine and beer. It was
a time to relaxafter a long day and talk and gossip. *************** Time
passed for the legionnaires, days andnights of patrolling or standing guard
duty along the fortress walls. Bittquickly fell into the routine. It was mostly
boring guard duty or patrol withtraining and drilling. Still most evenings were
their own and there was alwaysthe occasional day off. Drinking inside the
fortressof Gamellae was strictly forbidden. It was limited to off duty and
outsidethe fort. The legionnaires in the fortress still found ways to
entertainthemselves. There was always some sort of gambling goingon, usually
in a quiet and hidden corner. But there was also boxing, wrestlingand even
racing. A favorite game was Harpastum. It was played with a leatherball smaller
than Bitt’s head. The field had two lines drawn across it. One oneither end.
The object was for the team to get the ball across the line on theopposite side
of the field. While keeping their opponents from doing the sameto their side.
It was loud, energetic and violent. Lots of pushing, shoving andkicking but no
claws or teeth and so relatively little blood spilled but lotsof bruises. But
bruises and soreness were part of a Legionnaires lot in life. And for those
preferring a quieter and lessstrenuous form of entertainment there were several
board games. Tossiusintroduced Bitt to Senet and Mehen and the two spend long
hours rolling diceand moving their game pieces across the board avoiding the
various obstacles. Another favorite was Calculi it was playedon a large,
square grid and involved moving pieces about and taking your opponent’spieces.
It was popular and easy to carry. Later historians would recognize itas a form
of checkers and chess. It was easy to play and portable. All youneeded were the
twenty-four pieces. The board could be scratched in the dirt oronto stone using
paint or chalk. There was even a grid scratched into the stonefloor just
outside the entrance to their rooms. Put there long ago by some nowgone
Legionnaire. Vinius introduced him to a board game calledUr. It had as board
with twenty squares arraigned in six rows and three squaresand two rows of one
square each. They spent many an evening racing their tokensaround the board
while sipping beer or date palm wine. The city of Jerah had countless
taverns,brothels and gambling halls all vying for the Legionnaires coins. But
there wasmore to life than just drinking, gambling and whoring. It also had
more civilized entertainment. The theater in the city was large and
wellattended. The owners made sure to stage large and elaborate productions of
allthe popular plays and dramas. Bitt had never liked the theater.
Hisparents used to take him weekly to see some play, drama or tragedy. But as
akit he found them boring and after attending a playing of Orya by Epicharmus,
herealized that they were STILL boring. The play was supposed to be a comedy
buthe found very little funny in it. It also had less civilized
entertainment. Itoccurred in a place that the fox avoided. The structure itself
didn’t botherBitt neither did the location. The location was on the edge of the
city alongone of the main roads. It was large and built of fine quality stone
transporteda long way. What upset Bitt was not the amphitheater but what
happened there.Gladiator games. People, usually slaves or prisoners of war were
dressed up inexotic costumes and fought each other or some poor feral. Usually
to the death. Bitts people; the Gaelach were not squeamishwhen it came to
combat. Duels were common but rarely to the death and never forentertainment.
Fighting was a serious thing to his people. Not something for acheap spectacle
where good people die to entertain a drunken mob. On a morepersonal note too
many of his ancestors had died in such a place for him toenjoy it. The
introduction of Christianity into the empire had seen a reductionin such games
but not it’s elimination. Too many early Christians had died insuch arenas for
them to want anything but its elimination. A place Bitt did enjoy was the
hippodrome.And it seems he wasn’t the only one. The grandstands of the
racetrack werealways filled with people. People, cheering, cursing, drinking
and of coursegambling. Horse racing was the most common event andthere were
a dozen races every day. Another popular one but with a lot higher casualtyrate
was chariot racing. A chariot race involved one, two, three or even fourferal
horses pulling a (Very) flimsy looking chariot that seemed to be made mostlyof
leather and hide. Bitt wouldn’t want to ride in one of them even if it wasat a
walking pace. Racing at a full gallop looked to be suicide. Certainlyevery race
had it’s share of accidents and injuries and were always exciting. Bitt made
sure to arrive early to get a goodseat down close to the rail. He usually
brought a small jug of date palm wineand some fresh fruit. In the plaza that
fronted the hippodrome there werealways various furs selling all sorts of
trinkets, drinks and food. Bittusually bought something that he never did learn
the proper name for. It wassmall slices of meat covered with dough and fried.
He would usually stay theywhole day. There were four teams that raced
regularly.They had official names but mostly they were known by the colors they
wore.Red, Blue, Green, Yellow. Each team had a favorite champion who was a
feted andhonored celebrity. Bitt himself had no real favorite team but he did
root forthe Greens. Their champion was a sandy colored fox called Marek the
Undefeated. The legion kept him busy and he didn’t haveso many free days to
spend that way but he enjoyed them. **********************
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