Swords of Rome Read Online Free PDF

around Gaius, and preferring that she, not an alter ego, be the object of his affections.
    He found her cute, to say the least. She was an adorable young lady, even though she was half his age. She had a small, dainty body, groomed to someday be a proper Roman woman. H er hair smelled of scented oils and was curled in strands around her bangs. Her nails were painted different colors almost every day as she was tended by a dozen slaves, all women who acted like second mothers. Julia didn’t care about being a girl, trapped in her physical limitations. She liked being around the boys and playing their games. It might have proven an issue if her father was around more, but he spent most of his time in the city. Her mother was gone, having died during childbirth when Julia was born. Perhaps that was, as Gaius figured, why the two rich children of a Roman senator found common interest with a simple farm boy, as Gaius had lost his mother also.
    “I have to go home,” Gaius called out again as he picked his wooden sword up off the ground; bashing it against the dirt road, so he could dislodge some of the loose mud from the blade that meant to simulate a Roman gladius , the standard sword of Rome’s infantry.
    “I will walk with you,” Antony replied quickly as he let go of his sister, who was pushing against him with all her might. The act caused her to fall to the ground as Antony turned and grabbed his own things that lay up against the fence; his wooden sword that was designed more in the fashion of a longer Greek blade, a simple wool cloak and a small water skin.
    “I will come as well,” Julia eagerly said as she picked herself up off of the ground, already forgetting her skirmish with her brother.
    “No! You go home, Julia. And take these with you,” Antony called out as he walked over and dropped his things into her arms.
    “I want to come with you,” she demanded as she dropped the items to the ground.
    “Julia! Take these and go home – Now!” Antony demanded once more, harshly, as he picked his things up and again pushed them into her arms. However, she continued to refuse as she crossed her arms, not giving him an inch.
    Gaius smiled as he shook his head. He knew he had to intervene if this matter was going to be resolved within the time he had. These two could argue for hours if they were allowed to continue without interruption.
    “Go home, Julia. I promise you and I can play a game, just the two of us, tomorrow,” Gaius said calmly.
    “Do you promise?” she asked.
    “Have I ever broken a promise to you?”
    She rushed over to Gaius and threw her arms around him, calling out, “I love you Gaius!” before she turned and hastily grabbed her brother’s things and ran up the road, heading back in the direction of her own home. Technically, she was already home, as everything for miles in all directions was owned by their father.
    “I guess you just need to know how to speak to women,” Antony commented.
    “Maybe we should walk her home, before you, and I leave,” Gaius suggested.
    “She will be fine. What could happen to her on my father’s property?”
     
    The land that was owned by Gaius’ father wasn’t anywhere close to the size of Antony’s. His land was simple, enough for a family to live on without due hardships. The property, as Gaius knew, had been reward given to his father after many faithful years of service to the Republic. He had fought and nearly died in the last war that Rome fought with its oldest of enemies, the nation to the east, Carthage. Gaius did not the particulars of what happened, but his father had become a celebrated hero. For that, he was given this land, which now was overgrown with weeds, an unkempt field, and a home that was barely standing. Sometimes he was embarrassed to bring Antony here as he came from a wealthy family who never knew what it was to want. The land that the two boys had played on was only the tip of Antony’s estate, which extended for