“Happier,” Tabbic replied. “It’s not a small thing to raise a family and provide for them. It might not seem much to armored generals of Rome, but it earns my respect. No poems about us.”

The mulled wine was more powerful than Brutus had expected on an empty stomach. He knew there was a flaw in Tabbic’s vision, but he couldn’t find the words to make him see it.

“You need both,” he said at last. “You have to have dreaming, or what’s the point? Cows raise families, Tabbic. Cows.”

Tabbic looked scornful. “I’ve never seen a worse head for drink, I swear it. ‘Cows,’ by the gods.”

“One chance you get,” Brutus went on, holding up a finger. “One chance, birth to death, to do whatever you can. To be remembered. One chance.” He slumped, staring at the red glow of the forge in the growing darkness.

They emptied the kettle down to bitter pulp at the bottom. Brutus had long ceased to move or speak when Tabbic eventually heaved him onto a cot in a back room, still in his armor. At the doorway, the jeweler paused, looking down at the sprawled figure, already beginning to snore.

“My daughters remember me every day,” he said softly. “I hope you make the right choices, lad. I really do.”

Julius picked a piece of fennel sausage out of his teeth and smiled as he watched the drunken guests become ever wilder as the moon sank toward the horizon. The music too became more frenzied as the wine flowed into the players. The drums and pipes beat out counterpoint rhythms, while the cithara players made their strings jump with blurring fingers. Julius had not heard a single dirge or ballad from them all the time he had been there, and their excesses suited his mood perfectly. The food too was magnificent after soldiers’ rations.

The invitation was one of dozens that had been delivered before sunset, but the host, Cassius, was a senator who had remained behind and Julius wanted to cultivate the man. Only the first hour had been spent in conversation, as Julius became reacquainted with the social class of his city. The free wine had been delivered all over Rome and they seemed determined to obey his command to celebrate, becoming increasingly wild as the moon set over the hills.