Chapter 2: Rebekkah

Year 402 BC

James needed neither bodyguard, nor armour, and so he simply walked through the lanes of Rome. Rebekkah trotted along behind him, often needing to run a little to keep up with his bruising pace. He realised that though he was not the biggest man that existed in these times, he was far taller and more muscled overall than almost anyone he met. He met blacksmiths with very strong arms and chests but disproportionate to the rest of their bodies. He noted bodyguards that were giants of men, with very solid bodies but even they tended to run somewhat to fat, although they certainly had sufficient muscles so that the average person would not think to challenge them in any way.

One thing that he noted the Hollywood movies managed to get completely wrong was muscles. Men that were strong because of their work such as blacksmiths had very strong right arms, often quite disproportionate to their left arm. They might have been fit but these men were not heavily muscled like the actors in Hollywood movies. James was quite surprised that he had not seen a six pack but once, on a soldier that was otherwise built for speed. But he was very much the exception. Large guts on physically imposing men were the rule. And what women found attractive in men was very different to the modern model, as best as he could determine by listening in on conversations in the markets and the baths and anywhere else he could do so.

James had developed the habit of listening in on any conversation within his earshot, and that was a considerable distance, so he could learn the social rules, the method of trading and the myriad of other things that a person of his apparent social standing should know. By this time, he had realised he was speaking in a dialect of Latin and that was very elitist in the way he talked. It had worked to his considerable advantage when he first arrived in Rome as those he met simply assumed he was of such a high social rank that they fawned over him to be of assistance.

James had the bearing and presence of someone in authority. He spoke as a highly educated man and whilst his clothing was not ostentatious, it certainly was expensive and that was clear to all.

James had been in the city for months, had almost immediately upon his arrival found lodging with a family of Censor, Marcus Postumius Albinus Regillensis, at the behest of the Censor's wife, Olivia, who was entranced by the very handsome but very strange man. Being thought of as strange was alright by James. He spurned the trappings of wealth, yet certainly was not without means — courtesy of Jacobi who paid an absolute fortune to ensure that James was out of his life.

James had not realised it but he had an Australian accent, softly underlying how he talked and that made him exotic. He also might have spoken very well but his lack of formality and often total breach of the standard speech required for the correct etiquette certainly made him stand out, even if he had not been so tall and so finely chiselled. Indeed, his physique was much closer to that of a highly trained specialist soldier than that of a noble, even one used to riding, and military campaigning.

James had no idea but his carriage and looks were incredibly enticing to those bored women of the elite in the city whose husbands and fathers ran things. These were Romans from noble families with a strong sprinkling of Etruscans, who still very much influenced the day to day life of the upper levels of the city.

James, at first, was horrified at the depths of depravity that those that were elite stooped to and the indifferent and casual cruelty they exerted on servants, slaves and those that were on the bottom of society. However, he quickly realised that this was a society that had developed because of the way life was; the distribution of land; land use limitations and the like. It would be many many centuries before any equality could even be attempted. As much as he didn't like it, there was little he could do to alleviate the cruelty or the exceptionally poor lives of those that were not of the elite.

The best that James could do was not to add to the suffering of anyone he came into contact with himself, and do at least small acts of kindness whenever he could. He thought he was doing this subtlety so that it was not raising attention by those that he was most often around but he grossly underestimated the boredom of the very elite women and their gossip. He did not realise at all that every tiny act of kindness he dispensed was not only observed by many but also endlessly reported and discussed.

James had thought he had escaped North Africa and the concept that he was some sort of God. He had no idea just how wrong he was about this point or that this was not actually a bad thing in the very superstitious Roman society. He made numerous mistakes and social gaffs in his early months in such a strange society. He didn't even use the language correctly. All of that could easily be explained by his being a God or more likely a Demigod. Had it not been for this misunderstanding between the society he was in and James, James life and certainly Rebekkah's would have been in significant danger.

Strangely, James' acts of kindness made him even more popular. These were humans after all and it is not within the soul of humans overall to enjoy the suffering of others, at least not for many even at the very apex of society. While most were immune somewhat to the suffering, thinking little of it, many also tried not to worsen the condition of those much less fortunate than themselves.

The average slave was actually treated quite well, very often being important to their owners who thought of them almost like family. This duality between kindness and caring and callousness and seeming total indifference to the extreme suffering of so many, was something that James found astonishing and extremely difficult to reconcile with his 21st century moral code. James was intelligent enough to know that even in the 21st century all men were not equal but he also thought that all deserved the chance to make something of themselves, to be protected as best as society could, and that all people regardless of race, creed, colour, gender, or sexual preference should be treated alike.

Of course, James' morality was so foreign to the times he found himself in that all he could do was abide by his internal morality for those that he had contact with. He realised that for whatever purpose he may have been in this very foreign world, that it was not to change the entire structure of society. He knew that this required technology to allow people not to be bound to the land, for this was the activity that took up most of the labour. But even in other industries, society was bound to labour intensive jobs that simply had to get done in order that the society functioned.

The introduction of technology was not as simple as suddenly creating a tractor for instance. In order to do something this complex meant the advancement of so many other technologies that even if he wanted to, it would take centuries to free people from the labour that was the lot of most. Not only would it be necessary to accelerate technology dramatically but it would also need changes in society that was so staggering, his long quiet contemplation of perhaps advancing society, left him drained. James spent hours contemplating ways to improve the lot of the poor working class but was constantly frustrated, coming up with only ways to tinker at the edges but no real way to achieve anything major in a lifetime or even several lifetimes.

In the end, James realised that all he could do was keep to his moral code as best as he could for what he did and for those that he directly influenced and would have to be satisfied with that small token achievement. James, at this point, had no idea that he literally had centuries to put anything he wanted into action. He had no way of knowing that his body was not only immune to harm but was not going to age. He truly was, at least in this world, or construct that he had taken to calling it, immortal.

'My Lord?'

'Hmm', James said idly as he studied the text he was reading. It was supposedly the history of Rome but it seemed to be much more myth than fact, filled with superstition and supernatural beings.

James was lounging in the day area of his bedchambers, wondering what he would do this day. He had almost decided to journey to Veii to witness the siege. He vaguely recalled, it had lasted a staggering ten years and wondered why. He had noted that, to date, his hosts were happy to discuss family matters, intrigues with others in society, all manner of sexual relations but not politics other than in vague terms. He was unsure why this was, so he had not quite understood how a society so littered with Etruscans in high office would be at war with the remnants of that once mighty empire. He also could not understand why many of the guests of Marcus were Greek and said that Rome was a Greek city.

James was not aware, for instance, that his host was not just a censor of his thinking of what that word meant. James' knowledge of Roman history had missed this exceptionally important part of Roman life as it was abandoned before the birth of Christ. It was also rather patchy with a censor not being appointed sometimes. So James was unaware that while a censor was not quite the rank of consuls and praetors, Marcus held the very highest dignity of the Roman state. Thus, Marcus wielded enormous power.

Unknown to James, it was Marcus who examined the life of the very upper echelons of Roman society and determined the ranking of all Roman citizens. As soon as James had entered Marcus' house, he had been placed on the roll of Roman citizens at the very highest level. He was given a special status not previously used. Rebekkah had been listed on the roll as the 'unofficial wife' of James, Marcus being wholly unwilling to list Rebekkah as a slave. The census that Marcus was then involved in was the first where taxation on unmarried Roman men was imposed and no one in authority wished to impose any taxation on James.

Normally the status of a Roman citizen was determined by his rank, his sponsor, his father, his tribe and his material wealth. James had no father, no tribe and little material wealth. He did have three exceptional sponsors but this was not even known to him and he had only met two of them. To list James among the lower ranks, Marcus had thought could be found out by James and be disastrous. Therefore, James was listed just below the dictator of Rome.

Marcus sometimes had at his table, a soldier also called Marcus. Marcus Furius Camillus was truly fascinated by James and James in turn found his knowledge of warfare and his views on how to win the siege of Veii, to be much more along modern military lines than he had heard the Romans of this era used. Having been a soldier, James requested of Marcus to bring him military texts. Marcus Furius Camillus ensured that not only did James receive historic texts but that he also received contemporary documents detailing recent campaigns and current military thinking.

--James had been less that impressed with the current military thinking believing that the Roman state was particularly vulnerable to other states who decided to breach their treaties with Rome. The soldiers of Rome were not even paid. Marcus Furius believed that Rome needed an Army that was paid and professional. In principal James agreed but he wondered at Marcus Furius' motives.

Rebekkah was James' constant companion and slept in the sleeping quarters of his bedchambers. While the bedchambers consisted of a suite of rooms neither James nor Rebekkah was comfortable being separated. James had tried to get Rebekkah to sleep on the bed with him but she had refused outright, saying it was improper for a slave to do so. James only wished Becs, as he called her, to sleep on the bed because she slept on improvised bedding on the floor and he thought it quite uncomfortable. Still firmly entrenched in 21^st morality, he did not even remotely consider having sex with such a young girl.

He had grown quite fond of Becs and even the use of the pet name would cause her to blush right down to the front of her well formed and mostly exposed breasts. For her age, she had a spectacular body. James, having seen some very sagging breasts on women that were not even middle aged, designed and even sewed a passable and well fitted bra for Rebekkah, and she wore it very proudly even if she was completely naked from the waist down. But when she was alone with James, Rebekkah would take the bra off, folding it carefully and placing it under her pillow below James' bed. It was her most prized possession. Not even the gold and ruby necklace that James had bought for her meant more to her.

But Rebekkah was immensely frustrated. She had been taught how to pleasure a man or a woman and yet the man that she by now felt so honoured to be his humble servant didn't want her sexually. Rebekkah had tried all manner of enticements and had taken to wearing no clothes in the bedchambers. Even though James slept naked as well and thought nothing of hugging Rebekkah tightly to him when she professed fear, even that physical closeness had not persuaded him to do more than hold her. The best she received was a kiss on the nose or forehead which, while appreciated, just made Rebekkah that much more frustrated.

Rebekkah had even tried to run away but James had seen her leave, having put the bra and the bracelet on his bed before doing so. He let her get almost to the main doorway of the villa in which they currently called home before he bade her stop. James' voice could carry a long way and all members of the household heard the command.

James bade Rebekkah, shaking violently all over, return to his side. He was in a very open area and many household members were observing just how this strange man dealt with a disobedient slave.

'Becs, little fawn, why would you risk death by running away from me? Have I upset you in some way? If I have, I am sorry.'

Rebekkah was so very ashamed. Her actions had resulted in James showing weakness in front of servants no less.