Prologue 3
The interior of Senate Hall was sixty feet in length by forty
feet wide. There are three broad steps that had five rows of chairs to seat the
three hundred senators. The walls were veneered in marble two-thirds of the way
up while the rest are plaster to the ceiling. At one end of the hall was the
status of Victoria, the figure of the goddess standing on a globe, extending a
wreath; a sign of seeking alliance or peace treaty with the foes. That corner
was named the "Altar of Victory". The flooring of the flooring was
the art technique of opus sectile, in which the the materials are cut and
inlaid into the floors to make patterns. That day Emperor Commodus
seated there on the seat provided to him while he listened to the members of
Senate spoke on issues which battered their egos. There was intense shouting
which each Senators tried to made their voice heard to the other, but the Emperor
was getting impatience. He was to stop the debate when one of the senators
stepped from the row of seats and raised his voice to be heard.
"Senators, hear me
out." The elderly member walked along the row of seats to made his point.
"The citizens of Rome needed their concern resolved and not be given lip
service."
The other members quiet down
while the elderly member spoke his views. There was silence while one was to
speak when the Emperor voiced out his comment. Nobody in the Senate dared to
challenge the Emperor when he was in that mood.
"I had heard
enough." Emperor Commodus spoke to the Senate. "Get the Consul to
clean the streets."
Emperor Commodus then stood
up and called for his exit from the Senate. He motioned to the Senator who
spoke earlier. The Senator who walked up to his Emperor and bowed.
"Senator Brabatio at
your service." The elder man smiled. He was invited to join the Emperor
for a meal. It was a few more to come and was offered the position of Consul
should Brabatio want it.
Brabatio never took it but he
made an acquaintance of the Emperor.
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