Fire is commonplace in Ancient Rome, particularly in the poorer districts. Quintus resides in the slums south of Palatine Hill and more often than not he awakes with a cough. Especially in the hot summer month where temperatures crawl towards a simmering 30°C, Quintus will find himself swallowing harshly to rid his mouth of the smoke and ash that has wafted through the open windows of his taberna.  ‘His,’ Quintus muses, is not quite right. The insula that he and his family li

The paralyzing sting of cool water wrapped around my hands, numbing them as I plunged them deeper into the fountain. Today was the Festival of the Sea, a day meant for showing one’s utmost respect to Poseidon, the god of the sea. I washed the remaining dirt off my fingers and scratched out the grime underneath my fingernails. I quickly proceeded to enter. The Temple of Poseidon is our town’s pride, with its ornate domes and thick ivory pillars adorned with intricate designs a

War with the Huns is hell.  The rusty operation of the hangar door ushered in the thin morning wind and dew. Dawn hauled itself over the horizon, where all the world shrank to the sound of passing wind on the airstrip, and the pungent smell of tar.  A Nieuport 17 fighter waited in front of the hanger, where my boots were scuffed with dirt. The sides of the fighter were patched with thin metal sheets, strewn on roughly with nails and a mechanic’s blessing. It was not unlike ca