Via Appia

The moon reflected in wet cobbles all along the Via Appia. There is a sense in the night of something about to happen, the strangeness of the shadows thrown by monuments to the dead which line the street, the paradox of millions of little moons cast by one entity far above, a stillness in the sultry air.
I walked in exile from the party back at the villa, needing to escape the wildness of the alcohol induced excesses, the sumptuous opulence of the villa, the lingering slaves whispering in corners, the ridiculous proclamations of Cicero - flatulent at both ends through pomposity and wine - and the need to be out here in the quiet of the night.
I had been told the Via Appia is the host of bandits and prostitutes, that it stretches from Rome all the way to the sea and the beachside at Brundisium. Something tonight makes me want to walk all of it, to walk slowly and read the inscriptions, honour all the death with offerings until I escape the walls of Rome and after many months reach the waves and cleanse myself in them.
"My you are brave, such a  beauty walking alone in this place." A voice shatters the humming of the insects and a shadow steps forward onto the road. 
"Alerio" I should bow but here where no one is watching I choose not to, his praise is not a tribute but a warning, I let him know I understand this by not bowing.
"Incredible isn't it." Now his voice is quiet, looking as I did, along the length of the glittering cobbles.
"I should get back." I turn away to shake off his attentions pretending I will return to the villa but he follows.
"I'll escort you." He shifts his chest to straighten the toga across his shoulder. We walk in silence.
"Your brother sent me to fetch you." I would spit in gutter if I were alone - My Brother - who would have me wed to the nearest hobbled donkey if the price were right. "He worries about you." Oh, I see, this is the hobbled donkey. I give Alerio a quick glance. If I wanted to marry an offered prize this one would not disappoint but I have no intention of fulfilling my brother's selfish wishes. 
As we walk on silently there is rushed movement from the side of the street and suddenly a group of four men appear, filthy men from the road, wandering thieves their hair matted and their dirty hands unwashed and shiny from the grease of stolen meat.
"Go." Alerio indicates a monument meaning for me to hide there while he deals with them. My body tingles with fear. I dash into the shadows and hear Alerio raise his voice to try and make his authority over the bandits, perhaps he hopes men of the Cohortes Vigilum are walking nearby and will come to rescue him.
This is my chance, I slip off my sandals and run between the monuments illuminated silver blue by Sister Moon. I run and run, passing a circle of people clustered around  burning logs, they look up but ignore me - maybe fleeing women are a common sight in these parts. The land begins to rise and I am forced up, running out of breath and energy but forge onwards to the pinnacle of an incline. Then gasping I fall onto all fours and scramble under a bush, feeling its tiny thorns cut my arms with delicate precision.
I hear only my breathing, the rasp of cicadas and insects buzzing for some time until finally I relax, it appears no one is coming for me. I am free.
Through the tangled briar and its raised location I can see the amber glow of torches burning and the terracotta roofs of the congested winding roads of the city and below striking out from it the gleaming wet cobblestones of the Via Appia - the regina viarum (Queen of Roads). It leads south easterly away far into the distance plunging into the unknown suggesting a better tomorrow. I will sleep now and on waking I shall follow it until one day maybe I will wash my feet in the cleansing sea.