"Wow, what a sexy dress for a guard.", Juli almost shouted after seeing a dress with iron rings embedded in it. "What is this dress called?", she asked herself.
"Lorica Hamata. Huh... How can I even pronounce it?", Juli said while reading the book. Lorica Hamata was a flexible shirt made from interlocking iron rings. Guards also wore simple wool tunics below Lorica Hamata. A thick woolen cloak called "Sagum" was also worn over armor for warmth and protection. Their footwear was called Caligae made up of sturdy leather boots with good ankle support.
Juli looked at her sandals, which were made up of comfortable silk leather and had silk leather straps as well. Guards used to wear Cingulum Militare aka wide leather belt around the waist to hold the armor. Montefortino helmets generally called helmets were worn for the protection of the head and neck. But wearing a helmet was not compulsory for every guard. Guards also carried Scutum or Shield and Gladius or short sword with them.
"That is enough for today. I can't read any more culture.", Juli said while closing that book. But in that book, someone had left a big leaf to bookmark a page. She thought that she was tired enough and she'd continue it again in the morning. Because it was getting late, and she was feeling sleepy.
When she was moving toward her bed. She saw an hourglass-like object under the bed. It was an hourglass with some numbers marked on it. It was small and handheld, but it was filled with water. Juli thought that maybe it was a device to measure time. Because she hadn't seen a single clock in this world yet. She wanted to try it and learn more, but she put it on her bed lay there, and fell asleep.
"Nooo... Don't do this. Leave me. You can't do this.", Juli was sleep-talking. Her voice was trembling. She had a nightmare. A maid came and woke her. Juli's breathing was abnormal. She asked the maid to bring water for her. She saw something, she never wanted to see. "Just forget about it.", she told herself.
The maid came back with a silver glass of water. Juli drank water. A maid took her to the room next to her room. It was a bathhouse. She had a toilet with a properly installed water system in her room. But she didn't have a bath. The maids helped her to undress. The water was lukewarm. It was soothing.
Juli felt refreshed after having her worst nightmare. A maid scrubbed sand mixture and olive oil on her body. Juli was somehow amazed and unfamiliar with this body treatment, but she was just observing everything silently. After this, a maid took a curved metal object to scrape away the oil and sand mixture.
Juli vaguely remembered that she had seen this object before in a museum it was called "Strigil". She suddenly started to smile and praise herself for having such a good memory. But she also realized that her mind was only good at storing all the useless information and she still had no ideas for the problem she was facing right now. Instead of focusing on the problem she was admiring and learning this new culture.
She was making up her mind to think hard for a solution. Until she saw a ceramic pitcher with a ceramic faucet on it. It looked like a small fountain. She was still in her bath for beauty treatment. When her treatment was over, a maid covered her body with a large white towel. She thought again of white color.
She went to that pitcher a maid handed over her salt and a stick. Juli took that stick and used it to clean her teeth. She already knew that it was called miswak. Her maternal grandfather used it regularly and she was also familiar with it. Juli used that basin to wash her mouth and then left the bathhouse. She got ready and wore another similar white dress like yesterday. Even when she was sleeping. She wore the same dress. She had only removed her toga and brooches.
Juli went to the dining room and had breakfast with Quintus. The breakfast was simple. It only had slices of bread dipped in olive oil and honey. A variety of fruits were also presented. Quintus told Juli that he was busy and he had to go early. So, he won't be able to accompany her. He also apologized to her.
Juli thought that maybe her intuitions were right, and this guy was definitely interested in Livia. Even though Livia was their guest. He was treating her like a master of this house. Before going Quintus looked at her distrustfully.
Juli was stunned because of this gaze. She thought that there must be something wrong. She stood up and saw Quintus leaving the room. He was wearing a green wreath of leaves today as well. She was curious about these wreaths. She hurried and left for the study. She asked a maid about Flavia. The maid told her that Flavia would return in the evening.
Juli thought she had a lot of time on her hands to study more. She always had a peak curiosity for studying other cultures and history.
On her way to the study room, she remembered how enthusiastic she was to study history, but her parents had forced her to study sciences. That's why she ended up studying engineering. But she had no regrets in her life. After all, now she was able to study freely. Even though if her plans fail, she can come back and repeat the same cycle.
The study room was a giant library that had properly labeled sections. Juli's face became red. She was blushing after seeing such a fantastic library. Her mouth actually started to drool. But she controlled herself. She asked the librarian there to give her a record book. She examined the section and picked a book about wreaths.