A Light in the Dark

"Fire! FIRE!" slaves yelled from the domus Mugilianus as the fire searched for flammables. Some slaves already caught in the fire and suffering horrible injuries before the first beams of the building started to come down. Most of the interior was engulfed in flames as the perpetrators made their escape but not without being seen. However, those who spotted them soon had another thing coming. The fire flew over to other houses. Due to the wind and embers soon many houses owned by senators were set ablaze. People screamed and cried as the vigils made their way to the scene. They tried their best but the conditions were too good. A massive fire arrupted on the Palatine Hill. On the street children ran, some on fire.. the screams would hunt those who'd live to tell. In t heir panic they would spread the fire further.

In the chaos of the night the fire went off the Palantine Hill onto the nearest sectors in the city. The vigils had their hands full and couldn't tame the fire in the night. When the sun rose, the city was still ablaze. A grand total of 12% of the cities surface was on fire. The vigiles took three days and nights before the fire could be quelled. Before it was quelled it engulfed and destroyed the temple of Apollo. Was this a bad omen from Apollo himself some wondered as the orange glow and thick smoke engulfed the city. Many of the senators left the city due to the heavy air pollution and given that their homes had been destroyed.

One thing many senators wouldn't think of is that the fire had taken many of the affordable housing in the city itself. A good chunk of Rome was now without housing and the people were angry. Angry that the vigiles had not performed as intended and angry that they had no shelter. The ineptitude from the ruling class to protect themselves and the people within the city made a new fire burning within Rome itself. Not a physical one but one against the rulling class. The senate had it's work cut out for them.

Temple of Apollo has been destroyed.
Palantine hill has been burned and most of it is destroyed.
Modifiers for a housing crisis (will add in later)

"Fire! Fire!"

The customary alarm woke everyone in the villa, from the lowest manservant to the domina herself. Crassus rushed to the balcony and glanced fire creeping over the roofs, already some of the trees bordering the villa were in flames, like gigantic torches, and one of the buildings started to get lit and licked by the flames. Crassus looked awe-struck how his own home was close to become a gigantic pyre, servants rushed into the dominus' room.

"Sextus! Fastus! Vitellius! Hurry, the documents, take every roll and book and record! Everything you can save, now!"

Crassus could lose everything, but not his own library, least so considering it housed his own speeches, all those pieces of oratory given along the years, and written down by diligent scribes. Also, there were documents pertaining his assets, debts, incomes and several other economical ventures that needed to be preserved at all cost. Scores of slaves hurried themselves, many rather pointlessly, like headless chickens, while Crassus' wife tried to save as much as she could from her wardrobe and family heirlooms. The silken courtains had already fell prey to fire, burning like a crisp in mere seconds.

"The ancestors masks! Hurry!"

The heat was going up and despite the slaves emptying the ponds in a futile attempt to quench the flames' thirst, a few of the villa's buildings were already on fire and the garden was slowly being consumed and turned to cinders, with an ashen rain falling over everyone's heads. The smoke spiraled and coiled around them, provoking them cough fits and the air was slowly turning unbreathable, there was little time left. Carts left the recint in a hurry, carrying whatever they could save, rolls and papers first, and them valuables that could be rescued from the fires. As no animal would be willing to pull a cart in such a fiery hell, slaves had to do it, with the senator's priced and trusted personal slaves guided and commanded them to push forward. Some streets were already blocked, by crumbled masonry, fires hot as a furnace or terrified citizens. It smelled of burning wood, concrete and cloth, but also there was the disgusting and revolting stench of human hair and fat melting away by the flames.

"Let's go! Jove forgive us!"

Crassus gave a last look to his burning manse, the frescoes being peeled out the wall, melting away, the smiles of Venuses and nymphs becoming distorted grims and then a memory as the painting disappeared, while the muscular gods fell under piles of rubble and ashes. A broken bust looked back at him from the entrance, the severe frown of an ancestor looking disappointed as everything fell into ruin. The fire was so hot that one could hear the marble cracking. Finally, there was a thunderous noise when the roof of the house fell and collapsed, throwing down the statues in the atrium. The floor in the vicinity was shaken by the impact and clouds of ash and dust were propelled upwards, as the fire licked what remained and roared in defiance, burning high and bright in the night sky. Crassus embraced her wife, whose face was covered by a veil, while they both, surrounded by a number of their servants, headed towards the Domus Publica.

The eels were boiled alive in their marble ponds, their empty eyes looking pointlessly at some point beyond the horizon as their flesh burned.

With emergency powers now voted upon him, Pius sent for a horse from outside the city so he might be better seen while commanding the relief effort. Trotting around the Palatine and the surrounding affected neighbourhoods, the Vigiles began to get to grips with the blaze, their efforts limiting the spread of the fire largely to a single hill. However, this destruction was catastrophic. Many houses and temples had been lost in the blaze, and the lives of those unfortunate enough to be caught in the beginnings of the conflagration were also claimed by Hades. Still the flames continued to smoulder, and now it was left to Pius to wonder exactly what to do as the sun rose and the exact toll of the carnage was laid bare for all to see.

Naturally, the first order of business was to attend sacrifices. To Pius, and all devout Romans, such a blaze could only have been wrought through divine disfavour. Animals from wherever were shepherded into the Forum for a mass slaughter by the priests, whose arms would surely ache after slaughtering what amounted to hundreds of cows, pigs, sheep and oxen. Whatever was left would be given as food to the hungry, and the animal owners would of course be duly compensated by the Republican treasury. Rites would carry on over the next few days, and all other public business was cancelled in mourning for the lives lost within the city. More than a few senators were counted amongst the number, which made the crisis all the more potent as suddenly some of the most distinguished citizens and families had instantly vanished.

The Vigiles, in the process, turned from something of a firefighting force into a quasi-police, patrolling the streets to ensure order was kept in place along with several neighbourhood watches established in the wake of the disaster. Anyone looting, robbing, or harassing those who had lost their homes would be subjected to military-style summary judgement, which Metellus hoped was enough of a deterrent to prevent any unscrupulous characters taking advantage of the disastrous circumstance. Any foreign entry into the city by non-citizens was banned, much to the ire of the Italians, as the Roman people collectively began to recover from the hangover of a horrific and devastating fire. An investigation was to be undertaken as to where the fire started, and whether any could recall suspicious activity around the time of the blaze's beginnings. Five hundred denarii was offered to any that came forward with meaningful information.

"Lepidus." Greeted the Consul, who was present on horseback directing the Vigiles in their efforts to douse out the flames licking at the now charred and blackened base of a temple. Pius looked dishevelled and worn out, dark circles under his eyes indicating that he was in severe need of a good night's rest. His tunic was stained with ash and soot. "I gather that you and yours are all safe?"

Using his villa, which was relatively undamaged by the fire, Quaestor Regulus begins speaking with the aristocracy affected and examining the property records of the Palatine on file. Such a devastation was unheard of in Rome and, for one of the sacred Seven Hills to be scarred, it was truly devastating. His doors were open to his fellow Quaestors and residents of the Palatine in order to fully determine the full cost of the damages. Barbatus feared it could potentially be in the tens of thousands if not more…