Daughter of Mars

December 190 BCE. Magnesia, Lydia.

The Roman Republic had just conquered the Battle of Magnesia against the Seleucid Empire. Bringing an obvious Roman victory to the Seleucid War.

The conflict had ultimately ended. The battleground was all but deserted now, aside from the deceased and moribund soldiers. Who would be left behind for the citizens of Magnesia to take care of. The surviving soldiers and commanders had long since withdrawn to consume in their celebration. Uncaring of the troops who lost their lives so that they could secure the war.

The first to venture out onto the battlefield was a young pregnant periodontist. Agrippa had come out to harvest the teeth of the exhausted soldiers before the residents and looters showed up to take care of the corpses. She had counted on earning a nice profit for the dentures, she would make out of the teeth. She required the capital with a baby on the way. Her husband had been drafted into the military ranks and for all Agrippa knew, he could have been one of the lost on this battlefield. She prayed to the goddess Clemency that she would not recover her husband while she preformed her profane harvest.

She searched for the highest-ranking soldiers first. More often than not, they would have the strongest teeth and maybe a little something in their pocket. It was important that they were young, older men often had rotting teeth or no teeth at all.

Agrippa found her first victim. This kind of work used to disturb the young woman but after three years of war and following the Roman army collecting the teeth of the dead, she grew desensitized. She struggled to roll the man onto his back, her swollen belly restricted her movements. She knelt on the ground beside the commander and brought her pack down off her back. The sack at one point felt light but as time and the war continued on the pack became heavier with the weight of her unborn child and the five pounds of teeth had worn on her. The new mother could sense that her time was near; she had anticipated that this would be her last harvest, and she needed it to count.

Agrippa searched through her bag and grabbed a pair of iron tongs. With her exposed fingers, she pried the commander's mouth open and was struck by one of the worst smells. Blackened clotted blood ran out of his mouth then onto and over her fingers. Agrippa choked back a gag as she used the tongs to extract the first molar. She cleaned the blood off the tooth with her rag before dumping it into her bag. Agrippa reached in for a second but a biting pain shook her. As another came over her she gasped this time and lost her tool.

She rubbed her teeth and fumbled as she struggled to pick up her tongs. She yelped as the pain was greater this time. Followed by the sensation of water running along her inner thigh. Agrippa quickly realized her baby was coming. She got to her feet and took a step, but her shaky legs gave out under her. It was too late, she wouldn't make it back to town now.

Another sharp pain forced the mother to release a high pitch shriek and roll onto her back. She inhaled and exhaled deep breaths and felt a brief stretch of relief from the pain. Agrippa was terrified, alone and, worried about her baby being born in a vile place like this. The new mother cried out to the Goddess Juno for strength as another contraction overwhelmed her and she pushed with all her strength. She exhaled with relief when the pain ebbed. She reached down and felt the top of her baby's head crowning.

She cried out in agony as the next contraction came and she pushed hard. Her head fell back after the contraction faded and she reached down and felt little fingers.

With a shaky hand, she reached for her bag and accidentally dumped all the teeth she had collected. Her hand grasped the hilt of her knife and pulled it towards her. The young woman prayed to Juno again to allow her child to live as she reached down and cut herself open. Agrippa bit deeply into her lip and through the pain and constant tears she pulled out her own child.

She was tired but still pulled the child closer, clearing the blood and fluid from its nose and mouth. When the baby took its first breath, she knew she had made the right decision, her child would live.

Agrippa looked over her daughter for the first and last time. The mother cried for her child; she knew her baby would grow up alone. Tears spilled from her eyes. There would be no one to love her and care for her. These thoughts pained the mother greatly. Agrippa kissed her daughter's forehead, giving her one final farewell before her eyelids shut forever.