[ WP ] Rome was not founded on the Tiber , but on the Mississippi .

“ Hail Cassius Missouris, ” the old Senator ’ s grip held strong as he clasped my wrist in greeting. Clodius Dubuques owed me no honors. But like most retired politicians, he ’ d never stop campaigning. Clodius ’ s grip on me tightened as he slowly lowered himself into the hot spring-fed bath only releasing as he found a spot on the submerged bench. Thought this bathhouse was two bluffs and a long walk from his villa, Clodius proclaimed the healing benefits of the minerals of these muddy, bubbling waters. 
 
 Also like a good politician, he asked around of the men in the bath of our businesses, our wives and sons. I told Clodius of the winter ’ s takings at the far north end of the Mississippis. During Clodius ’ s tenure in the Senate, he had been a champion of the merchant class, keeping tax and tariffs low. And, by me, he was repaid in kind with some of the finer firs of my trappings. 
 
 “ What word of your son, Clodius? ” I asked. Marcus Dubuques set out eight kalends ago with a legion marching westward down the Oreggian Way with orders to quell an uprising at the Denverine Peaks. 
 
 Clodius ’ s eyes brightened at the mention of his eldest, a general now and senator-in-waiting. “ A courier had tales of the Western legions not three moons past. Denverine was easily quieted. Why the freedmen of the buffalo rebel against safety and society, I don ’ t know. ” 
 
 An attendant of the bath, Aztecci by the bronze of his skin, worked oils into Clodius ’ s back as the patrician told of unrest further west. 
 
 “ Marcus pressed on after Denverine joined by three garrisons of the Platte. The claydwellers near Albuquerqus are in open revolt. The people in these arid lands had nothing but sand and huts of earth. Lived without laws, they did, without a respect for order, commerce, prosperity. ” His tenor rising as it once had when he held the floor addressing the Senate and People, “ no matter. ” His hand making a wave in the bath as he figuratively eschewed the claydewllers from his mind. “ Marcus will bring them to heel. March them to the Mississippis and on to the cotton and indigo fields of the south and east. ” 
 
 Clodius reached up and slid the fabric of the blue cotton tunic worn by the Aztecci through his fingers. “ There will always be a need for men at those tasks. ” 
 
 The old senator closed his eyes and we enjoyed the remainder of our baths.
