Davus

"Go away, annoying boys!/Abite, molesti! - Davus to Marcus and Sextus"Davus is or was a British man, formerly a slave of Gaius Cornelius Calvus and the overseer of his estate. As overseer and slave, he disliked Sextus and Marcus because they constantly interfered with his work, and feared being punished by Cornelius when he was angry. Owing to his willingness to beat his fellow slaves for failure to obey, they believed that he wished to be the slave master. He ended up in the possession of the Cornelii when he was captured and enslaved in Britain and auctioned in Rome to Titus Cornelius, the father of Gaius, in 50 AD.

Domitian eventually seized the Cornelii estate, selling off Davus and some other slaves. The Cornelii never discovered his fate, but they freed his daughter.

Living in Britain
Davus lived in Britain prior to his enslavement and is considered British. There, his family had owned a few slaves.

Capture, enslavement, and purchase
In 50 AD, Davus was captured in Britain and transported to Rome to be auctioned in the Forum as a slave. Davus was initially confused when the slave-trader whitened his legs with chalk, but he soon realized that this been done to all of the other newly-enslaved people. A placard was hung around his neck to indicate that he was British and was literate. He was then placed on a revolving stand, and bidding for him began.

Although he felt uncomfortable, he looked challengingly at the bidders. Titus Cornelius was in the Forum at that time with the overseer of his estate to purchase additional slaves. After seeing Davus's physique, hair, and blue eyes, he made a bid of 5,000 sesterces on him, and soon after became the owner of Davus. Afterward, Titus, over his overseer's objections, bid on Eucleides, a Greek from Rhodes, and ended up purchasing him for 35,000 sesterces.

Davus and Eucleides were loaded onto a cart with Thracians who were also bought that day. Although Davus was extremely worried about what would happened to him, Titus Cornelius was considered a kind master, and, by 80 AD, Davus would become the overseer of the Cornelii estate.

Working in the garden
In 80 AD, thirty years after having been purchased by Titus Cornelius, Davus was now owned by his son, Gaius Cornelius Calvus. One day, while he was working alone in the garden of the Cornelii estate, Sextus and Marcus were shouting and running through it, which angered him. Suddenly, a statute fell into the fishpond, which caused Marcus and Sextus to laugh. Davus shouted at them and angrily ran toward the fishpond while they ran out of the garden. Davus then groaned.

Working early in the day
Later, when other slaves were working early in the morning before the sun had risen, Davus was siting under a tree in the garden instead of working. Cornelius, who was looking for Davus, was immediately angry when he discovered this, and scolded Davus, who immediately rose and began preparing to work.

The Cornelii prepare to depart for Rome
Later, when the Cornelii were preparing to depart for Rome, Davus was ordering slaves as they were loading their luggage onto their carriage.

Geta runs away
After the Cornelii had left for Rome, Davus called all of Cornelius's slaves into an open space near the house, which was soon full of slaves making a loud noise, because, as overseer, he was responsible for managing the estate in Cornelius's absence. Davus then shouted at them ordering them to be quiet and to listen to him, and explained that despite Cornelius's absence they are still required to work.

The other slaves then began murmuring to each other that Davus wanted to be the master, but then noticed that he had a stick and could beat them, and decided they therefore had to obey him, and, with the exception of Geta, returned to the fields. Geta did not return because he did not like or fear Davus.

That night, Geta prepared food and fled from the Cornelii estate. No one saw or stopped him. When it became day, he hid himself in the branches of a tree and went to sleep. Meanwhile, although it was not yet light, Davus woke up the other slaves and ordered them to leave the fields and begin working. He did not see Geta, however, so he asked the other slaves where he was. Davus was enraged and then worried, and immediately looked out of the estate's gate toward the road, but did not see Geta.

Capturing Geta
Davus called together the other slaves and asked them where Geta was, and no one was able to respond. Davus was anxious because he knew he would be punished by Cornelius if he failed to find him. He therefore sent groups of slaves to different parts of the estate to look for Geta, but none of them find him, so he ordered them to lead dogs into the open space instead. They let the dogs smell Geta's tunic so they can track his scent.

Soon, Davus was leading slaves with the dogs in the fields. The dogs led them through Cornelius's fields, passing streams and ditches, neither of which hindered the dogs, until they found Geta's footprints, but they still could not find him, and so Davus continued into the forest. Geta, who was still asleep in a tree, was woken up by the dogs barking. He was no longer able to flee and so sat in the branches, immobile and terrified, as the dogs were barking and the slaves approaching. Although he did not see the dogs he could smell them.

They saw the miserable Geta hidden in the branches. Davus shouted at Geta to climb down, which he did. Davus then dragged him by his tunic and beat him with his stick, and then ordered the slaves to drag him back to the estate and brand the letters "FUG" on his forehead.

Seizure of the Cornelii estate
Domitian seized the Cornelii estate and sold off some slaves, including Davus, due to Titus's support of Gaius. Although Nerva eventually returned the estate to the Cornelii, they never discovered Davus's fate. They did, however, free his daughter.

Personality
Davus dislikes interference with his work and was afraid of being punished by Cornelius. As the overseer, he was willing to beat his fellow slaves when they did not obey, leading them to believe he wished to be the slave master.

Relationships
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Davus's daughter
Davus's relationship with his daughter is unknown, aside from that it was apparently normal.

Gaius Cornelius Calvus
Davus is Cornelius's slave and fears being punished by him when he is angry.

Marcus
Davus dislikes Marcus for interfering with his work.

Sextus
Davus dislikes Marcus for interfering with his work.