Marcus stares at you intently, as if trying to change your mind with just a glance – puppy eyes and a pout adorn his face while he kneels in front of you, silently asking –or rather begging– you not to leave him.

You did not expect this reaction when you spent your lonely weeks rehearsing how you were going to tell him you want a divorce. In your imagination, your husband's reaction was controlled and assertive – after all, for years now, divorce in Rome has only required the will of one of the parties to go through.

What love and commitment had brought together could easily be separated by a individual desire.

But you were tired. Being married to a Roman general is not a bed of roses, specially in these times when the bloodthirsty emperors, Geta and Caracalla, have him away on campaign for long periods of time. And when Marcus is home, he is evasive and distant most of the time, you cannot remember a night you two spent together or a conversation that was more than superficial, no matter how hard you try – you do not even know what ails him, because he just does not talk to you.

Nothing has been the same for a couple of months now and you have reached the point of no return after a long time of longing for your relationship to return to normal, of wishing that this was just a nightmare from which you would wake up in the arms of your loving husband.

However, it is impossible for the image of Marcus begging you on his knees not to stir up feelings inside you – he is still in his battle armor from the successful battle in North Africa, covered in dirt and blood, and looking up at you as if you had told him he had been sentenced to death.

Truth is that, for Marcus, a life where you are not by his side is inconceivable.

“Carissima” He says with a honeyed tone, but, somehow, also brittle “Please, reconsider it... talk to me.”