The Hidden City

Another attempt at a fictional short story. It'll be my entry for the worst story in the blogosphere in the next Spherewide Short Story Symposium.

Marcus was getting tired. He had broken camp just before sun up and the late afternoon desert heat was starting to take his toll on him. He knew from talking with other traders heading west that he was getting close, but how much further could it be?

Marcus had been plying his trade on these sands for nearly 20 years now and had done fairly well for himself. Today, he was hauling a load of Italian wine and Egyptian grain - a prize load to say the least. Worth a small fortune it was. But only if he could find this city.

Marcus didn't know exactly where this city was. In all his years of trading he had never left the province of Syria, much less the boundaries of the empire. This city was a new addition to the empire. He had heard of it, knew of its supposed riches, but had never been there. He also knew that the city was supposed to be hidden and had trade routes to the east. What if he had already passed the entrance?

But surely that couldn't have happened. For such a supposedly rich city would have walls to rival those of Jerusalem or Damascus. And he knew that he had not passed any city walls today.

Another trader came along. Marcus asked where he had been. The trader indicated he had been in the city and told of its riches. He even showed Marcus the aureii he had received in trade there. There had to have been at least 10 and he was only trailing one mule, not two like Marcus.

"Where is this city?" Marcus asked.

"Just over the next ridge. Follow the path to the left. You'll recognize it as soon as you see it. Trust me," the trader replied.

Marcus could see the next ridge ahead. He figured it would take an hour or so to get over it to find this "path." Looking at the sun, he figured he had at least three more hours of daylight left. So he took a drink from his water pouch and began the trek towards the ridge.

As he came over the ridge, Marcus was expecting to see a grand city with massive fortifications. But instead he saw more desert as far ahead as he could see. He saw the path the last trader had told him about. He saw the turn to the left. He also saw that it turned into a crevice in a cliff. "Now how could there be this grand, wealthy city in a cliff?" Marcus asked himself.

Now more on curiosity he continued and followed the path as it turned into the crevice, known locally as a siq. It was imposing. The cliffs must have been as tall as the walls of the Amphitheater in Rome and they had this beautiful reddish orange color to them. But the path was just that - a path. Surely a rich city would have a stone road. These barbarians had a lot to learn about the ways of Rome.

But then as the siq began to make a slight turn, Marcus came upon a stone road that was better maintained than anything he had seen outside of Rome itself. He also noticed water flowing down channels in the walls. Could these people really have aqueducts?

Ahead, Marcus saw a shrine. "Ah. I will stop and give my blessings to Jupiter for having safely delivered me to this place," he thought. But as he approached it, he noticed that there was no figure of Jupiter or any other god for that matter. There was only a square inside the niche. There were offerings around the shrine, but what kind of heathen worshipped a square? This made even less sense to Marcus than the Jews in Judea with their Yahweh. But so long as they used Roman money, he didn't care. The gods would see to their punishment.

Off to the right of the shrine Marcus noticed a pool. He took the mules over and let them drink as he refilled his water pouch. The water was cool, not what he expected to find here in the middle of the desert. This place was turning out to very interesting.

Refreshed from his cool drink, Marcus continued down the road. He studied the wall of the siq as he walked down. He noticed that there were niches cut every so often and that they had lit oil lamps in them. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen a lighted road heading into a city. Some of the wealthy cities would have lighted roads within the walls, but never outside.

The road down the siq must have been at least a Roman mile. It just seemed to go on and on, twisting and turning among the cliffs. Every so often he would pass another shrine to the holy square, each one with more offerings than the last. After the last shrine, he noticed that the siq began to narrow and the cliffs seemed to get higher and higher. Soon they were almost closing in over the top of him.

And then he came around the final turn in the siq and there before him was one of the most beautiful buildings he had ever seen. It must have been as tall as the great statue of Nero back in Rome. Four great columns across the front with some of the most intricately carved capitols he had ever seen. Two giant equestrian carvings either side of the portico, each at least five times life size. It wasn't until he started to study the great urn beneath the pediment that he realized that it wasn't a building at all. Instead it was a carving in the side of the cliff.

As he looked around, he noticed that there was nothing to the left, but that the road continued down to the right. So off down the road he headed.

As he was walking along he studied the buildings around him. They must have all been two or three story buildings. Each was at least half as tall as the building at the entrance and each was nearly as intricately carved. Door pediments worthy of the Palatine, columns and facades worthy of the best that were had to be offered in the Greek speaking world. The beauty of this place was simply amazing to Marcus.

Soon he came to a widening in the canyon. Here was the market, but up on roads carved into the sides of the cliffs above the market were some of the most beautiful homes he had ever seen.

Marcus approached one of the market vendors to inquire about a place to stay for the night.

"Have you an inn for travelers, good sir?" he asked.

"No, we do not. But you can stay with me. I have a humble home just across the plaza here. Come. You will be my guest this evening," the market trader replied.

As they entered the home of the market trader, Marcus noticed that the walls contained one of the most interesting paintings he had ever seen. It was as if the wall had been striped with reds, oranges, blues, greens and yellows in a loose banding pattern. Marcus touched the various colors to see if maybe he could identify the pigments used - they must be worth a fortune.

"Those are not paint. They are the natural coloring of the stone from which the house was carved. Quite impressive is it not?" the trader told him.

"This is not a paint? No stone could possibly be colored like this," Marcus exclaimed.

"No? Here let me show you." And with that the trader took a hammer and chisel and broke off a piece of the corner, which he then handed to Marcus.

Marcus was stunned. The piece of rock he was holding was banded all the way around, as was the wall from which it was taken. "Incredible," was all that he could come up with to say.

"Come," the trader said. "Let me show the rest of my city. It is growing again now that the Romans have taken over."

As they left the trader's home, they continued down further into the city. The trader showed Marcus the new amphitheater, the new Temple to Jupiter ("Built for the Romans, not for the locals."), and the new Roman palace high over the city. Marcus noted that the Roman buildings were constructed of quarried limestone, whereas the native buildings were carved directly into the cliffs. Marcus inquired as to why.

"Simple," the trader replied. "The gods shake the earth here every so often. Free standing buildings, like the Romans are building, will be destroyed. Our buildings, which are part of the earth will survive, just as they always have."

"Why do many of the buildings have facades that are upside down?" Marcus asked, as that had been one of the most curious things he had noticed in this fascinating city.

"See the openings just below the point of the facade?" The trader asked.

"The second story windows?" Marcus ventured.

"Ah, but they are not windows. They are tombs. You bury your ancestors in the ground. We keep them in our home. Those are their tombs. What you call the facade is in fact their staircase to the heavens. Do you understand now?"

This was one strange place, Marcus thought.

That evening, Marcus and his host sat down to enjoy a sumptuous meal of meat, vegetables and fruit. It was one of the best spreads Marcus had seen since he sat for dinner with the general Vespasian in Caesarea. They talked of business and of their lives in general. It was all in all a pleasant evening for Marcus.

The next morning the trader pointed Marcus towards the businessmen that would be most interested in his wine and grain. Marcus ended up selling his goods for nearly 45 aureii, not bad for a 20 aureii investment in Joppa. He bought some rare spices to take back with him and left town headed back west with two mules of spices, 20 extra aureii in his coin pouch, and a pack full of foodstuffs given to him by his host the previous night. He also had his piece of striped rock so that he could prove his unbelievable story.

As he crossed the first ridge, he came across a trader heading east.

"Do you know where this city of untold wealth is?" he was asked.

"Just over the next ridge. Follow the path to the left. You'll recognize it as soon as you see it. Trust me."

And with that he continued his trek west, enriched by his adventure.