The Emperor's Virgin - Sylvia Fraser

Chapter 1 p.15~p.26

A September morning in the Forum. Senators, recently returned from summer at their country villas, greeted each other on the steps of the Senate.
A man whose name is Maximus Marcus, in red-plumed helmet and scarlet military cape, entered the Forum by th sheet known as Silversmiths' Rise. It's about 15 years for Marcus had been absenced from Rome, he had seen many wonders---the Great Pyramids, brooding and impenetrable, sentinels of the desert; the Acropolis, ascetic and inspiring as it glowed on its hilltop.
As Marcus strode along Sacred way,the oldest street in Rome, he felt energized by the mass and magnificence.And he jostled his way through the crowds jamming Scared way, aided by his unusual height and the prestige of his uniform. As he entered Sacred Square, he was repulsed by beaters waving myrtle brooms and shouting, and then he saw a parade that a virgin was being initiated into the cult of Vesta. Gazing into the girl's face Marcus felt a shock of recognition. Where had he seen that face before, yet not exactly that face?
After the parade Marcus cilmbed down the Aventine, glad he had visited his friend Julia despite Flavius Clemens' warning. As he re-enterned the Forum, he saw a curl of smoke from the brazen roof of the Temple of Vesta, and remembered the procession he had seen that morning. He remembered the faces of the chief Vestal, and also where he had seen it before: not her, but her twin. His friednd Nestor, who had died in the eruption of Vesuvius.Nestor had had a sister who became a Vestal. It was she . It had to be.