The parents of Gyges, like those of Psyche, had been aristocratic Greeks; but having lost their property, they had moved to Rome to retrieve their fortune. Both were now dead. The mother died when Gyges was but a child; the father but recently. An old freed slave named Nana took care of the home of Gyges. She had been a second mother to him. By her tender care, and through the excellent education and training given him by his father, he had developed into worthy and successful manhood. At the age of sixteen he had mastered the art of wrestling; but liking horses, and preferring the excitement of a charioteer’s life, he had taken racing as a profession. So successful had he become that he had accumulated a neat fortune of a million sesterces. On this day Gyges had left his horses and had come to the rehearsal to watch Psyche in her fascinating movements. So delighted was he by her grace and charm that he frequently broke out with applause. When the rehearsal was over, and Psyche had received congratulations from the instructor and the other dancing-girls, Gyges said to her, “Truly, O Psyche, never have I seen thee dance so well.”
“’Tis the character I love best to portray,” answered Psyche.
“Dost thou feel too tired to walk along the Via Sacra?”
“All weariness flees at the sight of thee, O Gyges,” replied Psyche. “I could walk until evening.”
In order to reach the Via Sacra, they passed the Flaminian Circus, walked in the beautiful pillared porticos of Philippus and Octavia, passed the Theatre of Marcellus, went through the Porta Triumphalis, in the Servian wall, and entered the Forum near the Basilica Julia. The Forum was crowded. The lovers worked their way through the busy and noisy throng, and were soon among the shops that bordered the Via Sacra.
“What shall I buy thee, O Psyche?” asked Gyges, when they stopped before a jeweller’s shop.
“Nothing, my Gyges. I wish only to look at the beautiful objects displayed here.”
“But buying a jewel hinders thee not from regarding it with admiration.”
“True, O Gyges,” said Psyche, smiling; “but there are many things for which I have no use. Look at that chain with the small gold links and the hyacinth stones in the centre! Is not that graceful?”
“It may be.”