nine o'clock
She occupied a villa about two miles from the city gates , where there were immense vineyards , festooned between mulberry trees . The vines were now hung with great purple clusters of grapes , promises of luscious fruits a little later , when the time of the Vendemmia should come in October . Then , there would be feasting and merriment among the servants , but no dancing or drinking , as was the custom on other grape plantations , so numerous on the broad Campagna around Rome . Before Martius had been sent away from home , by his step-mother 's orders , in the main hope that the poison of Christian belief would be drawn from his mind , he had been a student in his father 's office , going with him daily at nine o'clock and returning at two for the family dinner . Now , he resumed his studies for the legal profession , and once more walked proudly by his father 's side through the crowded passageways of the city and the broad , handsome streets of the Forum . Martius was a little taller than his father . Aurelius Lucanus was , like many another pagan , no great believer in the gods , although , partly from regard to prevailing sentiment , partly because of his business relations , he outwardly gave attention to the formal customs of the day .