Chloe the Younger

Originally twelve years of age, small, and timid at the beginning of the novel, Chloe is the daughter of Chloe, a Greek slave girl, and her Roman husband, Laevinus. Chloe's mother, dying of heartbreak after the abandonment of Laevinus, leaves Chloe to be raised by her dearest friend and fellow slave, Melissa, in the hut overlooking the Villa Carracinia. Chloe grows into a beautiful young woman of seventeen, who learns how to sing and absorbs what scant intellectual knowledge comes her way.

Chloe enjoys going into the forest, and living out as much of her time there in freedom as she can. Back at the villa, she is beaten savagely by the overseer Davus, and then later cared for by Bion, the successive overseer. Chloe tends bees and cares for her goat, all the while continue to weave for the villa. At a young age, she...