Where am I and how can I reach the Via Salaria ?" "You are not far from it," Hirnio told him.

"We are bound for Rome and if you join us you can reach Via Salaria with us by the road on which we are going.

Should you prefer to follow the road along which we have come, which is rough, but less roundabout, you can, by taking every turn to the right, reach the Via Salaria some miles nearer Rome than where our road will bring us out on it." "I'll join your cavalcade, if you have no objection," the stranger said.
Hirnio and I expressed our entire willingness to have his company.
Hirnio asked him: "Are you in any way related to Murmex Frugi ?" "He was my father," Murmex replied, simply.
"Was!" Hirnio repeated.

"The word strikes ominously on my ear.

Someone from this neighborhood, I forget who, was in Nersae since the roads became fit for travelling this spring and returned from there, or perhaps some wayfarer from Nersae stopped with someone hereabouts.