Aurelius spent a rowdy night with his father, uncles, brothers, and older cousins. They acknowledged his accomplishment by drinking a cask dry, then embarking on a spine-tingling game of death dare. But he woke the next morning to an aching head, a wagon-load of barrels to shift, and six shipboard stalls to clear.

Aye, he’d had his shining moment, but he was still the sixth son of a lesser brother in a family of middle-class merchants. And that meant work. Even during fest...