The Wild Fields

by Purple Hazel

  There, the Genoese transformed its marketplace and port from a largely regional trading center, into the world’s largest slave trading mecca of its time. Adept at plying this business of trading in human cargo, the Genoese brought their centuries-old skill and cunning to the industry of slavery, turning the traditional local practice of forcing captives of war into indentured servitude into an ongoing demand for the hunting and capturing of peasants from the Russian countryside. As the region came to be dominated by nomadic herdsmen from the east, the business of raiding and capturing white slaves from Lithuania, Poland, the Balkans, and Russia became a lucrative proposition.

  The city’s layout reflected this focus on operating an international slave market. The entire town seemed to be built around its Great Market, and the Main Hall anchoring its center dominated the skyline. Designed by the Venetians and added onto by the Genoese, the architecture there was predominantly wood frame buildings of one to three stories, built out of wooden beams and planks then covered in stucco. The whole town was thus some variation of white, tan, beige, or gray plaster, along with red clay tile shingles on top of every roof to give the city a Mediterranean-looking appearance.

  Constructed on a sloping inlet on the shores of the Black Sea, the city had an ancient sewage system which operated via a network of street drains to pipe waste out of the city and into the Black Sea through thousands of yards of clay pipes. Servants each morning simply dumped their chamber pots and waste buckets into the drains, and an aqueduct which brought fresh water into the town from lakes and streams in the nearby hills gently washed the city’s filth down to the sea. The system was durable enough, but as the population grew due to the burgeoning number of slaves living there, this could often lead to sewage overflow; and if the rains were particularly heavy come spring time, the drains flooded, causing a foul stench to remain throughout the city most of the year.

  Caffa was protected from the landward side by a large castle commanding the heights above the town; then an earthen wall protected entry into the city. However, the common method for enemies attacking Caffa in the past had usually been via the seaward side. The most famous exception to this was in the 14th century when the Mongols again besieged the city—this time from the land—and used dead bodies infected with bubonic plague to be flung over the city walls via catapults. Refugees from this battle ended up spreading the disease to Constantinople and subsequently throughout Europe, killing an estimated twenty-five million people. That’s why the city of Caffa drew most of the blame for originating the now-infamous “Black Death.”

  The slave market itself was a truly diabolical operation, employing hundreds of people from the city. The facility and its supporting operations covered almost a full square mile of the city center. Horseshoe shaped with an opening two hundred yards across, and large colonnades ringing the length of nearly all four sides, the Great Market was anchored at the far end by a Main Hall which even had a European style spring-driven clock located in the façade at the top near its domed roof. This gigantic device was important because whenever it struck noon, this meant the main slave auction was about to commence.

  The daily slave auction was held inside this Main Hall, which towered over the city center and was roofed in the same red tile as most other buildings in the town but capped with a large dome at the center which gave the interior a cavernous feel. A large round ‘oculus’ at the top of the dome about fifty feet in diameter, allowed sunlight to come in during midday, lighting the interior effectively enough for the traders and slavers to conduct business. Meanwhile, the walls were lined on two sides with additional booths separated by colorful curtains hung from partitions. From these booths merchants sold expensive linens, garments, jewelry, and assorted implements for binding or disciplining newly purchased slaves. Items such as canes, flails, collars, and shackles were sold there.

  The far end was where the auctioneer’s platform was located; and that’s the first thing one noticed when entering the building when it was empty. On the back wall, this ‘stage’ ran nearly forty feet wide and twenty feet deep, with steps at either end to allow slaves to mount it and then descend the other side after a bid for them had been accepted. The successful buyer would then exit with them out a side door where they’d be given possession of their purchase. In the center of the stage was a small dais where the prospect could stand and be seen easily by anyone in the chamber. The entire structure, including its outbuildings, prisoner paddock in the back, and interior hall was easily 10,000 square feet; and packed auctions could often include over a thousand people. Twenty to forty slaves could be paraded across at one time, depending on what type they were; but this wasn’t the only way slaves were purchased.

  Field workers were usually the first to be displayed, with less desirable ones sold off beforehand—in “lots” of twenty to a hundred—to wholesalers who in turn sold them off to lower level traders out in the main plaza area. More effeminate male prospects usually ended up out there,, being sold under one of the colonnades to buyers looking for body slaves, house servants, or inexpensive male concubines. Less desirable females were usually distributed in the same manner and for similar functions such as laundry workers, maids, cooks, or seamstresses. However, the main event would always be the auctioning of young virgins for use as concubines to the wealthy aristocracy whose ministers and viziers would pay dearly for such high quality flesh.

  Each trader participating in this main auction would fork over the normally expected tax to enter the Main Hall and purchase delectable prospects for their masters’ harems all across the Ottoman Empire. Of course, the entry fee into the Main Hall often lent itself to bribery and negotiation when it came to ensuring a favorable location on the auction floor. Being close to the stage during the auction improved one’s chances of securing a good purchase. So to that end, the more savvy buyers learned to sweeten their entry fee with a generous gratuity to the city official admitting them. This got them escorted to the front, or near enough to it, to gain an advantage over competing bidders inside whenever a tantalizing prospect would be brought forward for sale.

  Auctioneers for that matter learned to recognize their more well-healed buyers; and in the mornings before the main auction began; more often than not these wealthier merchants would influence the auctioneer as well, with a generous gift just to make sure they got first crack at the more beautiful prospects. The ones who knew how to work the system, and who had the financial capability to do so, made the best deals for themselves and their clients.

  Behind the main hall was a gigantic paddock which held up to a thousand prospective slaves. It was split down the middle by iron bars which divided the prisoners by gender and allowed potential buyers to get a first-hand glimpse of the women and men soon to be offered for sale. On any typical day, most skilled buyers had picked out exactly who they wanted to purchase already during the morning; and only their representatives then attended the actual auction that afternoon to secure their preferred choices. In this manner, the best, most desirable females or males ended up in the harems—or working on the largest plantations—of the wealthiest individuals.

  Ludmilla and Tatyana ended up being sold off in that very same manner, in that their respective categories of slave types meant they were shuffled right to the main holding pen on the same day (after the Tatars had been paid for them that is). They were now sole property of the city auctioneers to sell and make a profit. That’s how Ludmilla was able to finally see Tatyana one last time before she was sold.

  * * * *

  Ludmilla had experienced quite a busy morning being marched in with about five hundred candidates. Before entering the pen, she was forced to wash herself in the yard area next to it, using a bucket of water shared by at least twenty other men before being directed inside by a rather tall and intimidating looking African with scars across his chest and back. His face was disfigured, and part of one of his ears had apparently been sliced off by some cruel master years before. He spoke little—m
erely grunted for the most part—gesturing for Ludmilla’s group to enter the giant cage to join several hundred other males awaiting their turn on the auction block. But when Ludmilla walked in, that’s when she saw the females on the other side of the twenty foot high fence separating the two sexes. She felt this might be her only chance to find her lover, so she immediately began working her way through the crowd of men toward the barrier.

  This task proved to be quite complicated, though, as even more men were packed in right after her, and the struggle to get across became extremely difficult as she wormed her way through. Muscling her way through the packed pen full of able-bodied field hands, Ludmilla eventually got across the dusty dirt floor to the twelve foot high cage wall dividing the males from females; however, the place was so full by then, it took her half an hour just to move a mere twenty yards! Therefore it was some time around mid-morning before Ludmilla could finally look for Tatyana across the sea of sweaty bodies suffering in the heat inside that crush of people.

  “Tatyana? Is Tatyana here?” she kept screaming across the last few heads and shoulders of large sized men who were also attempting to find loved ones on the other side. And even as she did so, a few more licentious souls among them were cat-calling and making lewd comments. The females on the other side largely tried to ignore those brutes on Ludmilla’s side of the fence. Yet still she tried and tried to gain their attention. One remarked rudely to her in Russian, “Idi k chertu! (Go to hell)” and another added, “Fool, there’s likely a hundred Tatyanas here.” Then yet another taunted her with, “And there’s a hundred more coming in right after us, boy. You’ll have to try and find your Tatyana later.” A couple women around her began to chuckle sardonically.

  Their callousness confused Ludmilla, but if she’d known more about harems and concubines, it wouldn’t have surprised her. Why should they fear their fate, really? If they were purchased by a wealthy Sultan, well, their days as a lowly peasant girl or shopkeeper’s daughter would now be at an end. Many, especially the more fortunate ones, could very well look forward to a life of relative luxury somewhere down south in a Turkish harem.

  Reality was in fact quite different for most slaves, true. But generally speaking, slaves were kept for only seven years and then granted their freedom, according to Muslim tradition. It varied, depending on the master, but the more valuable a slave was, the better they were cared for. Ironically, some of those anxious women in that crowd had little to worry about. Some knew that their lives would likely improve, and no doubt many had heard nothing but the worst stories coming back to Russia from the few who’d actually escaped slavery or gained their freedom. However, on this day apparently, more than a few had heard the rare but fantastic stories of women ending up as the wife of a rich Sultan or a royal Pasha.

  Prime field hands would benefit from a similar reality. They’d be sent to work on plantations or farms somewhere in the empire—perhaps even finish their servitude and go on to have decent lives if they were willing to convert to Islam. Galley slaves, house servants, and basic laborers, by way of comparison, would more than likely suffer terribly and die miserably within a few years. It all depended on their master and his temperament; but again it mostly had to do with their perceived value. A prime field hand was valuable. An ugly housemaid—not so much. But a virgin concubine? These would be handled with great care, spirited across the Black Sea to some palace in Istanbul, Edirme, or Bursa. After that, of course, their fate rested on their willingness to please their master and satisfy his needs.

  To Tatars, whose women were notoriously unattractive, white slave girls were far more appealing. To rich Turks, especially those in the aristocracy or members of the royal family, a white virgin female was exotic. With a little luck, a girl like Tatyana could end up living a very comfortable existence that would last at least as long as her looks held out.

  Ludmilla would not relent, though, and as she kept begging and pleading with the crowd of beautiful women on the other side, she slowly but surely gained their sympathy. “Please, please help me find her. She is my one true love. We were to be married!” begged Ludmilla convincingly. A few of them joined her cause, and began asking around if there was a Tatyana there. Ludmilla clarified, “From Belgorod…Tatyana from Belgorod! Please find her comrades!”

  Many of the men around Ludmilla scoffed at that however, taunting her mercilessly. One admonished her mockingly. “She’s not going to be yours for long,” he remarked. “In an hour or so, some rich Turk will own her!” This drew a few cynical chuckles. Then another chimed in cruelly with, “Tochno (exactly), it’s too late now, boy. You won’t see her again!” But just like what so often happened to Ludmilla in similar circumstances from her past, men with integrity emerged from amongst the crowd to support her.

  A very tall and muscular fellow—a captured soldier from the Russian Army—took up Ludmilla’s cause and shouted “Zatknut’sya vsekh vas! (Shut up all of you)” Then he backhanded one of the more vicious and heartless ones in the bunch who had been mocking the very determined Ludmilla. That put an end to the abuse, and even some of the more cynical of the lovely girls on the other side changed their attitudes as well. Other men on Ludmilla’s side of the fence who’d remained silent up ’til now also joined the campaign.

  Over the next few minutes, a movement arose as ten, then twenty more joined in with the struggle to find “Tatyana from Belgorod” among the swelling numbers of beautiful females being packed into the female side of the holding pen. It was getting later in the morning, and time was running out. If Ludmilla was going to find her, the time was now; or it would never happen at all. Ludmilla had maybe an hour before the auction was to begin.

  What a sight it was! Ten turned into twenty, then twenty turned into fifty spirited souls bellowing out the name “Tatyana! Tatyana from Belgorod! Which one is Tatyana?” Soon everyone nearby her was pulling for Ludmilla to find her lover—even the men who’d been rude earlier. And on the other side, a similar thing was occurring. Everyone who could hear the chanting and calling out was either eyeing the drama unfolding or joining in enthusiastically to help. It gave everyone a chance to assist a complete stranger who was in need; and it gave them all at least a moment or two of joy in doing so. It gave them a chance to be human beings once again.

  “Tatyana…the innkeeper’s daughter!” shouted Ludmilla. “Find her comrades, please!” And on the female side of the pen, the message was relaying through the crowd. It took quite a while, but finally a swell of excited cheers arose from far across the prisoner paddock. It seemed someone had been found. Someone had finally been identified as “Tatyana from Belgorod!” Ludmilla heard the message being relayed across, and in some miracle of chance, with hundreds of desperate people in quite horrible circumstances still trying to be of assistance to a fellow prisoner, a woman near the barred fence suddenly hollered over the heads of the other women near her, “We found her, comrade! Are you…Lyev?”

  Ludmilla screamed out, “YES!” and the men around her, as well as nearly a hundred women packed tight against the bars began to cheer wildly at the news. The big soldier screamed out, “Bring her to the fence!” But there was no possible way to do so—the prisoners were far too hemmed-in to squeeze anyone through. “Lift her up then!” yelled the giant Russian, in a voice so forceful and leader-like that the women hastened to comply. “They’re lifting her!” a loud voice screamed in acknowledgment from somewhere in the crowd of women. And to that, the excited people who’d been rooting for Ludmilla’s reunification with Tatyana gave out yet another triumphant cheer of relief.

  The two crowds then settled down to a roar of excited murmuring and happy chuckles. Only Ludmilla spoke then, thanking the women who’d supported her with, “Bol’shoye spasibo!” Presently, a large group of excited females could be heard far off—discussing, arguing, and struggling for a moment, then an even bigger wave of murmurs swept through the crowd of women as suddenly a head full of brown hair poked up above the crowd of packed-in
women. It was Tatyana! And Ludmilla could now see her searching across that sea of humanity. At that point it was Ludmilla who realized…she, too, needed a boost from her male comrades!

  Ludmilla could barely turn, but managed to look over her shoulder at the big Russian who had taken command of the situation so effectively. He was about ten bodies away from her, but he could make out the desperation on her face nevertheless. There was no doubting what she needed from him now.— He took the hint.

  “Podnimi otroka! (lift him up),” he snarled at the men nearest Ludmilla, and in a flash the hot sweaty prisoners reached down between Ludmilla’s legs to hook an arm under each thigh and hoist her up onto their shoulders. The struggle to lift her was complicated, by the crush of bodies packed in around them, but the men succeeded nevertheless. Soon Ludmilla was on their shoulders and towering above the cheering crowd like some war hero who was being lauded by his loyal compatriots.

  Tatyana now recognized Ludmilla and screamed out “Lyev! I love you, Lyev! Oh, my darling, you’re okay!” This caused a tide of cheers to erupt from the happy throng of inspired prisoners. Ludmilla screamed back, “I love you, too, my dear!” but Tatyana could barely hear her over the cacophony of sound.

  The noise of the crowd and the busy marketplace around them was now too overwhelming for them to communicate; as people started packing in around the slave paddock to check out the day’s offerings. Tatyana reached out for Ludmilla excitedly, desperate to touch her hands, but the distance between them was too great. No one could do anything more than stand shoulder to shoulder or back to front, and no one could move side to side either. It was a struggle even to turn one’s head. But everyone tried nevertheless. It was inspiring seeing two lovers saying their last goodbyes to each other. More than a few began to weep with joy.