Swords of Rome

by Christopher Lee Buckner

  “Yes father. I would be back by the week's end, just after midday. I promise!”

  “Rome is a dangerous place. I expect you to keep that in mind and return home once this festival has ended. I will hold Varro responsible if you do not. Is that understood, Gaius?”

  Gaius did not need to answer as he leaped from his stool and ran over to his father, throwing his arms around him, hugging him with all his might that his small arms could manage.

  “Oh thank you, father. I promise that I will do double my normal chores before I leave,” Gaius said enthusiastically while still holding onto his father.

  “That you will, boy. You had better finish eating and get yourself to bed, so you may start bright and early.”

  “Of course father. I will!” However, sleep would be allusive for Gaius for the next two nights, as his thoughts would be focused on the wonders he was bound to see. Never did forty-eight hours seem so far away.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Gaius looked on in amazement as the vast crowds of people passed, nearly cramming into every square inch of the streets of Rome. Never had he seen so many people in one place before, the very thought that this many souls could exist in the world was a new concept to his young mind. There were people of so many different sizes, colors and races. Men, women and even children walked and ran like chariot racers through the narrow streets and alleyways. Rome truly was a wonder to behold. Clearly, as his young eyes shifted from one sight to the next, his father’s words about this city not being a place for someone, his age was misleading, as he saw many boys and girls, some younger than he, running through the streets without care.

  The many voices rose like a choir of sound, making it impossible to single one person among so many. The street corners were lined with shops that sold goods from all corners of the Republic: spices and silks from the east, wheat and jewels from the south, and rare stones and crafts from the north, it would take a lifetime to see it all — an entire world, he knew nothing about. He thought for a moment he may never want to go home again.

  Gaius and Antony ran like wild horses through the dense crowds that hardly paid attention to them. They joined other groups of boys from time to time, until their attention was turned to marvelous attractions, from jesters performing feats of magic in the streets, to puppeteers and actors putting on shows on large and elaborately made stages. The volley of cheers and laughter constantly pointed them to new wonders.

  Gaius noticed that Julia wasn’t able to take part in the boy’s games as she was held firmly by her body slave, who had been charged with watching all three children. However, the boys easily distracted the slave as they continued their exploration of the city.

  Julia tried many times to break free and join them, but once the four rounded one street corner she managed to chase after Gaius, who attention was turned to a large gathering of people.

  Standing shoulder-to-shoulder, seemingly mesmerized by a spectacle beyond, pushing through the adults, he worked his way to the front of the pack. What he saw both scared and excited him. In the center of a large forum, a small circus of sorts was set up where dozens of street performers leaped into the air, twisting and bending in ways that shocked and amazed the onlookers. However, it was the wild animals that captivated the peoples focus.

  A burly man stood before the crowd on a stage. His voice billowed, easily heard over the crowd of hundreds of onlookers. Behind him, Gaius noticed a series of large cages, most of which were covered with thick, red cloaks. The sounds and shifting shadows behind the covered cages sparked their imagination as the beast master enticed the crowd, describing creatures from all corners of the known world; that no one would ever forget what they saw this day.

  “Beware the Man-Ape!” The beast master proclaimed as his assists revealed a cage which held a dozen small creatures that looked like hairy children gone mad, screaming and chewing at their iron bars that held them.

  “Behold a beast so powerful that he could tear your head clear off of your shoulders!” he bellowed at the top of his lungs as another, even larger cage was uncovered, revealing a bear, which roared loudly, brandishing its two-inch fangs, which caused more than a few of the onlookers to step back in near panic.

  “But none compare to the power of the next exhibit — A monstrous animal worshiped and hunted by the kings of the heathen savages of the East.”

  Julia ran up to Gaius after finding him among the crowd where she wrapped her arms around his, as the new cage was wheeled before the two. He smiled down at her as his attention was turned from the cage for a moment as her soft hands cuddled his. She gleamed up at him, her dark hair reflecting in the high sunlight as her smiled widened.

  Inside the cage, Gaius could see a shadowy silhouette pacing back and forth. He felt his heart beat faster with anticipation as both, he and Julia stood focused on the attraction. The beast master smiled at the two children, namely Julia as he gripped his chubby fingers over the red cloth.

  “This one especially likes the taste of little child,” the beast master proclaimed in a low voice, his dirty, gapped teeth smiling down at the pair. And then, with one hard yank of the thick cloak that covered the cage, he revealed to everyone the animal trapped within — one that many had heard of, but never seen with their own eyes.

  Within the cage, the iron bars seemed barely strong enough to hold the beast back, was an old silver mane lion; whose claws lashed through the gaps between the bars, stopping short just a few feet from Gaius and Julia, causing her to scream out in panic as she ducked behind Gaius for protecting, shivering horribly.

  “Beware the king of the dark Eastern lands!” the beast master proclaimed over the frightened crowd, which couldn’t help but take a few steps back as the iron bars hardly seemed capable of keeping the powerful cat at bay.

  Gaius stepped in front of Julia as she shivered behind him, both her hands tightly gripping his arms. He could feel her heavy panicked breathing against his back as he stood firm. If the lion should break free, he could not stop it from tearing through them. Regardless, he stood before her and would protect her no matter what.

  The old lion had numerous scars running across its face, roared again with so much force that even the beast master seemed a bit nervous as he stepped a few extra feet away from the cage. With just a nod to his men, the beast master directed them to control the animal as they placed pokers into the cage to invoke its rage and attention.

  “In just a few short hours, this king of all beasts will be unleashed in the arena. If you want a show, be there to see this, the most powerful predator let loose against the Republic’s greatest collection of gladiators every assembled. And I warn you it has a taste for human flesh,” the beast master bellowed as he promoted the gladiator games located just beyond the outer walls of the city.

  “Now, come one, come all, I have much more to reveal; witnessed wonders never before seen by Roman eyes!” The beast master directed the attention of the crowd to other sights, fewer violent animal attractions, but just as exotic: elephants and giraffes from Africa, prized horses and tamed bears from Hispania and Gaul, as well as rhinos, monkeys and colorful birds from all corners of the Roman Republic. Each animal was symbolic of Rome’s growing power over the natural world, and all Rome’s citizens reveled in that knowledge.

  As the crowd parted, Gaius heard Julia’s name called several times. She, on the other hand, didn’t seem to notice at first as she stayed behind him, still holding his hand.

  “Are they gone?” she asked Gaius, tears still rolling down her swollen cheeks.

  “They are,” Gaius answered as the lion’s cage was wheeled out of the forum once it had been covered once more.

  Gaius turned to Julia and knelt down so he could wipe away her tears. “Don’t worry, little flower, I can protect you,” he said with a soothing voice. She smiled at him, throwing her arms around his broad shoulder and said, “I believe you.”

  “Julia!” the body slave said as she reached down and took hold of h
er arm, pulling her away from Gaius. “I’ve been looking for you. Don’t you ever run off like that again! The master will have my hide if something were to happen to you. Do you understand?”

  “There was a big cat,” Julia told the slave as she was pulled away from the forum.

  “Yes, of course, and a lady such as you have no business being around such horrid creatures. Now come, we shall find your father and forget about the filthy animals you saw. Come Gaius. Do not linger.”

  Gaius was about to follow as Julia and her slave left the forum, but as he looked back one more time, he saw a new series of cages that had been hidden by the ones the beast master had been showing.

  He stepped forward as his eyes looked at one cage, in particular, housing five wolves that paced back and forth in the twenty-by-twenty cell. However, as he looked closer he noticed that one of the wolves, one that was entirely white, stood, seemingly staring right at him, calm as it was knelt down on its hind legs. His eyes were fixated on the wolf, for it looked eerily like the ivory wolf he had seen on his father’s breast plate, hidden inside the footlocker.

  Their eyes, boy and wolf, both blue, locked. Gaius found himself walking closer to the cage, wanting to see the white creature in more detail. However, as he neared a hand reached down and stopped him from approaching further.

  “Whoa, boy, you don’t want to get to close. Most of these animals haven’t been fed in days. We need to keep them starving for the games, or the show won’t be as entertaining for the mob,” a large bald man with a thick eastern accent said.

  “What?” Gaius asked, looking up as if he came out of a daze.

  “I said for the games. We starve them or else they won’t eat the slaves, and criminals sacrificed for the mob. So, just stay away from them, boy, and be gone with yourself.”

  As Gaius looked back toward the cage, to his surprise, he saw four wolves. The white one was gone.

  “Sir,” Gaius called out. The man turned back around and glanced down at Gaius, who indicated towards the wolf cage with puzzled eyes.

  “Where is the white one — the white wolf that was there moments ago?”

  The man looked puzzled.

  “The white wolf, sir. You couldn’t have missed it,” Gaius added.

  “A white one,” the man laughed. “Boy, if I had a white wolf I could make a fortune on it. Do you really think I would put it in the arena with the rest of these filthy beasts? Now, be gone with you. A white one,” the man couldn’t stop laughing as he turned and went back to his work.

  Gaius wondered for a moment if his eyes had been playing tricks with him. However, as Antony called his name, demanding that he hurry and rejoin them, he let the incident escape his thoughts, for the time being. There was still so much more to see and do before the festival was concluded.

  The long, hot day was finally drawing to a close. The excitement in the city died some. As the sun was set to go down in a few short hours, other nightly activities would take root that the more innocent daily enjoyments that had occupied Gaius’ mind were at an end. Now Gaius and Antony were with Varro, Antony’s father, but unlike earlier in the day. They were bored stiff as they waited for Varro to stop talking and drinking with his friends. They were standing outside a large wooden arena that had been built for the festival, just outside the city walls, where the gladiator games were being held. Not too long from now the group would be heading back into the city to Varro’ estate, to bed for the night before they left early the next morning to head back to the country. However, apparently they had come to the arena to see the final bout of the day, to see a gladiator that had been the main gossip of the event.

  Antony begged his father to allow him and Gaius to see the famed gladiator matches, but he refused time and time again. Instead, Varro allowed the boys to see the arena and the holding pins for the gladiators, who were displayed like the animals in the forum, free from the crowd to be mock, admired and feared. Now, Varro stood near a wine stand talking to his associates, while Gaius and Antony waited, listening to the cheers and jubilation inside the arena walls, wishing they could see the real action.

  Antony tried to occupy his mind by kicking stone, or throwing them at his father’s slaves, who pretended to enjoy it and attempted to dodge his playful tosses; Gaius was more interested in listening in on Varro’ conversation, or at least as well as he could as their topic was beyond his understanding.

  The men, who stood around a tall table, drinking heavily, wore the same colored, white, elaborately made togas or tunics. Varro’, however, had a long gold band sewn into his fabric, signifying that he was a senior member of the Senate.

  A heavyset man who seemed to drink his weight had been doing most of the talking, between long swigs of his wine, which spilled from time to time on his tunic. It seemed to Gaius that this man, who was named Marcus, was perhaps the most obnoxious adult he had ever heard, as his voice carried over the other men. It was impossible not to listen to what he was saying since his bellowing speech carried easily.

  “All I am stating is that those damn desert pigs think that they have the right to rule the entire world. First, we allow them to lay claim to Spain, then they side with pirates who attack our ships daily, and now this, sacking our settlements in Southern Gaul. It is virtually impossible for an honest man to make a living these days with all the disruptions in trade. By the gods, did we not win the war the first time around?”

  “An honest man in Rome, HA!” the youngest of the group laughed as he took a drink. “If you find one, please let me known. And besides, what would you have us do, Marcus, send our legions to Spain and forcefully remove the Carthaginians? They have a right to exist as much as you or I.”

  “Precisely my young Maximus; we should send our legions to Spain and wipe them out, and then on to Africa next. Better this be a Roman world than a Carthaginian one,” Marcus bellowed, believing that Maximus was agreeing with him, as he heard only what he wanted to hear.

  “And whose sons shall we send to fight this war, Marcus, perhaps yours?” Maximus added; his words were forceful and growing angrier.

  “Calm yourself, nephew,” Varro spoke as he placed his hand onto the young senator’s shoulders. “No one is talking about starting a war. Rome has had her fill of bloodshed after the last one. However, these recent acts serve to bait Rome into action.”

  “I don’t know, Varro. This new leader in Spain; what is his name? He seems a determined man, even more so than his father was,” Nero spoke next.

  “Pig slop! They are all savages. What could they do to the Republic that they haven’t already tried? I still say we march north and deal with this Hannibal now, before he becomes more trouble,” Marcus commented as he poured another cup of wine into his goblet.

  “It is so easy for you to make such thoughtless decisions, isn’t it? You may think of them as savages, but look what we nearly lost in the last war. How many ships did we lose, huh? Was it a thousand, or five thousand? And how many souls died with their bellies spilled open, rotting in the sun, fifty thousand, a hundred? You tell me, my dear friend. If we are to survive the next one, we must start thinking differently,” Maximus argued, but his words were falling on deaf ears.

  “Thinking differently isn’t what has made the Republic as powerful as it is. It is through force of arms, and that is what is needed to take care of our enemies,” Marcus raised his cup, speaking louder as if he was addressing the whole Senate.

  “And fatten your purse too, I take it?”

  “Please, Maximus, we all grow rich in war and trade. You included, my young friend,” Nero rebuked.

  “Perhaps, but I will not sacrifice the lives of my children to fill my purse with more coins.”

  “Hah! That is what I love about you my young nephew. You are so dramatic that I believe sometimes you missed your true calling as an actor; if only you didn’t have such a brilliant mind,” Varro said, almost mockingly, but speaking the truth.

  “I speak what is in my heart, uncle,�
�� Maximus replied.

  “That is understandable. However, I speak from experience, if you want to survive the game of politics, you’ll have to do more than carry your heart on your sleeve. All the passion in the world will not save you if you make too many enemies in the house. At least, the Carthaginians will give you an honorable death in battle,” Varro added as he spoke firmly.

  “Is that a threat of some kind?” Maximus asked sharply.

  “Of course not, I speak only from my own experiences. I wouldn’t be standing here having this entertaining conversation with you now if I hadn’t learned how to play the game. You would do well to learn it too, quickly, because I see great things in store for you. However,” Varro learned in closer, “One day you may have to abandon your conscience if you want to speak for the people and make the hard decisions that will shape the course of history.”

  “I am afraid that, uncle may be too high a price to pay,” Maximus exclaimed.

  Varro only smiled. The two stared at one another as Marcus continued on, changing the subject to other topics relevant to the Senate. Gaius on the other-hand grew bored listening to the four men speaking of matters that his young mind could not comprehend. So, his attention turned to the shops that lined both sides of the street which led to the arena.

  Most of the stores were ordinary. They sold mostly food and drink, which due to the heat had kept them busy in the late hours. A few shops sold various items of expensive taste: rugs, jewels, and pottery, clothing, gold and silver trinkets, to the wealthy patrons of the games.

  As he surveyed his surroundings, one stand, in particular, caught his attention. It wasn’t as well kept as the rest. It stood at the end of the block, towards a back alley that shaded in the shadows.

  Unlike the other stores, the owner did not try to entice every passerby to look at his merchandise, or make exaggerated proclamations that his items were the finest in Rome. Instead, the storekeeper sat, keeping his eyes forward as he smoked a curved pipe.