Authors: Christopher Lee Buckner
“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 befo
re 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 her 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 t
o 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 passer
by 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.