The Games

While young master Verus and I were in Gaulia, the rest of the family kept quite busy. The senator was planning to sponsor a gladiatorial spectacle in the local arena out of the goodness of his heart (and to improve his popularity when elections came round again.) There was much to be done. Not only did the senator have to acquire the necessary funds, he was busy securing gladiators and wild animals for the show. To excite the public for the upcoming event, The senator had written an advertisement for the show on his outside wall. A few weeks before the games, you needed only go to the market to know that the anticipation for the fight was tremendous.

The day of the games, the senator arrived early to make sure everything was properly organized and ready. Some of the giraffes and gazelles and one of the tigers had died on while in captivity which angered the Senator. Fortunately, all of the crocodiles were in fine shape which was unusual. The senator inspected them carefully to make sure they were in good fighting condition.

The crowd began arriving at lunch time, partially to get a good seat and partially because food and wine at the refreshment stand was free, compliments of the Verus family. As the crowd entered, they were given clay vouchers. The show was free, but it allowed the number of visitors to be tallied. As an extra incentive, the vouchers could be redeemed half-way through the show for more wine.

A few minutes before the show was to start, the rest of the Verus family arrived. Since the Senator was paying for the games, he and his family got the privilege of sitting in the special booth reserved for important people. A special effort had been made to ensure that no wine entered the senator’s private booth. This was to avoid Vera getting into another embarrassing situation as she had at the Emperor’s parade.

With a blare of trumpets and a pounding of drums, the fighting got under way. The games opened with the animal hunting. The senator had done his best to secure the finest bestiarii available. Nonetheless, these fighters were never as popular with the crowd. The animals were appropriately aggressive until the crocodiles were brought out. The animals were hot, dry, and cranky and the fighters could not prod them into doing much except hissing and lashing. In the end they were killed, but the public was very disappointed in their behavior and booed angrily.

After the animal combat was over, the matches between the gladiators began. There were many fights, all between skilled combatants. Ullia turned away and struck up a conversation with Vera. She thought that an interest in gladiatorial combat conveyed a disappointing lack of breeding.

Suddenly, there was a blare of trumpets as the last pair of fighters entered the arena. The senator had had the good fortune of securing one of the best and most loved gladiators available. Cassius Lutus, better known as the Scorpio, was one of the best and most famous retiarii in all of Rome. The crowd was excited and cheered wildly. Scorpio and his opponent, a samite, approached the senator’s stand and saluted him in the customary manner: "We who are about to die, salute you." Then there was another blare of horns and the fighting began.

Cassius was a very good fighter but the samite turned out to also be a very good fighter. The battle continued much longer than anyone expected. The crowd was excited and cheered loudly whenever one of the two gladiators landed a successful blow. Finally, The Scorpio was able to tire his opponent and expertly tripped him up in his net. He towered over his opponent with his trident poised and appealed to the senator as to whether the samite should live or die.

The crowd was pleased with the samite because he had fought so bravely against a powerful opponent. They put their thumbs down to indicate that he should not be killed. Only a few held their thumbs up, meaning they wanted the samite to be killed. Ullia meanwhile, had stopped her conversation with Vera and had turned back to the crowd in order to appear as magnanimous as possible. When she noticed the victorious gladiator, a faint smile crossed her lips.

The senator, who wished to please the crowds, also held his thumb down so that the samite might be spared. The crowd cheered and the loser was taken from the field, while Cassius held his arms up in victory. He came forward and the senator threw a purse of prize money to him, causing the crowd to cheer and stamp their feet in jubilation.

Everyone agreed the fight had been a tremendous success. Ullia insisted that Vera go home with her father since she wished to stay and chat with some friends. She strolled off towards the theatre as the senator and his daughter prepared to leave for home.

By the time Ullia came home, it was very late at night and everyone was already in bed. Grullius was still awake and let her into the house. He said he had never see her as happy as she was that night. And all the slaves were very surprised by the kindness she showed them all the next day, compared to her usual tyrannical demeanor.