The Gladiators. A Tale of Rome and Judæa

by G. J. Whyte-Melville

  CHAPTER XII

  A MASTER OF FENCE

  Hippias knew well how to maintain discipline amongst his followers. Whilehe interested himself keenly in their training and personal welfare, hepermitted no approach to familiarity, and above all never suffered asyllable of discussion on a command, or a moment's hesitation in itsfulfilment. He came now to put himself at their head for the carrying outof a hazardous and important enterprise. The consciousness of comingdanger, especially when it is of a kind with which habit has rendered himfamiliar, and which practice has taught him to baffle by his own skill andcourage, has a good moral effect on a brave man's character. It cheers hisspirits, it exalts his imagination, it sharpens his intellects, and, aboveall, it softens his heart. Hippias felt that to-night he would need allthe qualities he most prized to carry him safely through his task--thatwhile failure must be inevitable destruction, success would open out tohim a career of which the ultimate goal might be a procuratorship or evena kingdom. How quickly past, present, and possible future, flitted throughhis brain! It was not so long since his first victory in the amphitheatre!He remembered, as if it were but yesterday, the canvas awnings, the bluesky, and the confused mass of faces, framing that dazzling sweep of sand,all of which his sight took in at once, though his eyes were fixed onthose of the watchful Gaul, whom he disarmed in a couple of passes, andslew without the slightest remorse. He could feel again, even now, the hotbreath of the Libyan tiger, as he fell beneath it, choked with sand andcovered by his buckler, stabbing desperately at that sinewy chest in whichthe life seemed to lie so deep. The tiger's claws had left their marksupon his brawny shoulder, but he had risen from the contest victorious,and Red and Green through the whole crowded building, from the senators'cushions to the slaves' six inches of standing-room, cheered him to a man.After this triumph, who such a favourite with the Roman people as handsomeHippias? Again, he was the centre of all observation, as, confessedly thehead of his profession, he set in order Nero's cruel shows, and cateredwith profuse splendour for the tastes of Imperial Rome. Yes, he hadreached the pinnacle of a gladiator's fame, and from that elevation aprospect opened itself that he had scarcely even dreamed of till now. Ahandful of determined men, a torch or two for every score of blades, apalace in flames, a night of blood (he only hoped and longed that theremight be resistance enough to distinguish strife from murder), anotherdynasty, a grateful patron, and a brave man's services worthilyacknowledged and repaid. Then the future would indeed smile in gorgeoushues. Which of Rome's dominions in the East would most fully satisfy thethirst for royal luxury that he now experienced for the first time? Inwhich of his manlier qualities was he so inferior to the Jew, that Hippiasthe gladiator should make a lowlier monarch than Herod the Great? and menhad not done talking of that warlike king, even now!--his wisdom, hiscruelty, his courage, his splendour, and his crimes. A Roman province wasbut another name for an independent government. Hippias saw himselfenthroned in the blaze of majesty under a glowing Eastern sky. Lifeoffering all it had to give of pomp and pageantry and rich materialenjoyment. Slaves, horses, jewels, banquets, dark-eyed women, silkeneunuchs, and gaudy guards with burnished helmets and flashing shields ofgold. Nothing wanting, not even one with whom to share the glitteringvision. Valeria would be his. Valeria was born to be a queen. It would,indeed, be a triumph to offer the half of a throne to the woman who hadhitherto condescended by listening to his suit. There was a leavening ofgenerosity in Hippias that caused him to reflect with intense pleasure onthe far deeper homage he would pay her after so romantic a consummation ofhis hopes. He felt as if he could almost love her then, with the love hehad experienced in his boyhood--that boyhood which seemed now to have beenanother's rather than his own. He had put it away long since, and it hadnot come back to him for years till to-day; but gratified vanity, thepleasure which most hearts experience in grasping an object that has beendangling out of reach, beyond all, the power exerted by a woman, over onewho has been accustomed to consider himself either above or below suchpleasing influences, had softened him strangely, and he hardly felt likethe same man who made his bargain with the tribune for a certain quantityof flesh and blood and mettle, so short a time ago.

  It is not to be thought, however, that in his dreams of the future, thefencing-master neglected the means by which that future was to beattained. He had mustered and prepared his band with more than commoncare; had seen with his own eyes that their arms were bright and sharp andfit for work; had placed them at their appointed posts and visited themrepeatedly, enjoining, above all things, extreme vigilance and sobriety.Not one of those men saw beneath his unruffled brow and quiet sterndemeanour anything unusual in the conduct of their leader; not one couldhave guessed that schemes of ambition far beyond any he had ever cherishedbefore, were working in his brain--that a strange, soft, kindly feeling wasnestling at his heart. He stood in the moonlight amongst his followers,calm, abrupt, severe as usual; and when Hirpinus looked into his stern setface, the hopes of the old gladiator fell as did his countenance, butMariamne perceived at once with a woman's eye something that taught her anappeal to his pity on this occasion would not be made in vain.

  With habitual caution, his first proceeding was to count the band ere hetook note of the two figures in their centre. Then he cast a scrutinisingglance at their arms to satisfy himself all were ready for immediateaction. After that he turned with a displeased air to Hirpinus, and asked--

  "What doth the woman amongst us? You heard my orders this morning? Whobrought her here?"

  Half a dozen voices were raised at once to answer the master's question;only he to whom it was especially addressed kept silence, knowing thenature with which he had to do. Hippias raised but his sheathed sword andthe clamour ceased. Not a maniple in all Rome's well-drilled legionsseemed in better discipline than this handful of desperate men. Then heturned to Esca, still speaking in short incisive tones.

  "Briton!" said he, "you are not one of us to-night. Go your ways inpeace!"

  "Well said!" shouted the gladiators. "He is no comrade of ours! He hath noshare in our spoil!"

  But Hippias only wished to save the Briton from the perils of the comingnight, and this from some vague feeling he could hardly explain tohimself, that Valeria was interested in the stalwart barbarian. It was notin the fencing-master's nature to entertain sentiments of jealousy uponuncertain grounds. And he was just fond enough of Valeria to value anyoneshe liked for her sake. Moreover Esca knew their plans. He would alarm thepalace, and there would be a fight. He wished nothing better.

  Esca was about to make his appeal, but Mariamne interposed.

  "Where he goeth I will go," said she, almost in the words of her ownsacred writings. "I have to-night lost father, and home, and people. Thisis the second time he hath saved me from captivity worse than death. Partus not now, I beseech thee, part us not!"

  Hippias looked kindly on the sweet face with its large imploring eagereyes.

  "You love him," said he, "foolish girl. Begone then, and take him withyou."

  But again a fierce murmur rose amongst the gladiators. Not even themaster's authority was sufficient to carry out such a breach of all lawsand customs as this. Euchenor, ever prone to wrangle, stepped forward fromthe background, where he had remained so as to appear an impartial anduninterested observer.

  "The oath!" exclaimed the Greek. "The oath--we swore it when the sun wasup--shall we break it ere the moon goes down? She is ours, Hippias, by allthe laws of the Family, and we will not give her up."

  "Silence!" thundered the master, with a look that made Euchenor shrinkback once more. "Who asked for your vote? Hirpinus, Rufus, once again, howcame this woman here?"

  "She was bound hand and foot in a chariot," answered the former, ignoring,however, with less than his usual frankness, to whom that chariotbelonged. "She was carried away by force. I protected her from ill-usage,"he added stoutly, "as I would protect her again."

  The girl gave him a gr
ateful look, which sank into the old swordsman'sheart. Esca, too, muttered warm broken words of thanks, while the bandassented to the truth of this statement.

  "Even so!" they exclaimed. "Hirpinus speaks well. That is why she belongsto us, and we claim every man his share."

  Hippias was too experienced a commander not to know that there are timeswhen it is necessary to yield with a good grace, and to use artifice ifforce will not avail. It is thus the skilful rider rules his steed, andthe judicious wife her husband--the governing power in either case inducingthe governed to believe that it obeys entirely of its own free will. Hesmiled, therefore, pleasantly on his followers, and addressed them incareless good-humoured tones.

  "She belongs to us all without doubt," said he, "and, by the sandals ofAphrodite, she is so fair that I shall put in my claim with the rest!Nevertheless there is no time to be wasted now, for the sake of thebrightest eyes that ever flashed beneath a veil. Put her aside for a fewhours or so. You, Hirpinus, as you captured her, shall take care that shedoes not escape. For the Briton, we may as well keep him safe too--we mayfind a use for those long arms of his when to-night's business isaccomplished. In the meantime, fall in, my heroes, and make ready for yourwork. Supper first (and it's laid even now) with the noblest patrician andthe deepest drinker in Rome, Julius Placidus the tribune!"

  _Euge!_ exclaimed the gladiators in a breath, forgetful at the moment oftheir recent dissatisfaction, and eager to hear more of the night'senterprise, about which they entertained the wildest and most variousanticipations; nothing loth, besides, to share the orgies of a man whosetable was celebrated for its luxuries amongst all classes in Rome. Hippiaslooked round on their well-pleased faces, and continued--

  "Then what say you, my children, to a walk through the palace gardens? Wewill take our swords, by Hercules, for the German guards are stubborndogs, and best convinced by the argument each of us carries at his belt.It may be dark, too, ere we get there, for the moon is early to-night, andwe have no need to stir till we have tasted the tribune's wine, so we mustnot forget a few torches to light us on our way. There are a score atleast lying ready in the corner of that porch. So we will join ourcomrades in a fair midnight frolic under Caesar's roof. Caesar's, forsooth!my children, there will be a smouldering palace and another Caesar by to-morrow!"

  _Euge!_ exclaimed the gladiators once more. "Hail, Caesar! Long liveCaesar!" they repeated with shouts of fierce mocking laughter.

  "It is well," remarked Rufus sagaciously, when silence was restored. "Thepay is good and the work no heavier than an ordinary praetor's show. But Iremember a fiercer lion than common, that Nero turned loose upon us oncein the arena, and we called him Caesar amongst ourselves, because he wasdangerous to meddle with. If the old man's purple is to be rent, we shouldhave something over the regular pay. They have not lasted long of late;but still, Hippias, 'tis somewhat out of the usual business. We don'tchange an emperor every night, even now."

  "True enough," answered the master good-humouredly. "And you have neverbeen within the walls of a palace in your life. Something beyond your pay,said you? Why, man, the pay is but a pretext, a mere matter of form. Oncein Caesar's chambers, a large-fisted fellow like Rufus here, may carry awaya king's ransom in either hand. Then think of the old wine! Fifty-year-oldCaecuban, in six-quart cups of solid gold, and welcome to take the gobletaway with you, besides, if you care to be encumbered with it. Shawls fromPersia, lying about for mere coverings to the couches. Mother-of-pearl andivory gleaming in every corner. Jewels scattered in heaps upon the floor.Only get the work done first, and every man here shall help himselfunquestioned, and walk home with whatever pleases him best."

  It was not often Hippias treated his followers to so long a speech, orone, in their estimation, so much to the purpose. They marked theirapproval with vehement and repeated shouts. They ceased to think of Esca,and forgot all about Mariamne and their late dissatisfaction; nay, theyseemed now but to be impatient of every subject unconnected with theirenterprise, and to grudge every minute that delayed them from theirpromised spoil. At a signal from Hippias and his intimation that supperwas ready, and their host awaiting them, they rushed tumultuously throughthe porch, leaving behind them Mariamne and Esca, guarded only by oldHirpinus and Euchenor, the latter appearing alone to be unmoved by theglowing prospects of plunder held out, and obstinately standing on hisrights, determined not to lose sight of the captured girl, the more sothat she was now overlooked by the rest of his comrades.

  This man, though deficient in the dashing physical daring which is sopopular a quality amongst those of his profession, possessed,nevertheless, a dogged tenacity of purpose, totally unqualified by anymoral scruples or feelings of shame, which rendered him formidable as anantagonist, and generally successful in any villany he attempted. As inthe combats he waged with or without the heavy lacerating _cestus_, hisobject was to tire out his adversary by protracted and scientific defence,taking as little punishment as possible, and never hazarding a blow savewhen it could not be returned, so in everything he undertook, it was hisstudy to reach the goal by unrelaxing vigilance, and unremitting recourseto the means which experience and common sense pointed out for itsattainment. Slinking behind the broad back of Hirpinus, he concealedhimself in the darkest corner of the porch, and watched the result ofMariamne's appeal to the fencing-master.

  Hippias pushed the gladiators on before him, with boisterous good-humourand considerable violence; as they crowded through the narrow entrance, heremained behind for a moment, and whispered to Esca--

  "You will take the girl home, comrade. Can I trust you?"

  "Trust me!" was all the Briton answered, but the tone in which he spoke,and the glance he exchanged with Mariamne, might have satisfied a moreexacting inquirer than the captain of gladiators.

  "Fare thee well, lad," said Hirpinus, "and thee, too, my pretty flower. Iwould go with you myself, but it is a long way from here to Tiber-side,and I must not be missing to-night, come what may."

  "Begone, both of you!" added Hippias hurriedly. "Had it not been for theplunder, I should scarce have found my lambs so reasonable to-night; wereyou to fall in with them again, the Vestals themselves could not save you.Begone, and farewell."

  They obeyed and hastened off, while the fencing-master, with a well-pleased smile, clapped Hirpinus on the shoulder, and accompanied him intothe house.

  "Old comrade," said he, "we will drink a measure of the tribune's Caecubanto-night, come what may. To-morrow we shall either be on our backs gapingfor the death-fee, or pressing our lips to nothing meaner than a chaliceof burnished gold. Who knows? Who cares?"

  "Not I for one," replied Hirpinus; "but I am strangely thirsty in themeantime, and the tribune's wine, they tell me, is the best in Rome."