Perpetua. A Tale of Nimes in A.D. 213

by S. Baring-Gould

  CHAPTER XXII

  THE ARENA

  The games that were to be given in the amphitheater of Nemausus on thenones of March were due to a bequest of Domitius Afer, the celebrated, orrather infamous, informer and rhetorician, who had brought so manycitizens of Rome to death during the principate of Tiberius. He had rungreat risk himself under Caligula, but had escaped by a piece of adroitflattery. In dying he bequeathed a large sum out of his ill-gottengains--the plunder of those whom he had destroyed, and whose families hehad ruined--to be expended in games in the amphitheater on the nones ofMarch, for the delectation of the citizens, and to keep his memory greenin his native city.

  The games were to last two days. On the first there would be contests withbeasts, and on the second a water combat, when the arena would be floodedand converted into a lake.

  Great anxiety was entertained relative to the weather. Unless the mistralceased and the rain passed away, it would be impossible for the sports tobe held. It was true that the entire oval could be covered in by curtainsand mats, stretched between poles, but this contrivance was intended asshelter against sun and not rain. Moreover, the violence of the wind hadrendered it quite impossible to extend the curtains.

  The town was in the liveliest excitement. The man guilty of havingmutilated the statue had been sentenced to be cast to the beasts, and thisman was no vulgar criminal out of the slums, but belonged to one of thesuperior "orders."

  That a great social change had taken place in the province, and that thefreedmen had stepped into power and influence, to the displacement oftheir former masters, was felt by the descendants of the first AEgypto-Greek colonists, and by the relics of the Gaulish nobility, but theyhardly endured to admit the fact in words. The exercise of the rights ofcitizenship, the election of the officials, the qualification for fillingthe superior secular and religious offices, belonged to the decurion ornoble families. Almost the sole office open to those below was that of theseviri; and yet even in elections the freedmen were beginning to exhibit apower of control.

  Now, one of the old municipal families was to be humbled by a member beingsubjected to the degradation of death in the arena, and none of theFalerii ventured to raise a voice in his defence, so critical did theyperceive the situation to be. The sodality of the Augustals in conclavehad determined that an example was to be made of Marcianus, and had madethis plain to the magistrates. They had even insisted on the manner of hisexecution. His death would be a plain announcement to the decurion classthat its domination was at an end. The ancient patrician and plebeianfamilies of Rome had been extinguished in blood, and their places filledby a new nobility of army factors and money-lenders. A similar revolutionhad taken place in the provinces by less bloody means. There, the transferof power was due largely to the favor of the prince accorded to thefreedmen.

  In the Augustal colleges everywhere, the Caesar had a body of devotedadherents, men without nationality, with no historic position, notraditions of past independence; men, moreover, who were shrewd enough tosee that by combination they would eventually be able to wrest the controlof the municipal government from those who had hitherto exercised it.

  The rumor spread rapidly that a fresh entertainment was to be provided.The damsel who had been rescued from the basin of Nemausus had surrenderedherself in order to obtain the release of her mother; and the magistratein office, Petronius Atacinus, out of consideration for the good people ofthe town, whom he loved, and out of reverence for the gods who had beenslighted, had determined that she should be produced in the arena, andthere obliged publicly to sacrifice, and then to be received into thepriesthood. Should she, however, prove obdurate, then she would betortured into compliance.

  Nor was this all. Baudillas Macer, the last scion of a decayed Volcianfamily, who had been cast into the pit of the _robur_, but had escaped,was also to be brought out and executed, as having assisted in the rescueof Perpetua from the fountain, but chiefly for having connived at thecrime of Falerius Marcianus.

  To the general satisfaction, the wind fell as suddenly as it had risen,and that on the night preceding the sports. The weather remained bitterlycold, and the sky was dark with clouds that seemed ready to burst. Not aray of sunlight traveled across the arena and climbed the stages of theamphitheater. The day might have been one in November, and the weatherthat encountered on the northern plains of Germania.

  The townsfolk, and the spectators from the country, came provided againstthe intemperance of the weather, wrapped in their warmest mantles, whichthey drew as hoods over their heads. Slaves arrived, carrying boxes withperforated tops, that contained glowing charcoal, so that their mastersand mistresses might keep their feet warm whilst attending the games. Somecarried cushions for the seats, others wolf-skin rugs to throw over theknees of the well-to-do spectators.

  The ranges of the great oval were for the most part packed withspectators. The topmost seats were full long before the rest. The stonebenches were divided into tiers. At the bottom, near the _podium_ orbreastwork confining the arena, were those for the municipal dignitaries,for the priests, and for certain strangers to whom seats had been grantedby decree of the town council. Here might be read, "Forty seats decreed tothe navigators of the Rhone and Saone;" at another part of thecircumference, "Twenty-five places appointed to the navigators of theArdeche and the Ouveze."

  Above the ranges of seats set apart for the officials and guests werethose belonging to the decurions and knights, the nobility and gentry ofthe town and little republic. The third range was that allotted to thefreedmen and common townsfolk and peasants from the country, and thetopmost stage was abandoned to be occupied by slaves alone. At one end ofthe ellipse sat the principal magistrates close to the _podium_ at oneend, and at the other the master of the games and his attendants, theprefect of the watch and of the firemen.

  Two doors, one at each end, gave access to the arena, or means of exit.One was that of the _vivarium_, whence the gladiators and prisoners issuedfrom a large chamber under the seats and feet of the spectators. The otherdoor was that which conducted to the _libitinum_, into which were cast thecorpses of men and the carcasses of beasts that had perished in the games.

  Immediately below the seat of the principal magistrates and of thepontiffs was a little altar, on the breastwork about the arena, with astatue of Nemausus above it; and a priest stood at the side to keep thecharcoal alight, and to serve the incense to such as desired to do homageto the god.

  It was remarked that the attendance in the reserved seats of the decurionswas meager. Such as were connected with the Falerian family by blood ormarriage made it a point to absent themselves; others stayed away becausehuffed at the insolence of the freedmen, and considering that the sentencepassed on Marcianus was a slight cast on their order.

  On the other hand, the freedmen crowded to the show in full force, and nothaving room to accommodate themselves and their families in the zoneallotted to them, some audaciously threw themselves over the barriers ofdemarcation and were followed by others, and speedily flooded the benchesof the decurions.

  When the magistrates arrived, preceded by their lictors, all in theamphitheater rose, and the Quatuor-viri bowed to the public. Each took apinch from the priest, who extended a silver shell containing aromaticgums, and cast it on the fire, some gravely, Petronius with a flippantgesture. Then the latter turned to the Augustal _flamen_, saying: "To thegod Augustus and the divine Julia (Livia)," and he threw some more grainson the charcoal.

  "Body of Bacchus!" said he, as he took his seat, "a little fizzling sparksuch as that may please the gods, but does not content me. I wish I had aroaring fire at which, like a babe out of its bath, I could spread my tentoes and as many fingers. Such a day as this is! With cold weather Icannot digest my food properly. I feel a lump in me as did Saturn when hisgood Rhea gave him a meal of stones. I am full of twinges. By Vulcan andhis bellows! if it had not been for duty I would have been at home adoringthe Lares an
d Penates. These shows are for the young and warm-blooded. Thearms of my chair send a chill into my marrow-bones. What comes first? Oh!a contest with a bull. Well, I shall curl up and doze like a marmot. Wakeme, good Smerius, when the next portion of the entertainment begins."

  A bull was introduced, and a gladiator was employed to exasperate and playwith the beast. He waved a garment before its eyes, then drove a sharpinstrument into its flank, and when the beast turned, he nimbly leaped outof the way. When pursued he ran, then turned sharply, put his hands on theback of the bull, and leaped over it.

  The people cheered, but they had seen the performance so often repeatedthat they speedily tired of such poor sport. The bull was accordinglydispatched. Horses were introduced and hooked to the carcass, which wasrapidly drawn out. Then entered attendants of the amphitheater, whostrewed sand where the blood had been spilt, bowed and retired.

  Thereupon the jailer threw open the gates of the _vivarium_ and broughtforth the prisoners. These consisted of the taverner who had murdered hisguests, the manumitted slave who had robbed his master, Baudillas,Marcianus and Perpetua.

  A thrill of cruel delight ran through the concourse of spectators. Nowsomething was about to be shown them, harrowing to the feelings,gratifying to the ferocity that is natural to all men, and is expelled,not at all by civilization, but by divine grace only.

  It enhanced the pleasure of the spectators that criminals should witnessthe death of their fellows. Eyes scanned their features, observed whetherthey turned sick and faint, whether they winced, or whether they remainedcool and callous. This gave a cruel zest to their enjoyment.

  A bear was produced. Dogs were set on him, and he was worried till heshook off his torpor and was worked into fury. Then, at a sign from themanager of the games, the dogs were called off, and the man who hadmurdered his guests was driven forward towards the incensed beast.

  The fellow was sullen, and gave no token of fear. He folded his arms,leaned against the marble _podium_, and looked contemptuously around himat the occupants of the tiers of seats.

  The bear, relieved from his aggressors, seemed indisposed to notice theman.

  Then the spectators roared to the criminal, bidding him invite the bruteagainst himself. It was a strange fact that often in these horribleexhibitions a man condemned to fight with the beasts allowed himself abrief display of vanity, and sought to elicit the applause of thespectators by his daring conduct to the animal that was to mangle and killhim.

  But the ill-humored fellow would not give this pleasure to the onlookers.

  Then the master of the sports signed to the attendants to goad the bear.They obeyed, and he turned and growled and struck at them, but would nottouch the man designed to be hugged by him.

  After many vain attempts, amidst the hooting and roar of the people, asign was made. Some gladiators leaped in, and with their swords dispatchedthe taverner.

  The spectators were indignant. They had been shown no sport, only a commonexecution. They were shivering with cold; some grumbled, and said thatthis was childish stuff to witness which was not worth the discomfort ofthe exposure. Then, as with one voice, rose the yell: "The wolves! send inthe wolves! Marcianus to the wolves!"

  The master of the games dispatched a messenger to the Quatuorvir who wasthen the acting magistrate. He nodded to what was said, waved his hand inthe direction of the master's box, and the latter sent an attendant to thekeeper of the beasts.

  The jailer-executioner at once grasped the deacon Falerius Marcianus bythe shoulders, bade him descend some steps and enter the arena.

  Marcianus was deadly white. He shrank with disgust from the spot where thesoil was drenched with the blood of the taverner, and which was not as yetstrewn over with fresh sand. He cast a furtive look at the altar, thenmade an appealing gesture to the magistrate.

  "Come here, Cneius Marcianus," said Petronius. "You belong to arespectable and ancient family. You have been guilty of an infamous deedthat has brought disgrace on your entire order. See how many absentthemselves this day on that account! Your property is confiscated, you aresentenced to death. Yet I give you one chance. Sacrifice to the gods andblaspheme Christ. I do not promise you life if you do this. You mustappeal to the people. If they see you offer incense, they will know thatyou have renounced the Crucified. Then I will put the question to theirdecision. If they hold up their thumbs you will live. Consider, it is achance; it depends, not on me, but on their humor. Will you sacrifice?"

  Marcianus looked at the mighty hoop of faces. He saw that the vastconcourse was thrilled with expectation; a notion crossed the mind of oneof the freedmen that Marcianus was being given a means of escape, and heshouted words that, though audible and intelligible to those near, werenot to be caught by such as were distant. But the purport of his addresswas understood, and produced a deafening, a furious roar of remonstrance.

  "I will not sacrifice," said the deacon; "I am a Christian."

  Then Petronius Atacinus raised his hand, partly to assure the spectatorsthat he was not opposing their wishes, partly as a signal to the master ofthe games.

  Instantly a low door in the barrier was opened, and forth rushed a howlingpack of wolves. When they had reached the center of the arena, they stoodfor a moment snuffing, and looked about them in questioning attitudes.Some, separating from the rest, ran with their snouts against the groundto where the recent blood had been spilt. But, all at once, a huge graywolf, that led the pack, uttered a howl, and made a rush and a leaptowards Marcianus; and the rest followed.

  The sight was too terrible for the deacon to contemplate it unmoved. Heremained but for an instant as one frozen, and then with a cry he startedand ran round the ellipse, and the whole gray pack tore after him. Now andthen, finding that they gained on him, he turned with threatening gesturesthat cowed the brutes; but this was for a moment only. Their red eyes,their gleaming teeth filled the wretched man with fresh terror, and againhe ran.

  The spectators clapped their hands--some stood up on their seats andlaughed in ecstasy of enjoyment. Once, twice he made the circuit of thearena; and his pace, if possible, became quicker. The delight of thespectators became an intoxication. It was exquisite. Fear in the flyingman became frantic. His breath, his strength were failing. Then suddenlyhe halted, half turned, and ran to the foot of the barrier before the seatof the Quatuor-viri, and extended his hand: "Give me the incense! Iworship Nemausus! I adore Augustus! I renounce Christ!"

  At the same moment the old monster wolf had seized him from behind. Thearms of the deacon were seen for an instant in the air. The spectatorsstamped and danced and cheered--the dense gray mass of writhing, snarlingbeasts closed over the spot where Marcianus had fallen!