by Carol Ashby
“To help a friend.”
“Aulus Macatus? What sort of trouble has he gotten himself into this time?”
“He was gambling when he’d drunk too much, and he lost more than he realized.”
His father laughed. “I’m not surprised. Aulus tends to act without thinking, and when the wine flows in, his sense leaks out. I’m glad my own sons are smart enough to keep their drinking and gambling separate.”
Father’s eyes narrowed. “Why didn’t you stop him before he lost too much? He always follows your lead.”
“I wasn’t there, or I would have. You’ve taught me what a man should do for his best friend. His father told Aulus not to gamble to excess while he was governor in Sicilia, and except for that night, he hasn’t.”
Marcus leaned forward. “Will you give me the money so I can help him before his father finds out?”
“Of course. My best friend helped me more than once so your grandfather wouldn’t know. Marcus Corvinus and I were closer than brothers at your age. We still are. That’s why you carry his name.”
“Thank you, Father. Sabinus sent a gladiator to the baths yesterday to make Aulus sign a document committing his father to pay the debt within a month of his return. If Aulus clears the debt now, his father will never know.”
Father’s head pulled back. “Why would Aulus’s brother-in-law use a gladiator?”
“He didn’t lose to Julia’s husband. It was her husband’s cousin, Sextus.”
“Quintus Sabinus’s son?”
The edge on Father’s voice raised Marcus’s heart rate. “Yes.”
“Did it say Macatus owed Quintus?”
“Yes. Why?”
His father rubbed his mouth. “That changes things. Macatus and Quintus Sabinus have been political enemies for as long as I can remember. Macatus is an honorable man, but Sabinus…Let’s just say he’s not a man to cross.”
Father rested his elbow on the desk as he rubbed his forehead. “You were only fourteen and living with your mother when he wanted to marry your aunt Claudia. She ran off to Titus in Thracia to avoid that, and Sabinus was ready to kill me over the embarrassment that caused him.
“He spared our family because he found another girl to marry with better political connections. It’s been four years, but I still feel the venom in his gaze.”
He tightened his lips until they vanished. “If it were anyone else, I’d give you the money, but I’m not going to get between the crocodile and his prey.”
“But―”
Father held up his hand. “This discussion is over.”
Marcus froze his face to stop the frown. “As you wish, Father.” While he could still control his irritation, he stood and left the room.
Aulus was waiting for him in the peristyle garden, sitting on the low wall by the pool.
When Marcus entered, he shot to his feet, smiling. “So, do we go to Sextus or his father to settle the debt?”
“Neither. Father said he’d give me the money; then he backed out when he heard you owed Quintus Sabinus.” He spat. “I never took Father for a coward before.”
The blood drained from Aulus’s face. “What am I going to do?”
Marcus placed his hand on Aulus’s bicep and squeezed. “I’ll think of something.” A slow smile crept across his face. “I guess we need to plan a kidnapping.”
“I thought that was a joke.” Aulus bit his lip. “We can’t actually do it.”
Marcus rubbed his chin before the half-shrug. “Why not?”
Historical Note
The Daily Life of Gladiators: Celebrities Yet Social Outcasts in the Roman World
Perhaps the most widely recognized symbol of ancient Rome is the Colosseum, started by the first Flavian emperor, Vespasian, in AD 72 and finished by his son and successor, Titus, in AD 80. During the Imperial era, Romans called it the Flavian Amphitheater after the dynasty that built it. Nothing epitomizes the Roman attitude toward the value of human life better than this marvel of Roman architecture that let up to 85,000 people watch as men fought and died, urged on by the roar of the blood-thirsty crowd. Perhaps as many as four hundred amphitheaters were spread across the Empire, ranging from wooden structures, which might seat one to ten thousand, to stone or concrete marvels that are still in use today for bull fights, concerts, and film festivals in Arles and Nimes in France and Pula in Croatia.
The typical schedule for the Roman games involved more than gladiatorial contests. The morning was filled with animal events, ranging from hunts to damnatio ad bestias, the feeding of condemned criminals to beasts. Irenaeus (AD 130-202, Bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul) reported that Ignatius of Antioch was fed to the lions in Rome in AD 107 for the crime of refusing to worship the Roman gods. Condemned criminals or prisoners of war might be forced to fight each other until only one remained to be killed by a gladiator. But the real excitement came in the afternoon, when professional gladiators met in one-on-one combat, fighting until one was dead or so badly injured he was forced to admit defeat.
A loser who fought well enough was often spared to fight again, so the odds of surviving a single fight were about five to one. The typical gladiator fought only two or three times a year. Half died during their first year in the arena, but for those who survived their “rookie year,” life after the arena was a real possibility. That life might even be long; a memorial stone in a gladiator cemetery in Ephesus was erected by the family of a retired gladiator who died at age 99.
But how did someone become a gladiator, and what was life like during the 360-plus days of the year when a gladiator wasn’t entertaining the masses in mortal combat?
While gladiators were admired for their courage and fighting skills, they were social outcasts. Like a prostitute, a gladiator was an infamis, a person of low repute. He couldn’t vote or hold public office, and many burial grounds refused to accept a gladiator’s remains.
Many became gladiators through no choice of their own. Over half of the fighters in a gladiatorial school (ludus) were slaves. Many were taken as prisoners of war and sold into the arena with some fighting skills. Some were slaves who had proven too hard to handle. Some were condemned criminals. These came in two categories: condemned to the sword (damnatio ad gladium) and condemned to the games (damnatio ad ludos). While those condemned to the sword would be killed during their first appearance in the arena, men condemned to the games could survive as long as they fought well enough and might even hope to be freed someday. If the sponsor hosting the games decided to free a gladiator, he could pay the purchase price to the owner and award a wooden sword to the fighter as the symbol of his freedom.
Some gladiators were free men who were paid a sizable sum of money to sign a contract with a ludus for a fixed period of time, typically four or five years. During the term of the contract, they belonged to the ludus as if they were slaves, swearing the gladiator oath to submit to anything the ludus owner wanted, including having them killed. These voluntary gladiators were called auctoratii.
Some auctoratii needed the money to pay debts before they were sold into permanent slavery to pay them. Sometimes former soldiers, especially those who had been dishonorably discharged and were already infames, chose to become gladiators if they had no other job prospects. Some were gladiator slaves who had been freed and chose to continue in their profession after receiving their freedom.
While the vast majority of gladiators were men, women gladiators have been pictured in mosaics and listed as special attractions. Whether these were slaves or auctoratii isn’t known.
The head trainer of a ludus was the lanista, a man who had been a successful gladiator himself. While the lanista was an infamis at the bottom of society, the wealthy Roman who owned the ludus was usually a well-respected member of Roman society. A large ludus might have several hundred fighters, and the money to be made feeding the Roman lust for bloodshed was attractive to many businessmen in the equestrian order. A sponsor of the games hired the g
ladiators through the schools. For every fighter who died, the sponsor payed a fixed fee based on the ranking of the gladiator, so win or lose, the owner of a ludus made money on every match.
The training regimen for a gladiator was vigorous. Many hours were spent daily practicing with wooden swords weighted to be twice as heavy as real metal ones and shields heavier than those used in combat. Muscles were built up to a level that bones were deformed. Attack and counter-attack were practiced until responses were reflexive and instantaneous. Stamina, strength, and intimate knowledge of how an opponent would fight could make the difference between life and death. Bouts seldom lasted 30 minutes and might be over in a minute, but a longer, fiercer fight might impress the crowd enough that the loser might be spared to fight again. A new gladiator usually trained for a year or more before his first appearance in a professional bout.
The intense training burned many calories, so gladiators were fed large quantities of a mostly vegetarian diet. The gladiator diet differed from the civilian diet in several ways. While wheat bread was a staple for most Romans, gladiators ate mostly barley. Some fruit and vegetables were combined with ample servings of barley porridge (polenta). The goal was to have a layer of fat overlying vulnerable blood vessels and nerves so a shallow cut wouldn’t prove disastrous. Fat tissue can bleed impressively, making spectators marvel at the fighter’s ability to continue the battle, while not being a crippling injury. To build strong bones, a drink made from the ashes of bones and charred wood was served.
Gladiators and former gladiators worked outside the arena as bodyguards, debt collectors, and enforcers to settle disputes. They also served as sparring partners and personal trainers for men and for women who wanted to fight privately.
Memorial stones in gladiator cemeteries provide ample evidence that many gladiators married and raised families. The stones usually list the names of the relatives erecting the stones and the number of fights, the number of wins, and the age at death. Many died in battle in their twenties or early thirties, but others lived to die a natural death.
In Faithful, Marcus Brutus is a wealthy equestrian who includes three gladiator schools among his business enterprises. He’s an honest businessman in a brutal business, callous but not cruel, a man who treats his gladiator slaves like the men they are but is perfectly comfortable making money off them when they kill or are killed in the arena. But Brutus is a man of his times and culture. The popularity of the games didn’t wane until Christianity became the dominant religion. Emperor Constantine replaced sentences that condemned a criminal to die in the arena with condemnation to work in the mines, and Emperor Honorius banned gladiatorial contests in AD 404.
For more about life in the Roman Empire at its peak, please go to carolashby.com.
Discussion Guide
1) Adela’s world is turned upside down through no fault of her own, first by her mother’s death and father’s immediate remarriage, then by the kidnapping and its aftermath. At the beginning of the novel, how does she deal with upheavals in her life? How and why does that change during the course of the story?
2) Otto’s foolish choices led to personal disaster when he failed to listen to Galen’s sound advice. Otto’s bad choices dragged his friend into danger as Galen tried to rescue him. Have you ever had someone like Otto in your circle of friends? How do you deal with that?
3) Galen is the conscience and calm head for a friend who doesn’t think through the consequences before acting. Could Galen have done more than he did to protect Otto from himself? Should he have tried? If you have friends who seem to drift into dangerous waters with the slightest temptation, what can you do to help?
4) Each time Galen almost catches up with Otto to free him, something prevents it. Yet each setback is met with a willingness to go on trying and a firm hope that he will ultimately succeed in the rescue. Why? Do you know people like that?
5) Galen’s sense of responsibility for Adela grows first into friendship and then into love. But he doesn’t act on his feelings because he knows they aren’t aligned with God’s commands as long as Adela has no interest in God. He risks losing her to his best friend because he puts his faith above his feelings. Could you have made the same choice?
6) The only way Galen can get the money to save Otto is to go to Tiberius, with every expectation that Tiberius will kill him if Galen’s faith in Jesus is discovered. When Tiberius accidentally discovers what Galen is, how does Galen respond? How did Tiberius respond to Galen’s commitment and courage?
7) Marcus Antonius Brutus is an honest businessman in a brutal business. He’s a man of his times who is callous but not cruel. He treats his gladiator slaves like the men they are, but he leaves no doubt that he owns them and has no qualms about sending them into the arena to kill or die. Brutus admires Galen for his perseverance and courage in trying to free Otto at any cost. What do you think would be his response if he learned Galen followed Jesus? Do you have people in your life who are like Brutus? What do you think would reach them?
8) At the end of Blind Ambition, Tiberius disowned his only son for becoming a Christian and told him to leave and never return. Yet he protected his son from being executed for his faith. What had changed in the 8 years between the two stories? Do you know anyone in the same situation as Tiberius and his son, Decimus?
9) Tiberius is forced to question his prejudice against Christians when people he cares about and respects have chosen to follow Jesus. His best friend chose to die for the Christian god when a meaningless sacrifice would have set him free. His only son walked away from everything he’d ever wanted and was willing to die for that god. Eight years later, Tiberius meets Galen, whose loyalty to that same invisible god was even greater than his loyalty to the friends he would do anything to save. When Tiberius returns to Germania for a reunion with the son he banished for his faith, will Tiberius change his own course? Why? Do you know someone like Tiberius? What would reach them?
10) Faithful tells a story of loyalty and perseverance, of faith that God wants what is best for us and that good can come from the worst situations, of being open to the second chances God gives us. What touched you most? What made you think about what your own choices would be?
What should the future hold for Marcus Brutus?
In a militaristic society where it was considered a good afternoon’s entertainment to watch men fight to the death, Marcus Brutus is an honorable man in a brutal business, callous but not cruel, a man who treats his slaves like the men they are but is perfectly comfortable with making money off their deaths. Brutus will return in an important role in Spring of 2019 in True Freedom, a story set four years before Faithful. But I haven’t yet decided what Brutus’s ultimate end will be. Will he continue on his present path, or choose a different way? I’d love to hear your thoughts about that. Please go to carol-ashby.com and share your thoughts in the comment box. I hope I hear from you!
Glossary
Aureus: gold coin worth 25 denarii
Auxilia: large military units of soldiers who were not Roman citizens
Ave, Imperator, morituri te salutant: “Hail, Emperor, we who are about to die salute you.”
Bireme: Roman naval vessel, a galley with two rows of oars
Caldarium: the hot bath room in a Roman bath complex
Caupona: inn, canteen, tavern; sometimes a place to find prostitutes
Centurion: 1st level officer over 80 men; rises through the ranks based on merit
Corbita: merchant sailing ship
Cursus honorum: the sequence of military and political offices held by men of the senatorial order
Denarius: (plural denarii) silver coin worth about one day’s living wage
Diversorium: lodging house, inn, usually respectable
Doctor: teacher; in gladiatorial schools, a trainer who assists the lanista
Dupondius: brass coin worth 1/8 denarius
Equestrian order: 2nd highest class of Roman citizens; required p
ersonal wealth greater than 100,000 denarii
Flumen: river
Familia gladiatoria Bruti: members of the gladiatorial schools (ludi) of Brutus
Gladius: short thrusting sword used by the Roman military and some gladiators (secutors)
Gratias tibi (tam): Thank you (so much)
Gregarius: a semi-skilled gladiator who fights in a group; often a prisoner of war
Honestus: reputable, honorable, decent
Hordearius: “of barley,” slang term for a gladiator, whose diet was mostly barley
Lanista: the head trainer of a gladiatorial school
Ludi: “games,” especially public spectacles like gladiatorial contests
Ludus: (pural ludi) training school for gladiators
Mansio: roadside guest quarters for travelling Roman officials
Paenula: semicircular woolen cloak with hood
Palus: wooden stake struck with a sword during gladiatorial practice
Palla: rectangular cloth wrap worn by Roman women
Paterfamilias: oldest living male of an extended Roman family; the patriarch who owns everything
Peregrine: a person who is not a Roman citizen
Polenta: barley porridge
Provocator: gladiator who fights another provocator with short sword and shield
Questor: Roman magistrate who oversees markets and financial matters
Retiarius: a gladiator who fights with a net and trident
Salutation: daily ritual during which prominent citizens received clients and others seeking favors
Salve: Latin greeting, “hello”
Secutor: a gladiator who fights with sword and shield, often fights retiarius
Senatorial order: highest class of Roman citizens; required personal wealth greater than 250,000 denarii