Barbarian Prize

by Deanna Ashford

  Julia saw a tall well-built red-headed man being led on to the block. She had no interest in him, so she glanced around the room, wondering what price she would have to eventually pay to purchase Taranis. Most likely Poppaea was a prospective purchaser. She was a wealthy woman and very well connected: Emperor Nero’s second wife had been her mother’s older sister. However, unbeknown to her friends, Julia had inherited a very large amount of money and property from Sutoneus.

  The bidding for the Briton started briskly, the price rising quite quickly. It soon became dear that the laniste, Decimus Valens, the trainer of the main gladiatorial troop in Pompeii, was interested in buying the slave. Julia had very little knowledge of the price paid for gladiators, but a good house slave might cost up to 3,000 denarii. However, even she was a little surprised when the bidding closed at over 15,000 denarii.

  ‘Now that he has both Britons, do you think he’ll pit them against each other in the next games?’ the man seated next to Julia said to his companion.

  As the Briton was led away, a palpable sense of excitement began to fill the courtyard. This was the moment most here had been waiting for – now it was the turn of the man from Gaul they had all heard so much about.

  Maecenus was a canny businessman, and he didn’t bring Taranis out straight away, as he wanted the tension to rise a little more, so he ordered the slaves to serve refreshments to those who wanted them. It was a sunny day and, with the large crowd and lack of any discernible breeze, the heat in the enclosed courtyard was almost unbearable. In order to provide some shade, Maecenus had ordered a fabric blind suspended above the heads of the audience, but it did little to disperse the heat of the sun’s rays. Julia was very warm, and she was certain that her face was turning an unflattering pink in this heat. She was covered in perspiration and her crotch and underarms were damp and slippery with sweat.

  As the minutes passed, the excitement increased, the crowd grew a little restless and the chatter grew louder and louder. Julia heard Poppaea’s strident laugh emanating from the seats a few rows in front of her. Nervously, Julia clenched her hands; she had never bid for a slave before. Borax, as part of his household duties, purchased all the new household slaves, but she intended to bid herself this time around.

  While she waited, rather apprehensively, she heard the man to her right say, ‘Everyone is so curious about this slave. Did you hear what happened at the viewing last night?’

  Julia leant closer to the man hoping to hear more.

  However, she had no chance to hear anything else, as a cold male voice said, ‘Curious about something, are you, daughter?’

  ‘Stepfather?’ She glanced nervously to her left as the tall imperious-looking man sat down beside her, even though there was not nearly enough room for him. She found herself uncomfortably pinned between her stepfather and the stranger on her right.

  ‘Surely now that you are a wealthy widow you should feel able to address me by my given name?’

  ‘Of course.’ She smiled awkwardly. He still had the unerring ability to unsettle her and make her feel like a terrified child. The day he had become her stepfather he had also acquired absolute authority over her and every member of her family. The head of a Roman household had the power of life and death over his wife and children as well as his slaves. ‘I’m surprised that you are not sitting at the front with your friends, Aulus?’

  ‘I was for a time, but their inane chatter bores me,’ he replied, sliding a companionable arm around her shoulders, which to others would look like a gesture of affection, even though she knew it was not. ‘Poppaea and Gaius are bickering again and I wanted some peace and quiet, especially as the most important part of the auction is just about to start. I presume that you are here for that, daughter?’

  ‘Yes,’ she confessed. ‘I was curious like everyone else.’

  ‘My curiosity has already been assuaged,’ he casually commented. ‘I was at the pre-auction viewing.’

  ‘Were you?’ she replied, wondering what happened there. Then everything else vanished from her thoughts as Taranis was led into the room.

  During the auction, the other slaves had just been wearing leg irons. However, Taranis’s hands were manacled behind his back as well and there was a metal collar fastened around his neck, which had chains attached to either side. Obviously, Maecenus thought him a threat because these chains were held by a pair of muscular-looking guards, who dragged him into position and held him there. Clearly, this man was not cowed and browbeaten, as most slaves were, and he appeared to be a far from willing participant in this event. Perhaps this was a good sign, at least for her; many would balk at purchasing a slave who might rebel against his master at any time.

  Julia’s heart began to beat faster as she feasted her eyes on Taranis. He was beautiful, even though he was chained and at least temporarily subdued. He stood there, straight and tall, totally ignoring Maecenus and the guards who held him. His features were taut but his expression was proud, his manner dignified even in such a humiliating position. Her heart warmed to him almost as much as her body and she knew without a doubt that she had to purchase him.

  Taranis was dressed in a plain knee-length tunic. His long blond hair was loose around his powerful shoulders and she thought that she had never seen a more handsome man in her entire life.

  Maecenus gave the signal and the bidding started, slowly at first, with those who could afford to pay the highest holding back, allowing the price to rise a little before they even bothered to raise their hands. After last night, Maecenus had not thought it necessary to put a reserve price on the slave.

  ‘Do you desire him?’ Aulus whispered softly in her ear. ‘I confess even I find him appealing and you will not be disappointed, I assure you.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Just wait and see what Maecenus does next!’ he added cryptically.

  One of Maecenus’s servants cautiously approached the slave on the block and unfastened the ties of Taranis’s tunic. It fell to the floor, leaving him wearing just a short, full Greek-style skirt of white linen draped around his narrow waist. There was a gasp of admiration from those present. He was the epitome of male perfection that Romans admired so much. The thin strip of white contrasted perfectly with the slave’s lightly tanned skin, which had been heavily oiled so that it had a slick sheen, putting even more emphasis on the well-developed muscles of his wide chest, strong arms and near-perfect legs. He was a magnificent-looking creature, and the bids began to come in hard and fast: twenty, forty, then eighty thousand denarii.

  When an obviously very excited Gaius Cuspius bid a hundred thousand denarii, Maecenus held up his hand. ‘Honoured guests – the true bidding is only just about to begin!’

  He turned to look at Taranis and the slave stiffened anxiously, an entreating expression crossing his face for the briefest of moments before he regained full control of himself.

  Julia held her breath as Maecenus stepped forwards and ripped off the brief linen skirt to reveal the slave in all his naked glory. It was as if someone had smeared red paint across the slave’s high cheekbones as they turned suddenly scarlet. Clearly, he was ashamed, not only because he was naked, but also because his sexual organ was in an obvious state of arousal.

  ‘He is magnificent, is he not?’ Aulus said chillingly. ‘I wager that even Poppaea would have trouble in accommodating a cock of that auspicious size.’

  Julia was filled with a sudden sexual hunger that seemed to connect to every erogenous zone in her body as she stared at this gorgeous naked man with his engorged cock standing proudly out from his groin. But she also felt pity and acute embarrassment for Taranis, who was being so cruelly humiliated by his captors. ‘How?’ she muttered, not realising that she had spoken the thought aloud.

  ‘Maecenus sent two slave girls to his cell. I watched them work on him only moments before they brought him to the block,’ Aulus explained, seeming amused by what had happened to Taranis. ‘Once his cock was fully erect, they
fastened a silver ring tightly around the base of the shaft, to prevent it softening. The slave tried to fight them, hence the chains.’ He squeezed her shoulder. ‘Doesn’t the sight of him like that excite you?’

  ‘I pity him the indignity,’ she retorted. ‘No man, not even a barbarian, should be displayed in such a demeaning manner,’ she added, trying to ignore the melting sensation in her pussy.

  The bidding continued in a frenzied manner as Aulus said, ‘You disappoint me, my dear.’

  Aulus casually stroked her bare arm, as she suddenly heard someone shout, ‘One hundred and sixty thousand denarii.’ This topped Poppaea’s last bid by a full ten thousand silver coins.

  ‘One hundred and seventy,’ Julia immediately yelled, raising her hand so that Maecenus could identify the new entrant to the bidding.

  ‘You want him that much?’ Aulus gave a coarse chuckle. ‘Then you’ll have to outbid Gaius. He wants to possess the slave,’ he added in a low whisper, his lips just brushing her earlobe in a soft caress. ‘He is determined to fuck him at all costs.’

  By now, the sums were getting more and more outrageous, easily topping the one hundred and eighty thousand denarii, Gaius had paid for the young Greek boy some weeks earlier. Soon it was only Poppaea and Gaius bidding against each other and she heard Aulus give a grunt of surprise as the price reached two hundred and thirty thousand denarii.

  Even now, the high colour hadn’t faded from Taranis’s cheeks, but he was managing to keep his expression impassive, as if this madness was beneath his dignity. Julia desired him desperately and admired his nobility, but she decided it might be prudent not to bid again until the unseemly feud between Poppaea and Gaius was at an end. One or other must give up and step down soon; this could not go on indefinitely. The most ever paid for a slave as far as she knew for certain was eight hundred thousand denarii, but that had been in Rome not here in the provinces.

  ‘Gaius will never have him,’ she said determinedly, turning her head to stare coldly at her stepfather. ‘I couldn’t bear to think what that creature would do to him.’

  ‘Gaius is a respected citizen of Pompeii,’ Aulus reminded her. ‘You dare to speak of him in an offensive manner while planning to bid an outrageous sum for a slave just because he is attractive and has a big enough cock to satisfy your needs. Don’t you think that rather hypocritical? Anyway, was my friend Sutoneus not man enough for you?’

  ‘He was a loathsome old man, whose attentions disgusted me,’ she hissed in a low voice, embarrassed to think that someone might overhear their conversation.

  ‘Two hundred and sixty thousand denarii,’ Maecenus announced with obvious glee, as he repeated Poppaea’s last bid. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, I should remind you that this slave, who goes by the barbarian name of Taranis, is a former Roman citizen and a powerful warrior. He is highly educated and can speak, read and write at least four languages with uncanny fluency. And of course,’ he added, pointedly tapping the engorged cock, which had been heavily oiled and gleamed slickly in the diffused sunlight, ‘he is well equipped to pleasure his new master or mistress in every conceivable fashion.’

  As Maecenus touched his cock again, Taranis gave an angry growl and pulled desperately at his chains. He was clearly very strong, because the guards had to struggle with all their might to control him, nearly choking him in the process as the metal collar dug deep into his neck.

  ‘He may need to be subjugated a little of course,’ Maecenus admitted rather uncomfortably. He had stepped away from the slave during the brief altercation with the guards and he made no attempt to move closer to him again. ‘I am certain, however, that many citizens would relish such a challenge.’

  ‘The barbarian has spirit,’ Aulus said softly, as he worked his tongue delicately into Julia’s ear, while his hand slid down to press against the side of her full breasts. She was wedged so tightly she could not pull away. Unfortunately, not one person appeared to have noticed that her stepfather was behaving so inappropriately towards her. ‘Just like you, my sweet daughter. Why bother paying all that money for a troublesome barbarian slave when I could just as easily satisfy you sexually myself?’

  ‘No, never,’ Julia muttered, unable to loosen his strong grip. There was heaviness between her thighs and her pussy was getting even wetter just at the thought of possessing Taranis and feeling that magnificent cock inside her. ‘It is sinful to even suggest such a thing. The gods will strike you down.’

  ‘Sinful?’ He gave a cold laugh. ‘I cannot even begin to count the sins I have committed, and no god would ever dare lay a hand on me.’

  ‘Two hundred and ninety thousand denarii,’ Gaius shouted excitedly, as he struggled to his feet, scarlet faced and sweating profusely.

  ‘After paying so much for that Greek boy such a short time ago, he cannot afford to bid more without putting himself in severe financial difficulty,’ Aulus said, still casually stroking the side of her breast over the fine fabric of her gown. ‘His sexual desires have always overruled his common sense. Nevertheless, Poppaea is a rich and very determined woman, she will easily outbid him. And, if it comes to the crunch, I can outbid them both. Even you, my sweet Julia.’

  She stiffened anxiously as his hand slid inside the loose armhole of her gown and brushed against the naked skin of her breast, which had suddenly become acutely sensitive to touch. ‘I doubt that,’ she retorted boldly. ‘I’ll bid four hundred thousand if needs be.’

  ‘I have more than enough to treble that bid and not even notice it,’ he told her, capturing her breast in his hand and squeezing it sensuously.

  ‘I don’t believe you,’ she countered, embarrassed and appalled by what he was doing to her.

  Gaius, meanwhile, was still on his feet, mopping nervously at his brow, having just entered a counter bid to Poppaea’s latest of three hundred thousand.

  ‘Sutoneus left you very well provided for,’ Aulus said as he watched Poppaea raise the bid by twenty thousand. ‘I know exactly how much he left you, and I should warn you that it is a mere drop in the ocean compared to my wealth and power.’

  Desperately, she tried to struggle and loosen his hold on her but he held her fast, digging his fingers cruelly into the soft flesh of her breast. ‘Three hundred and forty thousand,’ she shouted defiantly.

  For a brief moment, Taranis turned his head, staring into the crowd, trying to see what woman was also bidding for him. Julia wanted to stand up and let him see her, but Aulus was holding her so tightly she could barely move a muscle.

  ‘Bid one more time, dear daughter, and I swear that I’ll stand up and treble or even quadruple that sum and bring this auction to an abrupt end,’ Aulus said coldly as he fingered her nipple. It stiffened, even though she knew she should be repulsed by his touch. ‘I doubt even Poppaea would think it wise to bid against me.’

  ‘Why do you object so much to the idea of me purchasing Taranis?’ she asked, as she heard Poppaea raise her bid yet again.

  ‘Because it would not be seemly for you to purchase this slave. Look at the sexual way Maecenus is displaying him. Now that the sums have become so outrageous it would be far too obvious to every decent law-abiding citizen that you want this slave for your bed.’

  ‘I care not for reputation or convention,’ she snapped, as she saw Maecenus look expectantly towards Gaius, who reluctantly shook his head and silently sat down, defeated at last.

  ‘But I do, and I have decided that you shall not purchase that slave. Eventually, you’ll marry again, and marry well. I want nothing to soil your reputation. Let my shrewish former mistress Poppaea have him, she has no reputation left to defend. The slave has a big enough cock to help satisfy her inexhaustible sexual appetite, at least for a time.’

  ‘How can you claim to care what I do, when you are prepared to maul me, your own stepdaughter, in public?’ she hissed, having no wish for him to know that her body was screaming out for sex, but not with him.

  ‘I am powerful enough to defy convention, you are not. Do
you wish to bring shame on your brother as well?’

  Julia tensed as she heard Maecenus repeat Poppaea’s bid for a second time. He was looking in her direction, waiting for her to bid again.

  ‘Don’t do it,’ Aulus warned. ‘Disobeying me will bring the wrath of Jupiter himself down on your head. I’ll immediately stand up and bid enough to bring this auction to an abrupt end. I would relish taming the barbarian by any means necessary, even if I have to resort to gelding him myself. Then I’ll fuck him, again and again before letting my friends like Gaius use him as well.’

  Her heart sank and the colour drained from her face. Maecenus was still waiting for her to make another bid but Julia knew that she was defeated. It was far better to let Poppaea have him than for her cruel stepfather to become his master. She’d seen him beat a slave to death and enjoy every minute of it. Poppaea was a sexual predator but she wasn’t an evil woman. She was unlikely to do any lasting harm to Taranis, and on the whole she treated her slaves very well.

  ‘I’ll not bid again,’ she promised regretfully. Aulus smiled then raised his hand, turning his thumb down to inform Maecenus there were no further bids coming from this direction. ‘As long as you take your hands off me right now, Stepfather,’ she added threateningly. ‘And promise never to touch me ever again.’

  ‘You drive a hard bargain.’ Aulus removed his hand from her breast, slid it out of her dress and laid it loosely across her shoulder again.

  Just then Maecenus announced that he had accepted the final bid and that the slave now belonged to Poppaea for the princely sum of three hundred and sixty thousand denarii.

  4

  SIRONA HURRIED THROUGH the atrium of the villa carrying a jug of the senator’s best Falernian wine. She didn’t even pause to glance at the huge painting of the god Priapus which had surprised her so much when she had first laid eyes on it. She could not understand why a large picture of a man with an enormous erect phallus, way out of proportion to the rest of his body, should take pride of place in the entrance hall of an eminent citizen’s house. The Romans were a strange people; apparently, they found this and other sexually explicit paintings, quite appropriate decoration for their homes. According to Tiro, pictures of Priapus could be seen all over Pompeii; he was a symbol of sexual fertility and served to ward off evil influences from the house.