Half an hour later, Nubia brought Pegasus to where Glaucus, Latro and Bubalo were waiting to be harnessed to the chariot, outside the Pavilion of the Greens in the Forum Boarium.
Scopas stood stiffly in his charioteer’s helmet and pine-green leather jerkin. At thirteen he was the youngest auriga of all four factions, but she saw that he was perfectly calm.
Pegasus went eagerly into his harness and as Nubia helped adjust his chest-strap she sensed his excitement. She quickly slipped her arms around his neck. ‘Dear Pegasus,’ she whispered, ‘as you glide above the clouds and beneath the stars, may the earth be your sky and may your feet be wings.’
The mappa fell, the trumpets blared, and twelve chariots flew out of the gates for the first race of the day.
‘Alas!’ cried Nubia. ‘Scopas is very far away from the others.’
‘He didn’t get a good gate position,’ said Jonathan. ‘That’s why he’s in the far lane.’
‘Oh no!’ cried nine-year-old Hyacinth, who had been allowed to come with her twin brothers Quintus and Sextus. ‘Scopas is in the far lane!’
‘Scropus is in the far lane!’ lisped the twins in unison; they were not quite six years old.
‘Scopas, not Scropus,’ snapped Aulus Junior. ‘And he chose the outside gate on purpose.’
‘I think you’re right, son,’ said Senator Cornix. ‘He’ll want to hang back at first, then come scorching up to win in the last lap and a half.’
‘He’d better.’ Sisyphus was biting his knuckles. ‘I put all my winnings from yesterday on him.’
‘Sisyphus, you fool!’ laughed Senator Cornix. ‘It’s unheard of for a tiro to win on his first race in the Circus.’
‘That must be why I got such good odds.’
‘What odds did you get?’
‘Two hundred to one,’ said Sisyphus, with a quick glance at his master. ‘If I win, I’ll have almost enough to buy my freedom.’
The senator laughed. ‘If that boy wins, I’ll set you free this very day!’
‘I hope you didn’t place your bet with Acutus,’ hissed Flavia.
‘Of course I did,’ said Sisyphus testily, adjusting his umbrella hat. ‘Who else would accept such a large wager? He took my money personally and was extremely polite. I think our visit to Titus yesterday was an excellent idea.’
‘Now he’s in last place!’ cried Hyacinth.
‘Sporcus is last!’ cried the twins. ‘Sporcus is last!’
‘I told you, you silly children,’ said Aulus. ‘He’ll want to save himself for the final lap. And it’s Scopas. SCOPAS.’
‘Oh!’ they all gasped as a White chariot took the meta too fast and ejected its charioteer.
‘Euge!’ they cried a moment later, as the White’s horses came to an unsteady halt at the side of the track. The auriga staggered back to his chariot and drove slowly out of the arena.
‘One down and eleven to go!’ said Aulus Junior, rubbing his hands in delight.
‘Oh!’ they cried again. The Greens’ alpha chariot had bounced in a deep wheel rut and for a moment Scopas was airborne.
‘He’s all right!’ cried Aristo.
‘There goes the fifth dolphin,’ said Aulus Junior presently. ‘He’d better make his move soon, he’s still nearly half a length behind all the others.’
‘I can’t bear to look,’ moaned Sisyphus. ‘I think I’m going to be sick.’
‘He hasn’t even used his whip yet,’ said the senator.
‘That’s right,’ Hyacinth echoed. ‘He hasn’t even used his whip.’
‘He’s using it now!’ laughed Aristo.
‘They are quickening!’ cried Nubia.
‘Euge!’ shouted Flavia. ‘He’s making his move. He’s coming up fast. Sisyphus, look!’
‘Sisyphus, look!’ lisped the twins.
‘Can’t bear to.’
‘Look, Sisyphus!’ they all cried.
But the Greek was hiding his head in his hands and moaning, his umbrella hat tipped forward.
‘Oh no! He’s crashed!’ cried Aristo.
Sisyphus yelped and raised his head.
‘I made you look!’ laughed Aristo.
Sisyphus glared at him and muttered something in Greek, then widened his kohl-rimmed eyes. ‘Mecastor!’ he yelped. ‘He’s in the lead! How did he do that?’
‘He came up fast on the outside,’ said Aulus Junior.
‘He’s not last any more,’ added Hyacinth.
‘Scopas may not understand people,’ said Flavia, and everyone joined in, ‘but Scopas understands horses!’
‘Behold!’ cried Nubia. ‘Gegas and Phoenix are now using the pincer tactic to help Scopas.’
‘That’s right,’ said Senator Cornix. ‘They’re blocking other chariots so that Scopas has a clear run!’
‘But one of the Blues has got through,’ wheezed Jonathan. ‘The one with the silly winged helmet.’
‘Hermes!’ said Aulus. ‘The Blue’s star charioteer. And he’s coming up fast.’
‘Oh no!’ screamed Flavia. ‘Hermes is whipping Scopas!’ They all rose to their feet and Lupus uttered a cry of rage.
‘That’s not fair!’ gasped Jonathan. His knuckles were white on the bronze railing.
‘He’s bleeding!’ cried Sisyphus. ‘Scopas’s cheek is bleeding. And he’s slowing down. Oh, I can’t bear to look.’
‘Alas!’ cried Nubia. ‘Now Hermes is whipping Bubalo!’
‘Why don’t the stewards do something?’ cried Flavia, close to tears.
‘That stallion’s not vexed,’ said Aristo. ‘Look how steady he is.’
‘What a courageous horse,’ said Senator Cornix. ‘Go Bubalo!’
The crowds were booing Hermes but suddenly they erupted in cheers as his inside horse grazed the barrier and veered away, pulling the entire chariot off course towards the stands.
‘He’s out of the race!’ exulted Aulus.
Lupus punched his fist into the air and Jonathan growled: ‘Serves him right for cheating.’
‘Here they come, around the meta secunda for the last time!’ cried Aristo. ‘It’s the home stretch.’
‘Here they come!’
‘Look!’ cried Jonathan. ‘Now that Red charioteer with the broken nose is coming up fast.’
‘Where did he come from?’ yelped Flavia.
‘It’s Epaphroditus,’ said Aulus. ‘He always does that. Waits until the last moment and then comes from behind to win.’
‘No! Don’t say that!’ moaned Sisyphus.
‘Don’t worry,’ laughed Aristo. ‘Scopas is still in the lead.’
‘No he isn’t!’ wheezed Jonathan. ‘Epaphroditus is overtaking him!’
‘The alpha team must be exhausted!’ cried Flavia.
‘Scopas will get everything he can out of them,’ said Senator Cornix.
‘Look, the Reds are ahead!’
‘No, the Greens.’
‘Scopas!’
‘Epaphroditus!’
‘Come on, Scopas!’ bellowed Sisyphus, and they all laughed.
‘Come on, Scourpuss,’ cried the twins.
‘There’s nothing between them!’
‘I think he’s going to do it!’ wheezed Jonathan.
Hyacinth squealed: ‘Look! That man is waving a green cloth!’
‘Euge!’ cried Nubia, ‘Scopas is victor! Zip q’nee!’
But her cry was drowned out by the roar of a quarter of a million Romans.
‘We won! We won!’ Flavia and Nubia clutched each other’s shoulders and jumped up and down. Lupus was giving his victory howl. Hyacinth was hugging her father and the twins were hanging off Aulus Junior’s arms. Aristo and Jonathan laughed and slapped each other on the shoulders. Around them the spectators were going wild. Only Sisyphus stood in stunned silence.
‘Unheard of!’ cried Senator Cornix. ‘For a charioteer to win on his first race. And driving a quadriga, too, rather than a biga. It’s unheard of, I tell you.’
Sisyphus sank back onto his
cushion and stared straight ahead. ‘I’m rich,’ he said. ‘Fabulously rich.’
‘And you’re free!’ said Senator Cornix, shaking his head and grinning. ‘Congratulations, Aulus Caecilius Sisyphus. I hope you’ll still work for me,’ he added. ‘You’re the best secretary I’ve ever had and I’d be quite lost without you.’
‘Zip q’nee!’ cried Flavia, Nubia and Jonathan. ‘Sisyphus is free!’
‘Zip q’nee! Zip q’nee!’ chanted the twins.
‘Well done, friend,’ laughed Aristo, and gave Sisyphus a hearty slap on the back.
‘I’m free,’ said Sisyphus, still dazed.
The crowds were cheering the alpha team horses and throwing gifts onto the sand: dates, chestnuts, scarves and even coins. Several sparsores of the Greens ran forward to gather the tribute.
‘Glaucus! Latro! Bubalo! Pegasus!’ cheered the people as Scopas continued around the racecourse in his victory lap: ‘Yo, Pegasus!’
‘Yo, Scopas!’ cried Flavia.
‘Yo, Scorpus!’ yelled Quintus and Sextus.
Some people behind them took up the cry: ‘Yo, Scorpus!’ they shouted. ‘Scorpus, yo!’
Soon the whole hippodrome was cheering: ‘Yo, Scorpus!’
‘Now look what you’ve done!’ Aulus rolled his eyes at his little brothers. ‘They’re all calling him Scorpus.’
‘I don’t think he cares what they call him,’ said Aristo, as Scopas rounded the meta at the far end of the arena.
The alpha chariot was alone on the course now; the other chariots had peeled off through the arch at the far end of the racecourse.
‘I’m rich,’ murmured Sisyphus. ‘And free.’
‘Look at those horses,’ sighed Flavia. ‘They’re so beautiful together. Bronze, grey, mahogany and nutmeg.’ She exchanged a smile with Nubia.
‘Why is Scorpus slowing down, pater?’ asked the twins in unison.
‘He’s stopping to get his prize,’ said Senator Cornix.
‘I’m free!’ murmured Sisyphus, still in a daze.
As a trumpeter played a brassy flourish, Scopas reined in his horses at the chalk finish line and jumped down from the chariot. He could not go far, for the reins were still lashed around his waist. The crowd’s roar increased as a stocky man in a purple toga came down the stairs from the steward’s box. He was carrying a palm branch in one hand and a leather bag and wreath in the other.
‘It is the Titus!’ cried Nubia.
‘The Emperor himself is awarding the prize!’ squealed Flavia.
‘A palm branch,’ said Hyacinth.
‘For Victory,’ said Jonathan.
‘I’m free,’ said Sisyphus.
‘And he gets a bag full of gold, too,’ said Aulus.
‘And the victory wreath,’ added Aristo.
‘The Titus is placing it on his head,’ said Nubia.
As Titus started back up the stairs to the finishing box, they all saw Scopas turn and wave at them.
‘Wave to Scopas, everybody!’ said Flavia. ‘He’s waving at us.’
‘No,’ said Jonathan, ‘he’s waving at Nubia!’
‘Jonathan’s right, Nubia,’ said Aristo. ‘He’s beckoning you! Go to him.’
‘She can’t go down on the track,’ protested Aulus Junior. ‘Spectators aren’t allowed down there.’
‘I’ve never heard of a charioteer winning the palm on his first race, either,’ said Senator Cornix. ‘I think it’s a day for new precedents. Go on, Nubia,’ he said. ‘I command it!’
‘But . . .’
‘Go to him!’ they all cried.
‘Euge!’ Sisyphus leapt to his feet and tossed his umbrella hat onto the racecourse and yelled: ‘I’m free!’
Nubia laughed and got up from her seat and edged along the front row and ran down the steps and clambered over the bronze barrier and out onto the sandy track, still cool in the shade of morning. The roar of the crowds increased as she reached Scopas in his chariot.
‘You won!’ she cried.
‘Yes, I won.’ He handed her the palm branch. ‘This is your victory, too,’ he said. ‘Pegasus ran well before, but this time he was full of red.’
‘He was full of red?’
‘Full of courage. Climb up behind me.’
Nubia stepped up on to the springy floor of the chariot and hooked her left arm firmly around his waist. Scopas stiffened slightly and she remembered he did not like to be touched. But there was nothing else to hold on to and he did not protest.
Nubia held the palm branch in her right hand. It was surprisingly heavy and it rattled as the chariot turned under the flick of Scopas’s reins. The four horses were now pulling the chariot slowly back towards the carceres. The pleasant odour of horse’s sweat and leather and cool sand filled her head and made her spirit soar.
‘Hold up the branch,’ he said, over his shoulder.
Nubia did so, and the crowd went wild.
‘Scorpus! Scorpus! SCORPUS!’
‘They are cheering you,’ said Nubia in Scopas’s ear. ‘But they are calling you Scorpus not Scopas.’
He shrugged.
‘Does it not bother you?’
‘No,’ he said, over his shoulder. ‘I do not mind. Scorpus can be my new name for my new life.’
Nubia laughed.
‘Look at Pegasus,’ he said, and she could barely hear him above the roar of the crowds. ‘See how he holds his head? He knows how well he did. And he knows the crowds are cheering him. Do you see?’
‘Yes. I see.’
‘Jump off.’
‘What?’
‘Jump off the back. Give Pegasus the palm branch. I promised him he could have it.’
Nubia let go of Scopas and stepped back and down onto the track.
The chariot was moving at a walking pace and she easily caught up to Pegasus. He nodded his head and looked at her from under his golden forelock, the only part of his mane not tied in ribbons.
‘Here, beautiful Pegasus,’ said Nubia walking backwards before him. ‘This is for you. You helped win the race and you overcame your fear!’ She slipped the palm branch between the fleecy chest strap of his harness and his muscular chest.
Pegasus tossed his dark head proudly and the crowd roared its approval. Nubia moved back to walk beside white-socked Bubalo and she found she was laughing and crying at the same time.
As they approached the exit of the hippodrome Nubia looked at Pegasus. ‘Oh, Pegasus,’ she whispered in her own language. ‘I love you so much, and I wish we could be together. But I can see that this is where you belong.’ Then she smiled at all four beautiful horses. ‘I am so proud of you all,’ she said. ‘Latro, Glaucus, Bubalo and dear Pegasus. If life is a circus, then today you are its greatest heroes.’
FINIS
adoratio (ad-or-ah-tee-oh)
the act of worshipping a god or goddess
Aeneas (uh-nee-ass)
Trojan hero who fled his burning city and eventually settled in Italia, becoming the father of the Roman race
Aesculapius (eye-skew-lape-ee-uss) god of healing; his temple was on the Tiber Island near the Forum Boarium
Alban Hills
hills southeast of Rome, reached by the famous Appian Way
albati (all-bah-tee)
Latin for ‘Whites’, i.e. the White Faction
amphitheatre (am-fee-theatre) an oval-shaped stadium for watching gladiator shows, beast fights and the execution of criminals
Ara Maxima (ah-rah max-im-uh) ancient altar to Hercules in the Forum Boarium (Cattle Market) near the starting-gates of the Circus Maximus
Athena (ath-ee-nuh)
Greek goddess of wisdom, war, the arts, literature, philosophy and women’s handicraft; her Roman equivalent is Minerva
atrium (eh-tree-um)
the reception room in larger Roman homes, often with skylight and pool
aureus (oh-ray-uss) small gold coin worth one hundred sesterces
auriga (oh-ree-ga)
Latin for ‘charioteer
’; like gladiators, most were slaves or freedmen
Aventine (av-en-tine)
one of Rome’s seven hills, it lies between the Tiber and the western side of the Circus Maximus
Baiae (bye-eye)
spa town – and residence of rich Romans – on the Bay of Naples (modern Baia)
Bellerophon (bel-air-oh-fon)
mythical hero who tamed the winged horse Pegasus and killed the Chimera
biga (big-uh)
a chariot pulled by two horses, more than one are bigae (big-eye)
Britannicus (bri-tan-ick-uss)
friend of Titus, son and heir of the Emperor Claudius, possibly was poisoned by Nero
bulla (bull-uh)
charm or amulet worn by all freeborn boys and many freeborn girls
Caligula (ka-lig-yoo-la)
Emperor who ruled from AD 37–41; he was a keen supporter of the Greens
Campus Martius (kam-puss marsh-yuss)
flat area in a bend of the Tiber northwest of the Circus
Maximus; near the modern Campo dei Fiori; each of the four chariot racing factions had stables there
Capitoline (kap-it-oh-line)
Roman hill with the great Temple of Jupiter at its top; the terrible fire of the winter of AD 80 probably started there
Cappadocia (kap-a-dosh-uh)
country in Asia Minor (modern Turkey)
which was famous for breeding horses
captain
right-hand yoke horse, arguably the most important position in a four-horse team
carceres (kar-ker-raze)
Latin for ‘cells’; the starting gates for horses in a race, designed to spring open simultaneously
Castor (kas-tor)
one of the famous twins of Greek mythology (Pollux being the other)
centaur (sen-tar)
mythological creature with the torso and head of a human, but the body and legs of a horse
Ceres (see-reez)
goddess of agriculture and grain, the final day of her festival in April, the Cerialia, was celebrated with chariot races in the Circus Maximus
chariot (chair-ee-ot)
The Roman Mysteries Complete Collection Page 181