THREE GLADIATORS
Written By Lady Cat
Chapter VI
A special spectacle was to be put on at the Coliseum in honor of
Nero. It
was to have all sorts of circus acts and fighting - man against man,
beast
against beast, and man against beast. At the request of Nero, the
temple
virgins were to attend and sit with him. Of course, the girls wore
veils
and robes to cover them. The Coliseum was filled to overflowing,
people
sitting shoulder-to-shoulder.
After the girls had made their entrance, the Emperor came in and sat
on
his
throne. After imploring Jupiter to bless the games, he gave the
signal for
the games to begin. Trumpets began blowing and big wooden doors at
one
end
of the arena opened. Trumpet blowers entered, followed by drum
players.
Afterwards came the circus acts - clowns, acrobats, jugglers. Next
came
cages of animals that would be used in the arena - lions, tigers,
wild
boars, bison, bulls, bears, etc. Then came the gladiators from every
corner of the Roman empire, here to perform for the Emperor, saluting
as
they passed.
The first to begin were the circus acts. The acrobats had everyone
amazed
with their skills as did the jugglers. The clowns had everyone
laughing,
even Nero, who was known never to crack a smile unless he was the one
doing
the joking.
It was time for the real games to begin. The first was beast against
beast. It was a test to see which animals could outdo the others -
bull
against bear; boar against lion or tiger; lion against tiger; bison
against
bull. Eventually the ring became a bloody mess. Wagons came out and
took
away the dead carcasses and fresh sand was put on the arena floor.
Next came man against beast. At times the beasts were at a
disadvantage
as
there was generally two or three men pitted against them. It was a
rarity
for a beast to win a contest. Nero was enjoying himself. He enjoyed
blood
being spilled. Of course, it was to be someone else's, not his own.
The
girls were thinking this was all barbaric as they did not like to see
animals getting killed just for mere sport. The wagons came out
again and
took away the dead carcasses and more sand put on the floor.
It was time for the main event; the one everyone had been waiting on
-
man
against man as they would be seeing their favorite gladiators come
into
the
arena. In marched several groups of gladiators carrying all sorts of
weapons with them. After saluting the Emperor, they paired off and
began
fighting. There were some good contests, some were not so good,
especially
for those who were given the thumbs' down sign. The victors received
laurel wreaths and perhaps now and then a kiss was blown to them from
the
crowd. The crowd was enjoying themselves but they wanted to see
their
three star attractions, the ones they paid good money to get in to
see.
They were soon rewarded as out marched the three star attractions of
the
spectacle. The entire Coliseum cheered. The noise was deafening.
As
they
stopped in front of Nero to salute, they looked over and saw the
veiled
women. They wondered what were they like underneath. Diana was
thinking
one of them looked familiar, as if from long ago. She blinked her
eyes,
thinking it was just a figment of her imagination. She couldn't help
but
be impressed by their size. She was glad men were not allowed in the
temple. She didn't want to run into either one of them.
Each of the three gladiators was pitted against an assortment of
opponents.
Eugenius went first. He was the best Rome had ever seen at using
the
spiked club and sword. His matches were mainly against gladiators
who
wanted to test his skill. Over the years his reputation was
unparalleled.
What he lacked in height he made up for ferocity. Rarely an opponent
left
the arena without a scar. Eugenius removed his helmet. The girls
began
throwing flowers at him and begging him to come with them as he was
very
good looking. One of the veiled women threw a laurel wreath at him.
He
picked it up and put it on his head as he took a bow.
Carus was next. Because of his height, he was usually pitted against
2
men
> at times. The tricorn and net would be very bloody after he was done
in
the arena as well as the mace, which he constantly kept at his side
in the
arena. This day he was pitted against two men who each had a net and
spear. Because of the training he had on the rotating blades, he was
very
adept at dodging the nets and blocking their swords with his tricorn.
At
one point it became comical as he managed to get them to throw their
nets
onto each other, getting each other tangled. But it wasn't so
comical
when
they each got the thumbs' down sign, Carus had a sword and tricorn
put
them
through their chests. His last match pitted him against a gladiator
in a
chariot. The chariot came after him, the gladiator swinging a mace.
Carus
ducked to the ground and rolled out of the way. Quickly he was on
his
feet
and began swinging his own mace. As the chariot passed, he let it
fly,
hitting the side of the chariot. After dodging the chariot a couple
of
more
times. He waited for it to pass again, as it did he timed his jump,
knocking the gladiator out of the chariot. Everyone was in awe of
his
ability that day. The poor driver though was not so lucky. After
carrying
the unlucky driver and chariot out of the ring, the sand was smoothed
out
for the last spectacle of the day.
Marcus was the last to enter. His first opponent was against a giant
of a
man, whose height matched his, but who weighed at least 200 pounds
more.
Using his agility and strength, he soon had the giant in a head lock.
He
looked to the crowd for the sign. Everyone said thumbs up, but Nero
gave
the thumbs down sign. Marcus twisted the man's head in a jerking
motion,
snapping his neck.
His next match pitted him against a bull. Normally Marcus never
wrestled
animals, but Nero had been in one of his mood swings and had
specifically
requested this match. Marcus would have normally refused, but great
emphasis was placed on the fact that Nero had requested it.
The bull was huge, standing over 5 feet at the shoulder, weighing
close to
2,000 pounds and huge sharp horns. The animal sized Marcus up,
pawing the
ground at the same time. With a snort and a roar, he charged.
Marcus
narrowly missed being gorged by one of those sharp horns. The animal
quickly turned and charged again. This time Marcus let the animal
pass
but
grabbed the horns, running with the animal for a little ways, then
planting
his feet. His muscles were bulging as the animal was tossing and
turning,
trying its best to toss Marcus. The more the bull tossed the more
Marcus
would hold his horns. Soon the animal tired, slowly falling to the
ground, panting and foaming at the mouth. Marcus began twisting the
bull's
head. He heard the bones begin to crack. Giving one fast twist, the
bull's
neck cracked completely. Marcus dropped the head to the ground, his
chest
heaving from the exertion.
The crowd came to its feet with a deafening roar. Even Nero had to
stand.
Marcus had exceeded his expectations. Marcus stood below the
emperor's
seat. Bags of gold were dropped at his feet. Marcus picked up the
bags,
saluted and then left the arena. A pair of eyes was watching as he
left.
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