Blood of a Barbarian by John-Philip Penny Read Free Book Online

group of you barbarians." He laughed. "Once you become a real gladiator, you will realize that the old loyalties count for nothing anymore, and that all that matters is fighting skill, and your devotion to the brotherhood of gladiators."
    I could see that there was sense to what he was saying, and I found it hard to blame this smiling young man for the ills that his people had visited upon me.
    "And what of these gods?" I asked. "How will they help me in my cause?"
    "They will help anyone in their cause. That is the great thing about them. You believe that your gods only protect you within your own territorial borders, but we believe that ours are more powerful than that, and if you make offerings to them, and plead your case well enough, than they will hear your prayers, and will answer."
    "Which is the strongest of all?" I asked.
    "That would be Jupiter," said Titus.
    "Then it is Jupiter that I will worship," I exclaimed.
    "Whoa, hold on there," Titus laughed. "If you wish for your opponent to be killed, and not yourself, then you must beseech Mercury, God of death. And if you wish for good fortune, then as I said, Fortuna is your best bet. Jupiter is the mightiest of all, but sometimes it is better to go straight to a particular deity, rather than to hope that Jupiter will intervene with them on your behalf. I myself cover all my bases by praying to all of them."
    Now it was my turn to laugh. I suddenly felt a weight going off of my shoulders, and thought that I would like to confide in Titus, who I could see might become a friend.
    "You know, these last few days I have been thinking about the past, about my old life, and about freedom. Perhaps I have put too much value on it. After all, what was I before? I was a mercenary who fought for pay, and for booty. Then I was captured and sent to the mines. Truth be told, I am very lucky to be here at all, or to be alive. Romans usually just crucify people like me, or throw them to the beasts. Even if I got free, I would only go back to my previous life, for I know nothing else, and would probably be dead within a year, or less. This place is like a dream in some ways, unlike anything back home, and one can see that there are many fortunes to be made if one is clever. Perhaps I am still just a mercenary like before -nothing better, but nothing worse either. At least this way I have a chance of winning some real prize money. Perhaps Fortuna does shine down on me. I could not see it before, but am beginning to now. All I need to do is win the favour of these powerful divinities in order to reclaim my life."
    I then stepped forward and touched the heads of all six of the gods, just as Titus had done, and then knelt down for a moment before the shrine.
    "We'll make a true gladiator of you yet," laughed Titus, as he slapped me on the back.

 
    CHAPTER SIX
    Spectacula
     
     
    On the next day of training, I recalled the words that Titus and I had spoken the day before, and felt that there was truth in them. While walking to and from the mess hall, and my quarters and the arena, I looked more closely at the many statues which lined the hallways and various porticos throughout the Ludus. There was even, I noticed, a statue at the head of one of the four fountains in the courtyard. All of these statues were meant to represent past gladiators who had been members of this school, and who had achieved great renown.
    While the sculptors had no doubt taken liberties in their depictions, both in the size of the men's stone muscles, and in their obviously idealized and Romanized features, they still must have been impressive figures both to look at and to watch in the arena. One man, it said at the base of one of the statues, was a Thraex, and he had won one-hundred victories in a row without a single defeat, and then died of natural causes. He was known to have been the greatest gladiator of his age.
    It occured to me that the important thing was not so much what other people thought of you,