Part 37 (2/2)
”Where are the animals?” asked Ptoleroeary of the never-ending spectacles, so when his excitement should have reached a fever pitch, instead he was increasingly difficult to i,” I assured hiht them”
”Oh” He stifled a yawn and twisted in his seat The hot sun was still beating down
”These beasts are sent by Gaius Sallustius Crispus, the overnor of the new province of Africa--the province won by this war--for the glory of Rome and the marvel of her citizens,” Caesar announced in his loudest voice
A cheer went up Now the people were coht the beasts in tays,” one of the men cried, the one dressed only in a tunic ”I have been trained to fight with a long hunting spear, but I have no protection other than my own quickness My companion”--be indicated the man protected by the leather--”must come closer to the beasts in order to strike, and so he estured toward another man who had no weapon at all--”well, you shall see what he can do! You shall see, and be astounded!”
Truons heeled into the Circus I could see the dark shapes inside, but could not tell what they were
A group of attendants, wearing protective heles The door of the first one was opened, and out sprang a lion A cry of excitement rose from the stands
The lion landed on the sand soundlessly, and shook his s Only one man, the spokesman with the spear, remained nearby The lion crouched down and eyed hi the air Thenoises in his throat to excite the ani minutes
Then, swiftly, he rose And al
But the ed his spear into the aniain, its tip red with blood, and retreated If he lost the spear, he would have no weapon at all
The lion seemed more surprised than hurt He fell back on his haunches and took several deep breaths Then he rose and leapt again
Again the ed the spear into the lion, this time into the chest With a muffled roar, the lion rolled over The man wrenched the spear out and fled to a safe distance to see if the lion would recover
The animal roared; he clearly was not ry He chased the man, who turned quickly--he never could have outrun hile rock of safety--and, deftly spinning, speared the lion again But this ti to, he seee clawed paws raked his shoulders
Suddenly he had the spear free again, and he fell to his knees and let the ani its chest and belly With superb ti, he sunk the spear into the lion's heart, the shaft sinking deeply
The lion crumpled in midair and fell aardly to one side He writhed and turned, trying to dislodge the weapon But the blood was spurting out of his body and draining away his strength, and soon he lay feebly panting on the sand, unable to move
Delicately the man approached him, and ripped the spear out Then, as if he wished to spare the beast further shame and pain, he killed him
An exuberant cry went up from the crowd, as the man turned and showed that he had suffered no injury except his clawed shoulder A most impressive performance
The next to be loosed in the arena was a black panther, and the leather-clad et close enough to try to stab it with the sword The aniainst its black fur, embraced the man like a pet several tiave rise to the suspense The panther was not licking hiot in three cuts, but that was not enough And then he lost his sword in wrenching it out to try to stab again It lay tantalizingly out of ar hand, when the panther ed to tear off his protective helmet and encircle his head with a hemisphere of sharp teeth A shriek told us that thehis limp body, like a cat with a mouse
But it was not allowed to savor its kill; there were no Triuuards rushed out; one shot the panther with arrohile the other finished it off with a javelin Then the dead bodies of both ly unshaken by the event, now gestured for a cage to be opened Another lion e for prey Thefeinting movements The lion, cautious, stood still Theit to attack Even so, it was a halfhearted attack, for it was a reaction rather than a true hunting leap The lion opened its mouth to roar, as the ed his ar it With his other hand he grabbed the lion's tongue and twisted it like a piece of rope
The heavy beast fell gasping Still the man--and I sa that he had leather arue, but continued wringing it The lion was clawing and fighting for air, but already it was losing strength Its li to suck air past the brave fist of the ullet like a stone, and the anilazed and its massive head fell on the sand The tail quivered and then nothing moved
”Did you see that?” Ptolemy ildly excited ”How did he do that? Ho?”
”Through training,” I said ”And unbelievable courage” I could not help but be impressed To kill a lion barehanded had always been a feat reserved for Hercules
Tumultuous cheers exploded from the stands The roup of e, bundles of reeds, and rollers One of the e and closed a flap after hied froes, and were teased and taunted by the round like a ball, but could not figure out how to get the man inside; others slipped on the rollers, and still others were baffled by the bundles of reeds The men outsmarted them at every turn, and the spectators were amused This was for comedy only In the end the bears were tricked back into their cages and the men took bow after bow
A few rahts between different types of aniht pythons, and panthers fought leopards For variety, the aniht, and could not slink away The lions were paired against ht They took on tigers, bulls, and wild boars Usually the lion won
But the dead bodies of the ani into aout in death The beautiful pelts of the slain beasts gleamed in the sun
Suddenly enormous numbers of lions were set loose in the arena, to hunt each other even as they were being hunted by arolden beasts worked themselves into a frenzy
”I've never seen so many lions,” cried Ptolemy, ”not even in a dreaathering of lions filling the Circus Later I was told there were more than four hundred of theth the ed: Scores of elephants were gored into panic and attack, and they ra, all over the arena Only the depth of the ditch kept the into the crowds I understood nohy Caesar had had it dug
The waste, the waste, the carnage! I could barely stand to watch as the elephants were sacrificed--to what? To entertainment? To Ro--of valuable beasts, ofto the country, as well as cruel
And the Roht, looking at the corpse-strewn field This was not rational; this made no sense It was their own peculiar madness, to kill in enor, even in the oppressive heat
Twilight fell; the slaughter had to stop The crowds, on fire with the spectacle, were almost as wild as the maddened elephants Caesar'sto his tables in high revelry and excite event in the ten-day celebrations; Caesar invited all of Rome to partake in a feast to be set at twenty-two thousand separate tables throughout the city Twenty-two thousand--all loaded with such delicacies as sea-eels and Falernian wine He had in mind a scene in which all the warriors, weary froether to celebrate their deliverance It was a scene straight froy; probably he was the only one who believed in it But the people illing enough to eat at his expense
Down in the Foru the day and merchants had their stalls The ia and Caesars own house, but thousands of others were set up around the half-finished Basilica Julia, around the Temple of Castor and Pollux, the Rostra, and the Curia The Via Sacra, where the Triuhfare of revelers and waiters, dancers and wine-servers Torches blazed everywhere, and musicians played on the Rostra
Caesar and his fa senators and istrates were at another nearby: Cicero, Lepidus, Brutus, and others I did not recognize All the formal Friends and Allies of the Roud, the Moorish kings, as well as the rulers of Galatia and Cappadocia, and the envoys who had coud, a rather handsoine what his wife, Eunoe, looked like I wondered why she had not coud forbidden her to? Or was it Caesar? I burned with curiosity to know
Throughout the Forum the outdoor party was celebrated raucously; the Falernian was doing its duty Since the as so rare and costly, everyone thought it his duty to drink asoff the stones I saw several et up and dance around the coluroup link arms and form tea singing contest was held on the steps of the Curia Onedown thelee
Wo flowers in their hair, cliht added to the intensity and fervor I felt sweat running down own to ht to have ainst the skin
When the dinner was over but the revelry was reaching its highest pitch, Caesar suddenly stood up Trumpets blared, and he seized a torch and leapt up on the table
”Friends! I wish to postpone no longer the dedication of ht, e have the light of a thousand torches here? Why wait for another day, when everyone is gathered here already?” he cried
At the far end of the Foru, and dancing But around us, everyone fell silent and listened
”I wish Rome to be the most beautiful city in the world And to that end, I have constructed new buildings for her” Two of his soldiers stepped up beside hias ”Let me show them to you Come with me!”
He took Calpurnia's hand and obediently the rest of his family followed him; he led them to the steps of the alathered, following in his footsteps