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Updated: June 18, 2025
There were now on the arena six combatants: Niger and his net, matched against Sporus with his shield and his short broad-sword; Lydon and Tetraides, naked save by a cincture round the waist, each armed only with a heavy Greek cestus; and two gladiators from Rome, clad in complete steel, and evenly matched with immense bucklers and pointed swords.
While the contest in the amphitheatre had thus commenced, there was one in the loftier benches for whom it had assumed indeed a poignant, a stifling interest. The aged father of Lydon, despite his Christian horror of the spectacle, in his agonized anxiety for his son had not been able to resist being the spectator of his fate.
'Hush, my father! replied Lydon, somewhat impatiently; 'thou hast picked up in this new creed of thine, of which I pray thee not to speak to me, for the gods that gave me strength denied me wisdom, and I understand not one word of what thou often preachest to me thou hast picked up, I say, in this new creed, some singular fantasies of right and wrong. Pardon me if I offend thee: but reflect!
'So those soft patrons are coming to look at our muscles, said Niger. 'Who sent to previse thee of it, my mistress? 'Lepidus. He brings with him Clodius, the surest better in Pompeii, and the young Greek, Glaucus. 'A wager on a wager, cried Tetraides; 'Clodius bets on me, for twenty sesterces! What say you, Lydon? 'He bets on me! said Lydon. 'No, on me! grunted Sporus.
There were now on the arena six combatants: Niger and his net, matched against Sporus with his shield and his short broad-sword; Lydon and Tetraides, naked save by a cincture round the waist, each armed only with a heavy Greek cestus; and two gladiators from Rome, clad in complete steel, and evenly matched with immense bucklers and pointed swords.
As Lydon thus spoke, he had already quitted the dark chamber of his father; and speaking eagerly, though in a whispered tone, they now stood at the same place in which we introduced the porter at his post. 'O bless thee! bless thee, my brave boy! said Medon, fervently; 'and may the great Power that reads all hearts see the nobleness of thine, and forgive its error!
'Why not? growled Niger, savagely: 'many an honest gladiator has been compelled to a like combat by the emperor why not a wealthy murderer by the law? Lydon sighed, shrugged his shoulders, and remained silent.
Pansa regrets nothing more than that he is not rich enough to strew the arena with borax and cinnabar, as Nero used to do." "Well, if it has been a brief battle, it is quickly succeeded. See my handsome Lydon on the arena ay, and the net-bearer too, and the swordsmen! Oh, charming!"
A miser never was a hero. 'I am not a miser, said Lydon, haughtily, and he withdrew to the other end of the room. 'But I don't see Burbo; where is Burbo? I must talk with Burbo, cried Clodius. 'He is within, said Niger, pointing to the door at the extremity of the room. 'And Stratonice, the brave old lass, where is she? quoth Lepidus.
There was a convulsive tremor throughout the assembly. A fierce blow from Eumolpus, full on the crest, had brought Lydon to his knee. "Habet! he has it!" cried a shrill female voice; "he has it!" It was the voice of the girl who had so anxiously anticipated the sacrifice of some criminal to the beasts. "Be silent, child!" said the wife of Pansa, haughtily. "Non habet! he is not wounded!"
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