Chapter 2

The wall of soldiers was forming, and I had to do something about it real damned quick! I was very close to one end of the oval arena, and the troops were about a third of the way from my end. The best thing I could think of to do was to rush the line and try to dodge between two of the soldiers. If I was lucky, I would try to get in a lick or two as I ran by, but my main job had to be to get through the line before they caught me.

As I started running toward the middle of the line, those soldiers in that area unconsciously started to bunch up in a effort to catch me as I got close. All my life, I had been a fast runner, and I had not lost any of that characteristic in my transformation. I got close to the bunched up soldiers and suddenly cut to one side. On my left, there was a gap in the line that was easily wide enough for me to get through. I ran as hard as I could toward the man on the far side of the gap. He was not expecting me and was a little slow in reacting.

When I got close enough, I surprised him completely by jumping at him and hitting his shield with my feet. He was knocked off balance and fell on his back. I rolled to my feet and stabbed the stunned soldier before I ran away. It was a good thing I ran when I did because other soldiers were getting close to me. I had not killed the soldier outright, but he would surely die as a result of the wound in his lower belly.

I ran as fast as I could to the other end of the arena, and I was cheered all the way. One young woman ran to the railing around the arena and handed me a cup of watered wine. Man, that was a welcome treat. I toasted her and thanked her for her help. She smiled rather coquettishly and went back to her seat. Meanwhile, I felt replenished and was ready for the next round. I happened to glance at the head referee, and I saw him smile. Apparently, I had not broken a rule by accepting the drink.

I sat on the ground and rested while the soldiers formed up again and started marching toward me. Those guys were not very smart! I wondered if they were an example of the cream of the local military. I hoped not, or the empire was in serious trouble. Then I realized what was going on. I was willing to bet that these soldiers were the dregs of the local Army units. The opening round of a gladiatorial event was a comedy set to get the audience in the mood for the serious fighting to come after lunch. We slaves were supposed to be wiped out, but we were supposed to get in a few licks at the incompetent soldiers to give the audience something to laugh at. Well, I was ahead of the schedule, but I was not going to worry about that.

Now I had 17 armored soldiers against me, and I couldn't take anything for granted. Even an incompetent soldier can get lucky, so I still had to take the situation seriously. I had a 10-minute rest while the soldiers got themselves organized. This was enough of a break for me to be very close to completely recovered, and I was ready to take the fight to the soldiers.

All I had to do was to knock down two more soldiers and they would have no chance of holding me with their line across the arena. They simply had been too long in ganging up on me. Now that I was recharged, I had a feeling that I would actually win. The line of soldiers was close enough to me now for me to get back into action. I got to my feet and this engendered another cheer from the crowd. I walked toward the line with a general path toward the middle of the line. They started to bunch up again, and the crowd was cheering "SECUTOR!" again. I just ran my same ruse as before, except this time I turned toward my right.

The soldier must have been watching for this ploy, because he turned to run as soon as I started moving toward him. He ran as fast as he could toward the man on his left. This surprised that man, and he started running, too, to escape me. I couldn't help it, I stopped my charge and broke down laughing. The crowd joined me, and raucous laughter ran through the stadium. I ran toward the two men running away from me, and the crowd cheered and laughed.

By the time I got close to the next man in line, he, too, started running away from me. There were now three men running from me, and it didn't look like that was the end of the fiasco. What the hell? I kept running down the line and every man broke to run away from me. Eventually, six men were bunched against the wall, staring at me in terror! I stopped about 10 yards away from them and summoned my breath for the loudest shout I had ever given, "BOO!" That was the last straw, the men dropped their swords and shields and ran in every direction. This really brought down the house!

The laughing and cheering knew no bounds. The crowd stood and began to shake their fists in the air. This was the signal for mercy to be offered to a defeated gladiator. The remaining soldiers were standing on the other side of the arena, shaking in their boots. The four referees were also laughing so hard that they could hardly stand. The chief referee walked up to me and handed me a laurel wreath. That was the prize for the victor, and there was no doubt that I had certainly won the first stage of the day's festivities.

Another referee came up to me and handed me a sack of silver. That was the collection from the audience to show their appreciation for my performance. I was escorted from the arena in triumph to the cheers of "SECUTOR!" I waved to the audience as I left, and I had a feeling that the rest of the entertainment was going to be a lot less fun.

I was escorted back to the slave stockade and locked in after I was disarmed. I did not protest the loss of the weapons, since I was sure that I was in a lot better position than I had been in when I had walked through the gate three days previously. The next thing I knew, I was visited by the man who had purchased me at the slave auction. He slapped me on my back and congratulated me on my performance in the arena. He had seen it and he was very impressed. In fact, he was sure that I had been a professional gladiator at some time. I didn't argue with him because I saw an opportunity coming.

Wow, when I counted the coins that I had won in the arena today, it came out to 119 denarii. That was about what a soldier could earn in a month. Man, I was rich! Thank the gods that it was customary for a gladiator to keep whatever the crowd gave him as the reward for victory. At this rate, I would shortly be able to buy my freedom, but I was not sure that I wanted it. If you were good at it, being a gladiator wasn't all that bad.

The next day, I was told that I was leaving for Rome within the week. I had been bought by a gladiator broker from Rome based on my performance yesterday. He had paid a hefty price for me, and he expected to double that when we got to Rome. He even had hopes of selling me to Emperor Commodus. If he could do that, he could triple or quadruple his investment.

By law, slaves on board ship, and that's how we would be traveling, had to be caged, so my new owner had a 10x10 "cage" built for me on the main deck. The cage had drapes on the inside next to the bars so that I could have complete privacy when I wanted it. To get me ready for sale in Rome, he started me on the standard gladiator's diet. To look like a good investment, I had to put on some fat to provide protection during combat. I wasn't real happy with that, but it was tradition, so I had to go along with the rules of the game.

Another thing my new owner did to keep me happy was to provide me with female companionship for the trip. He bought a 16 year old slave who was experienced with sex and who was not at all bad looking. She would not have won any beauty prizes in the early 21^st Century, but she was well endowed with her female parts. I certainly didn't complain when he surprised me by delivering her to my cage. This looked like it was going to be a very pleasant ocean voyage. I was looking forward to it.