Chapter 6

Let me tell you, I'd had no idea just how boring life in Roman times could be! There was nothing for me to do but to train, and that descended into a routine after a while, just like anything else would. At least I had Fiona to liven up things a bit. She was happy because she was now pregnant.

She had missed one period, but she was convinced that meant that she was carrying a child. Fiona had never missed a period and she was regular to within one or two days, so a single miss was enough to convince her that she was knocked up. I hoped that she was correct, because I have never seen her so happy. I, too, was looking forward to the child, so we were both happier than you might expect. This was September, so she was expecting to deliver in May. At least, she would be carrying the baby during the cooler months, which would be more comfortable for her.

Well, I had to pay attention to my next bout which was due in three weeks. This one was against a Dimachaerius. He was kind of a novelty act, since he used two large knives and no shield. For armor, he wore leather wrappings on his arms and legs and he had a light helmet. This gladiator was built for speed. I had my work cut out for me!

Commodus did not have a Dimachaerius in his stable, so the trainer hired one from an independent commercial operation to train with me. This guy was good, and I hoped that my real opponent was no better. If he was, I was in trouble. My heavy shield, the scutum, was effective at stopping blows and strikes, but it was slow to move. A Dimachaerius depended on speed, so my large shield had its drawbacks against a skilled practitioner of the trade. His blades were curved and only 16-18 inches (41-46 cm) long, so I would have a few inches of reach on him; I sure as hell hoped that would be enough.

This was another regular fight and not one of those between hobbyists, so I was expecting that one of us would die before the match was over. I began to wonder if Commodus was testing me for some reason, though I couldn't figure out what that could be. There was always the possibility that Commodus was a royal SOB, and he just liked to see somebody die. My history books leaned very heavily on that motivation. After all, Commodus was assassinated, and by a gladiator, at that.

Anyway, I prepared as much as I could for the match, and that included switching to a home-modified shield. It still looked like a standard scutum, but I had done everything I could to take weight out so that it was easier to move. It would not do against the battering of a heavy sword, but it was adequate for use in protecting against knives. I also enlarged the boss and added spikes, both to do more damage and to help catch a passing blade. The spikes were only about 1-2 inches (25-50 mm) long, and they looked like horns for the goat heads decorating the boss, but they were as sharp as they could be. The curved shape just might ensnare a knife blade and help to disarm my opponent. I was looking for every little advantage I could find.

The day of the fight dawned bright and clear, with only a few clouds—a typical fall day in Rome. The temperature was a little cooler than usual, and that was also to my advantage. Maybe the gods were with me, I needed all of the help I could get!

We marched into the Colosseum a bit later in the day than with my previous appearance. That attested to my rise in status. Because of the novelty, this bout was a feature attraction just before the big stars were due to show up. We went through the usual routine of saluting the Emperor, all to the tune of a lot of musical instruments, including an organ! I had moved up in the world farther than I had realized!

We were led to the center of the ring and faced off. The referee signaled for the start of the fight, and the contest began. Holix, my opponent, was a real dancer. He ran circles around me trying to get me dizzy, I suppose. Fortunately, by now, my leg wound was completely healed, and I had no trouble keeping up with him. The lighter weight of my shield helped a lot, too, with giving me more freedom of movement.

At first, the audience laughed at the antics of Holix as he ran around me, but that started to turn into jeers as he prolonged it. None of the audience expected a Samnite to keep up with a Dimachaerius, so none of the jeering was directed at me. Holix finally caught on to the boredom rising in the crowd and suddenly changed his tactics.

I had been expecting something like this, so I was not caught by surprise as he altered his direction and charged at me while waving his knives in a very menacing manner. He wasn't kidding with those knives. He seemed to be swinging wildly, but I could see a pattern in his motion. If I had become careless for only a moment, I would have one of those knives sticking through my skin in a very inconvenient place.

Momentarily, I gave way to his rush in order to draw him in closer to my shield. When he was close enough, I lunged with my shield at his body. I didn't really expect to connect, but I hoped for the best. Dammit, that man was quick! He managed to dodge my shield, but the boss did hit him on his left forearm. The spikes penetrated the skin, and I did feel at least one of them scrape on bone. Holix actually had to peel his arm from the spikes to get loose, and I took advantage of his momentary distraction to stab him in the gut.

My stab was very superficial, but it was enough for the referee to pause us long enough for him to examine the two wounds. He judged them not to be serious enough to stop the fight and signaled us to continue. Naturally, the audience approved of my action, and I started to get more cheers.

Holix did lose some freedom of movement in his left arm from the stab by the horns on my shield boss, but his right arm was just as lively as it had ever been. He began to aim knife strikes at my sword arm at a steady rate. The metal wrist guard, Manica, that I wore reached about half way to my elbow, and that was taking a lot of strikes. I wasn't being cut, but I was taking a beating on that wrist that was holding my sword. Hell, if that kept on much longer, I might lose some of the control of my sword, and that was something that I did not dare have happen.

We were now about 10-12 minutes into the battle, and both of us were getting a bit winded. Because of his running around, Holix was in worse shape than I was, for whatever that was worth. I decided to test him, so I held my shield in the maximum defensive position and advanced upon Holix like a juggernaut. He tried to dance away as I came toward him. At every step, I jabbed at him with my sword, and his few futile strikes against my shield with his knives only made matters worse for him.

Holix was forced to use his knives to block my sword jabs, and I concentrated on his left side where he suffered from the weaker arm. My tactic was appreciated by the crowd, and the roars of cheers swept the stadium with every jab of my gladius. The curved knife was a help in this kind of defense because it enabled Holix to hook my sword out of the way, but I could feel his work getting weaker and weaker as I pressed him with my advance.

Oh, he did get to me on occasion with his knives. I was sporting a few cuts where I had not been quite quick enough to block with my shield, but I was not in imminent danger, though I was dripping a crowd-pleasing amount of blood. If I could end the fight within the next five minutes, I was not in danger of losing too much blood.

Holix was tiring faster than I was. Cutting some of the weight from my shield had been a stroke of genius, and it was well within the rules of the game, so I was in good shape with that. Holix was now stabbing and slashing at me with wild abandon. He no longer seemed to have a plan, he was just desperate to stop me from pressing him so hard.

Basically, my shield was wood, so when one of Holix's wild stabs with the knife in his right hand hit my shield point first, it penetrated the wood and stuck. Given a few moments, Holix could have freed the knife, but I kept him from doing that by pushing against him instead of pulling my shield back to break free. Holix was totally unprepared for my maneuver, and was thereby not able to free his knife. The moment I had my feet and legs in a favorable position, I twisted my shield much as I had done back in Lebanon in my first arena fight and pulled Holix's knife from his hand.