The Sacrifice by Sifaxnumida
translated by Hangnail using Google
Our story begins on the German frontier, in the year 29 B.C. In response to continual barbarian incursions, the Legate Antoninus was given command of seven cohorts and ordered to cross the Rhine on a punitive expedition.
Antoninus knew it was a hopeless task, but he relentlessly destroyed everything in his path. Small farms and villages were razed and the survivors were crucified. It hardly mattered whether they were men or women, guilty or innocent. Antoninus was ruthless and gave his soldiers carte blanche to carry out mass killings.
After two weeks in enemy territory, Antoninus's troops came across a larger fortified settlement. Antoninus reckoned it held three or four hundred Germans and their families. Hoping for a good haul of plunder he ordered his men to attack, but the defenders fought valiantly. The Romans, tired out by weeks of marching, mounted several unsuccessful assaults and suffered the loss of several dozen men, dead and wounded.
Antoninus refused to retreat. He sent a request for reinforcements and while waiting for them to arrive he ordered the construction of assault towers, ballistae and catapults to lay siege to the settlement.
Days later, as the Romans were running low on provisions, the reinforcements arrived. The town's defenders watched in dismay from the battlements. That afternoon another seven or eight hundred legionnaires arrived, fresh and rested. Soon the siege machinery was ready for the assault. The Roman attack was imminent. Ardovistus, the German leader, decided it was time to sue for peace and requested a meeting with the Legate. With a truce agreed he issued the order to open the gates of the town.
"I will go alone," he declared.
The Legate Antoninus, surrounded by his banners and his officers, waited for him a hundred yards from the walls. He watched as the German leader approached him with no sign of fear.
"Have you come to surrender?"
"No, Roman, I am here to negotiate."
"You are in no position to negotiate. Tomorrow at dawn we will destroy your town. There will be no prisoners and if we capture anyone alive, my men will see to it that they regret having been born. However, if you surrender now, I promise to spare the lives of your people."
"I do not trust you, Roman. As soon as I let you in you will sell my people as slaves or worse! I know what you have done in other places."
"Impudent bastard! How dare you!"
"I know you can destroy us if you want to, but in the battle you will lose many of your soldiers. That will not please your superiors, Roman. It is better for you to reach an agreement with me."
Antoninus suppressed his rage. Ardovistus was right.
"What do you propose?"
"My people will submit to Rome and swear not to attack the Romans for twenty years. We will pay you tribute, up to a reasonable amount, but under no circumstances will we open our gates. The tribute will be deposited outside the walls. You will take it and you will leave with your troops."
Antoninus would have liked to kill the arrogant German right there, but again he was right. The weak point of the Romans was their provisioning. Feeding an army of more than a thousand men in enemy territory was not going to be an easy task.
"Very well, German," he said, swallowing his pride. "If you want me to spare your people you will have to pay fifty sacks of wheat, thirty barrels of salted meat and twenty barrels of beer."
"That is too much. Without those provisions we will die of hunger. We will not be able to survive this winter."
"You choose, German. Either you pay or you will all die tomorrow."
Ardovistus did not have many options left either, so he accepted the offer.
"Very well, we will give you what you ask," he said resignedly, and turned to go back to the stockade. But Antoninus continued to speak.
"Wait there, German, I haven't finished with you yet!"
"What else do you want, are you still not satisfied?"
"Oh yes, I am. The tribute satisfies Rome and therefore satisfies me. But my men also deserve a reward. They have fought fiercely and have lost many of their companions. They are terribly agitated and only one thing can satisfy them."
"I do not understand you, Roman."
Antoninus smiled cruelly. "For weeks they have not seen a woman. They are dying to conquer your village, and you can imagine why."
Ardovistus struggled to control himself. "Well, they will have to restrain themselves. Your soldiers are not going to touch our women."
"Certainly, not all of them. I'll be satisfied with only twenty."
"What?"
"Now you listen to me to me, German. Tomorrow at dawn I want you to leave tribute next to the gates, and along with it you will provide twenty young virgins for my men."
Ardovistus's blood boiled at this, but Antoninus went on talking, detailing his cruel demands.
"I want them to be handed over completely naked and with their hands tied behind their backs. And they'd better be pretty. If I don't like one, I'll give her back and I'll demand another five instead.
"You must be crazy, Legate. I told you you're not enslaving anyone in my town."
"Oh, they won't be slaves for long, I'll just keep them for twenty-four hours for my officers and soldiers. Each one will have to satisfy fifty of my men but at the end of the day I'll give them back alive... and satisfied."
Antoninus's retinue laughed.
Ardovistus was red-faced with anger, but he thought twice before answering. He had to save his people no matter the cost.
"How about more tribute," he said desperately. "Anyway the parents will not allow their daughters to be handed over to you. The girls themselves will not agree to it..."
"Oh yes, I'm sure they will. German women are sluts and never reject a Roman cock, I know from experience. Hey, some of them may get lucky and end up with a little Roman growing inside them!"
Again there was a roar of laughter from the Legate's men.
"I hope for your own good that you can convince them. You yourself will choose the eighteen girls."
"Eighteen? You said twenty before."
A cruel smile crossed Antoninus's face. "I've been told that you have two beautiful daughters. I want them for myself."
This time Ardovistus could not contain himself. He drew his sword and shouting with rage rushed at the Legate. Antoninus just barely evaded him and several soldiers caught Ardovistus and grabbed his sword. Ardovistus struggled furiously, restrained by four men, snorting like an animal.
"I'll make you pay for this! I'll kill you if it's the last thing I do!"
Antoninus remained unperturbed.
"The girls of your tribe will satisfy my soldiers and your daughters will give me pleasure but there is one more thing. We also have to satisfy the honor of Rome and its gods and for that we have to make a human sacrifice."
As he spoke, the Legate took Ardovistus's sword and held it to his cheek, pressing until it drew forth a drop of blood.
"When I have enjoyed your two daughters I will decide which of the two will be sacrificed to Mars. The chosen one will die on the cross. The other one will be returned to you... almost intact."
Antoninus said all this through gritted teeth, and finished by slashing Ardovistus's cheek with his sword. Ardovistus uttered a cry of rage and pain.
"And now return this scum to his people."
The soldiers dragged Ardovistus back to the settlement while Antoninus admired the German's sword. The hilt was adorned with two coarse snakes intertwined. However, he did not want to separate a warrior from his weapon because that could be bad luck.
"Wait," he said, "give him back his sword. When he sees what we do with his daughters, he may want to take his own life."
The soldiers took the sword and the German chief to his village and threw him on the ground in front of the gates. Several Germans rushed to pick him up.
That night while his wife was treating the wound on his face, Ardovistus explained to his people the Legate's unacceptable demands, but he did not mention his intention to sacrifice one of his daughters because it seemed too terrible. As expected, the townspeople were furious. They were determined to defend the honor of their young maidens and agreed that it was better to die rather than give in to such outrageous conditions. Ardovistus hugged his two daughters, Lea and Frida, tears streaming down his cheeks, and thanked the rest of his tribe for their support. After the assembly everyone went home and the men prepared themselves to fight to the death. At least they would make the Romans pay dearly.
The next morning, before the sun came up, frantic activity broke out in the Roman camp. The legionnaires were preparing for battle. Awakened by the noise, Antoninus left his tent, putting on his armor. In the cold morning mist he could hear the sound of the tubas, the cries of the centurions giving orders, and the soldiers rushing around. The maniples formed up in disciplined ranks around three siege towers while the archers prepared their weapons. The catapults, onagers and ballistas were readied.
Although he was convinced that the Germans would fight, Antoninus wanted to check first if they had accepted his conditions. Accompanied by several officers, the Legate moved a few steps away from the camp towards the village walls and saw to his surprise that a few yards away someone had deposited the tribute but there was no sign of the women.
Within the village there was no sound and no signs of life on the walls.
"What the hell?" he muttered. "This is not what was agreed. If those dirty Germans think they can cheat me... Let the attack begin!"
"Wait sir, the gate is opening!"
Indeed the main gate swung open and after a few moments of indecision the Legate Antoninus smiled triumphantly.
"That's better, they have agreed."
Through the gate came a line of twenty women. They came out one after another and approached the Roman camp in silence. When they were more than a hundred yards from the walls, the young women stopped. Immediately half of them began to shed their clothes before the astonished gaze of the Roman legionnaires. Once naked they put their arms behind their backs and submissively let their companions tie them with thick hemp ropes.
Even though they had all decided to hand themselves over voluntarily, some still trembled with fear, so they asked their companions to tie them up tightly lest their courage abandon them at the last moment. Thus their own friends tied their arms firmly by the elbows and wrists leaving them well secured behind their backs and painfully twisting their shoulder blades.
Once they finished, another five girls stripped naked and offered their arms to their partners to be tied, until there was only one left. The last girl approached the Legate, crossing through the ranks of soldiers.
The young German, a beautiful blonde named Irina, stood before the Legate.
"Greetings to you my lord, there you have the tribute, and the slaves."
"I only count nineteen, are you number twenty?"
"Yes."
"I believe I said naked, what are you waiting for?"
Irina hesitated a moment, but then she took off her tunic in front of Antoninus and let it drop to the ground.
The men were in awe because despite her youth Irina had opulent breasts the size of a man's head. Seeing how they leered at her, the girl blushed and tried to cover her breasts with both hands.
The Legate smiled with lust.
"I also ordered you to tie your hands behind your back. You have disobeyed me, and you will be punished for it. I will hang you up by your breasts."
Irina felt a tremendous chill run through her body, but she obeyed again, turning her back to the Legate and clasping her arms behind her back so that he could tie them.
The Legate ordered an executioner to do it because he preferred to have his hands free to explore her.
"What a beauty!" Antoninus said, caressing Irina's bulging breasts and stroking her little bottom. "Are you Ardovistus's daughter?"
"No, my lord, his daughters are waiting for you in that group," Irina answered in a sigh and with her eyes closed. The young woman had never been naked in front of any man. But she willingly submitted to being shackled and having her breasts stroked, and she could not stop thinking excitedly about how they were going to torture her.
The executioner tied her arms firmly, tightening the cords so that she was painfully contorted. Meanwhile, the Legate's hands caressed her soft skin. The girl's docility excited him. He squeezed her breasts again.
"Is it the first time you've had them touched like that, slave?"
"Yes sir."
"Do you like it?"
Irina said nothing and hid her face in shame.
Antoninus's soldiers had been quiet so far, but seeing all those naked bound girls some of the legionnaires began to strike their weapons against their shields. The entire army quickly joined in. The noise became deafening. The rhythmic clash grew faster and faster, rising to a crescendo. The men shouted in impatient excitement.
At that thunderous sound, fear crept into the girls' hearts. Their pulses raced, and they thought they might piss themselves. Then a strange excitement seized them, and many felt warm and slick.
"Let's get a closer look at them," Antoninus said impatiently, still caressing Irina's breasts.
"Careful, sir, it might be a trap."
"You're right. Have one platoon take the supplies, and tell Brutus to bring the women to my tent. I want to see if they're to my liking."
With that, the Legate grabbed Irina by the hair and took her to his tent himself.
