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Ludi incipiant!
Let the games begin!
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Crucifixio Catharinae et Messalinae et verbera flagellum Iudith et Eileen
ad Augusta Treverorum anno 226
The crucifixion of Kathy and Messaline and the flogging of Judith and Eileen
in Augusta Treverorum, 226 AD
View attachment 1492827
Written in May and June 2024 by Sir Henry,
dedicated to the honoured ladies
Kathy, Messaline & Judith, Eileen and Veronika
Many thanks to Messa for proofreading!
Chapter I
Kathy
They had picked her up late in the evening.
A troop of three men: an optio and two legionaries in full armour, i.e. with breastplate, helmet, dagger, sword and lance.
Catherine, called Kathy by her friends, had been tired that day, had gone to bed early and had just fallen asleep when the troop entered the room, waking half the hostel where she was sharing a room with two other women.
Her hands were tied behind her back with leather straps and the completely distraught young woman was led away and taken to the magistrate's office, where she was initially locked in a cell in the basement with a piece of bread and a jug of water.
The next morning she was brought before the iudex interrogatio, an interrogating officer, who accused her of illegal prostitution and vagrancy.
The manager of the hostel, which offered a total of fourteen beds in five rooms as well as an ientaculi, a simple breakfast, had seen a man hurriedly leave Kathy's room in the afternoon. As it was against the house rules for men to visit women's rooms and vice versa, he immediately checked and discovered Kathy, who was alone in the room. Because he had tried to make a crude pass at Kathy at lunchtime, whereupon she had given him harsh words in return, he had now taken revenge on her by accusing her of whoring in his house and reporting it to the magistrate.
In fact, the man in question was the brother of a woman who also lived in the hostel and whom he had come to pick up. He had only made a mistake about the floor and had even apologized to Kathy for the disturbance.
During the interrogation, she truthfully stated this and also that she had come to the Moselle to work for a winegrower.
“Confess that you offered your body for money and I might be able to make concessions to you in the sentence,” demanded the officer, who was incidentally a close friend of the hostel owner.
"No, I didn't do that! I can't confess to something I haven't done, o iudex, Sir,”
Kathy tried to defend herself.
“Oh of course, you're completely innocent, aren't you?” he shouted, “and you think we're going to believe a runaway tramp and just let her do her thing, don't you?”
"O iudex, I'm not a vagrant and I'm not just passing through. I came here to work in the vineyards and in the wine cellars. The worker's house of the vintner for whom I work and who wants me to stay with him, the honourable Octavius Glennus, burnt down shortly before my arrival due to an unattended oil lamp, as I'm sure you know. He has put me up in the inn until he and his wife have furnished a chamber for me. Octavius is so pleased with me and my work that he is even contributing some money for the hostel in addition to my daily wage."
"A very touching story. Still, I don't believe a word you say! But we have ways and means to make a whore like you confess!" - “Sir, my husband is ill and I want to earn some money by working in the vineyard...” - “Aha! So adultery too! This is getting better and better!” and addressing the two guards standing at the door, he shouted „Arrest her!“
And so Kathy ended up in a dark and damp dungeon cell deep beneath the magistrate's building, in utter despair.
Her pleas to inform friends and the vintner Octavius went unheard and she was told that she would not be allowed any visitors. But who would visit her if no one knew where she was? Octavius would perhaps look for her and report her missing...
That was her only hope and she clung to it.
During the afternoon of the following day, she was taken out of the cell and roughly dragged through the corridors and a narrow stairwell into an even deeper vault under the cell wing. Terrified, she quickly realized from the various objects scattered around the room that it was obviously some kind of torture chamber.
The two burly men removed her toga, the usual everyday dress for women, and also tore off her fascia, a simple band tied tightly around her breasts - the forerunner of today's bra. Finally, they removed Kath's linen petticoat.
Without a word, the men placed iron cuffs around her wrists and ankles, which were attached to chains. They spread Kathy's legs, fixed them to the chains in a large wooden frame and then pulled her arms vertically upwards by the chains until the poor petite woman was stretched to the maximum and fixed in the frame.
Naked, infinitely ashamed and trembling with fear, she stood or rather hung from the chains in the cool vaulted cellar and waited for what was to come. The two guards who had brought her here, had undressed her and chained her to the rack were now sitting at a small table and paying no further attention to their prisoner; they were talking quietly and drinking red wine.
After what felt like an eternity, a tall, lean man entered the chamber, briefly exchanged a few words with the two guards and then went to Kathy, who looked at him fearfully.
“Oh please, Sir, I am ...” - “Silence! You will only answer my questions. Do you understand that?” - “Yes, sir, but I would like to ...“ A fierce, painful blow with the flat of his hand on her left breast immediately cut her off. "Non placet me repetere! I don't like repeating myself! Shut your mouth, whore!"
He took a chair from the table, placed it right in front of Kathy, sat down and explored every square inch of her naked body with his gaze. Her left breast had turned bright red from his tit-slapping.
"Right, let's get down to business. I'll make it easy for you: I'll ask, you answer. And briefly and succinctly, without digressions. If you strain my hearing without being asked or refuse to answer or hesitate or give me the feeling that you're lying, you'll feel the lash. Understand?"
Kathy nodded silently.
"So, how long have you been offering pleasure services and what does your husband know about it? Does he perhaps even support it?" - "No, Sir, I'm not a whore or an adulteress. I love my husband; he is ill ..."
He jumped up from his chair, pulled a coiled whip from his waistband and struck Kathy with full force. After a bright hissing sound, the braided leather strap landed on her hip and wrapped around her body almost one and a half times. A stinging jolt coursed through Kathy, she jerked in her bonds and cried out shrilly. The two guards grinned broadly.
"But believe me! I've never ..." - Another lash landed slapping on her body, this time across her breasts, leaving a deep red stripe. She screamed again and tugged at the chains, which were so tight that they did not allow any significant freedom of movement.
"The first blow was for your lie, the second for unsolicited chatter, because I didn't ask you a second question. That comes now: What is the nature of your labours of love, eh?"
"None at all," she whispered resignedly.
"None at all? So you want me to believe that you don't sell your fossa1) for money?" - "No, I'm not selling myself!" - "I see. And who was the man who came out of your room?" - "Someone who wanted to pick up his sister and was on the wrong floor..." - And again his whip hissed and cracked across her stomach.
"AAAAAHH! Please, Sir, please..." - Another lash... and another...
This went on for almost ten minutes. Kathy's petite little body was covered in bright red welts that criss-crossed her back, breasts, stomach and hips. She screamed and cried and moaned.
The thought briefly crossed her mind to simply confess everything this beast wanted to hear, just so that this torture, this ordeal, would finally be over. But just as she was about to, he let go of her, rolled up his whip again, threw a few coins to the two men at the table with the patronising words "Totally guilty, that whore!" and left the room.
Kathy felt and saw thin threads of blood running down her body from several welts; she wept bitterly.
The two guards loosened her bonds - again without a word - and took her back to her cell, having to support her on both sides as her legs gave out.
The night was terrible, the searing pain made sleep impossible.
She was still naked because her toga and underwear had been left behind in the torture chamber. The rough blanket of the cot felt unbearable on her tortured skin, so she lay naked on the wood of the cot.
The next morning she was brought her toga and, as in the following days, once a day a jug of fresh water and a little food, usually oat or millet porridge, some dry fruit, a few slices of bread and a little dried meat.
The only toilet she had was a wooden bucket, at least with a lid.
Her cell was a larger communal cell with four cots, i.e. for four people, about five by six metres, but she was the only prisoner. The four wooden planks, which were attached to the wall by chains and could be folded down, served as her bed for the night, and she had also been given two blankets made of coarse sheep's wool.
A bundle of fresh hay was also thrown in every morning.
There was no fresh air, such as a guarded passage in the yard; she sat in her cell twenty-four hours a day. Lonely and alone.
One of the wounds that ran across her right breast was particularly bad:
The strap of the whip had almost torn off her nipple and left a deep cut at the junction with the areola. The wound was oozing and hurt like hell.
On the sixth day she was fetched early in the morning and taken to a balneum, a bathroom, where she had to wash and freshen up and where her now dirty and soiled toga was replaced with a coarsely woven prison gown.
When she was ready, she was shackled again and led into the courtroom on the first floor.
At the hora tertia mane, the ninth hour of the day, she was led into the almost full courtroom, where she was pressed onto the wooden chair of the prosecution and guarded by two legionaries on either side.
The iudex was different from her interrogator shortly after her arrest. However, he treated her just as harshly and even shouted at the completely intimidated Kathy several times when she answered his questions or those of the ecdicus, the prosecutor, too quietly or too hesitantly.
Finally, she burst into tears when it became clear that she no longer seemed to have any chance of being acquitted for lack of evidence.
And so it came to pass: after just twenty minutes of trial, which had consisted mainly of accusations and insults, the iudex and his three assessors withdrew to deliberate and reach a verdict.
During the consultation, which lasted just eight minutes, Kathy had to remain seated in her chair and was exposed to the curious and perplexed looks of the audience. She searched desperately for Octavius, but could see neither him nor his wife.
Resigned, she lowered her gaze to the floor.
Her public defender, a defensor named Tree, had demanded in vain that the vintner Octavius, Kathy's husband and her flatmates be summoned as witnesses. He had argued that there was no relevant evidence, but he could do practically nothing for Kathy and against the judge's preconceived opinion.
The judgement made Kathy's blood run cold:
"Defendant, rise!
In the name of the emperor Severus Alexander, the magistrate's court has found the offence of fornication in conjunction with adultery and vagrancy. For these offences, the following sentence is passed on the basis of the Twelve Tables Act2):
The accused is punished with death on the cross. No appeal is possible against the judgement, which takes immediate legal effect.
The Centurion Primus Pilus3) Henricus Magnus, first officer of the third legion4) with special duties, is charged with the execution, the date of which will be announced."
A murmur went through the audience, her defence lawyer Tree jumped up from his seat indignantly, Kathy began to tremble and her eyes went black for a moment. She had to be supported again as the two legionnaires took her back to the cellar and handed her over to the guards there.
Not only did she know that she was doomed, that her life was over, but she also knew that she was now deprived of all rights as a prisoner sentenced to death and virtually outlawed.
She couldn't even cry in despair - she just sat apathetically on her wooden plank in the cell and stared into nothingness.
On that fateful day, she didn't get a bite of bread down, only drank a little water and spent most of the time lying motionless on her cot.
