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The Governor begins his speech

Cives Narbonis (citizens of Narbo),” said the Governor in a strong voice that carried throughout the space. “You see before you, one Barbaria, serva, a Goth from the tribe encamped north of here.” A few catcalls came out, but were silenced when Gaius raised his hand. “I should tell you that her father, Fritigernus, rex of that tribe, is here,” he gestured to the Goth leader in the box. “He has come to beg the commutation of his child’s sentence.” Again a few cat-calls, that were again silenced by the Praeses. “I am determined to give fair consideration to his request and make every effort to maintain goods relations cum nostris indocilibus accolis (with our barbarian neighbors).” Here there was more favorable murmuring as the crowd appreciated the need to keep peace with this fierce tribesmen.

Antonious had assumed that his indirect Latin would go over Friþugairns’ head, but when he turned to smile at the headman, he saw a disapproving frown.

Slightly taken aback and stumbling for a moment, the Governor swiftly regained his aplomb and again addressed the crowd. “Out of regard for the sensitivities of you, my friends, I have decided to explain to all of you openly, the reasons for showing mercy.” At this the crowd settled down, obviously willing to at least listen to their respected Praeses.

“Let me briefly review the legal case. Yesterday morning, this serva was bought for personal use (a few snide chuckles could be heard) by an officer of the government, meo filio” (even more chuckles. But the Governor pressed on.) “Shortly after her purchase, she attacked Galarius with possible lethal intent.”
“Damn bitch tried to kill me,” chirped up the lad in a high voice somewhat muffled by the large piece of sow’s udder in his mouth. Gaius looked sternly at his son, who quieted down and instead took a big gulp of wine.
Quaestor Piso was present.” Here, the Praeses turned to Lucius who stood to take a modest bow to modest applause. “There were numerous citizens present and they all did agree that the girl was guilty of the two charges, lex maiestatis (treason – attacking an agent of the state) and parricidium (parricide – the attempted murder of a master).” As you all know, Quaestor Piso believes in using the full punitive power of the law” (a number of obscure and obscene expressions were mumbled). “Therefore he sentenced serva Barbaria to Poena Cullei, multa strupra, Flagellato, et Crucifixio!” Gasps resounded throughout the arena as the people realized for the first time the extremity of the punishment that had been decreed.
 
The Governor begins his speech

Cives Narbonis (citizens of Narbo),” said the Governor in a strong voice that carried throughout the space. “You see before you, one Barbaria, serva, a Goth from the tribe encamped north of here.” A few catcalls came out, but were silenced when Gaius raised his hand. “I should tell you that her father, Fritigernus, rex of that tribe, is here,” he gestured to the Goth leader in the box. “He has come to beg the commutation of his child’s sentence.” Again a few cat-calls, that were again silenced by the Praeses. “I am determined to give fair consideration to his request and make every effort to maintain goods relations cum nostris indocilibus accolis (with our barbarian neighbors).” Here there was more favorable murmuring as the crowd appreciated the need to keep peace with this fierce tribesmen.

Antonious had assumed that his indirect Latin would go over Friþugairns’ head, but when he turned to smile at the headman, he saw a disapproving frown.

Slightly taken aback and stumbling for a moment, the Governor swiftly regained his aplomb and again addressed the crowd. “Out of regard for the sensitivities of you, my friends, I have decided to explain to all of you openly, the reasons for showing mercy.” At this the crowd settled down, obviously willing to at least listen to their respected Praeses.

“Let me briefly review the legal case. Yesterday morning, this serva was bought for personal use (a few snide chuckles could be heard) by an officer of the government, meo filio” (even more chuckles. But the Governor pressed on.) “Shortly after her purchase, she attacked Galarius with possible lethal intent.”
“Damn bitch tried to kill me,” chirped up the lad in a high voice somewhat muffled by the large piece of sow’s udder in his mouth. Gaius looked sternly at his son, who quieted down and instead took a big gulp of wine.
Quaestor Piso was present.” Here, the Praeses turned to Lucius who stood to take a modest bow to modest applause. “There were numerous citizens present and they all did agree that the girl was guilty of the two charges, lex maiestatis (treason – attacking an agent of the state) and parricidium (parricide – the attempted murder of a master).” As you all know, Quaestor Piso believes in using the full punitive power of the law” (a number of obscure and obscene expressions were mumbled). “Therefore he sentenced serva Barbaria to Poena Cullei, multa strupra, Flagellato, et Crucifixio!” Gasps resounded throughout the arena as the people realized for the first time the extremity of the punishment that had been decreed.
Here there was more favorable murmuring as the crowd appreciated the need to keep peace with this fierce tribesmen ... Really? I bet more than a few of them would love to see the slut suffer her Flagellato, et Crucifixio!

And still the tension mounts ...
 
Here there was more favorable murmuring as the crowd appreciated the need to keep peace with this fierce tribesmen ... Really? I bet more than a few of them would love to see the slut suffer her Flagellato, et Crucifixio!

And still the tension mounts ...
Decisions, decisions!
 
As the readers may easily see, we are approaching the decision of whether to show Barbaria mercy or not. A classic “thumbs up or thumbs down” moment. One so beloved in Hollywood movies:
„Nero_im_Circus“.png6e9dbbb0152429701e6dbb5ccd8a9cf9.jpgtenor.gif

But, like so many tropes of Rome found in the movies, this one is seriously questionable. There is nothing in Roman literature that refers to thumbs up or down. In reality, the Oxford English Dictionary cites the earliest written instance of "thumbs-up" (with a positive meaning) as being from Over the Top, a 1917 book written by Arthur Guy Empey. Empey was an American who served in the British armed forces during World War I. He wrote: "Thumbs up, Tommy’s expression which means ‘everything is fine with me'."

So, how did we come to associate the gesture with Roman Gladiatorial games? The popularization of the thumbs down meaning death came first from the 1872 painting, Pollice Verso by Jean-Léon Gérôme of the crowd in the Colosseum giving the sign to a victorious gladiator.
Jean-Leon_Gerome_Pollice_Verso.jpg Gérôme liked the subject of ancient Rome and was the artist of "The Slave Market,
003jpg.jpgwhich I previously posted in this thread (edited to follow CF age rules).

Is there any evidence of such a symbol in Roman times? Yes. It was called the Pollice Verso (turn of the thumb), which is where Gérôme got the title for the painting. The phrase is used in one of Juvenal’s Satires, where he writes
“to-day they hold shows of their own, and win applause by slaying
whomsoever the crowd with a turn of the thumb (verso pollice) bids them slay.”

Also, Prudentius, a Christian contemporary of our story, mentions the thumb gesture, used by a Vestal virgin who delights in the carnage:
pectusque iacentis virgo modesta iubet converso pollice rumpi, (the modest virgin with a turn of her thumb bids him pierce the breast of his fallen foe).”

From this and other evidence, we know that “the turn of the thumb” requested death.

So why don’t these two quotes verify thumbs down? Because the expression is only “turn of the thumb,” it doesn’t say how. There is another expression used, less well known, pollice presso (pressed thumb) which indicated sparing the life.

There is no universal opinion of scholars on what the thumb did. One person has written a book on the subject, Nature Embodied, Gesture in Ancient Rome. In it, Anthony Philip Corbeill, the Basil L. Gildersleeve Professor of Classics at the University of Virginia, argues that the death gesture, the verso pollice, was actually a closed fist with the thumb turned up! The mercy gesture, the pollice presso, was a closed fist with the thumb pressed down against the index finger.

That is the set of gestures that I shall use in this story.
 
In which we learn more about the Legendary, Friþugairns.

Antonious looked at the Goth headman, praying that the expression “multa strupra (gang rape)” would pass uncomprehended. To his relief, the elder was sitting, staring at Barbaria with a blank expression. The Governor sighed with relief.
In fact, Friþugairns had heard and understood the meaning of multa strupra. However, the concept just fed into the confusion that was tearing his mind just then. To understand his feeling, we have to trace back his life to when Barbaria was born.

In 359 AD, Friþugairns was a thirty-two-year-old upper-level chief in the Visigoths known then to the Romans as the Thervingi (from the Goth expression for Forest people). During most of the first two-thirds of the fourth century, there was mostly peaceful co-existence between the Romans and the Goths. Constantine recruited many into his palace guard.
In this relatively peaceful time for his tribe Friþugairns (remember his name means peace-seeker) and his beloved wife, Badriyah, welcomed his first (and only) child, a girl they named Barbaþais.

Almost immediately after her birth, new pressures from the Huns to the East and conflicts with the Romans to the South and West caused more frequent struggles. Friþugairns was frequently away from his village and saw little of his family. By 369, he was one of the most respected and powerful leaders of his tribe. In that year, he fought alongside the "king" of the Thervingi, Athanaric, and, together, they defeated the Eastern Roman Emperor, Valens.
No sooner had this success been won than jealousy broke out, and Athanaric began a brutal civil war against Friþugairns and his followers. It went badly for Friþugairns, and he sent his family away for their safety. The leader fought well, forming wise alliances, and eventually came out as the leader of much of the Thervingi.
In 376, he gained the permission of Emperor Valens to move his people south of the Danube to escape the approaching Huns. However, the corrupt Imperial officers abused and cheated the Goths until hostilities broke out. At the decisive Battle of Adrianople in 378, the Roman army was destroyed, and the Emperor himself was killed by the victorious Goth warlord.
After the battle, the infighting and continued slaughter disgusted the now 51-year-old Warrior. He tired of command and warfare and yearned for peace. The weakened Roman officials readily agreed to allow a small tribe to move west to Gaul to settle peacefully, as long as the dreaded Warrior led them. At this point, Friþugairns disappears from the historical record.

The chief had been separated from his family for almost sixteen years and hadn't seen his child after age five. He pretty much gave up hope on being reunited and had to take responsibility for leading his people to their new land. But he sent several of his most trusted warriors to try to find and bring back his family.
Thus it was, that just two years before our story, that those men appeared at the new village with good and bad news. His wife had died eight years before, but his daughter was alive and well and came with them. It is impossible to describe the father's feelings as he looked for the first time in nineteen years, on his now grown and beautiful child.
 
In which we learn more about the Legendary, Friþugairns.

Antonious looked at the Goth headman, praying that the expression “multa strupra (gang rape)” would pass uncomprehended. To his relief, the elder was sitting, staring at Barbaria with a blank expression. The Governor sighed with relief.
In fact, Friþugairns had heard and understood the meaning of multa strupra. However, the concept just fed into the confusion that was tearing his mind just then. To understand his feeling, we have to trace back his life to when Barbaria was born.

In 359 AD, Friþugairns was a thirty-two-year-old upper-level chief in the Visigoths known then to the Romans as the Thervingi (from the Goth expression for Forest people). During most of the first two-thirds of the fourth century, there was mostly peaceful co-existence between the Romans and the Goths. Constantine recruited many into his palace guard.
In this relatively peaceful time for his tribe Friþugairns (remember his name means peace-seeker) and his beloved wife, Badriyah, welcomed his first (and only) child, a girl they named Barbaþais.

Almost immediately after her birth, new pressures from the Huns to the East and conflicts with the Romans to the South and West caused more frequent struggles. Friþugairns was frequently away from his village and saw little of his family. By 369, he was one of the most respected and powerful leaders of his tribe. In that year, he fought alongside the "king" of the Thervingi, Athanaric, and, together, they defeated the Eastern Roman Emperor, Valens.
No sooner had this success been won than jealousy broke out, and Athanaric began a brutal civil war against Friþugairns and his followers. It went badly for Friþugairns, and he sent his family away for their safety. The leader fought well, forming wise alliances, and eventually came out as the leader of much of the Thervingi.
In 376, he gained the permission of Emperor Valens to move his people south of the Danube to escape the approaching Huns. However, the corrupt Imperial officers abused and cheated the Goths until hostilities broke out. At the decisive Battle of Adrianople in 378, the Roman army was destroyed, and the Emperor himself was killed by the victorious Goth warlord.
After the battle, the infighting and continued slaughter disgusted the now 51-year-old Warrior. He tired of command and warfare and yearned for peace. The weakened Roman officials readily agreed to allow a small tribe to move west to Gaul to settle peacefully, as long as the dreaded Warrior led them. At this point, Friþugairns disappears from the historical record.

The chief had been separated from his family for almost sixteen years and hadn't seen his child after age five. He pretty much gave up hope on being reunited and had to take responsibility for leading his people to their new land. But he sent several of his most trusted warriors to try to find and bring back his family.
Thus it was, that just two years before our story, that those men appeared at the new village with good and bad news. His wife had died eight years before, but his daughter was alive and well and came with them. It is impossible to describe the father's feelings as he looked for the first time in nineteen years, on his now grown and beautiful child.
I so wish this had been a substantial part of the content for my history lessons at school ... it would have fuelled all my fires!
 
So this : :thumbsup: actually means:
“F*** off and die!” :doh:
Good to know.
I so wish this had been a substantial part of the content for my history lessons at school ... it would have fuelled all my fires!
Better late than never. PrPr aroused my interest in the history of antiquity. For which I truly grateful
And I am truly grateful for the kind comments. These last two posts mark the end of the deepest history dives. I can tell you that the history is as true as my research and the knowledge of scholars permits. Where there is doubt, I have chosen to follow what works for the story.
Friþugairns is an actual historical character. All the others are fictional, though I have tried to make them as authentic as possible.
 
Prudentius, a Christian contemporary of our story,
Aurelius Prudentius Clemens 348- after 405: he wrote the earliest, and finest, account of the martyrdom of Eulalia, which had happened well within the living memory of his own time. It's a mini-epic in the style of (and with many echoes of) Virgil. It's one of a series (14) poems in various styles on several Christian martyrs, Peristephanon, 'Crowns of Martyrdom'. Agnes is another virgin martyr that he describes, in a tender way yet portraying her as a strong, determined young woman.

The reference to the vestal virgin attending a gladiator show, standing up and cheering, and giving the thumbs-down, is from his long 'reply to the address of Symmachus', one of the last great pagan Romans, who had called in the Senate for the Altar of Victory to be restored to the Senate House. Prudentius ends his critique of paganism with a section on the Vestal Virgins, lamenting how the poor girls are prevented from enjoying the experiences of marriage and motherhood, but when they're old and wrinkled they are retired, allowed to marry, and spend their time watching brutal spectacles in the arena.
 
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Aurelius Clemens Prudentius 348- after 405: he wrote the earliest, and finest, account of the martyrdom of Eulalia, which had happened well within the living memory of his own time. It's a mini-epic in the style of (and with many echoes of) Virgil. It's one of a series (14) poems in various styles on several Christian martyrs, Peristephanon, 'Crowns of Martyrdom'. Agnes is another virgin martyr that he describes, in a tender way yet portraying her as a strong, determined young woman.

The reference to the vestal virgin attending a gladiator show, standing up and cheering, and giving the thumbs-down, is from his long 'reply to the address of Symmachus', one of the last great pagan Romans, who had called in the Senate for the Altar of Victory to be restored to the Senate House. Prudentius ends his critique of paganism with a section on the Vestal Virgins, lamenting how the poor girls are prevented from enjoying the experiences of marriage and motherhood, but when they're old and wrinkled they are retired, allowed to marry, and spend their time watching brutal spectacles in the arena.
The added value being provided around what is a brilliant story in its own rights is just wonderful
 
Aurelius Prudentius Clemens 348- after 405: he wrote the earliest, and finest, account of the martyrdom of Eulalia, which had happened well within the living memory of his own time. It's a mini-epic in the style of (and with many echoes of) Virgil. It's one of a series (14) poems in various styles on several Christian martyrs, Peristephanon, 'Crowns of Martyrdom'. Agnes is another virgin martyr that he describes, in a tender way yet portraying her as a strong, determined young woman.

The reference to the vestal virgin attending a gladiator show, standing up and cheering, and giving the thumbs-down, is from his long 'reply to the address of Symmachus', one of the last great pagan Romans, who had called in the Senate for the Altar of Victory to be restored to the Senate House. Prudentius ends his critique of paganism with a section on the Vestal Virgins, lamenting how the poor girls are prevented from enjoying the experiences of marriage and motherhood, but when they're old and wrinkled they are retired, allowed to marry, and spend their time watching brutal spectacles in the arena.
Thank you for the marvelous addition, Eul. I was aware of his work on Eulalia and Agnes (my grandmother's name) but I left the additional research to you.
 
Father - Daughter continued:

Two years later, in this arena, surrounded by excited Romans, Friþugairns was staring down at his shapely daughter, standing in the middle of the arena, swaying in exhaustion with the heavy beam on her back. She was naked, except for the tiny loincloth which did nothing more than cover her pussy lips. Covered with sweat and dust, Barbaria was panting to catch her breath after the brutal march from the castra, and this made her ample breasts rise and fall and quiver enticingly. Occasional waves of pain shot through her body causing her body to shiver. Trails of blood could be seen running down her inner thighs, and a few whiplash marks coming up from there to decorate her lower abdomen. More angry marks could be seen wrapping around her sides to kiss her belly and the side of her tits. One could only imagine with horror what her back must be like. The appearance of the girl was more than enough to arouse for some, pity, or, for others, lust! And that was what was torturing the mind of her father.
One must appreciate that Barbaria was almost a stranger to the old man. He had no daughter for over eighteen years. The memories of her first few years had faded in his mind. Now, suddenly, without warning, he had thrust upon him a twenty-two-year-old, beautiful young woman. Thrust was the word as she ran to his arms and embraced him with the words, "Fadar, Fadar!” while pressing her firm, ample bosom into his chest. It was then that the trouble started.
Though no one else suspected it, and Friþugairns would rather be torn to pieces by wild animals than act on it, he had feelings, feelings he couldn't suppress. This beautiful, sexy, young woman was technically his child, but he felt no fatherly feelings toward her. Instead, Barbaria’s presence in his home had caused an almost uncontrollable lust in the elder from the moment they had been reunited. Now, seeing her naked and thinking of her sweet cunt and ass ravaged by multiple Roman soldiers in a brutal gang rape, her father was not angered but highly aroused. He shifted slightly in his seat to rearrange the tight, German trousers.

Relieved that he seemed not to have angered the Goth again, Antonious turned back to address the crowd. “Mei amici (my friends),” (a political expression that goes back before the time of the Romans), “there is no question that the crimes that this serva committed require grave punishment. However, noster honestus Centurio (our honorable Centurion) has assured me that the first three parts of the Goth's sentence have been applied with full rigor. Anything less than the absolute maximum was only to allow her to survive enough to be brought here today."
“Guards, please turn her around so that all may see the destruction that the flagellata has inflicted on her body.”
Two soldiers took the ends of the patibulum and slowly moved in a circle so that all in the arena could see her ravaged back ass and legs. Many gasps were heard as these people saw a young woman's body bloodied far beyond anything they had seen in their peaceful, domestic lives. Thoughts of what she had already suffered, drove many to levels of lust they had never known.

Cursing at himself, Friþugairns felt his erection grow rock hard with desire.
 
Father - Daughter continued:

Two years later, in this arena, surrounded by excited Romans, Friþugairns was staring down at his shapely daughter, standing in the middle of the arena, swaying in exhaustion with the heavy beam on her back. She was naked, except for the tiny loincloth which did nothing more than cover her pussy lips. Covered with sweat and dust, Barbaria was panting to catch her breath after the brutal march from the castra, and this made her ample breasts rise and fall and quiver enticingly. Occasional waves of pain shot through her body causing her body to shiver. Trails of blood could be seen running down her inner thighs, and a few whiplash marks coming up from there to decorate her lower abdomen. More angry marks could be seen wrapping around her sides to kiss her belly and the side of her tits. One could only imagine with horror what her back must be like. The appearance of the girl was more than enough to arouse for some, pity, or, for others, lust! And that was what was torturing the mind of her father.
One must appreciate that Barbaria was almost a stranger to the old man. He had no daughter for over eighteen years. The memories of her first few years had faded in his mind. Now, suddenly, without warning, he had thrust upon him a twenty-two-year-old, beautiful young woman. Thrust was the word as she ran to his arms and embraced him with the words, "Fadar, Fadar!” while pressing her firm, ample bosom into his chest. It was then that the trouble started.
Though no one else suspected it, and Friþugairns would rather be torn to pieces by wild animals than act on it, he had feelings, feelings he couldn't suppress. This beautiful, sexy, young woman was technically his child, but he felt no fatherly feelings toward her. Instead, Barbaria’s presence in his home had caused an almost uncontrollable lust in the elder from the moment they had been reunited. Now, seeing her naked and thinking of her sweet cunt and ass ravaged by multiple Roman soldiers in a brutal gang rape, her father was not angered but highly aroused. He shifted slightly in his seat to rearrange the tight, German trousers.

Relieved that he seemed not to have angered the Goth again, Antonious turned back to address the crowd. “Mei amici (my friends),” (a political expression that goes back before the time of the Romans), “there is no question that the crimes that this serva committed require grave punishment. However, noster honestus Centurio (our honorable Centurion) has assured me that the first three parts of the Goth's sentence have been applied with full rigor. Anything less than the absolute maximum was only to allow her to survive enough to be brought here today."
“Guards, please turn her around so that all may see the destruction that the flagellata has inflicted on her body.”
Two soldiers took the ends of the patibulum and slowly moved in a circle so that all in the arena could see her ravaged back ass and legs. Many gasps were heard as these people saw a young woman's body bloodied far beyond anything they had seen in their peaceful, domestic lives. Thoughts of what she had already suffered, drove many to levels of lust they had never known.

Cursing at himself, Friþugairns felt his erection grow rock hard with desire.

Excellent!!!!!
 
Father - Daughter continued:

Two years later, in this arena, surrounded by excited Romans, Friþugairns was staring down at his shapely daughter, standing in the middle of the arena, swaying in exhaustion with the heavy beam on her back. She was naked, except for the tiny loincloth which did nothing more than cover her pussy lips. Covered with sweat and dust, Barbaria was panting to catch her breath after the brutal march from the castra, and this made her ample breasts rise and fall and quiver enticingly. Occasional waves of pain shot through her body causing her body to shiver. Trails of blood could be seen running down her inner thighs, and a few whiplash marks coming up from there to decorate her lower abdomen. More angry marks could be seen wrapping around her sides to kiss her belly and the side of her tits. One could only imagine with horror what her back must be like. The appearance of the girl was more than enough to arouse for some, pity, or, for others, lust! And that was what was torturing the mind of her father.
One must appreciate that Barbaria was almost a stranger to the old man. He had no daughter for over eighteen years. The memories of her first few years had faded in his mind. Now, suddenly, without warning, he had thrust upon him a twenty-two-year-old, beautiful young woman. Thrust was the word as she ran to his arms and embraced him with the words, "Fadar, Fadar!” while pressing her firm, ample bosom into his chest. It was then that the trouble started.
Though no one else suspected it, and Friþugairns would rather be torn to pieces by wild animals than act on it, he had feelings, feelings he couldn't suppress. This beautiful, sexy, young woman was technically his child, but he felt no fatherly feelings toward her. Instead, Barbaria’s presence in his home had caused an almost uncontrollable lust in the elder from the moment they had been reunited. Now, seeing her naked and thinking of her sweet cunt and ass ravaged by multiple Roman soldiers in a brutal gang rape, her father was not angered but highly aroused. He shifted slightly in his seat to rearrange the tight, German trousers.

Relieved that he seemed not to have angered the Goth again, Antonious turned back to address the crowd. “Mei amici (my friends),” (a political expression that goes back before the time of the Romans), “there is no question that the crimes that this serva committed require grave punishment. However, noster honestus Centurio (our honorable Centurion) has assured me that the first three parts of the Goth's sentence have been applied with full rigor. Anything less than the absolute maximum was only to allow her to survive enough to be brought here today."
“Guards, please turn her around so that all may see the destruction that the flagellata has inflicted on her body.”
Two soldiers took the ends of the patibulum and slowly moved in a circle so that all in the arena could see her ravaged back ass and legs. Many gasps were heard as these people saw a young woman's body bloodied far beyond anything they had seen in their peaceful, domestic lives. Thoughts of what she had already suffered, drove many to levels of lust they had never known.

Cursing at himself, Friþugairns felt his erection grow rock hard with desire.
Wow ... this is going to end in an "all-for-one-one-for-all" part incestuous gang bang, unless Friþugairns can control his tight, German trousers!
 
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