Nero 43

By Pueros

Chapter XLIII – Athens

(Imperial palace, Rome, Dies Solis A.D. IX Kal. Nov. DCCCIV A.V.C., in the 10th year of the reign of the Emperor Claudius [24th October, AD 51])

‘I shall speak about those Greeks in their proper place….’

- Cato (whilst actually speaking negatively of the Greeks, and as quoted by Pliny the Elder in his ‘Natural History’, 29.7.14)

Gaius had only written to me from his final tour destination, Athens, to confirm his arrival there. The scroll also told me of my beloved’s estimated time of return to Rome and that he would not send another letter, describing his activities in the great Greek city, because he would probably reach me faster than it did.

I was, of course, curious as to what Gaius had been up to with his boys in Athens, whom I now knew, from previous detailed letters, included Achilleus and Tyanus. My beloved also fully informed me of the circumstances of the recruitment of the latter pair to his entourage and that the 11 year-old former Alexandrian street prostitute was kindly practising his considerable skills to provide the young man from Volsinii with regular sexual relief.

I was a little jealous but only because I could not provide these services. I appreciated, from remarks in, and the general tone of, his correspondence, that Gaius’ love for me had not diminished in any way by the arrival of Tyanus in his life or our separation. In fact, the latter circumstance only seemed to increase the intensity of my beloved’s passion towards me.

Gaius’ candid confession also provided proof of his openness and truthfulness. I additionally considerately realised that it was unreasonable for my beloved to be expected to continue only to use his own right hand to achieve sexual relief, as he progressed around Rome’s eastern Empire.

I had been equally candid with Gaius, writing to let him know of my affair with Burrus, which was still continuing, albeit infrequently because the Praetorian Prefect was married and anyway had a low libido. As I knew he would, my beloved fully understood and supported the furtive motive for me to enter the relationship, as we both wanted to do anything we could to ensure the safety of Britannicus, especially after Agrippina’s further successful dynastic manoeuvrings on behalf of Nero. Our attitude would have been the same even if the lovely 10 year-old prince had not played major roles in saving me twice from unhappy sufferings. He had, of course, prevented me from being horribly tortured in the dungeons of the Imperial palace in the aftermath of the failed coup of Messalina and Caius Silius. He had also subsequently helped to recover me from unjust service on a slave galley.

After making love twice, as our bodies seemed very keen to make up for recent lost time together, my curiosity about what Gaius and his boys had been up to in Athens made me ask him to tell me. My beloved kindly did so until the needs of his cock again required urgent attention.

(Athens, Attica, Greece, 2 months previously, Augustus, DCCCIV A.V.C., in the 10th year of the reign of the Emperor Claudius [AD 51])

‘You will find everything sold together in the same place at Athens: figs, witnesses to summons, bunches of grapes, turnips, pears, apples, givers of evidence, roses, meddlers, porridge, honeycombs, chickpeas, lawsuits….’

- the comic poet, Euboulos, describing the Athenian agora

“This city,” Gaius declared to the four youngsters accompanying him through the busy streets and squares of Athens, “thrills me like none other!” My beloved’s entourage now included 11 year-old Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus. The father of the latter was content for his son to spend time in the pleasant company of the young man from Volsinii and his boys, whilst they saw the sights and he conducted his lengthy business activities, which would take many days to complete.

Lucius’ Greek father had long since lost his suspicions about the 21 year-old rich Roman equestrian’s motives for having three boys in his company, as Gaius concluded his tour of the eastern Empire in Athens. My beloved had privately outlined to him the background to the acquisitions, without giving away too much unsavoury detail, in order to resolve any misgivings the man might have and so that Tyanus could maintain his friendship with Lucius for as long as possible. The parent then apparently thought that he could recognise someone of generous, true altruistic nature when he saw one, although I suspect that he might have reconsidered his opinion if he had known what the former Alexandrian street prostitute sometimes volunteered to do for the young man from Volsinii.

“Why does Athens thrill you so much?” Hylas asked, as the quintet traversed the city of 150,000. They were currently crossing the crowded, noisy, square marketplace, or ‘agora’, which is about 9500 square paces in size, with a mixture of grassy and paved surface, and represents the true heart of the great municipality. Here, overlooked on the east by the marble temple, or ‘Theseíon’, of the blacksmith god, Hephaestus, perched on its adjacent hill, the ‘Kolonus Agoraeus’, the garrulous population gathers under the shade of copious plane trees. They chat, conduct personal, civic or commercial business and buy or sell a wide range of produce, sometimes by means of barter.

Every available space is crammed with stalls and workshops, logically grouped in line with the proffered merchandise, with the most popular location for vendors being in the surrounding colonnaded areas. Bankers and moneylenders can even be found, sitting behind tables, waiting to transact business. However, much activity ceases at noon, when most of the trading stops for the day.

Meanwhile, labourers wanting to hire their services accumulate near the temple of Hephaestus on the ‘Kolonós Agoréos’, where there is also a concentration of metal workshops, whilst the purchase of slaves involves a journey to the vicinity of the shrine of the Dioskouroi, which is on the slopes of the acropolis.

The local barbershops are regarded as excellent places to learn the latest, sometimes scandalous or scurrilous gossip, whilst customers take great care when dealing with the fishmongers, who are notoriously dishonest. For example, these fishy vendors often saturate their merchandise in water to make the produce appear heavier, despite regular inspections by the ten city officials, based in their office or ‘agoranómion’, whose job is to conduct periodic checks of traders to certify they are using correct and accurate weights and measures. Another similar number of municipal officers tries to prevent people from dumping waste and house-builders from cluttering streets with their materials. They are also responsible for ensuring that the local flute girls and boys do not overcharge for their prostitution services.

Orators, standing on pedestals in the agora, can sometimes be heard shouting their opinions. Meanwhile, scampering children and dogs mingle with the conversationalists and the buyers and sellers, whilst ladies pass by with jars carefully and skilfully balanced on pads on their heads.

The women fill their vessels with water in the spouts and basins, tailor-made for the purpose, of the agora’s fonts and fountains, such as those contained within the spring house in the southeast corner of the marketplace. All of these facilities are fed from hills to the north, especially Mount Lycabettus, by way of channels comprising underground rock-cut conduits and elaborate pipes of fired clay.

Naturally, in such an arid place as Attica, water is scarce and therefore precious. Consequently, considerable effort is constantly afforded to ensure adequate supplies from the mountains to the north.

Most of Athens’ houses possess their own wells or cisterns for collecting rainwater but they also have to rely on the public amenities to supplement their supplies of the precious liquid. In abodes where traditional Greek customs are still practised, the trips to these external facilities can be the main opportunities for ladies, who are otherwise largely confined to their homes, to escape their dwellings and meet their feminine friends. This is evidenced by the fact that the areas immediately around fonts and fountains are often crowded with gossiping women.

One of the most popular scenes for such gatherings centres round a set of fonts called ‘the fountain with nine mouths’. This is named after the carved human and animal faces from whose oral orifices the precious liquid continuously pours into basins and channels below.

The agora is also surrounded by stone-lined drainage channels. These help to drain water from the immediate nearby hills, including that of the acropolis, into the Eridanus, a stream running along the northern edge of the forum.

Athens was once notorious for its lack of municipal latrines, with people apparently relieving themselves using the appropriate private facilities at home or in other buildings to which they had official access, or simply in the street. I am happy to advise that this situation has been remedied by the Romans, who have built several fine examples of public lavatory in the vicinity of the marketplace alone. The largest of these has an area of about 170 square paces and features marble toilet seats and floors, with a central atrium to allow air and sunlight to filter inside.

The nearby, octagonal ‘Tower of the Winds’ is a jewel of relatively modern Greek architecture and science. Constructed just a century before Gaius’ visit, to the design of Andronikos of Kyrrha, the building houses a remarkable hydraulic clock, whilst a bronze weather vane on the domed roof indicates the wind direction. The sacred winds are depicted, clothed when cold and half-naked when warm, in relief sculptures on the stone slabs crowning each of the eight narrow walls.

The agora is sometimes cleared for municipal events, such as the annual Panathenaic procession along the eponymous Way, which diagonally crosses the marketplace on its way to the acropolis, whilst crowds watch the spectacle on temporarily erected stands. The forum was also once used for the practice of ‘ostrakophoria’, or ‘ostracism’, which was a device practised when Athens was independent to prevent the city splitting into factions over disputes between two rival politicians. The latter would plead their cases publicly and the citizens would then disappear into a fenced-off area through ten doors, one for each of the local tribes, to indicate, on a pottery fragment, or ‘ostrakon’, the man they wanted banished. The loser, as long as a minimum of 6000 votes were cast against him, would be exiled for 10 years, although his personal property in the city was safeguarded for his eventual return.

The perimeter of the agora is marked by inscribed boundary stones, beyond which are some of Athen’s main public stoas, which are roofed, colonnaded buildings, open on one side, that, when not being used for official purposes, can be venues for people to gather in the shade to discuss local affairs and exchange news. In fact, one group of philosophers, who met inside such a place, eventually became known as the ‘Stoics’.

One of the stoas around the agora possesses a number of large Herms, which are stylised statues of the god Hermes. These rectangular columns, with the god’s head on top, protruding shoulders and exaggerated vertically erect genitalia in the middle, are commonly found throughout Athens at entranceways, frequently garlanded by residents.

The stoa of the Herms is a particularly popular haunt for the city’s cavalrymen. They also use the place as the starting point for a chariot race during the annual Panatheniac Games, as I shall later describe.

A similar building, the stoa Poikile, or ‘painted stoa’, was over 500 years old by the time of Gaius’ visit. It gains its name from a series of plaques painted by three of the best artists of the time, Micon, Panaenus and Polygnotus. Their splendid, colourful paintings portray great Athenian military successes, some mythological. Also present on the walls are ancient victory trophies, such as captured shields. The structure’s prime, northerly position looks up the Panathenaic Way to the acropolis, and gives protection from cold northern winds and from the high, hot summer sun, whilst making the most of the lower winter solar disc. Juries occasionally meet inside to arbitrate legal disputes.

A third stoa is the ancient setting where new city officials, selected by lot or, more rarely, election, utter their oaths of office, swearing to abide by Athens’ laws. The latter are sometimes recounted when citizens stand on marble slabs inside the building to read out the ‘Laws of Solon’, which had reformed the constitution on democratic lines over half a millennium before Gaius’ visit.

A fourth ancient stoa, located on the northwest of the agora at the foot of Hephaestus’ hill, is the most imposing, as befits a structure dedicated to Zeus Eleutherius, or ‘the Deliverer’. Gaius advised his boys that the place had once been one of Socrates’ favourite haunts. Next to it is the house, or ‘bouleuterion’, of the city council, or ‘boule’. Here 500 paid councillors meet, having been selected by lot from one of the tribal groups, which take turns to run the city for 36 consecutive days, whilst always leaving a minimum of 17 people in three shifts to handle urgent business at any time of day or night. They are also charged with calling an assembly of the people at least four times during their period of office, for which meetings they additionally prepare the agendas.

Adjacent to the south of the bouleuterion is a round building, the ‘Tholos’, where the duty members of the boule eat at public expense. Such consumption of food also has to be performed in shifts, because only 25 dining couches can be fitted around the inside of the structure, whose middle is occupied by the storage of Athens’ official standard weights and measures. Some of the latter are also publicly displayed outside, such as a marble tile denoting the correct proportions for those made of terracotta.

Opposite these buildings is a fenced pedestal, with statues of the ten eponymous heroes of the local tribes of Attica on top. The fencing is used as a public notice-board to display details of proposed legislation, imminent lawsuits and other municipal proclamations.

The ‘Helaia’, or law courts for less serious misdemeanours, is located on the southern edge of the agora. The city mint is additionally located in this locale.

Also present adjacent to the agora are buildings built much more recently by the Romans, most notably the gymnasium and new concert hall, or ‘odeíon’. They were commissioned by Emperor Augustus’ great general, admiral and son-in-law, Agrippa, who also happened to be the current Empress’ grandfather.

The agora is set amongst the crowded, haphazard streets containing the generally humble housing of the Athenians, amongst whom even the rich usually live relatively modestly so that opulence can instead be afforded to their city’s temples and other public buildings. Sacrifices in living standards are readily made if they help to maintain the glory of the metropolis, as well as restrain the wrath of gods who might become annoyed at anyone exhibiting private ostentation. Perhaps such sacred and civic consideration is now needed more than ever, as the citizenry have to pay taxes to the Romans in addition to their contributions towards their municipality.

Nevertheless, alongside the many small, sometimes squalid, terraced, mud-brick abodes in narrow alleys in the poorer quarters, more prosperous areas boast some houses, usually of two or three storeys and built around a courtyard, that are large and airy, with elements of luxury. Inside these dwellings, many of the plaster walls are painted in plain but tasteful bright colours.

Athens’ many houses have, however, generally been built without much thought and planning. Some residences are set far back from the adjoining lanes whilst others encroach. With the exception of the Panathenaic Way, and the Street of the Tripods, which runs from the agora round the west and east sides of the acropolis, the city’s thoroughfares are also invariably narrow, unpaved and in a poor state of repair. This sad situation exists despite the appointment by the Boule of official road engineers and surveyors, who are in charge of gangs of slave labourers.

As well as tripping in the potholes, unlucky passers-by can sometimes additionally be assailed by the evil-smelling slops regularly thrown, without much care, out of doors and windows into the streets. When such waste combines with water escaping from private cisterns in rainy weather, the pedestrians can also experience minor mudslides.

There are additionally few streetlights. This situation has changed little from the days of Aristophenes. This playwright, in his ‘The Wasps’, described how jurymen had to try to make their way to court before dawn, along Athens’ dark lanes, with the help of slave boys carrying lamps to try to spot muddy potholes.

“Because,” Gaius answered in response to Hylas’ question, “I can just imagine the scene here about 500 years ago, when history records that never before or since had so many great people been alive at the same time in the same city. Someone wandering round this forum might expect to meet the renowned sculptor Phidias, the dramatists Sophocles and Euripides, the comedy writer Aristophanes or the historian Thucydides. Just beyond the southwest corner, they might also come across the philosopher Socrates teaching a class of young boys, a couple of whom would carry the names Plato and Xenophon. Meanwhile, the metropolis would not be ruled by any individual, elite or Imperial power but instead by the citizenry, with all decisions reached by popular vote. Anyone could address the assembly of the people, with oral persuasion being the only political muscle allowed. The system was called ‘democracy’, which I often wish could return to the world!”

“There were, of course, some injustices,” Gaius advised, “as no man-made system can be perfect. Isolated or discredited politicians could be banished. Unworthy decisions could also be made. For example, the great Socrates was eventually condemned to death for airing unpopular views. Women did not have the right to vote and were required to lead closeted lives. The Athenians additionally, like we Romans, practised the evils of slavery, although they possessed a much more liberal attitude to the servile class.”

9 year-old Hylas and Achilleus, who were technically Gaius’ slaves, grinned at the comment of their master about ‘the evils of slavery’, although they had often heard him make similar remarks. Their sweet smiles just reflected happy reassurance that my beloved’s attitude remained unchanged.

Gaius intended on the next day, because the hour was becoming too late on the current one, to lead his boys to the great stairway that led up Athens’ acropolis to the sacred sanctuary, or ‘témenos’, perched on top. He also planned to visit, over the days ahead, the six other local hills on which have been built great religious and municipal complexes.

Amongst these is the hill of Ares, which is opposite the acropolis stairway and is where the council of the Areopagus, the old aristocratic institution that ruled Athens before democracy was introduced, once met. It is still the place where the courts judging crimes of violence convene. Beyond this, to the right, is the hill of the Pnyx, where the assembly of the people, or ‘ekklesía’, meets, although its powers have been greatly curtailed since the loss of the city’s independence, first to the Macedonians, then to the Romans.

A minimum of 6000 citizens forms a quorum for the ekklesía. Slaves, afforded police powers, keenly drive people from the north end of the agora, up one of two stairways on the Pnyx, to the hillside platform that comprises the place of assembly, using long ropes covered in red powder. If any eligible person is subsequently found shirking their duty, by being found elsewhere during legislative sessions whilst displaying marks of the relevant colour on their clothing, are liable for punishment.

Any citizen can express an opinion on the matters being decided at the ekklesía, from a dais provided for the purpose. Votes are undertaken by a simple show of hands.

Gaius told his boys, whilst standing in the vast open-air platform, currently empty apart from other tourists, that he could imagine the famous Athenian statesmen of the past addressing their fellow citizens here. In fact, the thought of the likes of Themistocles, Aristides, Pericles and Demosthenes using their renowned skills in oratory in the democratic setting made my beloved’s sensuous hazel eyes become rather damp.

(Athens, Attica, Greece, later same day)

‘Graecia capta ferum victorem cepit et artes intulit agresti Latio.’

(‘Captive Greece took captive her savage conqueror and brought civilisation to barbarous Latium.’)

- Horace (‘Epistles’, 2.2.157-8)

“It’s often been said,” Gaius advised his entourage of boys, whilst they all enjoyed cena in the pleasant inn in which they were staying in Athens, “that Greece’s influence on Rome began just over 200 years ago, during the second Punic War against Carthage.” Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus was still a member of my beloved’s very lovely, in all senses, young assemblage, as the 11 year-old’s father was having dinner elsewhere with business associates.

Lucius had appreciated the company and friendship, especially that of Lyanus. The boy was also genuinely interested in Gaius’ wide scholarship, particularly his historical knowledge, which my beloved had shared throughout the day as they toured Athens.

As Gaius imparted his wisdom to his young friends, he had, as previously, been forced to relate his words in two languages. Hylas and Achilleus knew little Greek, whilst Tyanus had still not picked up enough Latin to understand fully what my beloved was saying in that tongue, although his similarly-aged, well-educated new Chaeronean friend did not share this handicap.

As I myself can testify, Gaius conveyed his information in such a way that he never bored anyone but always intrigued them instead, even youngsters as young as 9 year-old Hylas and Achilleus. My beloved’s motivation was also not to boast about the extent of his knowledge but to educate, as he was aware that he had a duty to perform this function in respect of the trio who comprised his permanent entourage. However, on this day, the handsome young man from Volsinii happened to spark a passion for history in the very intelligent mind of the fourth, temporary member of the boyish assemblage. This interest later helped to shape the 11 year-old’s future, in a way that perhaps might be important for posterity.

“However,” Gaius continued, “Rome, and the Etruscans before them, had already long been influenced by Greek culture and ideas by the time of that war. King Tarquin the Elder was the son of a Greek refugee. The later monarch, the younger Tarquin, also once needed definitive advice and he sent his sons to Delphi to obtain it in oracle form from the Pythia. It was to Greece too that the founding fathers of the Roman republic went for the laws that were to be embedded in the constitution.”

“These laws,” Gaius informed, “are embodied in twelve tables.”

(Lodgings of Persius and Quintilianus, Rome, same time)

‘Though all the world exclaim against me, I will say what I think. That single little book of the Twelve Tables, if anyone look to the fonts and sources of laws, seems to me, assuredly, to surpass the libraries of all the philosophers both in weight of authority and in plenitude of utility.’

- Cicero (‘De Oratore’, 1.44)

Persius and Quintilianus had not given up residing in property once owned by their late teacher, Palaemon. The 17 year-olds had instead transferred from the domus for residential pupils to nearby lodgings, located above one of the schools now in the proprietorship of Axenius. They spent the summer here, as they embarked on their respective embryonic careers. Their decision to do so was despite two alternative temptations. First, the allure of going once more with Lucanus to Hispania had been strong. Second, many of their social class would have retreated at least to the countryside to escape the stifling and almost suffocating heat always experienced at this time of year in overcrowded Rome.

Persius and Quintilianus appreciated that Palaemon, who owned much investment property outside of his educational interests, had been, in contrast to many others, a good, caring landlord and that this practice would be continued by his pleasant heir. Renting lodgings from Axenius should therefore guarantee comfortable, safe, well-maintained accommodation at a reasonable price, which is exactly what they acquired on the fringes of one of Rome’s better plebeian quarters. They had also obtained the pleasant bonus, from the knowing and considerate young Germanian eunuch, of living above the room, open to the busy street alongside, where 12 year-old Lucanus would soon again be securing his daily education. Consequently, L’s worst fear, about rarely seeing P and Q again after his return from Hispania to the eternal city, would prove unfounded because, after his lessons, he could simply go upstairs to meet them.

Meanwhile, on this summer evening, Persius asked of the returning Quintilianus how his day had gone. Q related how he had been reacquainted with Rome’s twelve legal tables.

The first two of these tables relate to summonses and the timing and conduct of legal cases before magistrates. The third covers payment of debts and fines. The fourth insists on the swift killing of any dreadfully deformed baby and also legislates on wills and inheritance and on matters concerning a father’s power over his sons. The fifth makes women legally subservient to men. The sixth is connected with property ownership and divorce. The seventh describes what action can be taken if the branches of a tree overhang someone else’s land. The eighth lists the fines for assault and penalty for perjury, which is to be thrown from the Tarpeian Rock. It also permits a fleeing thief to be killed at night but not during daylight, unless he uses a weapon to defend himself, and bans public meetings in the hours of darkness. The ninth details the circumstances for capital punishment. The tenth forbids burial within the city. The eleventh proscribes marriages between plebeians and patricians, although this has been in abeyance almost since its inception. The twelfth involves the updating of law.

After discussing the twelve tables, the pair of 17 year-old friends later set out to quench certain appetites, with that for food and drink allayed at a nearby inn and that for each other’s handsome bodies satisfied on their subsequent return to their lodgings.

(Athens, Attica, Greece, same time)

’The best prayer that a man can utter is: O ye gods, give me whatever is fitting for me.’

- Apollonius of Tyana

“Greek influence,” Gaius continued bilingually, after providing his juvenile company with details of the twelve legal tables, “even extends to Roman gods. After all, the likes of Jupiter, Mars and Neptune are merely re-titled versions of respectively Zeus, Ares and Poseidon, whilst Apollo is venerated as much in Rome as in Hellas under an unchanged name.” However, a few yawns on the very pretty faces surrounding him then indicated to my beloved that his audience was becoming tired, not of his educational oratory, which the boys found genuinely interesting, but of the long day. The oil lamps had long since been lit and the youngsters were obviously now more than ready for their beds.

The bedding arrangements had already been organised, with Tyanus temporarily abandoning Gaius’ arms to sleep in Lucius’ room. My beloved, aware that the father of the young Chaeronean would be staying overnight at the residence of his current business host, had initiated the arrangement because he did not want to leave the 11 year-old alone in the separate accommodation his parent had taken within the inn. The considerate young man from Volsinii would probably have organised matters no differently if he had known what the young but, given his background, sexually mature Tyanan was hoping to indulge during the hours of darkness.

Tyanus had never had sex with another boy before, as the users of his street prostitution services had always been adults. However, ever since he had met Lucius at Delphi, his mind secretly lusted after his fellow 11 year-old’s gorgeous body, a condition he had tried to conceal when they had subsequently bathed daily together, in the local public baths and in the company of the young Chaeronean’s father and of Gaius, Hylas and Achilleus.

Tyanus’ cock had invariably reacted to the revealed vision of Lucius’ undressed form by becoming instantly rigid. The 11 year-old had tried to hide this embarrassing penile development under his hands and then to lose the erection by taking his eyes off his friend’s naked frame, whilst trying to think of other matters. Sometimes his remedial actions worked but sporadically the desires pervading his own, highly attractive body were so intense that such lust caused his efforts to be unsuccessful. However, he was rescued on these occasions by seeking to acquire an early massage from the slaves present in all public baths to provide such services.

Tyanus’ cock would not, of course soften at all, whilst the masseur performed his skilled and frequently erotically stimulating task. However, subsequent public revelation of the penile condition would be dismissed as a consequence of the recent manual attentions and not be connected to his lust for Lucius. Most males of all ages, even 9 year-old Hylas and Achilleus, displayed erections when they left the massage table.

Tonight, however, Tyanus had no intention of continuing to cloak his passion for Lucius, having been granted by Gaius the unexpected opportunity to spend the night alone with his fellow 11 year-old. Consequently, after both boys, who were, like all other Greek males, not perturbed by appearing naked in front of others, had stripped in their room and lay, uncovered on this hot Athens summer night, on their respective beds, the young Tyanan viewed his erection proudly.

Tyanus’ bare cock had quickly grown to its usual rigid dimensions after his eyes had happily watched Lucius disrobe to reveal the young Chaeronean’s gorgeous young body. However, in his current surrounds, the boy was happy to show off his rampant virility to his fellow 11 year-old because he hoped for a reaction.

Tyanus’ hope was not to be thwarted for Lucius, observing, in the light from the single, late-burning olive oil lamp in the room, his friend’s vertical cock twitching excitedly, asked “What’s caused your penis to grow like that?”

Lucius might still have been virginal, with his sublime body not yet even tempted to experience the joys of masturbation, but, like most young Greek males, he was no sexual innocent. The young Chaeronean knew all about homosexuality from the graphic gossip indulged amongst his peers in his school and gymnasium in his home city, when much chatter is devoted to the various affairs involving older boys and, not infrequently, other youths and young men.

Lucius also appreciated that he would probably be expected, in line with Hellenic custom, to enter eventually into his own pederastic pedagogic relationship with a youth or young man, probably sometime after he had attained the age of 13. After all, a number of other older males had already approached him to express their interest, which had not come as a surprise as their lustful eyes, whilst they had previously stared at his naked form in the gymnasium or baths, had betrayed their owners’ desires. However, all this knowledge had still not prepared him for Tyanus’ action and answer in response to the young Chaeronean’s question on this warm summer evening in Athens.

Tyanus jumped up and approached Lucius’ bed, where his fellow naked 11 year-old was reclining with his hands under his head at one end of his sublime form and feet crossed at the other, whilst the young Chaeronean’s lovely soft set of hairless genitalia rested invitingly in the middle. The young Tyanan, own cock throbbing intently in need, whilst pointing the direction in which he was advancing, desperately wanted to encase in his mouth the currently flaccid penile version possessed by his friend.

As the rampant Tyanus brazenly came to stand alongside Lucius’ bed and body, he paused to glance all over his friend’s wondrous naked form. He then finally replied to his fellow 11 year-old’s enquiry as to the cause of his genital hardness.

“You!” was Tyanus’ one word answer to Lucius’ question, before he knelt to achieve his desperate desire to engulf his friend’s cock with his rosy lips.

(Campania, Italia, same time)

‘All men who dwell on earth owe a bard honour and respect, for the Muse has planted the gift of song in his heart, and cherishes all like him.’

- Homer

“That’s much better,” declared Suffuscus, having listened to Nero’s much improved playing of, and singing to, the lyre, achieved by paying greater attention to practice under a tutor to whom he now listened, “and, if your progress continues, I can see you winning many awards for your musicianship and songsmanship!” “If I do,” the 13 year-old prince suggested, “I’ll dedicate them all to you because my improvement is entirely attributable to your advice!”

Suffuscus’ impeccable 14 year-old face blushed in modesty at such a compliment, a phenomenon that caused Nero’s cock, hidden under his light summer tunic, to flinch. Such penile occurrences were becoming more frequent for the still virginal 13 year-old, although he had begun to relieve his increasingly regular sexual needs manually.

As Nero glanced at the exceedingly beautiful, slightly older boy, he wondered for how much longer he could keep their relationship platonic without suggesting to Suffuscus that they indulge in a game that was not just of the usual innocent boyish type. In fact, the only concern that had so far prevented the prince from launching the necessary move was worry that his approach might be humiliatingly dismissed and could possibly end their friendship. However, confidence at the outcome had recently improved as a result of his recent dietary and exercise regime, inaugurated and monitored by his 14 year-old companion, which had surely made his own, previously chubby but now slim, young form more attractive.

Nero was very tempted to make his move now, as he and Suffuscus sat close to each other on the lamp-lit grassy lawn of the luxurious Campanian seaside villa that once belonged to the late Caius Silius. The 14 year-old’s posture had drawn up his tunic to reveal his lithe legs as far as his lower thighs, and the 13 year-old was very attracted to the idea of placing his hand on the uppermost of the delightfully exposed young flesh. The very notion caused his hidden cock to throb.

In the end, passion overcame timidity. Nero placed his 7-stringed, tortoise-shell lyre on the grass, came even closer to Suffuscus and placed his tremulous hand on the boy’s thigh, whilst looking into his friend’s lovely brown eyes, which were twinkling serenely in the lamplight. The 13 year-old prince then somehow managed to ask in a dry, nervous voice “What should I play now?”

Nero did not initially receive a verbal answer. His own eyes were instead initially distracted by movement in the groin area of Suffuscus’ tunic, where an obvious bulge matching his own had developed. The prince, returning his gaze to his friend’s perfect face, then saw the immaculate visage display a broad smile.

Nero subsequently noticed Suffuscus’ rosy lips approach his own, whilst a hand began to encroach under his princely tunic. The 13 year-old then began to believe that he must truly be blessed by the gods when his 14 year-old friend finally replied to answer his last pointed question.

“I thought that you’d never ask, for I think you know what you can play now,” Suffuscus declared, just before his lips touched those of Nero for the first time and he pulled both of them down onto the grass. On his part, the prince appreciated that the instrument on which he would practise a certain art for the first time was far more precious than any lyre.

(Athens, Attica, Greece, same time)

‘I cannot say what greater benefit can fall to the lot of a young man than a virtuous lover and to the lover than a beloved youth.’

- Plato

Lucius, who had never been the subject of such a blatant sexual approach previously, despite the temptations his many admirers back in his home city must have experienced when seeing the boy naked in the gymnasium or baths, was initially shocked at Tyanus’ action. The 11 year-old’s first surprised feelings related to how impertinent his friend was being in perpetrating his shameless act, whilst undoubtedly presuming that the recipient would not only acquiesce to the intimacy but also enjoy the oral attack on his privates. However, any thought of initiating resistance, by ordering a stoppage to the assault or pushing the offending pretty head away, was suddenly overcome by the unprecedented effect that an experienced, well-practised mouth was beginning to bring to a young Chaeronean penis, which had not even previously experienced masturbation.

Tyanus’ proficient lips and tongue soon encouraged Lucius’ cock to become like his own, fulsomely erect. Meanwhile, his friend’s meek submission to the oral genital attack was confirmed when the boy’s hands reached downwards to stroke the silky brown hair of the young fellatio expert gently, instead of trying to push the provider of unparalleled pleasure forcibly away. Low moans of contented delight were also heard, as opposed to loud complaints and commands to desist oral activities.

Lucius experienced previously unknown, miraculously delightful sensations surging through and tingling the whole length and breadth of his beautiful body, whilst his groin began to boil with unprecedented acute feelings of pure pleasure. “Oooooh,” the boy cooed in ecstasy, as Tyanus continued without pause to lick and suck with his efficient tongue and sweet lips.

Tyanus recognised that he was bringing Lucius close to his first-ever orgasm when the boy’s curvaceous buttocks began to rise from the bed, whilst his hands stopped stroking his friend’s hair to push downwards instead on his fellow 11 year-old’s pretty head. These actions of the young Chaeronean appeared to be encouraging the young Tyanan to swallow the whole of his companion’s now fully rampant genitalia. However, they actually represented his initial attainment of sweet sexual climax, which was confirmed by the taste of a little clear ejaculate in the attendant oral orifice.

After achieving the intense mental and physical delight of sexual orgasm for the first time, Lucius’ lustrous buttocks crashed back onto his bed, whilst his hands left Tyanus’ head to collapse, as if in surrender, to his sides. However, his fellow 11 year-old did not immediately cease his oral attentions to the now softening young Chaeronean cock but instead continued to lick and suck for a while, apparently unwilling to stop.

Nevertheless, Tyanus’ very pretty face eventually emerged from Lucius’ still unresisting groin, which had continued to gain some pleasure from the attention, to smile at his friend, whose own highly attractive visage displayed closed eyes amidst a general look of great contentment. “I hope you didn’t mind,” the 11 year-old then rather belatedly commented to the young Chaeronean, causing the latter to open his sweet eyelids.

Lucius’ expression now changed suddenly to one of apparent indignation, despite the fact that the answer to Tyanus’ question seemed clear, given the obvious pleasure the young Chaeronean had gained from his recent experience. “Of course I minded,” the boy then thundered to his friend’s consternation, “as I didn’t give you permission to perform a disgusting, obscene like that act on me!” Meanwhile, his fellow 11 year-old’s previously still rampant, precum drooling cock instantly became flaccid in appalled horror at hearing this verbal reaction to his fellatio, to which he had purposely devoted all of his copious expertise in order to please.

Tyanus stood up, smile gone and close to tears, and mumbled “I’m sorry!” However, his grin speedily returned when a similar, happy, sweet expression returned to Lucius’ lovely face to replace the previous false, teasing frown and the young Chaeronean announced, “Nevertheless, I now give you permission to repeat your disgusting, obscene act whenever you want!”

Tyanus also now received another reward when Lucius forcefully commanded him to “Now, bring your own penis to me!” The young Tyanan naturally obeyed and the young Chaeronean then declared, whilst grasping hold of his friend’s rapidly re-hardening member, “I don’t think that I’ll ever be as good as you at the disgusting, obscene act. However, I’m prepared to have a go!”

Lucius was as good as his word, as he first rubbed his friend’s cock back to full erection before successfully beginning to learn fellatio, under the supervision of a young master at the art.

(Athens, Attica, Greece, next day)

‘All art is an imitation of nature.’

- Seneca the Younger

To reach the agora and then the mighty staircase that climbs the Athenian acropolis, Gaius and his boys did not traverse the broad Panathenaic Way, which, from their inn, cuts across the ‘Kerameikos’, or ‘potters’ quarter’. Having already visited this interesting part of the city, my beloved instead took another route that bisects the district famed for the manufacture of bronze statues. Here, passers-by are welcome inside the studios, where artists produce, from live, inevitably beautiful, young clothed female and naked male models, the sketches from which the relevant moulds are subsequently made. Visitors are also invited to observe activities within the associated workshops.

A few of the sights inside some of the studios were of particular interest to Gaius, as often gorgeous, young naked boys and youths were found modelling for ‘koùroi’ statues. Such a spectacle gave my beloved not only a hidden erection but also an idea and soon nude drawings of the four lovely youngsters in his company were being composed. Even Hylas, who was usually shy about his gelded genitalia, was tempted to expose himself for the purpose, as he wanted to see himself depicted for eternity in bronze. His decision was assisted when the skilled artist concerned, eager for the lucrative commission from a generous Roman, quietly promised to sketch the private parts in question very diplomatically.

The particular ‘koùroi’ commissioned were, of course, not the size of statues but of dimensions that could easily be carried. Nevertheless, Gaius and the beautiful young boys were very pleased at the accurate artistry of the outcome, to receive which they actually delayed their departure from Athens. One small, bronze statuette eventually returned to Chaeronea, in the possession of Lucius’ grateful, proud father, whilst the other three were destined for Rome.

Hylas was so happy with the bronze replication of his own form when he was only 9 years old, which discreetly depicted him as possessing balls, that he still, 55 years later in Dacia, treasures the gift from Gaius amongst his personal possessions. In fact, as he now sits next to me, helping me to recall my life to my worthy scribe, he holds the statuette in his hand, having collected it from his bedroom to show it to me in order to aid my own recollection of its undoubted beauty and worth.

(Athens, Attica, Greece, next day)

‘It is as if some ever-flowing life and unageing spirit had been infused into the creation of these works.’

- Plutarch (writing about the Athenian acropolis)

Having, not unnaturally in the circumstances, lingered far too long in the district of Athens famed for the manufacture of bronze statues, Gaius decided to abandon until the next day his expedition to the city’s acropolis. However, he and the four boys in his company eventually made the tiring ascent to the sacred sanctuary, or ‘témenos’, up the long, steep entrance steps, which are divided by a ramp to enable animals to make the climb. They then all immediately appreciated that they had reached one of the world’s premier wonders, which is perched on a rocky, marble-walled hill that once housed a Mycenaean palace. Lucius, making his first visit, was particularly enraptured by the scene, which fundamentally dated from the time of Pericles.

The quintet sought entrance to the témenos via a monumental, sloping gateway called the ‘Propylaea’, to the left of which is a memorial commissioned by Agrippa. For its construction, Emperor Augustus’ great general, admiral and son-in-law, grandfather of the current Empress, had actually reused an anáthema, erected by Eumenes II of Pergamon to commemorate a horse race victory.

The Propylaea is perched on top of a wedge-shaped rock, the jaggedness of which had been cleverly hidden by the architect, Mnesikles. The structure is guarded, like all gates, by a Herm and has a temple-like façade in blue and white marble, with six plain Doric columns at each end and a short, stepped internal passageway, possessing three slender Ionic pillars crowned by capitals in the form of rams’ heads.

As Gaius and the boys walked up the ten internal steps, under richly coloured ceiling panels displaying shades of gold, blue, green and red, to pass through the Propylaea into the rear porch, they saw, close for the first time, their first huge statue of Athena. This one is of the goddess in her role of ‘Pròmachos’, or ‘Warrior’. It is bronze and, like the other monumental depiction of the goddess inside the nearby Parthenon, had been erected by Pheidias, who had also been responsible for Zeus’ great edifice at Olympia. This outside monument to the deity can be seen far out to sea, despite the fact that Athens is three or so Roman miles inland.

The porch now reached by Gaius and the boys also provided them with their first close, albeit partial, sight of the Parthenon. However, the quintet did not immediately proceed to this resplendent temple of Athena ‘Parthénos’, or ‘the Virgin’, where another massive statue of the goddess by Pheidias, this time of ivory and gold like that of Zeus in Olympia, adorns one of the two internal cellae. They instead entered the left, northern wing of the Propylaea, where there is a small gallery, the ‘Pinakothéke’, which exhibits votive pictures of mythical scenes involving Athena and is occasionally used as a ceremonial dining room.

The right, southern flank of the Propylaea possesses an anteroom to a small marble temple of Athena Nike, or ‘the Victorious’, on the southwestern bastion, or ‘pyrgos’, which was built to commemorate the defeat of the Persians. Inside is a statue of the goddess portrayed as ‘wingless victory’, or ‘Nike Aptera’, presumably erected in the vain hope that such success would never fly away from Athens. Nearby is a large statue called the ‘Hermes of the Gateway’, after the depicted messenger of the gods.

Dotted elsewhere around the summit of the acropolis, the sacred sanctuary also boasts a shrine to Athena Hygiaea, ‘the Healer’, as well as to the other goddesses, Aphrodite, Artemis and Demeter. There is also a temple called the ‘Erechtheum’, named after the legendary hero, Erechtheus, supposedly the first king of Athens. The building is dedicated to all gods and heroic figures associated with the city and therefore, in order to accommodate such a range of worship on the sloping site, a rather awkwardly shaped structure was produced, albeit one displaying a certain harmony. An inscription inside reveals that each of the many sculptors, responsible for the large array of colourful, carved friezes exhibited, were paid sixty drachmae per figure. For example, one of these reads “To Phyromachus of Kephisia for the youth beside the cuirass: 60dr.”

The northern part of the Erechtheum is the scene of worship of Athena Poliás, namely the goddess in her role of sacred patroness of Athens. An ancient life-size wooden statue of the deity, far cruder than Pheidias’ marvellous monumental depictions, is enshrined here, illuminated by a large, perpetually burning golden oil lamp, with a bronze chimney in the form of a palm tree. The annual Panathenaic procession culminates before this particular sacred portrayal of the divinity. Spoils captured from the Persians, including the sword of Xerxes’ general and brother-in-law, Mardonius, defeated and slain at the battle of Plataea 500 years before my beloved’s inspection of the weapon, are also retained here for posterity.

The Romans have also built a small circular temple dedicated to their own goddess, Roma, and to the Emperor Augustus. However, Gaius and the boys now temporarily ignored these other places of worship, and the other resplendent features of the acropolis, to go instead straight from the Propylaea to look at the magnificent Parthenon, gleaming splendidly in the strong, hot summer sunlight.

“I believe,” Gaius stated to the boys, as they approached the magnificent Parthenon, “that the temple of Athena Parthénos represents as much a celebration of Athens and the city’s achievements as it does a centre of worship for the goddess of wisdom and war. You see, over 500 years ago, the Persians swept down from the north and attacked the metropolis, massacring citizens, plundering, destroying public buildings and monuments and even setting fire to this sacred citadel.”

“After the eventual defeat of the Persians, however,” Gaius continued, “Athens began to restore itself through an ambitious programme of civic renewal and rebuilding, promoted by the great statesman, Pericles. The pinnacle of these restorations was the construction of the Parthenon, which stands on the remains of a destroyed earlier temple to Athena.”

“The Parthenon,” Gaius advised, whilst recalling his prior reading about, and he and the boys walked around, the topic, “was designed by Callicrates and Ictinos and they combined many architectural elements previously unknown. For example, the outside columns lean in slightly, so eradicating the illusion that ordinary perimeter pillars present of bulging outwards. The great Pheidias, creator of the immense statue of Zeus at Olympia, subsequently supervised the overall building project.”

“As you can see,” Gaius commented, as he and the boys proceeded on their walk around the outside of the wondrous structure, “the temple measures about 70 paces by 30, and has 8 Doric columns at each end and 17 on the two flanks. However, the builders astutely mixed this mature architectural order with the grace of the Ionic, as we shall see inside. They also based the structural and decorative components on refined mathematical calculations, using a fundamental module of 10 Attic inches and the proportional ratio, between length and width, and height and width, of 4:9.”

“Notice the external sculptures,” Gaius suggested, “and see the bold, colourful figures resting against light blue backgrounds on the triangular pediments at each end. The eastern array depicts the birth of Athena from the head of Zeus, whilst the Olympian gods observe the event. The western scene represents the mythical dispute between the goddess and Poseidon over possession of Attica. There’s also the 92 shallower, square, painted panels, called ‘metopes’, alternating with plainer reliefs, or ‘triglyphs’, running around the whole exterior, just below the eaves of the timber roof. They portray four versions of the conflict between good and evil, justice and injustice and civilisation and barbarism, using epic metaphors. All of these sculptured figures are actually deliberately and ingeniously distorted in shape so that they appear normal at ground level.”

“I believe,” Gaius remarked, “that these outside carved adornments are matched by a continuous frieze extending 160 paces round the inside of the internal halls, which illustrate various phases of the annual Panathenaic Festival in honour of Athena. These celebrations are symbolic of the ties between the local people and the goddess.”

“I understand,” Gaius announced to the genuinely fascinated boys, with Lucius in particular listening to every word uttered by my beloved, “that Pheidias and his workmen laboured for over 5 years, perched on timber scaffolds, to complete all of these external and internal works. The whole project took 9 almost a decade to finish.”

“As you can see,” Gaius suggested, “the temple is primarily of white Pentelic marble, even the roof tiles, although the sculptures were produced from the Parian variety. The stone came from quarries at Mount Pentelicon, which is about 8 Roman miles northeast of Athens. Transportation of the heavy stuff to the top of this hill was a feat on its own, as was lifting it into place. Fortunately, though, cranes had been invented by then, as had iron clamps, which were used instead of mortar to link the usually massive blocks together.”

Gaius and the boys eventually ventured inside, where the cool, dimly-lit, two-level, double-cella interior consists of a broad central aisle that is divided from similar narrower passageways, running down the sides and rear, by rows of tall Ionic columns. However, the quintet did not at first appreciate these internal arrangements because they were instead immediately awed by the huge, 12-pace high, gold and ivory statue of Athena.

Athena’s draped clothing and other adornments, including ornate headgear and shield are plated with sparkling gold, which had cost the enormous sum of 40 talents. This array of precious, skilfully worked metal now almost dazzled Gaius and the boys, with the sparkling phenomenon aided by the shallow pool of oil at the goddess’ feet, which deliberately reflects daylight from the eastern entrance doorway onto her marvellous form.

This enormous and resplendent statue stands at the western end of the larger cella. Meanwhile, the smaller place of worship is called the ‘Hall of the Virgins’ because young Athenian maidens regularly perform various rites here for Athena.

Despite his awe at the wondrous sight of the goddess in her golden, statuesque glory, the young Britannian, Hylas, managed to ask of my beloved “Why’s Athena the patron deity of Athens?”

“Well,” Gaius answered, “all Greek cities generally hold in particular esteem one divinity, usually from the main twelve. Besides Athena, this ‘pantheon’ comprises Zeus, the king of gods, his wife Hera, goddess of marriage, and his brothers Poseidon, lord of the sea, and Hades, master of the underworld. There’s also Apollo, god of prophecy and music, Ares, god of war, Hephaestus, god of fire and metalwork, Aphrodite, goddess of love, Artemis, goddess of nature, Demeter, goddess of corn and fertility, and Hermes, messenger of the gods. Dionysus, god of wine and the performing arts, and Asclepius, god of healing, although not part of the principal group, are also considered to be very important deities.”

“In the case of Athens,” Gaius declared, “it is Athena who holds pride of place. The citizens also appear to have truly honoured the goddess, judging from the magnificence of this temple, which provides a place of worship that properly places harmony as an essential ingredient of true beauty!”

The secret thought then crossed Gaius’ mind that the latter laudatory comment, about the importance of harmony for true beauty, could apply to the lovely quartet of boys in his company, who all exhibited such virtues.

(Athens, Attica, Greece, 2 weeks later)

‘Flower-fresh, oil-smooth, you will spend your time in the gymnasium. You will go down to the Academy and there, under the sacred olives, crowded with a wreath of green reed, you will run a course against some decently behaved young man of your own age, redolent of woodbine, and happy unconcern, and deciduous white poplar, rejoicing in springtime, when plane and elm whisper together.’

- Aristophanes (extolling the pleasures of naked youths exercising competitively at the Academy of Athens)

Gaius and his boys sat excitedly amongst the large crowd of spectators, gathered before dawn on the temporary wooden stands set up in the agora to watch the highlight of the annual Panathenaic Festival. This is the procession that sets out, at first light on the fifth day of the celebrations, along the eponymous Way, which, with the Street of the Tripods, is Athens’ only major thoroughfare.

Gaius and the boys, sometimes with Lucius’ father present if he was free from business, had spent the previous 4 days excitedly watching some of the sporting events associated with the Panathenaic Festival. They did so despite the fact that these Games are now rather devalued in the view of other Greek cities because they are restricted to Athenians.

I have already related to you, dear reader, in an earlier chapter, details of the main elements of all such Games, which are for males only and are invariably the same, comprising athletics, wrestling, boxing, pankration and equestrian events. Outside Olympia, competitions in the performing arts of music, poetry and oratory are also common. However, the various venues generally additionally hold contests unique to themselves, such as that of hymns to Apollo at the Pythian Festival at Delphi.

In fact, during the later course of this fifth day of the Panathenaic Festival, the unique events pertinent to Athens would be held. These are a ‘euandria’, which is a male beauty competition, in which the competitors appear naked, and the war dancing, contested by teams, in three age groups, from the ten tribes of Attica, each of which is accompanied by a player of the double flute, or ‘diaulos’. Armed with spear and shield, the participants perform a routine based on fighting. They dodge, crouch, strike and perpetrate other defensive and offensive movements in a rhythmic manner attuned to the music.

This fifth day would also be concluded by nocturnal celebrations, including much other music, dancing and singing. At the following dawn, a bull sacrifice would additionally be offered to Athena and Eros at Athens’ ancient Academy, located just outside the city, and a relay torch race, involving teams of 40 naked runners from the ten tribes, would commence.

The torches are lit from the sacred fire in the Erechtheum of the acropolis. The relay of runners then speed from the Academy, through the Dipylon Gate, across the agora to the acropolis, where the objective is to be the first to return the still-burning sacred flame to Athena’s great altar.

The Panathenaic Festival celebrates Athena’s birthday, which falls on the 28th day of the month of Hecatombaion in the Greek calendar. Associated competitions begin with swearing-in ceremonies for both competitors and judges, followed by the music and poetry contests.

The musical competitions, introduced with cash prizes to the Panathenaic Games by the great statesman, Pericles, half a millennium before Gaius and the four boys observed them, are held in the older of Athens’ enormous odeíons, which is a covered concert hall to the west of the theatre of Dionysus. The main instruments of Greek music are the flute, or ‘aulos’ and the more prestigious lyre, or ‘kithara’, and they are used in the six events. The four for men involve the playing of the flute and lyre, both accompanied and unaccompanied by their own singing, whilst the two for boys entail no use of their usually melodic young voices, which my beloved considered a waste of resources.

The odeíon, in which these competitions take place in a huge stone-seated auditorium, has a vast timber roof, supported on ninety columns, and was modelled on the design of Xerxes’ impressively large and sumptuous tent, captured after the battle of Plataea. This luxurious pavilion was subsequently reassembled to provide both backstage and back-cloth facilities for the adjacent open-air theatre of Dionysus, which is the venue for the poetry contests.

The theatre of Dionysus has for centuries been the scene of enactment of drama written by Athens’ many great playwrights. Originally, plays had been performed in the agora but their production was eventually transferred to the southern foot of the acropolis, where the slopes of the hill formed a natural auditorium.

This area then gradually developed into the world’s first theatre, dedicated to the god of wine and the performing arts, Dionysus, whose own local festival is held on the 10th day of the month of Elaphobolion in the Greek calendar, which corresponds to Martius in the Roman. The deity is associated with the release of emotion, as is demonstrated, as Hylas had sadly discovered 5 years previously, by the fact that the divinity’s modern secret rites, or ‘orgia’, are closely linked to various sexual excesses.

The Athenian Dionysia Festival, like all similar ones throughout the Hellenic world, concludes with consumption of a lot of wine, with much of the subsequent night spent in drunken revelry. Greek women particularly enjoy this temporary opportunity for ecstatic freedom, as it represents a short escape from their normally confined existences.

The Athenian version of the Dionysia originally included public scenes of ritual drama performed by a chorus. However, a man called Thespis changed this slightly by holding a dialogue with the chorus, whilst playing various parts, indicated by wearing different masks. His innovation represented the beginnings of Greek theatre, some of which Gaius had already watched whilst in the city.

As far as the athletics was concerned, Gaius had naturally, given his tastes, enjoyed, on the festival’s second day, the spectacle of the boys’ events, in which the participants are aged between 12 and 16 and all appear nude. These used to take place in the agora but are now held in a purpose-built stadium of the usual type, which is located just to the southeast of Athens, beyond the Ilissus River. Nowadays, the marketplace is simply the starting point for a procession of the adult athletes, as they parade naked out of the city on the morning of the third day for the more distant sporting venue.

Alas, Athens currently possesses no proper hippodrome for the equestrian events. Suitable fields outside the walls and towards the coast are instead used on the festival’s fourth day for the horse and chariot racing. Nevertheless, Gaius and the boys found the venue concerned, set within a natural depression to facilitate spectating, adequate enough to watch the exciting and often dangerous contests.

Over the previous 9 months before the Panathenaic Festival, on a sacred loom in the Erechtheum of the acropolis, two tunics, or ‘peploi’, were woven by Athena’s priestesses, four, specially chosen, little girls of noble family, the ‘arrhephoroi’, and a group of women called the ‘ergastiinai’. The finished garments are decorated with insignia, or ‘aristeia’, denoting the goddess’ glories, in particular her victory over Ecceladus and the Giants.

The peplos of ordinary size is designed to adorn the ancient, life-size wooden image of the city’s virgin protector goddess, Athena Polias, in the Erechtheum. However, the much bigger version, large enough to be a sail on a full-sized ship, is not for the massive, sister, gold and ivory statue in the adjacent Parthenon, but instead drapes one of the latter’s walls.

The Panathenaic procession is fronted by the arrhephoroi, carrying the smaller peplos, whilst ‘kanephoroi’, who are young virgin maidens, bear many other precious gifts for the goddess. The girls are accompanied by Athena’s priestesses and followed by young men leading animals for sacrifice. On this day there were 100 cows, which are particularly favoured by the goddess, and some sheep being led to slaughter, all garlanded with leaves and woollen ribbons.

Prominent resident foreigners, the ‘metoikoi’, who are mainly Romans in modern Athens, come next, dressed in purple cloaks and carrying trays loaded with offerings of cakes and honey. Such ex-patriots were once forbidden from entering the acropolis but, of course, now that Rome holds sway over once-mighty Athens, this is no longer the case.

Carriers of jars of sacred water and musicians playing the aulos and kithara follow. Invariably bearded and old civic dignitaries, bearing olive branches, then come, flanked and hustled along by ‘apobates’. The latter are armed warriors, currently riding in or running alongside chariots, who will race against each other on the next day.

The victors of the various games so far are also in the procession, as is the larger peplos, which is dragged along, suspended from the yards of a ship on wheels. Local cavalrymen comprise the formal rearguard, their horses trotting and cantering. Many of the population then join in the parade, aligned in tribal groups.

Much to the delight of Gaius and the boys, the members of the Panathenaic procession sang hymns to the protector goddess of Athens, as they crossed the agora before progressing up the acropolis. At the ultimate lofty destination, the little girls who comprise the arrhephoroi hand over their peplos to the ergastiinai, who enter Athena’s sacred chamber within the Erechtheum to change the tunic of the wooden depiction of the goddess. This statue would, during the next year, be taken once, in another formal parade, to the sea by these women, where they ritually wash both it and the garment.

The animal sacrifices are now perpetrated at the various shrines on the acropolis, with the most precious heifers being killed in honour of Athena Nike and Polias in front of the goddess’ tiny temple of Victory. The procedure involved is fairly standard throughout the Greek world.

A sacred fire is lit at the altar, which is itself covered in leaves. The priests and priestesses and their assistants are dressed in white robes, as they sprinkle themselves and the animals with holy water, before throwing a few grains of barley and some fur clipped from the heads of the beasts into the sacred flames.

After prayers, the celebrants then pull back the heads of the victims and cut the uplifted throats with single strokes, whilst, in the process, aiming to spatter the altar with the blood of the animals. The beasts are then sliced up, after which the thigh-bones are wrapped in fat and burnt in honour of the deity. The remaining meat is roasted and distributed amongst the watching people, for them either to eat in situ or take home.

Occasionally, a whole animal is incinerated in honour of a god. This ritual is called a ‘holocaust’, from the Greek words for ‘whole’ and ‘ I burn’, respectively ‘holos’ and ‘kaio’.

The mass slaughter on this fifth day of the Panathenaic Festival in the acropolis is not so wasteful, as it is followed by a feast of the cooked meat of the poor sacrificed animals. Tribal members are selected by lot to partake of this honour.

The next day is devoted to the chariot contest between the apobates, plus a boat race, which is the festival’s final competitive event. The following dawn heralds the prize-giving ceremonies.

The apobates’ contest takes place inside the city, along the Panathenaic Way, starting in the agora at the stoa of the Herms and finishing half-way up the acropolis. In it, each chariot has a driver and a warrior in full armour, with the latter required regularly to jump out and re-board the speeding vehicle. Meanwhile, the boat race involves a trireme from each of the ten tribes of Attica. The vessels are rowed between two of the three harbours of the port of Athens, Piraeus, from the Kantharos to the Munichia.

(Piraeus, Attica, Greece, 1 week later, September, DCCCIV A.V.C., in the 10th year of the reign of the Emperor Claudius [AD 51])

‘….keep in mind that all works have their proper seasons, sailing most of all. Admire small ships, but put your cargo in a big one….’

- Hesiod

Gaius and his boys had travelled the 3 or so Roman miles to Piraeus to watch the trireme race from a hilltop. They had now, a week later, returned to Athens’ port, which possesses a trio of almost landlocked harbours, the northerly Kantharos and the southerly Munichia and Zea, all of which are lined with purpose-built boatsheds to house the various types of ship. Meanwhile, the local fortifications narrow the mouths of these excellent safe anchorages so that they can easily be closed by mighty defensive chains in times of war.

In contrast to Athens, Piraeus has been developed in a more planned, systematic fashion, resulting in a grid of fine straight streets, with well-placed houses, public buildings and temples, amidst pleasant open areas. There is also a strong racial mix, as befits a seaport, which gives the town a greater cosmopolitan air.

Piraeus is connected to Athens by long, formidable walls so that, with their own similar surrounding fortifications, the port and the great metropolis it serves can both be efficiently protected from enemy assaults whilst remaining linked. During the city’s golden era, Athenian war strategy centred round confidence that the navy, which was usually mightier than the army, could guarantee the survival of the metropolis during any siege by arranging provisioning via the sea.

Gaius and his boys were now ending their tour by sailing in a large ship, better sized to survive any storms encountered, from Piraeus to Italia, via Sicilia, where, in Syracuse, they would have to change vessels. A rather morose Lucius had come with his father to see the young quartet off, before the pair returned themselves overland to their home city of Chaeronea.

The subsequent separation of Tyanus and Lucius was almost as tearful and heart-wrenching to watch as that between the parents of Apollinus and Helius and their sons had been in Ostia a couple of months previously. Promises to keep in touch by letter made by the two new but very firm friends hardly lessened their upset, especially as the young Tyanan was still barely literate. However, one good benefit resulting from the sad occasion was the stimulus the 11 year-old’s undertaking provided to his later schooling.

I believe that another benefit for posterity, of the chance friendship made in Delphi between two charming 11 year-old boys, is the interest in history that had been planted in Athens in Lucius’ highly intelligent mind by my beloved Gaius.

(Lodgings of Persius and Quintilianus, Rome, same time)

‘I will reveal to you a love potion, without medicine, without herbs, without any witch’s magic: if you want to be loved, then love!’

- Hecaton

The daily lessons of Lucanus, recently returned from Hispania, finished at mid-afternoon and, as was now common, after running upstairs, he found 17 year-old Persius working at compiling verse. However, P, as usual, politely interrupted his poetic activities to chat with his younger 12 year-old friend until Quintilianus returned from his day at the offices of his legal mentor, Gnaeus Domitius Afer.

The threesome would then return to Lucanus’ nearby residential domus, to which Persius and Quintilianus had been granted continued access by Axenius for the purpose of freely using the communal bathing amenities, rather than having to attend the more distant and costly public facilities. After helping each other to bathe and redress, the trio would then usually venture outside again to eat at a local inn rather than experience the cena provided at L’s residence.

Although, to me, the repast provided within Axenius’ domus for residential pupils was always nicely balanced, substantial and well-prepared, as befitted sustenance supplied to growing boys, the pupils often unjustly moaned about what they were served. Perhaps young noses will always be upturned at the thought of school meals.

On this occasion, as they ate cena at their usual inn, the boys exchanged further news of their respective activities during the day. Lucanus described a caning one of the boys in his class had received on his bare bottom from the teacher for being genuinely naughty. Persius recited some of the lines of the poem he was writing, to encouraging praise from his two friends. Quintilianus then explained more excitingly how he had attended his first trial.

After dinner, Persius and Quintilianus would generally retire to their lodgings, sometimes with Lucanus in tow, for further chat and some play. On this occasion, the latter included mutual fellatio.

It was Persius’ turn to perform the oral art on Lucanus’ lovely, hairless 12 year-old genitalia, which generally could be quickly brought to almost dry orgasm. The only penile product of this pleasant exercise was a little clear fluid, in marked contrast to the copious sperm the 17 year-olds inevitably erupted and which the younger boy had now learned to swallow enthusiastically whenever he practised fellatio.

Persius had licked and sucked Lucanus’ nicely proportioned slim uncut penis to full, throbbing erection, although the boy’s foreskin was so abundant that, as usual, little of the cockhead was revealed. Meanwhile, Quintilianus, having already had his semen swallowed by the 12 year-old, manoeuvred himself into such a position that he could oblige P with the same, whilst the latter entertained L.

Persius recognised, from Lucanus’ fevered reactions, that his licking and sucking of the boy’s slender member would soon bear fruit, as indeed would Quintilianus’ oral activities on his own, bigger and more hirsute member. However, P was not expecting the improved nature and consistency of the ejaculate with which his mouth was rewarded, for, instead of the usual few clear droplets, his tongue tasted L’s first-ever production of sperm, simultaneous to the eruption of his own cum into Q’s mouth.

Afterwards, the young trio toasted, with some diluted wine, 12 year-old Lucanus’ elevation to true manhood, before Persius and Quintilianus escorted the younger boy back to his residential domus, through the darkened and therefore potentially more dangerous streets of Rome.

(Syracuse, Sicilia, a few weeks later, October, DCCCIV A.V.C., in the 10th year of the reign of the Emperor Claudius [AD 51])

‘Wanting the walls to be constructed as speedily as possible, he [Dionysus I, tyrant of Syracuse] compelled agricultural labourers to assemble, 60,000 in all, and distributed them along the sector to be built….The activity of so many men, who applied themselves with enthusiasm to their task, presented an extraordinary sight….As a result, the wall was completed, beyond all expectations, in 20 days. It was 30 stades [over 3 Roman miles] long.’

- Diodorus Siculus

Gaius, Hylas, Achilleus and Tyanus were boarding another boat. Having thankfully experienced another uneventful voyage across the Mare Internum, this time from Piraeus to Syracuse in Sicilia, the quartet had been forced to stay awhile in the latter city for the delayed ship that would take them to the western Italia port of Telamonis, north of Rome.

Gaius and his boys could, of course, have alternatively crossed the narrow strait separating Sicilia from the toe of Italia, Bruttium, and then journey slowly north overland. However, despite the lateness of the sailing season, the weather had remained good and so my beloved felt that transport by sea would be much faster. He kindly desired to travel rapidly because he wanted to conclude his dutiful visit to his parents in Volsinii as quickly as possible so that he could subsequently be speedily reunited with me again in Rome. He had anyway already arranged to meet Axenius’ representative in the port of Telamonis, for the purpose of temporarily handing over Achilleus and Tyanus to his undoubtedly efficient charge.

The annoying delay in Syracuse did, however, possess some advantages for the travelling quartet. For example, they could rest after their voyage from Piraeus, whilst seeing some of the sights the ancient city, once a Greek colony, had to offer. The latter included the remains of the immense limestone walls that had, over 200 years previously, been such an impediment to the Romans when they had besieged the metropolis.

Dionysus I, tyrant of Syracuse almost half a millennium before Gaius’ visit, had been responsible for inaugurating the massive girdle of walls defending his city, which incorporated many sophisticated devices never previously known. The fact that he achieved his ambition of fortifying the whole plateau overlooking his metropolis, as well as the municipality itself, in just 6 years speaks volumes for the man’s vision and energy, as well as for the resources of money, manpower and materials he was able to summon.

During an earlier conflict with Athens, Dionysus I had been dismayed at how easily the enemy had with impunity encamped on the overlooking plateau of Epipolae. The tyrant therefore determined that, by fortifying this area, as well as his city, he would prevent a re-occurrence of such military embarrassment. He also realised that there was a need for the defences to be modern so that they could withstand the increasingly sophisticated assaults of contemporary besiegers. Consequently, he established ‘war laboratories’ in Syracuse to study the issues and offered cash incentives for those contributing the best ideas.

As a result, revised building techniques produced much stronger walls, 17 Roman miles long, hugging the natural ridge occupied by the Epipolae plateau and high enough to frustrate normal siege machines. Innovative fortress towers were also constructed at strategic intervals to protect vulnerable points, such as gateways and corners. Later, massive platforms were constructed to accommodate enormous catapults, designed to out-gun the enemy. Outside the defences, a complex system of deep, V-shaped ditches was dug, linked to the inside by a series of galleries that facilitated the secret transfer of troops, who could remove any filler thrown inside the trenches.

Over a couple of centuries later, Archimedes helped to improve these defences further when Syracuse expected to be besieged by the Romans after the city had, unwisely in retrospect, taken the side of Carthage during the Punic Wars. The great scientist also invented lens designed to focus the sun onto enemy sailors in order to blind them and thereby encourage their ships towards the shore, where gigantic mechanical claws awaited them. These contraptions could literally pick up and sink the vessels.

Unfortunately for Archimedes and the population of Syracuse, his efforts in defence of the city ultimately proved futile. The walls were finally breached by the Romans, although not until they had suffered heavy casualties, and the great scientist was slain, along with many other citizens, amidst the subsequent bloody mayhem, despite the orders of the enemy commander, Marcellus, that he should be captured alive.

Archimedes’ was reportedly found, calmly experimenting with circular geometry in his laboratory, by a legionary, who ignored the scientist’s request to leave him to his work. The plundering and blundering soldier instead thrust a sword into the impertinent scientist’s bowels.

As Gaius and his boys boarded their own intact vessel, bound for Telamonis, Tyanus, who was becoming more competent in written Greek, turned to my beloved and smilingly announced “I’ll have to write to Lucius and tell him about what we’ve seen and learnt in Syracuse. He’ll be fascinated by the history of the place!” As the boy made his pronouncement, he developed the usual special twinkle in his sensuous brown eyes, which appeared whenever he mentioned the 11 year-old from Chaeronea. The knowing young man from Volsinii recognised that such signs were reminiscent of a very special kind of friendship and had already correctly worked out what the pretty pair must have been up to when alone together. The latter was a situation that they had increasingly been able to arrange back in Athens.

(Imperial palace, Rome, later same month, Dies Solis A.D. IX Kal. Nov. DCCCIV A.V.C., in the 10th year of the reign of the Emperor Claudius [24th October, AD 51])

‘….in gilded tub he steeps his feet

And legs in rich Egyptian unguents.

His neck and chest he rubs with oil of palm,

And both his arms with sweet extract of mint,

His eyebrows and his hair with marjoram,

His knees and face with essence of wild thyme.’

- Antiphanes

I have to confess that I still bathed daily in the manner of the boy dilettante mentioned in Antiphanes’ comic play, as I continued to take great care over my grooming and appearance. However, on this particular day, my beautiful sweet-smelling form was not to be wasted, as Gaius had taken great pleasure in ravishing its various copious delights before telling me about his adventures in Athens and Syracuse.

“I wasn’t perturbed by my realisation of the undeclared nature of the relationship in Athens between Tyanus and Lucius,” Gaius advised me in conclusion, just as my eager mouth once more ventured towards his revitalised, needy cock, whilst we still reclined on my bed in the Imperial palace.

“After all,” Gaius managed to say, as his cockhead was engulfed by my lips, “what is sweeter in this world than love?”

(To be continued in chapter XLIV – ‘Gladiators’)