The Lycian Prince 38

By the time the walking commercial had returned to the brothel, a wooden platform, about 5 paces by 1 pace by 1 pace, had been erected outside in the shadow cast by the establishment. The three new boys were made to walk up some side steps and stand on it facing back towards the entrance of the cul-de-sac, with Anthonius in the middle and the other two at each end. They were joined by two other similarly attired and bound newcomers, aged about 11 and 13 and bearing the usual medallion, who stood each side of Anthonius, whose bodily make up was by far the gaudiest of the five now on promotional display. All the boys had little signs hanging from their necks. The two big signs, which were of painted black wood with the lettering chalked on the surface, disappeared to be replaced by five others, which were the same height as the platform, against which they were rested, one in front of each boy. Anthonius’ now read as before but with the ‘Other new fresh boys also available’ replaced with ‘Available for disciplining soon!’ Those advertising the two boys now either side of Anthonius emphasised their virginity, the reason why they had been segregated from the others since their purchase the previous day.

The three boys, who had been forced to walk the streets of Rome advertising their sexual services, were hot, sweaty and tired from their exertions, although they had largely been protected from the sun blazing overhead by the gloom inherent in most of the narrow thoroughfares they had traversed, usually flanked by decrepit buildings of several storeys. Standing on the platform for two hours, whilst a large number of prospective customers and poorer voyeurs came to ogle at and obscenely comment about them, was therefore particularly difficult to endure, especially for Anthonius who still exhibited the clear evidence of earlier ejaculation. They were most grateful to be taken inside the brothel once late afternoon had become early evening, although their gratitude was to be short-lived once evening became night. The two virgins were taken through a door opposite to that leading to the boy prostitute quarters. They were to remain separated from the others until their innocence had been well and truly lost.

The three newcomers who entered the main boy prostitute quarters were unchained and allowed to rest on their bunks for a couple hours before, under the supervision of the servant and with the assistance of other off-duty catamites, their bodies were again cleansed in the bath and with enemas and their bodily appearance and make-up restored to garish perfection, particularly in Anthonius’ case. An awakened Prodicus insisted on helping his new friend, despite the 14 years old’s entreaties not to do so because the 16 years old was still obviously hurting. Prodicus had taken Anthonius’ soiled thong, on which the dried semen had been noticed by all those present, often to accompanying giggles, to the laundry basket. “I often suffer accidents like that,” he remarked loudly to try to ease the boy’s abashment, “it’s nothing to be ashamed about. All the others here have had them many times too!” The smirks disappeared from the other boys’ faces.

Anthonius was not redressed in another thong. Instead, a small leather chastity belt, similar to the ones he had regularly worn in the Imperial palace but gold in colour and embossed with the Ganymede insignia, was attached by Prodicus. His friend smiled and explained, whilst performing the fitting, “They usually put this on when they want customers to pay to see what’s underneath and can’t trust the wearer not to balloon his thong. That would give the patrons a free look at most of the jewels. I think your little accident in the Via Aelius made this particular fitment inevitable.”

Anthonius had a while to wait after his preparation had been completed for the other four newcomers were due on stage before the night’s star attraction. He could not sit down because that would ruin his carefully applied body oiling. He therefore slowly paced up and down the exercise area, close to an end bunk on which Prodicus had sat to chat intimately and try to relax his new friend, clearly fearfully apprehensive about what was about to happen. Prodicus eventually came round to talking about life in the brothel and said truthfully “I like it here. I like being a boy prostitute because I enjoy showing off my body and having regular sex, even if it hurts. In fact, I’ll tell you a secret, I like being humiliated and hurt. I don’t know why but I always get a hard-on when it’s happening and I often have accidents in those circumstances, like you did today. I must be a real sluttish whore but I don’t care.” Anthonius blushed deeply but not because of Prodicus’ confession. It was instead a profound moment, for the boy finally accepted that the same applied to him. Anthonius had not wanted to believe the clear evidence of his real sexual nature, stemming from his regular unwanted ejaculations during his many previous demeaning experiences, because of shame. However, his new friend’s revelation showed Anthonius that he was not alone in having such feelings and it helped him at last to recognise and accept his true self.

“I’ll be sorry to leave,” Prodicus continued, “but I know that that might occur soon because I’m becoming too old to be a prostitute here. In fact, I think that the only reason for me not moving on before now is my regular client, who pays well for my services, but I think that he’ll also think I’m too old for his tastes before long. There are brothels specialising in older youths and young men. I hope that I go to one of them. My greatest fear is that I’ll be castrated. I know that that should help me retain my boyish looks for much longer and that there are many brothels with eunuchs. They’re often retained as servants once their bodily attractions have faded because they’re not tempted by the beauties they have to supervise. All the servants and slaves here are eunuchs, including the man who’s been looking after you.” Anthonius was initially surprised at this latest revelation until he realised that the employment of eunuchs for such purposes was entirely logical.

Anthonius entered the conversation by quietly confessing to Prodicus that they were alike in their sexual feelings and that he too feared for his boyhood once he had been returned to the Emperor. Their discourse was interrupted by the servant, who had come to collect Anthonius because the star performance on the stage in the main entertainment hall was imminent. As the man left the room with the star performer, Prodicus shouted “If you are really like me, just relax and enjoy the night. We’ll discuss your other problem tomorrow. Good luck!”

The servant led Anthonius to one of the doors on the opposite side of the corridor and down a flight of steps that led to a back entrance of the entertainment hall. Anthonius heard loud ribaldry inside, with many raucous shouts almost drowning the music. The servant opened the door slightly to push his head through and nod to someone inside that the star was ready. Anthonius saw through the small opening that the hall seemed to be overflowing with men. The servant closed the door again and the pair waited whilst the previous act, the second and older of the two virgins, finished and his immediate services auctioned. The noise prevented Anthonius from hearing how much the pleasure of the boy’s deflowerment cost, but found out later that it was less than a fifth of what was charged for his own initial services. Anthonius did hear snippets of a voice, presumably that of the entertainment choragus, subsequently declaring “Now lords and masters……what you’ve all been waiting for……Anthonius……former Lycian Prince……bedboy to the great Diocletian……immaculate beauty……unprecedented opportunity” before the rest of the introductory monologue was submerged beneath unified shouts demanding “Bring him in!” The door then opened and Anthonius saw that the hall was indeed packed.

There must have been over a thousand men sitting at the many tables or standing against the surrounding walls. There was a very narrow clearance leading to the stage steps in the middle of the hall. Anthonius thought that the passage to the stage was not going to be a very pleasant experience until his new self-awareness began to suggest the opposite. The servant signalled him to enter and Anthonius passed through the door to tumultuous cheers. As instructed, he ran to the stage, trying to avoid, not always successfully, the many lecherous hands that made attempts to feel his oiled body as he passed between the tables. However, he eventually reached the steps and climbed onto the stage where the choragus awaited him.

Anthonius was fully aware that over one thousand pairs of eyes were now fixed on his near-nude body, and he felt some pain in his groin as his cock was prevented from stiffening by the small pouch of hard leather that tightly encased his genitals. There was to be no free revelation of the boy’s prize assets for the observors. Anthonius now proceeded as instructed and knelt to kiss the Ganymede emblem embossed at the centre of the stage. He stood again, placed his hands on his head and turned slowly so that the spectators could appraise his gorgeous form from all angles. The boy had to endure many obscene shouts as he performed the manoeuvre but the most humiliating comments came from the choragus who was simultaneously describing the lad’s physical attributes and sexual capabilities.

When Anthonius had turned full circle, the choragus left the stage and music, played by four adult slaves located in a small area on the floor in front of the platform, re-started. The accompaniment was not as excellent as that provided by the twelve musicians in the Imperial palace but was still quite good. However, it did not encourage Anthonius to start the dance which he had practised to perfection for the boy had just seen Casperius and Lysus sitting close by at a prominent table. The lad found himself frozen to the spot in sudden anguish whilst the music played on.

(To be continued in Chapter 39 – ‘Harlotry’)