(Fucine Lake, Sabina, central Italia, a few days later, Martius, DCCCV A.V.C., in the 11th year of the reign of the Emperor Claudius [AD 52])

‘It is not possible to fight beyond your strength, even if you strive.’

- Homer

The sexagenarian Claudius, attended by me as his food-taster, was again present at the Fucine Lake, along with many thousands of raucous spectators on stands lining the banks, to watch a re-enactment of the fake naval battle, or ‘naumachia’, of a few days previously. Another attempt to celebrate the opening of the tunnel, 3 Roman miles long and linking the locale with the distant River Liris, was being made.

Apparently miraculously, given the earlier heavy casualties amongst the many ‘naumachiarii’, these criminal gladiatorial combatants appeared to be no less in number than previously. In fact, this visual trick had been achieved by skilful deployment of the survivors, who were very unwilling to repeat their dangerous efforts of a few days before but had little choice about the matter if they wished to retain a chance of living.

37 year-old Agrippina, having secretly arranged to sabotage the fresh event in order to add to the embarrassment of Narcissus, who was nominally in charge of the project, again wore an ostentatious cloak of gold thread. Both young Nero and his accompanying best friend, Suffuscus, once more sported military dress. The whole Imperial party, with officials, including the Imperial secretary, special guests and Praetorian guards, was accommodated on seating on supposedly sturdy rafts.

To loud cheering, the fighting re-commenced when the ingenious mechanical device raised the large silver triton, seemingly miraculously, out of the waters. After many more ‘naumachiarii’ were subsequently slaughtered on their galleys, turning large sections of the lake surface red, the tunnel’s sluice gates were opened to a fanfare of trumpets.

Unfortunately, the whole remarkable and exciting but bloody and deadly spectacle now culminated not in the farce of a few days before, when little water flowed inside the tunnel to commence the draining of the lake. An engineering error had then caused the channel to be dug insufficiently below the level of the waters to enable effective drainage, to the acute embarrassment of everyone concerned. Instead, today’s ceremony concluded with the creation, by the opening of the sluices, of several great waves.

From my perspective, standing next to Claudius’ throne on his raft, ready to taste any of the food or wine placed before the Emperor on a low table, I was amongst the first to notice the ominous approach of this wave directly towards our location. I quickly judged that the rapidly approaching, tall, sinister object would not only swamp our platform but also sweep all present into the lake. Agrippina’s saboteurs had also made a misjudgement, one that now endangered the evil commissioner of the perfidy, as well as her husband and son and his best friend, plus a certain young barbarian eunuch slave.

I was not the only one to raise the alarm but, such was the speed of approach of the initial menacing wave, that little could be done before those on the rafts were forcefully swept off the platform and into the lake. Our peril was then increased when several substantial after-waves swiftly followed the original watery monster.

I swam as a boy in Britannia. However, I had not practised the skill in a long time and, as the local river in my homeland was quite slow, narrow and shallow, I never went long distances and could often simply stand up to rest. I also then had the considerable benefit of indulging the pastime unclothed.

Now, I was far from shore, in deep, unsettled water and attired in the white tunic with purple edgings of an Imperial slave, with appropriate under-garments and sandals. I quickly began to flounder, with my face increasingly spending more time under water than above and helplessly oblivious to others who were similarly struggling nearby. However, my thoughts at the time genuinely did not concern my personal welfare but instead related to how I had failed to protect my master, the Emperor, and anguish at not being able to save myself for my beloved Gaius, whom I knew would be grief-stricken at my loss.

In fact, as my living head disappeared under the surface of the lake for what I believed would be the final time, my mind was totally distraught at the thought that, through my own ineptitude, I was letting my beloved Gaius down by leaving this world prematurely.

(Domus of Gaius Musonius Rufus, Rome, later that evening)

‘As long as you are able to add another’s light to your own, then do it!’

- Plato

My beloved Gaius, oblivious to my fate, was about to leave his new home in Rome. The young man from Volsinii, recently turned 22 years of age, and his coterie of three very pretty boys were about to proceed to the nearby domus of Axenius’ residential pupils, where they would meet up with Persius, Quintilianus and Lucanus for their daily bathing session.

My beloved Gaius had rented larger accommodation, sufficient to house comfortably not only 10 year-old Hylas and himself but also 10 year-old Achilleus and 12 year-old Tyanus, with whom I was now acquainted. The newcomers in my beloved’s life were initially rather wary of me, presumably because they knew that I was the long-term lover of the new father-figure in their lives.

Tyanus was clearly the most concerned about my reaction to the new arrivals in Rome, given that he had previously occasionally substituted for me in Gaius’ bed. He obviously fretted that I might be jealously vengeful, despite, having aired his apprehension with Hylas, being told by the younger boy "Don’t worry about Bicilus. He’ll just be happy that you pleased my master!"

Having been secretly tipped off about Tyanus’ concerns by the now normally highly considerate Hylas, I therefore spent much time in establishing a rapport with the boy. Without actually saying so, I let it be known to him, by means of occasional, diplomatic, oblique comments, that I was both aware of his sexual kindnesses to Gaius and unflustered by them. Given what some might consider my own promiscuity, I could hardly adopt a different attitude even if I had disliked the situation, which I did not.

Consequently, I soon became as friendly with Tyanus and Achilleus as I already was with Hylas. This was helped by the fact that the young trio appreciated that I shared their prime concerns, which entirely centred round mutual loving devotion towards the marvellous Gaius.

(Plebeian quarter, Rome, same time)

‘The truly noble and reasoned spirit becomes more evident in times of disaster.’

- Plutarch

Nigerinus returned to his modest dwelling on the conclusion of his day’s funeral duties. The black, nullified eunuch no longer suppered alone at his favourite inn but instead now always rushed every evening to his home, which was located on the edge of one of Rome’s better plebeian quarters. He knew that there he would enjoy an already prepared, excellent meal in very pleasant company.

Nigerinus’ funerary business had been appointed to provide the relevant rites for a gladiator slaughtered by the infamous Didius in the Amphitheatre of T. Statilius Taurus at the beginning of the previous November. The black, nullified eunuch had been shocked to discover, whilst preparing the deceased secutor’s body for burial, that the man’s cock had been hacked off by the victorious retiarius.

The burial of the deceased gladiator had been paid for by his school’s funeral fund, to which all fighters mutually contributed. However, Nigerinus had been appalled to find that the dead secutor’s pregnant girlfriend was being left virtually destitute.

Most of the signing-on fee that the young woman’s boyfriend had earned by giving up his freedom to become a gladiator had been spent on surviving the recent famine, during which food prices had often been scandalously high. The secutor had also been killed on his first appearance in the amphitheatre and so had won no prize money in his unfortunately very short career.

Nigerinus was normally very shy and retiring with women, who, because of his handsome physique, nevertheless frequently lusted after him. However, as he possessed none of the impressive sexual equipment, for which males of his race were rightfully renowned, he always shrank away from any association with females, with the notable exception of his former mistress and saviour, Pomponia Graecina.

Nigerinus, however, became upset at the young tearful girlfriend’s plight, after she had been abandoned at her late boyfriend’s graveside by those from the secutor’s gladiatorial school who had bothered to attend the funeral. The dead man had been too new to the fighting profession, and had devotedly spent too much time with his female paramour, to garner any real friendships amongst his colleagues. None of the latter also clearly had any intention of taking on the burden of caring for the pregnant woman, despite her prettiness.

Consequently, despite his normal reserve, Nigerinus approached the girlfriend at the graveside and asked whether she had anywhere to go. She replied that she did not, as her landlord had just uncaringly thrown her out of her accommodation because of unpaid rent. She was also unsure from where her next meal would come.

In fact, the young, white girlfriend’s next meal, and many more thereafter, was enjoyed at Nigerinus’ modest home, where she became the black, nullified eunuch’s housekeeper and best friend. Because their subsequent relationship could never be sexually consummated, the pair became like rather incongruous siblings, although the emasculated man always considered the woman’s baby, born shortly after her arrival in his home, to be more akin to a son than nephew to him.

(Domus of Axenius, Rome, same time)

‘Do not neglect the health of the body.’

- Pythagoras

Axenius did not have to frequent the baths in any of his school residences, or the equivalent public amenities, as his palatial domus possessed the relevant facilities. Here, the young Germanian eunuch had once joyfully assisted with Palaemon’s ablutions, which had often led to other intimate pleasures. However, on this occasion, and despite now being the master of the household and therefore owner of several slaves who were highly proficient at the art, the 22 year-old was busy massaging the very pretty bodies of his young brother, Anacletus, and even younger adopted son, Arius.

Both blonde, blue-eyed boys, respectively 13 and 11 years of age, had already sprouted the innocent erections that were common whenever any masseur paid expert attention to their delicious, young, naked bodies. The mischievous Gemanian eunuch therefore did not waste the chance of having a little fun at the expense of his charges’ intact, excited and completely hairless genitalia.

As the smiling Axenius was happily massaging the nude fronts of the smooth, slender forms of the boys, he gently flicked their immature but hard cocks, suggesting with obvious exaggeration "I know many girls who’d love to be serviced by these fulsome, manly implements!" He was rewarded by a pair of beautiful blushing faces, on which reciprocated, but clearly fake grins, failed to disguise obvious abashment.

Anacletus’ embarrassment then became even more acute when his elder brother began carefully to rub oil onto his rampant genitals, which eventually responded, as gentle fingers massaged his penile shaft, by producing a spurt of other liquid, whilst his gorgeous 13 year-old body entered visible orgasm. However, the currently roguish Axenius was not put off by such an exhibition of boyish virility, as, after all, he had induced Palaemon to many such climaxes in the past on the very table on which his young sibling now lay.

Axenius instead encouraged Anacletus to enjoy the sudden climactic phenomenon to the full by expertly manipulating the boy’s cock so that the orgasm was not only productive in terms of ejaculate but also intensified and prolonged. The 13 year-old, embarrassment now overcome by unprecedented pleasure, responded by remaining motionless to allow the 22 year-old to complete his task. Meanwhile, Arius, own penis also still rigid and quivering, looked on with not only fascination but also clear amazement and admiration, as well as some jealousy.

After Axenius had finally achieved his objective, and as he began to clean the spermatic mess now evident on Anacletus’ divine, panting body, the 22 year-old commented "It seems, dear brother, that you’d also fill a girl completely with your baby-making juices!" Arius could not help but burst into giggling on hearing this remark, and soon neither could the recovering 13 year-old subject of the statement.

Arius’ tittering was, however, then prematurely curtailed when he felt Axenius rubbing the 11 year-old’s own erect sexual organs with oil. "Let’s see," the wickedly smirking 22 year-old teased the boy, "whether you, dear son, can repeat my brother’s feat!"

In some Roman households, such familial play might be considered immoral. However, Axenius, being very liberal in many issues, regarded such activity only to be innocuously beneficial, a rightful part of a healthy boy’s educational upbringing. The eunuch did not believe that young males should be ashamed or afraid of their bodies and their natural reactions to sexual stimuli, as he blamed many psychological problems on people’s hang-ups about such matters.

After completing their ablutions, Axenius, Anacletus and Arius dressed in their best togas and met up with the similarly washed and smartly attired, albeit in her most magnificent stola, Axenia to await the arrival of their guest for the evening. The latter was someone whom the 22 year-old eunuch and his 13 year-old twin siblings had first met at a fort called Castra Vetera in Germania Inferior and who had now returned to Rome.

Axenius eventually greeted his arriving dinner guest with the words "You honour my home, Gaius Plinius Secundus!"

"No," Pliny the Elder retorted with a smile, whilst mentioning his host’s adoptive name, "it is you, Quintus Remmius Axenius, who honours me!"

(Corinth, Achaea, Greece, later that night)

‘Pray without ceasing.’

- Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians (1, 5:17)

Paul was once more engaged in writing letters to the gentile leaders of the church that he had established in Thessalonica in Macedonia before being forced to flee the city prematurely because of rioting Jews, who had been angered by his preaching. He wrote late into the night in the Corinthian home of Aquila and his wife, Priscilla, where he was still staying.

In Paul’s current correspondence, he praised the strong faith of the Thessalonian converts, which endured despite the persecution they suffered, particularly at the hands of those of the Judaic faith. However, he also criticised some local believers of the new Christian sect for misinterpreting certain points of doctrine, which had encouraged them to neglect normal work, thereby making them dependant upon the charity of others, whilst they rather fanatically awaited another coming of Jesus.

Paul felt obliged to command such fanatics to earn their livelihood with their own hands. He also reassured others about the truth of heavenly resurrection for the souls of those deceased loved ones who had been believers. Because of some moral laxness and business carelessness, he additionally warned the Thessalonian converts against lowering their new lifestyle standards.

Given Paul’s ethics, he would naturally have been appalled at what was currently happening in certain locations in faraway Italia.

(Domus of Axenius, Rome, same time)

‘A life without feasts is a long road without inns.’

- Democritus

Axenius and Pliny were now alone, the children having retired to bed and the attendant slaves considerately dismissed from their duties for the night, leaving behind copious unconsumed food and wine for the remaining pair of diners to enjoy if needed. However, the 22 year-old host and 28 year-old guest were apparently too engrossed in conversation to indulge their stomachs with much more fare.

Axenius had always previously regarded his beloved Palaemon as being the most knowledgeable person he had known. However, he now had to admit in wonder that his guest possessed an even more impressive array of information stored in his brain.

Nevertheless, the interesting facts and anecdotes that Pliny now fed Axenius were not the only reason why the pair chatted long into the night. Both host and guest had perceptively recognised that another, more emotional reason had encouraged them to remain together and be reluctant to part.

Axenius had detected Pliny’s attraction for his younger host’s still enormously lovely, blonde, blue-eyed, Germanic form and, for a change, had not been displeased, unlike on recent past occasions when men had somehow indicated their sexual interest in him. His earlier disinterest had undoubtedly resulted from his residually strong grief for the loss of Palaemon, which had encouraged him to believe that acquiring a replacement lover would be treacherous to the memory of his dead paramour.

Axenius’ attitude had been maintained despite the fact that Palaemon himself had selflessly indicated, on his deathbed, that the young Germanian should find someone else to love him. However, now, either time was causing his stubbornness to erode or Pliny’s obviously very pleasant character was doing the deed, for the 22 year-old was beginning to reciprocate his guest’s apparent interest in moving their current pastime on from mere conversation.

Initial shyness and wariness encouraged Axenius and Pliny to signal their burgeoning mutual attraction through the looks in their eyes rather than gesture or words, which were still confined to ordinary conversation. However, the guest, whose courage had been fortified by generous consumption of excellent wine, finally decided to bring matters to a head by standing and announcing quietly "It’s late and I must go...."

Pliny’s true desire was, of course, now revealed by the rest of this sentence, which asked, almost pleadingly, "unless you want me to stay?" Axenius answered by remaining on his couch, whilst extending his hand in order to gather his new lover to his side.

(Alba Fucens, near the Fucine Lake, Sabina, central Italia, same time)

‘Although we cannot choose what happens to us, we can choose how we respond.’

- Epictetus

Marcus Salvius Otho’s cock was rampantly eager to gain long-awaited satisfaction and, in the circumstances, what could I do but oblige? My final surrender to his long-declared desire to enjoy me was assisted by recognising that Gaius would not be jealous but would instead understand my motivation.

After my living head had disappeared under the surface of the Fucine Lake, for what I presumed would be the final time, it was gratefully brought back into the air and sunlight by a strong arm. As Otho then swam back to the raft, with me in rather undignified tow, as my similarly-aged saviour was dragging me by my tunic neck, the keen 20 year-old was already suggesting coarsely how I might repay him for saving my life.

"I hope that you’ll let me fuck you now," Otho had gleefully declared, whilst he swam, "or should I let you slip to the bottom of the lake?"

Meanwhile, an extremely angry and humiliated Claudius, apparently kept afloat by his portly stature, had made his own way to the platform, whilst Agrippina and Nero had been rescued from the deep water by respectively Burrus and Suffuscus. In fact, the only people who drowned were some of the Praetorian guards, whose armour had caused them to sink without delay to the lake bottom.

The chief civil engineers, for whom I had managed to secure a reprieve from Claudius’ retribution after the previous mishap a few days previously, were not to be so lucky this time, as they took the blame for the latest disaster. The rightfully petrified men were now imprisoned in the town gaol, awaiting the arrival of public executioners summoned by the Emperor from Rome. Their sad ends would soon be secured, despite the fact that the accident was actually attributable to Agrippina’s incompetent saboteurs. They were not supposed to so damage the sluice gates on the Fucine Lake tunnel that, when they were operated, the resultant water torrents caused a series of highly dangerous back-waves. However, the bunglers would eventually receive their own due rewards when, instead of acquiring some of the grateful Empress’ gold, they felt the knife of the furious Augusta’s assassin, the fierce gladiator, Didius, cutting their jugulars.

After the debacle, the soaked Imperial party had returned immediately to the shore and then to their accommodation in the nearby town of Alba Fucens. Here, once I had eventually been discharged for the night from Claudius’ service, I found, waiting for his reward at the door of the room allocated to me, the grinning Otho, who had been, with his father, amongst the Emperor’s special guests seated on the Imperial raft.

"I must have somehow pleased the gods," Otho subsequently suggested, with clear delight and eager excitement in his voice, as he attempted to undress me, "for they surely caused the day’s misfortune so that I could enjoy this long awaited, previously unrequited pleasure!" However, his keenness made the 20 year-old clumsy in the art of disrobing and I eventually had to complete his task for him, as well as help him to remove his own garments.

I now appreciated the extent of Otho’s vanity in respect of his own appearance, for I discovered that he not only plucked the hair from his legs but also shaved all hirsute growth from his genitalia, which were as smooth as mine. However, his sexual organs possessed certain features that mine did not. For a start, they were much bigger and included a full, low-hanging, intact scrotum, in which the testes had undoubtedly already helped to manufacture much sperm that would soon be inside me. They additionally sported a large, throbbing, precum-drooling, almost vertical erection.

I had little time to admire Otho’s sexual equipment, however, as he quickly guided me to my own bed and was soon lying beside me, with his lips, tongue and hands exploring virtually every facet of my form, literally from my head to my toes. His lovemaking represented the first time that I had my feet kissed.

I guiltily have to confess that I thoroughly enjoyed Otho’s exploration of my form, which, despite now being 20 years old, still looked as if it belonged to a boy no older than 15. The relish that I was gaining from the experience was exemplified, despite the gelded nature of my own genitalia, by a slight hardening of my penis, which accompanied many delicious tingling feelings permeating my body. Gaius had long since learnt how to provide me with genuine sexual pleasure through such foreplay, before bringing me to eventual climax by entertaining my prostate, and I was therefore pleased to note that my latest paramour seemed capable of doing the same.

Despite the obvious desperation for satisfaction of Otho’s rampant cock, the 20 year-old did not rush his foreplay, apparently thoroughly enjoying the teasing sensations that the venture provided his own handsome form. Nevertheless, the young noble did finally encourage me to lie on my front, whilst he gave his oral and manual attentions to my rear.

The feel of Otho’s mouth and hands gently surveying the lustrously smooth curves of my buttocks, which Gaius had kindly described as being literally outstanding, now gave me particular pleasure, causing me to utter a few delighted titters. My whole body then visibly shivered in rapture, immediately after the 20 year-old had carefully separated my bum cheeks and introduced his tongue to the waiting sphincter.

By now, Otho had induced such desire within me that my whole body was virtually begging for the entry of something much larger into my anal opening. I believe that this became obvious to my fellow 20 year-old by the manner in which I began lifting my bottom from the bed, in a gesture suggesting that my posterior was demanding even greater earnest attention. My new paramour was not to let me down, for, soon afterwards, his engorged, large cockhead was seeking admittance into my innards.

Otho subsequently sodomised me with great, obviously well practised skill and consideration, apparently eager to ensure that, despite his own urgent desire, I gained as much pleasure from the act as him. I eventually indicated to him that he had achieved his aim when my tight anal walls clamped excitedly on his cock, whose careful thrusts against my prostate had brought me to intense orgasm. My obvious ecstasy, along with the feel of my rectum rejoicing in the presence of his substantial manly penis inside me, induced my fellow 20 year-old to virtually simultaneous climax, with the gush of his ejaculate deep into my innards only adding to my pleasure.

"By the gods," Otho later announced crudely but endearingly, after he had finally recovered from his blissful peak, "you’re the best fuck I’ve ever had, even better than my wife, Poppaea!" Somehow, but perhaps rather pompously, I did not doubt the truthfulness of his kind statement.

Otho then smilingly declared "I’ll have to make a habit of saving your life, dear Bicilus, in order to earn similar pleasures in future!" My fellow 20 year-old was, of course, only joking. Nevertheless, his jest was subsequently to prove rather intuitive.

(Imperial palace, Rome, a few weeks later, Aprilis, DCCCV A.V.C., in the 11th year of the reign of the Emperor Claudius [AD 52])

‘Imperium cupientibus nihil medium inter summa et praecipitia.’

(‘In the struggle between those seeking power there in no middle course.’)

- Tacitus (‘Annals’, II, 74)

Claudius only lingered long enough in Alba Fucens to satisfy his tastes for sadism and vengeance by waiting for the executioners to arrive to despatch the chief engineers responsible for the Fucine Lake sluice gates to Hades in a rather bloody manner. Fortunately, aware of my sensitivities about such matters, the Emperor kindly temporarily excused me from his service so that I did not have to observe the sanguine spectacle.

Meanwhile, Agrippina was rarely one to miss a chance to advance her cause. Despite, or perhaps because of, her unexpected and frightening near-death experience, which had been entirely of her own making, the Empress did not intend to waste such an opportunity now. The Augusta began publicly to blame Narcissus for the recent dangerous debacle. She also bluntly told her husband, probably quite correctly, that she believed that the Imperial secretary was also profiteering from the works.

Narcissus retorted by complaining yet again to Claudius about Agrippina’s ever-growing and sinister influence in state affairs. In the end, the Emperor characteristically took no action against either complainant for now. In line with the Princeps’ desire to enjoy a relatively quiet dotage, he did not want to upset his wife too much, nor did he want to lose the services of his efficient secretary.

As previously described, I was now considered a furtive ally of Agrippina, to whom, almost daily, I still reported matters of interest, usually pertaining to what I had seen and heard whilst I went about my Imperial duties. Of course, in reality, I was playing the dangerous game of secretly remaining firmly in Narcissus’ camp, primarily because of our mutual interest in the welfare of Claudius and his young son, Britannicus, who was now virtually imprisoned in the palace.

Unfortunately, I also now began to perceive that the creeping tide of Imperial power and influence was starting to flow gradually but inexorably in the dreadful Empress’ direction, assisted by the Augusta’s regular, slowly effective, propagandist nagging of her husband.

I personally tried to make my own contribution towards reversing the worrying trend by occasionally airing my own views when sometimes invited by Claudius to do so when we were alone together. However, I felt obliged to be highly diplomatic in respect of the words I used to convey my message for, after all, I was a mere barbarian eunuch slave of no importance. My confidential suggestions basically centred on the needs for my Imperial master to take more notice of Narcissus’ advice and to allow his natural son, 11 year-old Britannicus, better amenities and more freedom.

Regrettably, I was perhaps too diplomatic and meek in putting my message across because Claudius, despite politely thanking me for my opinions, subsequently invariably failed to implement any of my suggestions. I firmly believe that the Emperor thought that what he had heard made sense and should be supported. However, subsequently, Agrippina’s strong personality within their marital relationship, and the Princeps’ desire for quietude in his final years, were now so dominant that he sadly never bothered to exert much effort into putting any of my advice into practice.

Consequently, 11 year-old Britannicus’ closeted existence in the palace continued. However, his similarly-aged best friend, Titus, and the prince’s principal tutor and personal slave, respectively the now 32 year-old Cornutus and 20 year-old Apollinus, tried their best to ensure that the boy was as happy and content as he could be in the circumstances.

What none of this foursome knew was that Britannicus’ wicked stepmother, Agrippina, was currently planning to sabotage her 11 year-old stepson’s life even more. The evil, scheming Empress intended to place the boy in even greater isolation, where there would be no room for the likes of Titus, Cornutus or Apollinus.

(To be continued in chapter XLVI – ‘Philosophers’)