this might have been because of their sensing the mood of Marcus, that he was more than ready to spill blood. Indeed, although they would not know this, it was even his plan to leave the city this evening. 'You see,' I said to Appanius. 'I was right.'
'She seduced him!' screamed Appanius.
'Nonsense,' I said, though to be sure a candid observer might have admitted that there might be some sense to Appanius' asservation.
'Appanius!' said the male slave.
'Do nor dare speak my name to me,' he wept, 'slave!'
'Forgive me, Master!' said the slave.
I released the staff of Appanius, as the slave had dared to address the master by the master's name. To be sure, he might have become accustomed to doing so in the past but that was no excuse for permitting such boldness in the future. It was time the slave learned his condition, and was taken in hand.
Five times then the master struck the slave, and tears pressed from between the eyelids of the punished slave.
'Please, Master,' wept Lavinia, 'do not let him so strike him!'
'Did you not hear?' I asked. 'He used the master's name to him. He is to be beaten as an errant slave.'
'Mater!' she wept.
'Be silent, slave girl,' I said.
'Yes, Master,' she wept.
Twice more the staff fell on the male slave, who now shuddered in the net. Appanius, too, interestingly, was weeping. He then raised his staff against Lavinia.
I held the staff. 'No,' I said. 'Her discipline is mine.'
'I should have sent her out of the city on the first night I owned her,' he said, 'after having cut off her ears and nose.'
Lavinia shuddered in the arms of the male slave.
'She is not yours,' I said. 'She is mine.'
'Seductrix!' he said to her.
She made herself as small as she could, in the net.
'If you had listened carefully,' I said, 'you would have heard your slave admit his guilt in this matter. Clearly he turned the head of my little Lavinia.'
'Look at her!' cried Appanius. 'See the sleek, curvaceous little thing, naked, in her collar! Do you truly think she is guiltless in this matter?'
'Perhaps she is a little to blame, or, at any rate, her wanton, owned slave curves.'
'Look there,' said Appanius. 'See the wine, the sweets, on the table, there, beside the couch? Do you doubt that this has been arranged?'
'That is an interesting point,' I said.
'Slut!' said Appanius.
'Yes, Master!' she said.
'These things,' he said, 'or the moneys with which they were purchased, did they come from the resources of your master?'
'Yes, Master,' whispered Lavinia.
'See!' said Appanius.
'Yes,' I said.
'Forgive me, Master!' said Lavinia to me.
'Do you doubt her guilt now?' asked Appanius.
'No,' I said.
'It is I who am wholly guilty,' said the male slave.
'He spoke without permission,' I said. 'Also, in the light of your point, he has lied.'
Appanius then, as Lavinia wept, struck the male slave twice more with his staff for speaking without permission, and twice again, for lying.
He moaned in the net, beaten.
'Get him out of the net,' said Appanius, angrily, 'and chain him.'
In a moment the male slave lay on his stomach on the furs, chained, hand and foot. A heavy collar, too, was locked on his neck. To this was attached a chain leash. He was then drawn from the couch and put on his knees, at the feet of his master. Lavinia, still under the net, knelt to one side on the couch. I went to her and extricated her from the net, dropping it to the side. She then, frightened, wide-eyed, knelt near me.
'Master?' she asked, looking up.
'Be silent,' I said.
'My Milo, my Milo!' wept Appanius, looking down at the much-beaten slave. 'The most beautiful slave in Ar! My beloved slave! My beloved Milo!'
'He has betrayed you,' said one of the retainers.
'How could you do it?' asked Appanius. 'Have I not been good to you? Have I not been kind? Have you wanted for anything? Have I not given you everything?' The slave kept his head down. I think he was sick, and I did not much blame him. He had taken a fearful beating. His back and shoulders were covered with welts. I did not think that anything had been broken. I wondered if he had ever been beaten before. Perhaps not. I myself have doubtless been responsible for a few of those blows, but then they had been appropriately administered. His behavior, after all, had contained errors.
'He is an ungrateful slave,' said another of the retainers.
'Send him to the fields,' said one of the retainers.
'Sell him,' said another.
'Make him an example to others,' said the first retainer.
'We can fine you a better, Appanius,' said another.
'One even more beautiful,' said one.
'And one with appropriate dispositions,' said another.
'And he, too, if you wish, can be trained as an actor and performer,' said another.
Marcus looked at me, puzzled. He did not really follow this conversation. I did not react to his look.
'What shall I do with him?' asked Appanius.
'Let all your slaves learn that they are your slaves,' said one of the retainers.
'Speak clearly,' said Appanius.
'Rid yourself of him,' whispered the fellow.
'Yes,' said another.
Appanius looked down at the chained slave.
I now had some understanding of the jealousy of the retainers for the slave. The slave had doubtless enjoyed too much power in the house, too much favor with the master. They were eager to bring him down.
'How?' asked Appanius.
'He has been unfaithful to you,' said a retainer.
'He had made a fool of you, with a woman,' said another.
This remark seemed to have its effect with Appanius.
'If this gets out, you will be a laughing stock in Ar,' said another.
I doubted this. It is natural enough for a male slave to have an eye for female slaves, and it is not unusual for a female slave to occasionally, say, find herself taken advantage of by such a fellow. To be sure, it is much more dangerous for a male slave to accost a female slave than for a free man to do so. Unauthorized uses of female slaves are almost always by free men. They have little, or nothing, to fear, for the girls are only slaves. The masters, if they are concerned about such things, may put the girls in the iron belt, particularly if they are sending them on late errands, or into disreputable neighborhoods.
Appanius seemed to be becoming angry.
I looked at the slave. His hands were manacled closely behind his back. The chains on his ankles would hardly permit him to walk. The chain leash dangled to the floor, where it lay in a rough coil.
'So, Milo,' said Appanius, 'you would make of me a laughing stock?'
