Talbot Mundy

“ The caravan from Asia came in just a little after dawn, having traveled the last stage by night, as usual, in order to arrive early and get the formalities over with. They came past the place of execution before sunrise. They had heard the news of the execution from the north bound caravan that passed them in the mountains. They had all been afraid of Maternus because he had robbed so many wayfarers, so naturally they were interested to see his dead body. It was gone!”
“What of it? Probably the women took it down for burial. Robbers always have a troupe of women. ”

“ There is, of course, no doubt about Sextus; the emperor’s own proscription brands him as a miscreant unfit to live, and he was lucky to have died by accident instead of being torn apart by tongs. It seems to me unquestionable that Norbanus shared his guilt and took care to escape before he could be seized and brought to justice. What is in doubt, most noble Pertinax, is how you can excuse yourself to our sacred emperor for having let Sextus escape from your clutches, after you had seen that letter! ”

“ He broke into a jeweler’s and was very badly beaten by the slaves, who slashed his face, which is heavily bandaged. He appears to be a Roman and is certainly a thief, but beyond that—”
“Much depends on who is interested in him,” Pertinax suggested. “Usually a man’s relatives—”
But the governor of Antioch’s fat hand made a disparaging, careless gesture. “He has no friends. He has been in the carceres [2] more than a month. I was reserving him for execution by the lions at the next public games. ”

“ They stiffen if they stay a whole night on the cross. If he could walk to Daphne three nights later, he had not been crucified many hours. Come, let us go to the baths before the crowd gets there. If one is late those insolent attendants lose one’s clothing, and there is no chance whatever of getting a good soft-handed slave to rub one down. Don’t you hate to be currycombed by a rascal with corns on his fingers?”
↑ peculium: the personal savings, which slaves were sometimes encouraged to accumulate.↑ The cells in which prisoners were kept who had been sentenced to death. ”

“ A little before midnight, in Daphne, near one of those booths where the caterers prepare hot meals, a man strode up to where some slaves were seated around a fire. He burned a piece of parchment. All nine slaves agree that he was about Maternus’ height and build; that he strode like a man who had been hurt ”

“ Men richer than the fabled Croesus carried all their wealth in leather wallets in the form of mortgages on gangs of slaves, certificates of ownership of cargoes, promises to pay and contracts for delivery of merchandise. ”