I was led into a small dark hallway. We entered a laegrer room, peop, e were busy carrying dishes, jugs and other cooking pots. There was a smell of food. I was very hungry and I had not eaten good food for days, or even weeks. I had been sick often along the journey, my ribs showed through my skin.
Most of the people in the room ignored me as the man led me along slowly, but some turned and looked at me, some girls in a corner laughed at me and I felt shy and embarrased. These were not like the girls in my village who I played with in the woods and rivers of my country. They were olive skinned, washed clean with their hair neat and tidy. Their tunics were white and also cleaner than I had ever seen, this was a strange land. I had been given a small tunic to wear in the hall and this hid my naked body at least. An old lady came up to the man who stopped and pulled me close to him. She touched my hair, said something to the man and then they both laughed. The lady quickly put her hands into a nearby bowl and washed them. I knew I was dirty but I had ot been able to wash for some days.
Like the hundreds, or thousands of children brought to Rome from the parts of the empire where their legions had conquered the local tribes, I had no idea of what future I had or where I was. I felyt alone and wished for my mother. I wanted to be back in her arms in my home, with her singing gently to me the way she did when I was hurt or unwell. I felt miserable.
At last the man took me through the room and out to a building behind the room. There was a door with bars across the window. Outside next to the door I noticed a small leather whip hanging from a hook. The man took the whip and I began to shiver with fear. I had never been hit with a whip but had seen my uncle hit one of his slaves in our village with one once. Now I was the slave and I was scared of the whip. The man looked at me and grinned.
He unlocked the door and the room was dimly lit by the rays of sun streaming through the barred window. As the door opened I wsaw another boy, he had red hair and was a little bigger than me, stand from what looked like a small bed. As we entered the room the boy moved slowly away from the man. The man still held the rope attached to the collar around my neck and he held me closely. The other boy continued to back away from the man and looked frightened of him. I could see the look of fear in his face. he was pale, the same as me but taller than me.
The man waved the whip at the boy and then pushed me onto another small bed. I sat down. The man closed the door.
After a short while the man shouted at the boy. The next thing I saw was the boy turning around, his back to the man aand me. Then he reached down to the bottom of his dirty tunic and lifted it up at the back. He stood silently showing the man his bottom. It had marks which must have been from the mans whip. The man shouted again and the boy turned around and this time lifted up the front of his tunic showing the man his private parts. The man moved toward the boy whio backed away but when he was in the corner and had nowhere else to go the man hit the boy on his private parts with the whip. The boy screamed in agony, bent over double and I got up from the bed and ran towards the door, trying to undo the door. The man was on me like lightening. I had no chance.
Minutes later the man had bound my hands and feet together and I was stretched on the bed with my hands and feet tied to a chain on the walls. I was on my stomach and the man was whipping my buttocks hard witht the whip, the whipping continued and I cried and screamed in pain. My buttocks felt as if I had fallen into a wasps nest. The pain was terrible and I screamed loundly. The man did not care about me and beat me without pity.
MY name is Lucius and I am the servant of my master Septimus and his son Maximus. I attend to the boy slaves who provide entertainment at my masters Roman villa. My masters son rewards me well if I bring him a boy who has been freshly beaten. I enjoy my work but must ensure that the boys are pure and unblemished for the feastdays when my master holds his parties. The boys my master buys are usually from the north. He likes the thin, blond or red haired boys. When the are too old for the feasts they are sent to the estate in Scicily, they never return from there. I must inspect the boys regularly. If they are erect I must beat them to remove the condition, if it cannot be removed quickly they must go the the estate. When their hairs grow too dark they must also go. My masters friends like the boys to be smooth.
This red haired boy will not be ready for the feast next week without much more bathing. The new boy will not be ready for some weeks but I will enjoy training him for the event.
After the man has finished beating me I am left alone with the red head. The door is shut and we are alone together. I am bound and cannot move. My buttocks and kegs are oainful and I feel stiff. I know that I still smell bad and I cry, the tears flow freely. Now the red haired boy comes out of the dark corner towards me. What is he going to do. I am helpless. I have no defence.
The boy sits next to me and says something but I cannot understand him. He repeats the words but they are not my words. I am crying. The boy feels my hair. He strokes my hair and I feel they way I did when my mother do the same thing. Thinking of them makes me cry harder. I have never been so unhappy.
The boy returns to his bad and streches out on his side facing me. He looks at my face. I close my eyes and all I can feel is the stabbing pain that has been inflicted on me by the man. The next thing I know it is morning.
The man came to me and untied my bindings. I streched and moved the limbs which had not had much freedom as I had slept. The man untied me completely. The other boy had disappeared. The man placed his hand between my collar and my neck. His hand was large and the pressure on my neck was strong, he led me out of the room naked and back though the room we had been in the day before. After a while I was in another small room. I saw the red haired boy sitting in a container of water. There was the old lady from the day before and she was filling the container with water. Next to the container was another jug. The man pointed to it and inside I could see the result of a persons funtions. With no privacy I was now required to perform my private bodily function in front of the boy, the man and the woman. I was not used to this and it was a while before the man was satisfied and I was sitting in the container next to the red haired boy.
The woman came with a pitcher and my hair was washed. A tiny amount of sweet smelling liquid was added to the water. I thought it smelled like flowers but did not know what it was for. I could smell it on my body. It made me smell like a flower!!
Later the woman put something in my haead. I had not felt anything like it before. It was pulled through my hair and at first I flinced each time she touched me. I thought she was taking my hair away, but none came out. My hair was long and the next thing she did was cut the ends off to make it neat. The man pulled me towards him and started to rub some of the fine smelling liquid into my skin. I flinched then as well. The man's hands were touching every part of my body but I knew that after the whipping I had received the day before that it was best to let him do as he wanted. I did not want my buttocks to hurt like that again. The man seemed pleased with me and kept smiling at me and talking to the woman. I did not smile back, I just kept worrying about when I would see my parents again. I was dressed in a white tunic which ended above my knees and apart from thst I was naked again. The red haired boy who had watched from the water container, was left in it and I was taken away by the man.
I was led through a large building, past people who spoke to the man but just ignored me. I was taken into a very large room, I had never been in such a room. It had tables, low seat, blinds and drapes of fine fabrics hanging form the roof. The room was white. There were small tables. The man led me to one and then lifted me up so that I was standing about two feet off the floor. The table was small. I had only enough room for me feet. I stood still. The man stood back at first and then came towards me. He took my hands and I let him, then he hekd them in front of me so I held them there as well. He moved round to the back of me and lifted up the tunic. I knew he was looking at my buttocks and I did not like it. I let my hands go and moved to push his hands down so that he would let go of my tunic. He slapped my buttocks hard and then pulled me down from the table. He was hurting my arm. He sat on one of the chairs and with me sprawled over his kneee he bagan hitting me hard and very fast on my buttocks. They heated up again quickly and the man was shouting at me. I know he was very angry because he hit me again and again. My buttocks, bruised from yesterday's whipping, re-ignited in pain. I was crying and the man was shouting at me and hitting me hard.
After a long time I was stood up and the man grabbed my hand and led me along again. People in the large house saw the state I was in, my face was dripping with sweat and tears. They laughed and did not seem concerned about it. I wondered what sort of place I was in. The men like hurting young boys, I knew that.
The man leads me into a room and in it is a large bed. A boy who is older than me is lying on the bed eating some food. I had never seen food like this before. he is a fat boy. The man says someting and bows. I hear the word maximus. The man touches the back of my neck and pushes me so that I am bowing too. I look up nervously. The boy is grinning and seems pleased with whatever the man has told him. The man grabs me by my shoulders, turns me around and lifts the back of my tunic. The boy can see me reddened and sore buttocks but I do not care. My bottom hurts so much and I am tired so I do not resist. I can hear the boy coming towards us. I stand still. I feel hands on my buttocks, rubbing them, now they are patting me, It hurts a little aws my skin is so sore. More rubbing. I know it is the boy. I can smell him. His face is at the back of my neck. He is still rubbing my buttocks. He is squeezing tham now. I want to run but I dare not. The boy leans around and kisses my face and as he does so he is gripping my right buttock loosly in his hand. He says something to the man and gives my bottom a final patting. I am led away again out of the room. We return to my room and the red haired boy is lying on his bed on his stomach. Fabric and dressings have been placed on his back, legs and bottom. I see that the fabric is damp. I sit on my bed. My bottom is hurting the red haired boy is looking at me. I start to sob.