Chapter 52 - Destiny
After more travails and humiliations, Anthonius finally discovers what destiny Diocletian has in mind for him.
Anthonius lay traumatised in the dirty alleyway as the sun finally emerged over the horizon. His delay was to cause the former Prince more trouble as six street urchins, dressed in filthy rags, surrounded him. They were all boys, aged from about 8 to 15. The oldest prodded Anthonius' back with his bare foot. "What are you doing lying naked in the gutter?" he asked, not unreasonably. Anthonius had just managed to stem the blood running from his nose and answered truthfully "I've just been kneed in the face by a soldier but only after he raped me."
The 15 years old walked round the nude 14 years old, noticing the various bodily adornments, including the semen stains. "What do all these brandmarks mean?" he queried. Anthonius paused before replying and received a heavier kick on the leg for his delay. "They're mainly Imperial eagles, indicating that I belong to the Emperor," he was thereby encouraged to reply. The inquisition continued with "So, what's Imperial property doing in this part of the city?" The response from the shamed and blushing Anthonius was "I've been lent to a boy brothel for two months and I was on my way back there after visiting a customer at his villa."
"So you're a boy tart," announced the gang leader with a smirk, "that explains the dried cum. Get up!" Anthonius complied whilst the urchins gathered in a closer circle around him, their smell causing the former Prince to wince. The 15 years old fondled the 14 years old's jewellery, causing the latter's flaccid cock to twitch and begin to grow when his genital-encircling ring was felt. "Very nice prick" commented the leader, still smirking, "but the ring's even nicer and more valuable to us. I think that you can let us have it, along with the other two and your medallion!"
Anthonius immediately tried to make a break for it but his move had been anticipated and he was restrained by several members of the gang. They dragged the struggling Prince down a number of alleys, beginning to fill with people. However, the waking populace were completely disinterested, particularly at this early hour of the morning, in the antics of a group of disgusting urchins, even if the pretty cleaner naked one, partly hidden from view amidst the small agitated throng and who appeared to be the centre of attention, seemed very different from the others.
The six boys and their young captive eventually arrived at the steep bank of the River Tiber. Anthonius, having been punched in the stomach several times to quieten him, was led down to the muddy foreshore and along to a wide dank smelly cave in the side of the embankment. His escorts released him about 10 paces inside where the rays from the rising sun still permitted decent illumination. "Now take off your jewellery," ordered the leader, "or we'll do it for you!"
"But the rings are impossible to remove without tearing my skin," replied Anthonius. However, the unsympathetic response from the 15 years old was "So what? Do you want to rip it or do you want us to do it?" The former Prince glanced down his nude body at the nipple and cock rings before, with tears in his eyes, looking again at the gang leader and pleading "Please, I beg you, can't you find something to cut them off with?"
There was something about the vision of the desperate vulnerable naked 14 years old now presented before the 15 years old that caused the latter to relent. "Alright," he said, "but there'll be a price for our trouble." "I'll do anything in return," declared Anthonius. "Well," continued the gang leader, "none of us have been or are ever likely again to be serviced by a high class tart like you. I think that you can reward us for our pity by providing us the opportunity of a lifetime!" After a brief pause, the boy prostitute responded quietly "I said that I'd do anything and I always keep my promises!" "So do I," advised the leader, a broad smile invading his grimy face, before issuing an order to the two youngest gang members, who left the cave to obtain the requisite tool.
"Sit down," invited the 15 years old, "they shouldn't be too long." However, the 14 years old replied "I'd sooner wash some of this blood and muck off me. If you want to be serviced by a high class whore, I should at least attempt to look the part!" The grinning gang leader issued another order and another boy left the cave, returning with a half-broken pot containing liquid extracted from the river. Anthonius was lucky for once for the Tiber at this point was upriver from where it became Rome's main sewer and he could therefore proceed to wash his face and body free of blood, semen and other dirt in pure clear cool water. By the time that he had finished, the two youngest gang members had returned with some pliers, stolen from a local blacksmith.
The subsequent removal of Anthonius' rings was carefully undertaken by the leader, but it still induced considerable pain, especially when the cock ornament was extracted from under the skin of his upper scrotum. The former Prince tried to show bravery in front of the gang but could not prevent himself from audibly wincing during the operation. A couple of tears also ran down his gorgeous face. However, the boy did not begrudge the urchins the rings. He had never liked them, although he was sure that they would be painfully replaced, and the poor lads would clearly benefit, if only temporarily, from the money that the gold would bring.
The rings and the much less valuable medallion, made of baser metal, were eventually in the 15 years old's hands and would soon be sold on the black market for melting down, the urchins receiving a pittance of their true worth for their efforts and their captive's suffering. It was now time for the latter, penis embarrassingly re-hardened whilst the cockring was being removed, to deliver his side of the bargain.
"What do you want me to do?" asked the blushing boy prostitute. "You can suck them off," the gang leader answered, "I don't think that it's the right time or place for them to learn to fuck!" The 15 years old encouraged the youngest gang member forward and the 14 years old knelt in front of the 8 years old who eagerly raised his flea-infested, hole-ridden filthy tunic revealing, as he wore no under-garments, an equally dirty small erection. Anthonius, whose body had broken out in goosepimples as his knees experienced the chill from the damp cave floor, leant his head forward and encased the tiny mucky cock with his lips. He began to entertain the hard member as if it belonged to the Emperor for, like the jewellery, he now did not begrudge the lads their enjoyment, their lives certainly permitting little pleasure. It did not take too long to induce the 8 years old to his delicious dry orgasm nor the four boys who followed, although those of the last three were far from dry.
"Right, you can go!" the gang leader told the boy prostitute, down whose chin some semen again dripped. "What about you?" queried Anthonius, his mouth tasting a strange mixture of cum and dirt. "It doesn't matter about me. I'm happy that the others were looked after and you're bound to be in enough trouble having lost your jewellery without us adding to it by making you arrive back late at your brothel." The naked 14 years old, cock now vertical and drooling precum, stood up and walked towards the 15 years old before kneeling again in front the older lad.
"I keep my promises," Anthonius said, lifting up the front of the gang leader's tunic, although rag would probably be a better word to use to describe the decrepit covering. The 14 years old pulled down the 15 years old's even worse foul loincloth and a large throbbing cock popped into view, the head of which the younger boy kissed causing his surprised elder to shiver in delight and succumb to the subsequent exquisite attentions. The former Prince used all of his now considerable experience and expertise to give the filthy urchin the most wonderful time of his life, skilfully bringing the lad back from the brink several times before permitting him a long wonderful transcendent climax without precedent in his young life.
"Wow," declared the red-faced gang leader, as he slowly recovered from his unparalleled ecstasy, "you really are an expert tart!" Anthonius knew from the tone of voice used that the sentence was genuinely meant to be a compliment not an insult. After pulling his loincloth back up, the smiling 15 years old helped the 14 years old to his feet and ordered one of the boys to re-offer the pot of water to their captive. "Thanks for that," the leader remarked, "it was marvellous but I think that you'd better clean your chin before you go."
After Anthonius had obeyed and was just about to leave the cave, the gang leader said "I don't know your name." The former Prince told him. "I'm Cratinus. Take care, Anthonius. I'm sorry for what we've done but I have to look after the others!" "I understand," advised the naked 14 years old, surveying the bedraggled sextet with sympathetic sadness, "and I didn't really mind. You all take care too!" He sighed at the pitiful sight of his erstwhile captors, waved and ran off down the river foreshore. As he climbed up the embankment to a thoroughfare that he thought might lead towards his destination, he determined that, if his gods ever afforded him the opportunity, he would devote his life to looking after such destitute waifs. Alas, four of the lads he had just serviced with his mouth would be dead within six months despite Cratinus' best efforts to care for them. Two, including the 8 years old, died from typhus, malnourished bodies quickly succumbing to the disease, whilst two were killed by soldiers who were often ordered to cull the capital city's homeless itinerants.
Fortunately for Anthonius, his sense of direction proved correct, as did his change of tactic in order to reach his destination without further trouble or delay. He decided to use his natural running ability to speed along Rome's streets. The ever-increasing numbers spilling into the thoroughfares along which he passed were given little opportunity to spy the young nude runner with the unusual number of brands and sporting an embarrassing hard-on. The boy's excellent stamina enabled him to maintain a steady fast pace, despite occasionally and agonisingly stepping on sharp stones, until he finally entered the cul-de-sac of the 'House of Ganymede'.
Anthonius reported to the slaves at the front entrance of the brothel, and he was immediately sent to see the mistress in her room, where he had to explain his missing finery. The boy told about his escapade with the urchins, knowing that nothing would be done to try to track them down, for there were simply too many such waifs, and omitting certain events, such as the acts of fellatio and departure in friendship. He also did not bother telling about his rape by the soldier as no-one would care.
The woman was furious because she knew that she would have to replace the gold rings with ones of equal high quality before the whore was returned to the Emperor's palace later that day. She was also irritated that she could not have the slut beaten for his carelessness in allowing himself to be the victim of crime as his body had to be unmarked for his restitution to Imperial service. However, she placated this by having the delighted servant take him to one of the unused private entertainment chambers, where Anthonius was manacled and suspended off the floor before having the severest of clamps applied to his nipples. Apparently reddened tits did not violate the requirement not to mark. Weights were gradually hung from the connecting chain, preventing the agony from dulling, whilst everyone waited for the local goldsmith to fulfil the expensive rush order for replacement rings. The sobbing boy's vertical cock continued to drool precum throughout his torture.
When the new ornamentations arrived, the former Prince was released from his torment and taken to the boy prostitute quarters for one last time. Prodicus was, for this time of day, unusually not present. Anthonius was not informed that the 16 years old was not even on the premises for he had been sold. The 14 years old, nipples scarlet and very sore, was quickly cleansed and groomed under the supervision of the servant, who now took great care as well as pleasure in attaching the new rings. The boy yelped in agony as each was snapped in place under his skin. However, the application of the cockring also had another side effect for the lad convulsed and spurted cum all over the man's face and hair. The servant immediately punched the miscreant young genitals in revenge.
After a groaning and tearful Anthonius had recovered from a different type of convulsion, whilst squirming on the floor grasping his hurting organs, his Imperial boy companion neck jewellery and loincloth, which had been kept for the last two months in the mistress' custody, were restored to his body. The boy was then taken to the woman for a final check of his readiness before being led unceremoniously out of the establishment for the last time.
The cost of the replacement rings had been insignificant compared to the huge profits, even taking into account the enormous initial cost, that Anthonius had brought to the 'House of Ganymede'. The proprietors were sorry to see him go, not that they would ever consider telling the whore that or thank him for his services, and they had reluctantly turned their minds to how they could again boost custom. Later that day, another near-nude boy was paraded around the streets of Rome. The pretty but distressed 13 years old was not a newcomer to the brothel for he had already provided a couple of years of steady loyal service. However, he was about to be sold to another, even more specialised, establishment. The boards that the escorting adult slaves carried, advertising the final entertainment that the lad would provide for his current clients, read 'House Of Ganymede announces……public castration of this young whore tonight……for your delight……All other tastes satisfied……by other lovely fresh boys.'
As the servant escorted Anthonius across Rome to the Imperial palace, the boy, ignoring the frequent ribald comments from passers-by, contemplated his time in the brothel. He knew that he should be enormously relieved and grateful to depart but was not. This was not just because he was sad to leave Prodicus, whom he was almost certainly destined never to see again, or because of his fears for the future. He was ashamed to have to readmit that to himself that, deep-down, he had enjoyed most of the sex, as well as the regular humiliation and pain. He believed that he really belonged in a brothel because he was a true whore, and his reinforced self-realisation was compounded by the restoration of hardness under his skimpy loincloth.
Anthonius shivered when the Imperial palace finally came into view and his thoughts turned to the destiny that the Emperor had lined up for him, which he knew would be very unpleasant. He remembered the young Prince suggesting that his penis should be cut off before he was sent to the Lucanian quarries. The boy was led by the brothel servant up to the front gates of the magnificent complex but they were a little early. The duo therefore had to wait a while before the Nubian eunuch, who had originally been allocated to Armillatus before being reassigned to Anthonius, emerged to collect the former Prince and return him to the Imperial boy companion quarters.
Anthonius was received by his fellows with undisguised contempt as he was escorted through the quarters to Sura's old tiny room. "The whore's back!" and "Enjoy yourself in the brothel?" were amongst the less insulting comments that the boy had to endure before reaching the safety of the room. The eunuch stripped him to check his naked body for any imperfections and was again amazed at the continuing libido, exhibited by his erection, and the tightness of the lad's sphincter and anus despite the multifarious invasions it would have received during the previous two months. The Nubian then re-attired the former Prince in the minuscule black thong, with gold eagle insignia, that he had last worn when in the harem before also re-applying manacles to his hands and feet and leaving. The slave had not uttered a word all the time.
Anthonius, with his thong again shamefully ballooning, lay awkwardly on his side on the small bed as his hands were chained behind him. He tried to rest but worry only allowed fitful sleep. It was several hours before the eunuch returned to take the boy for the usual ablutions, including an enema, and redressing him. The former Prince had never seen a garment like it for an array of thin gold chains dangled from a narrow gold belt fitted around his hips. If Anthonius remained stationary, the garb looked like a very short skirt extending to just below his genitals. However, if he moved, some of the chains would fall away to reveal delights underneath, what was exposed depending on the kind of movement. The boy immediately recognised the garment's highly erotic nature and his softened cock began to rise again. However, this was stopped when the Nubian ran one of the rear chains down the lad's bumcrack and attached a ringlet at the end round the middle of the ill-disciplined member, holding it firmly in a downward position. The front of the golden skirt was not to be distorted outwards by uncontrolled excitement.
The black eunuch finally spoke, telling Anthonius that he was imminently to dance again at a state occasion in the palace's main banquet hall. His skirt was to be his only attire until the Emperor signalled him to remove it so that he could then perform nude in front of the many guests. The Nubian did not explain that the boy was to be the central feature of another entertainment, although he did add menacingly that it was to be the last night that the lad would spend in the palace for the morrow would see him setting off towards his destiny.
Less than an hour later, Anthonius again found himself before the side doors of the palace's main banquet hall awaiting entry for he was the next act. Within, several hundred people, guests and minions, yet again eagerly awaited the boy's arrival to see him dance and discover his fate. The doors opened and a naked boy and girl, both aged 15, came through looking flushed, a natural reaction after just making love in front of such a raucous crowd.
Anthonius was pushed through the doors by his Nubian slave and, as on his previous arrival in the hall, there was immediately a lot of cheering and laughter, the latter now being induced by the delicious sight of various parts of the boy's privates being revealed as he walked across the entertainment platform. The shamed Anthonius reached the front of the dais nearest to the Emperor's couch, seeing the smirking Diocletian for the first time in over two months and noticing that the young Prince was again in attendance. The same big, middle-aged black man, dressed in multi-coloured flowing robes, occupied as last time one of the neighbouring guest of honour positions, with another again accommodating Lysus. Also like last time, there was no Sebastian but to the boy's horror there was someone else present whom he loved, for Queen Irene sat nearby. Both mother and son blushed from head to toe at mutual recognition. However, Anthonius knew better than to hesitate and performed the usual homage by kneeling to kiss the Imperial eagle embossed into the floor. The laughter rose again as this action caused most of the rear chains to fall to the sides to expose most of the boy's bottom to view. As the lad stood again, he felt an intensity of shame that caused him to sway and almost faint.
The music started and somehow Anthonius overcame his acute mortifying shock and embarrassment to begin his erotic and revealing dance. His degradation was increased by the knowledge that his cock, still held in place by the chain and now regularly exposed to public view, was hurting as the gold ring bit into its rapidly expanding form. Tears trickled down the boy's face as he performed, but they were not as copious as those of his mother when she ran from the hall to intensified chortling from all around, particularly from the couches of the host and his entourage.
Anthonius' degradation for the evening was further enhanced when the Imperial signal came for the golden cover to be shed. The boy first had to reach underneath to remove the ring from his penis and this took some awkward and humiliating manoeuvring before success was achieved to yet more laughter as his cockhead immediately popped out from between the front chains. This changed to more cheering as the catch on the gold belt was released and the garment fell to the floor to reveal, in all its glory, the lad's wobbling erection, with a nice long string of precum dangling downwards.
Anthonius' dance finished as usual with a well-executed back somersault that left him standing back in front of the embossed eagle, both hands in the air and legs on the floor wide apart, cock throbbing wildly. The thoroughly abashed boy lowered his arms, placed his legs together and knelt to pay homage in front of his Imperial master again before regaining his feet.
Casperius stood up from his couch close to the Emperor and announced "As you know, this is Anthonius, former Lycian Prince but now treacherous whore, who has spent the last two months plying his skills in a city brothel. I shall shortly announce, on behalf of His Imperial Majesty, what has been decided should be the traitor's destiny. However, we shall now give everyone, including the whore, a clue!" With these words, the hall's side doors were reopened and the bondage frame, to which Anthonius had been chained to receive his first brands during his initiation as an Imperial boy companion, was brought in, in pieces, by several slaves before being fixed in place at the centre of the dais. The slaves then collected the terrified boy and chained him spreadeagled to the frame, facing the Emperor.
The chains rattled when the black man with the biggest cock Anthonius had ever seen, and whose rape of the Syrian twins had caused the boy's early exit from his first palace banquet, also entered through the side door to reinvigorated cheering. It was obvious to everyone who the man's next victim was to be. The African advanced to the front of the dais to bow to the smirking Emperor before taking up position behind the spreadeagled boy, whose anal opening, nicely exposed by his demeaning posture, invited alluringly.
The loudest noise of the night now reverberated around the hall as the man threw off his one garment, a long flowing cloak, to reveal his enormous engorged black phallus. Anthonius begged "No!" repeatedly, even though he knew that his pleading would be fruitless even if it could be heard. Music restarted and a large troupe of pretty thonged boy and girl dancers entered and began to perform around the bondage frame whilst the African pressed his massive damp cockhead against his victim's sphincter. He grabbed the lad by the side of hips and, as he pulled the 14 years old's loins backwards, pushed his own viciously in the other direction. An ear-shattering scream emitted from Anthonius' mouth before he fainted. A slave quickly ran onto the dais to reawaken the boy with cold water for the victim had to enjoy the full sensations of his impalement to the full.
Anthonius' screams were rekindled and tears not only streamed down his face but also his chest, some reaching his cock, now flaccid as a result of the agonising sensations flooding his body. The boy's rectum was too small to accommodate the whole of the black phallus without causing irreparable damage and so the African contented himself with thrusting just over half of his member inside. As a result, it was the girth of the invader as much as the length that tortured the lad.
The thrusting continued remorselessly, to accompanying dancing and cheering, for almost half an hour and whilst the spectators proceeded to consume more food and wine. Anthonius' prostrate for once never came to his rescue and the pain was relentless until eventually the African yelled loudly and vast amounts of hot semen spurted into the boy's devastated innards, much somehow finding its way back out to spill onto the floor. However, the African's orgasm took longer than anyone's the lad had ever known and so it was still a while before the searing agonies began to recede after the phallus was removed. A loud slurp emanated as this was done, followed by a pop as if a vacuum had suddenly been introduced to air. More overflowing sperm emerged.
The devastated and agonised Anthonius was left chained to the frame as the black man put his cloak back on and went to bow again in front of the Emperor before leaving with the dancers. Casperius, grinning in unadulterated happiness, stood again to address the guests. "His Imperial Majesty," he announced, "authorises me to advise what is to become of Anthonius, former Lycian Prince but now treacherous whore." The major domo turned to the big, middle-aged black man, dressed in multi-coloured flowing robes, who had thoroughly enjoyed the recent spectacle, and said "King Ebana of Nubia, His Imperial Majesty wishes to request that the traitor be offered as a penalslave to the god Priapus at his temple in your own capital city!"
The surprised Nubian King, who hardly knew a word of Latin, sat up to look at Diocletian when his interpreter, standing discreetly behind his reclining monarch, whispered the translation in his ear. Ebana replied, via the same man, "Do you realise, Imperial Majesty, that Priapus' penalslaves are all also offered later to the god for genital sacrifice and that the deity hasn't been known to refuse any offerings accused of treachery in living memory? It would mean almost certain nullification for the boy!"
The Emperor did not bother answering. The smiling Casperius replied instead "His Imperial Majesty is conscious of this fact and also that the nullified male remains permanently in the temple afterwards, initially offering his body to Priapus' worshippers so that they might honour the great god before, once he loses all attraction, spending his remaining days as a menial slave. His Imperial Majesty is additionally aware that, during the months leading up to the sacrificial offering of genitalia, the penalslave suffers daily bodily purifications of water, male seed and pain to try to expunge the sins from his body before Priapus decides whether the ministrations have succeeded in expelling his evil which, as you say, has very rarely been the case with traitors. His Imperial Majesty hopes that you will accept this offering to your paramount god and he only asks a small memento in return. His Imperial Majesty thinks that the traitor's penis will be most appropriate. The great Priapus can keep the scrotum and its contents!"
Chapter 53 - Priapus
A hopefully educational and interesting treatise on the history, politics, economics, sociology and theology of 3rd/4th century A.D. Nubia, a country for which Anthonius was now destined.
King Ebana was more than happy to accept the young offering to Nubia's paramount god. His was the first visit to Rome by a ruler of his ancient land. The trip had been organised to provide Diocletian with formal fealty in recognition of the Kingdom's status as the Empire's latest client state, despite the fact that the Romans had no real interest in the country. The Nubians had volunteered their own vassalage in the hope of improving trade, needing desperately to supplement the income from their current main export, black slaves including many young nullified eunuchs. As Diocletian once remarked to Caperius in the palace torture chamber, when the major domo was threatening to cut off Sura's cock and remaining scrotum, only the Nubians seemed to have the knack of guaranteeing that victims lived after nullification.
The King and his entourage had used the opportunity of their trip to try to discover and learn the secrets of the Empire's military and mercantile successes and establish better trading contacts, spending two months in and around the capital in so doing. The party also purchased some items to take back but within the constraints of a very limited budget. Nubia had fallen on hard times since the collapse of its main export market, Egypt, into being merely another heavily-taxed province of Rome, an event that had caused prolonged regional economic recession.
The two banquets that Ebana had attended at the beginning and end of his stay in Rome, at which Anthonius had been the star performer, were the formal state welcome and farewell in respect of his visit. Before Anthonius' arrival at the latter, Diocletian, wanting to be generous in return for the favour that he was to request, had presented the Nubian King with several magnificent farewell gifts. They included chests of gold and precious jewels, four superb white horses and twelve young white pretty virgin slavegirls, all paraded on the entertainment dais before the ecstatic monarch.
Ebana, having a surfeit of black concubines at home, was grateful for the white slave girls for variety, especially as he dare not spend any of his small budget on acquiring his own. His subjects would not be too pleased if he had utilised valuable funds to acquire luxuries for himself, and there were dangerous rivals for his throne. No white people currently lived in Nubia and few had been known to visit. The girls would become the kingdom's first white residents. However, the King's immense gratitude in receiving the gifts was at first slightly tempered by the omission of some pretty white slaveboys, who would have represented his preferred sexual tastes. He was therefore even more elated to be presented with Anthonius, who would become the only white male in the distant land.
It did not matter that Anthonius was destined for Priapus as Ebana was the god's archpriest and, as such, he would have plenty of opportunity to enjoy the boy's sweet body both before and after the lad's almost certain nullification. Diocletian had also granted the King a couple of bonuses. Ebana could use Anthonius as he wanted on the voyage home, despite the fact that the former Prince was to remain formally an Imperial boy companion until his anticipated acceptance as a Priapic penalslave, maintenance of such status increasing the honour being afforded to the god. Additionally, on eventual return of the offering's severed penis, the Emperor had promised to despatch a harem of white slaveboys to the King in thanks.
It is only recently that the magnificence of much of ancient black Nubian civilisation is being fully appreciated. It pre-dated that of the Egyptians and continued long after their northern neighbours had succumbed to direct Roman rule. In fact, the Nubians once conquered Egypt and black Pharaohs ruled both realms for about 100 years around the 8th century B.C.. Archaeological research now suggests that the first city in Africa and the first place of dedicated learning in the world were both Nubian. The Nubians built many superb structures, including their own large pyramids, some of which are extant and can be seen in today's northern Sudan. Unfortunately, much has also been lost to archaeological study. In a terrible act of cultural vandalism, many of the main sites of Nubian society, including that of the city for which Anthonius was headed, were lost under the vast deep lake formed by the construction of the Aswan Dam in the 1960s.
Nubia's earlier glories had faded somewhat by the time of Anthonius, exemplified by economic hardship, political instability and the adoption and dark adaptation from Greek culture of the worship of Priapus. This had become the main religion and the temple to the god in the country's capital was huge and sinister. It was in effect a type of roofed amphitheatre, with steep stone terracing, accommodating several thousand worshippers, surrounding a sunken rectangular area where the ceremonies were conducted. Public entrance from outside was to the top of the terracing via stairwells that led to a long wide encircling corridor, from which steps led down into the amphitheatre. The corridor was also lined with kitchens and latrines, serviced by the temple's menialslaves. The cooking facilities existed because it was customary for all worshippers to feast slowly whilst watching the long ceremonials, which were the main source of free public entertainment.
Hidden underneath the terracing and in the cellars were the quarters for the priests and acolytes and the cells for the offerings and slaves, as well as some shrines for minor rituals and several free male brothels, each catering for different tastes. The brothels were divided by age of prostitute and into those for men who enjoyed nullified catamites and those who did not. The Priapic religion of Nubia actually promoted homosexuality as a divine practice and most freemen, even those with several wives and large families, indulged, if only for variety.
The whole temple was windowless, being illuminated by many oil lamps, suspended from the ceilings or attached to the walls, and was decorated, inside and out, with many wall carvings of Priapus' sacred symbol, a huge black phallus. The stone surrounds of the main ceremonial area, plus all of the shrines and the main corridors, were lined with cubby-holes displaying red bowls embossed with the Priapic insignia and containing black genitalia immersed in preservative fluid. Ebana was looking forward to affording a certain white scrotum pride of place amongst the collection.
At one of the short ends of the main ceremonial area was the entrance through which the senior priests, their acolytes and their young charges would enter. Above the entrance was the cushioned royal enclosure. At the other short end stood the altar to the god, the centrepiece of which was a genital guillotine, similar to the one Anthonius had encountered in the obese Arab's fortress. The device had actually been invented locally many centuries before the eponymous Frenchman claimed credit, although its allegedly humane ingenuity was subsequently lost to history. The Arab, who had conducted some trade with the Nubians, had bought his own copy of the contraption from the Priapic Highpriest.
The Kingdom did not encompass all the Nubian race. There were large tracts of territory to the south inhabited by more primitive but fiercely independent tribes. The Nubian Kings had long ago given up their attempts to conquer these peoples, satisfying themselves instead with sending the army on frequent plundering raids to secure, in particular, slaves for both the domestic and foreign markets, the Kingdom's economic lifeblood. A carefully chosen selection of these captives would be temporarily presented to the Priapic Highpriest.
They had to be pretty boys who had not yet developed pubic hair but who could nevertheless produce semen. One, attired only in a minuscule red loincloth emblazoned with the Priapic motif, would, after purification in the sacred Nile, be presented every evening to the main altar for the god to decide whether to accept the offer of genital sacrifice. This was determined, after the conclusion of lengthy preliminary rituals, by requiring the usually quaking offering to pull one of 64 small wooden balls from a red cloth bag, also displaying Priapus' symbol. 32 of these balls would be black and 32 red. Selection of one of the latter would be unfortunate for the boy as he would then find himself hitched naked to the guillotine. His soon-to-be lost genitals would be immovably secured in the chopping hole through which the heavy and exceedingly sharp blade would pass easily without real hindrance, causing the severed organs to fall into a red bowl below. The boy would be permitted one last climax before the ringlet, attached to his cockhead, triggered the catch that released the blade for it would be expertly set to do so only with the expulsion of semen, a technique that, fortunately for Anthonius, the obese Arab had never mastered. The last ever sperm produced by the victims was collected in another red bowl for other ritualistic use. The odds of the draw meant that genital sacrifices occurred on average every other day but excited full houses of appropriately anointed worshippers of all ages and both sexes were always present to observe the outcome. In fact, demand for terrace seats invariably exceeded the number available and a rotation system for the plebeian populace had been established to overcome the problem in a fair way. Royalty and nobles had the ancient equivalent of season tickets. Ebana was already wondering whether he could get away with auctioning seats when it was time for Anthonius to appear before the altar, as he believed that interest would be overwhelming.
The required sacrificial orgasm would be induced by attaching a similar small bag of excited bees to the boys' cocks, as experienced by Anthonius in the young Prince's quarters, the victims having previously been subjected to enforced chastity and strong aphrodisiacs. Niachiarus had recommended the crude but effective vibrator to Diocletian's son as an aid in Anthonius' humiliation. He was aware of the devise because, like all nullified Nubians of the time, he had suffered his emasculation in this temple at this very guillotine, which was encrusted with dry blood as it had been responsible for nullifying thousands of victims and the external wooden surface was never cleaned, although the blade and triggering system were serviced daily. The Priapic priests had uniquely become experts at ensuring that the valuable new eunuchs lived afterwards so that they could be sold on as slaves, mainly abroad.
Niachiarus had delighted in proposing to Casperius that the same fate that had befallen him should be encountered by the former Lycian Prince, but with a far worse aftermath by also offering the boy as a Priapic penalslave, and had been ecstatic that his suggestion had been accepted by Diocletian. Priapic penalslaves were not generally captured plunder but were usually citizens of the Kingdom. The boys would commonly meet their sad fate not because of any action on their own part but rather because of that of their fathers. Entire families of criminals, dissidents and rebels were invariably condemned to enslavement and any sons that met the required physical criteria were forwarded to the Priapic Highpriest.
The offerings, kept permanently chaste and of whom there were usually several concurrent, had to face the possibility of drawing a ball from the cloth bag twice. The first time, always performed the day after an equinox or solstice, was to see whether Priapus considered the boys' evil, instilled in their blood by being the sons of deeply sinful fathers, was sufficient for them to deserve to spend the rest of their lives in penal servitude in the temple. If the god decided that they were not, the boys would be sent to the city market to be sold as ordinary slaves. However, if the god decided that they were sufficiently full of iniquity, they became new penalslaves who had to undertake an initial period of penitence during which attempts would be made to expunge their sin.
On the god's weekly sacred day, the boys would be purified, in a small shrine in the temple cellars, under a shower of sacred water funnelled from the nearby Nile. They would then, so that their bodies could be infused with good essence provided by virtuous seed, either be sodomised or made to perform fellatio before the main altar, in early days by the priesthood, later by noble laity selected by lot. Finally, again before the altar, they would suffer torture, progressively more severe as the days passed, in an effort to purge some of their corruption through the infliction of pain. These rites before the main altar, which formed part of the preliminary rituals for the day's genital sacrifice offering, were interspersed by dancing from the penalslaves. Temple boy prostitutes danced as part of the sacrificial preliminary rituals on other days.
On the intervening six days between such unpleasantries, the boys would be required to perform penal labours. Sometimes these would be within the temple, such as being part of the team of six slaves allocated to each of the waterwheels that fed the vast complex's elaborate system of running water. Sometimes the unenviable tasks would be outside, in quarries or on public works, the biggest of which was currently the construction of Ebana's huge pyramid tomb.
This weekly routine, which Anthonius was to be the first white boy to experience, would last for three months until the next equinox or solstice. The penalslaves, after purification in the sacred Nile, would then be required to submit to the usual ritualistic requirements in front of the main altar before performing the second draw. This draw was to determine whether Priapus considered that the expulsion of the penalslaves' evil had been completed or whether it had to be expedited through immediate genital sacrifice. If the latter was declared to be the god's will, the earlier rituals would be repeated. However, the infusion of virtuous male seed into the boys' anuses would now be provided by the god's sacred cheetahs, leather guards having to be attached temporarily to the shoulders of the recipients to protect them from the claws of the animals. Nothing would be supplied to defend their rectums from the massive phalluses possessed by the trained eager creatures. The subsequent ritualistic tortures would concentrate on the boys' naked genitalia.
Regardless of the outcome of the second draw, the penalslaves would spend the rest of their lives in the temple, initially acting as whole or nullified catamites in the brothels until they lost their attractiveness. They then became temple menialslaves. Temple slaves, several hundred in number, rarely attempted to escape and none of those who did were known to have succeeded. They, especially the new penalslaves, were very well supervised by the many lesser priests, who were effectively just guards. When not required for rituals or labours, slaves were always kept in chains, locked in tiny gloomy but clean single cells, devoid of any furnishings or facilities, with daily ablutions and consumption of the one meal of gruel taking place in communal areas.
If an attempt to escape was made, the slaves were not difficult to identify amongst the wider population, and not just because of their sparse but unique loincloth attire. The bodies of all new penalslaves were adorned with prominent tattoos, a pleasure awaiting Anthonius' delicious white form. The difficulty in escaping was compounded by the large rewards available to anyone who returned an escaped slave, alive or dead, and the nature of the country. The only viable route out of the Nubian capital was along the Nile for the land all around was arid desert. The fact that returned live slaves had their feet chopped off was usually the clinching factor in convincing them not to try in the first place.
It was now August and Ebana and his entourage would not return to Nubia until well after the autumnal equinox as they were to visit two other locations on the way home. Anthonius, who would pass his 15th birthday in October during the journey, would therefore not make his first draw until the day after the winter solstice in December. The virtually inevitable second draw would be scheduled for the vernal equinox in March. Ebana thought that it was rather ironic that the beautiful white boy would almost certainly be losing his reproductive capacity at a time when nature begins to bloom in celebration of its marvellous cyclical vitality, facilitated by fertility.
The odds that penal offerings were faced with were the same for both ceremonial draws but were much harsher than the 50:50 chance confronting ordinary captives and varied according to their or their fathers' crimes. Culpability for treason presented the worst opportunity to escape either penal servitude or nullification as the bag would contain 63 red balls and only one black one. However, Ebana, the Priapic archpriest, had decided to make a kind exception for the treacherous Anthonius. The black ball would be changed for a white one.
Chapter 54 - Departure
Anthonius leaves Rome, never to return.
As Anthonius lay facedown on his bed to which he had been carried after the banquet, he learnt much about what to expect in Nubia from his now suddenly very talkative Nubian slave, who was trying to repair the 14 years old's ravaged anus. The nullified eunuch was elated that the subject of his recuperative but painful ministrations was not only soon to be one of his own kind but would additionally suffer his terrible destiny in the same place and by the same method as he did. The former Prince would also suffer prolonged and far worse preliminaries and a dire subsequent existence, no better than a living death. The Nubian frequently looked at the boy's flaccid genitals, lying flat on the bed just under where he was applying some salve with his forefinger, and could not stop displaying a broad grin whilst proceeding with his informative but, for the patient, very alarming discourse.
The appalled Anthonius, still suffering agonies from his devastated backside, had heard the ecstatic Casperius announce his awful fate and, despite his natural curiosity, did not really appreciate the eunuch's gleeful factual elaboration. It was therefore not just the pain that the lad suffered as the bloody wound that was his rectum was attended to but also shame of his recent past and fear of the future that caused his sobbing to return. The remainder of the night seemed to pass very slowly for the very lonely and dispirited child, whose shackles had been reapplied to his hands and feet.
The sun had just risen above the horizon when a Praetorian crept into Anthonius' room. The soldier was one of the Christian friends of Sebastian, still very poorly but slowly recovering from his extensive wounds under Queen Irene's expert supervision. He had dangerously smuggled himself into the Imperial boy companion quarters in order to deliver a verbal message from the Queen to her son. After the brave man had left with a lengthy return message, basically expressing Anthonius' love and explaining the reasons why he had to accept his fate, with some requests for help in certain other matters, fulsome tears returned to the boy's eyes.
It would be the final time that Anthonius and Queen Irene would communicate with each other. The last view of his mother that the boy would retain in his mind would be the sad vision of her scurrying tearfully from the banquet of the previous evening. The anguish raised by the thought was always exacerbated by recognition of his mother's last sight of him, dressed before hundreds in just the very revealing golden girdle, nipples adorned with rings and body covered in brands, prostrating himself before Diocletian, simultaneously revealing his nude 14 years old bottom to all.
Anthonius later received the usual ablutions from the Nubian eunuch before being having his loins re-attired in the small black loincloth, with gold eagle, of an Imperial boy companion and his hands re-shackled behind his back. No covering tunic was supplied but instead a leather slave collar was attached to the boy's lovely neck, partly obscuring his throat chain. Anthonius remembered being fitted with a similar adornment when he had been sent, two months earlier, to Rome's main slave market to be sold into temporary prostitution. As then, a chain was attached to a metal ring fixed to the front of the collar and the eunuch led the boy by it out of the quarters that had been the lad's home, on and off, for the last 1½ years to various sarcastic shouts from the other boy companions. "Bye, bye, whore, enjoy life as a eunuch" and "Hope you like enormous black cocks" were amongst the least humiliating.
Anthonius experienced yet another intensely embarrassing walk through the busy palace passageways, compounded by frequent hurrying tugs on the chain by his escort. They eventually emerged in the front courtyard, above which the boy had almost met his end two months previously, to see that two formal parades had gathered. One was the procession of the departing Nubians. This comprised Ebana and his three senior lieutenants mounted on the four white chargers gifted by Diocletian, followed by several horse drawn litters containing the remaining officials of the Nubian party and a carriage with the chests of gold and jewels. The chests were open so that the Emperor's generosity could be seen by all. The white slavegirls were chained in line by their necks to this vehicle. Conveyances, carrying other lesser gifts, were behind them whilst the rearguard consisted of wagons bearing a variety of luggage. The whole ensemble was guarded at the sides and rear by lines of Nubian servants and slaves. The second very similar but bigger pageant was headed by Lysus, returning to Lycia in triumph as the country's new King. Anthonius, heart missing several beats, saw with great sadness that amongst his half-brother's slaves was Prodicus.
The chain attached to the former Lycian Prince's collar was linked to a similar one round the neck of the trailing white slavegirl, about his own age and dressed only in a tiny black thong, in the long Nubian column, positioning the boy about two paces behind her. Even though Anthonius was not normally sexually attracted to girls, he felt his cock twitch under the tight constraints of his loincloth at the sight of her lustrous uncovered bottom.
The Lycian procession moved off first heading for Ostia, the fat Lysus giving a straight-armed salute to Diocletian as he rather awkwardly rode his leading black horse past the palace balcony, where the Emperor and his entourage stood to watch the departures. The Nubians had to wait for a while until their turn to leave arose. Anthonius was conscious, throughout this pause, that the people on the balcony frequently glanced at him, some pointing and chuckling. The faces of Casperius and the young Prince and his friends bore permanent broad grins.
The time to move finally came and the unaware distracted Anthonius' neck was tugged by the slavegirl as she began to walk, causing the boy to stumble. The sight induced raucous laughter from the balcony. Anthonius, as he followed, could not resist glancing at his vindictive tormentors. It was the last time that the boy would ever see Casperius, the young Prince or Diocletian.
Diocletian was actually one of the great Roman Emperors despite his depravities, cruelties and sadism, which were not unusual for the age. He became particularly notorious for his persecution of the Christians, sending many to their deaths in the forum. However, he did bring back stability, order and reform to the Empire after many years of turmoil and many short-lived Emperors. One of the first issues that he tackled on his accession in 285 A.D. was how to control such a vast inheritance and how to pass it on safely to his successors. He resolved this by appointing another subsidiary Emperor and dividing responsibilities. The other Emperor was another hardened general, Maximian, and he was to concentrate on the western half of the Empire whilst Diocletian looked after the east. Both were titled 'Augustus'. Diocletian also decreed that both should rule for a maximum of 20 years and then hand over power to two named 'Caesars', Galerius and Constantius Chlorus respectively, who would become Augusti and in turn nominate two successors. The system was called the 'Tetrachy' and was designed to ensure that the Empire did not return to civil war and anarchy.
One of the main consequences of Diocletian's reforms was a shift in power from Rome itself as Diocletian, Maximian, Galerius and Constantius Chlorus eventually established their headquarters at Nicomedia, Milan, Thessalonika and Trier respectively. The influence of the capital city and its people and Senate soon waned and this process was to be speeded in the years to come.
Diocletian did actually retire after 20 years in 305 A.D.. Maximian was reluctant but was compelled to follow by his still much more powerful fellow Augustus. Diocletian spent his remaining years, until his death in 316 A.D., happily with his boy companions at a magnificent palace he had had built at Spalato in Illyria, now Split in modern-day Croatia. He had planned that his son, the young Prince, would become Caesar to Galerius but the boy died young.
The Tetrachy did not survive Diocletian's retirement. The system had only worked initially because the supreme authority of Diocletian willed it and, when that was gone, there were soon squabbles and strife between those left in power. The former Augustus, reluctantly emerging from his pederastic bliss at Spalato, tried to mediate in 308 A.D., at Carnumtum on the Danube, but to no ultimate avail. A few years later, another man was to emerge from the chaos to become master of the known civilised world, and he was to prove even more influential on history than Diocletian.
This man had never forgotten his brief acquaintance with Anthonius.
Chapter 55 - Armillatus
Armillatus enjoys his new life whilst Anthonius leaves his old existence for an even worse one.
As Anthonius was being degradingly led away from the Imperial palace in Rome towards his sad destiny, Armillatus was setting out from his new home to hunt rabbits with his latest friend, a pretty tanned lad with dark brown hair and matching eyes, one year older than himself. Armillatus' new kind adoptive parents doted on him, especially the mother who sometimes unintentionally embarrassed the lad in front of his peers. She was forever making sure that he was clean and neatly dressed, and that his own lovely brown hair was combed properly, a state difficult to maintain in an energetic 14 years old. On this occasion, she fussed over his welfare, demanding reassurances from his friend that he would make sure that they did not get up to mischief or into danger, causing Armillatus to blush.
Armillatus' new home was a small simple farmstead in a remote part of Hispania, bought by his adoptive father from a retiring relation after he had sold his ship to concentrate on hiding and bringing up his new sweet young son. Armillatus came from noble Roman stock, albeit recently impoverished, and had been accustomed to better accommodation. However, he had never been happier. Armillatus did not miss his widower father, who had been so selfish and uncaring that he had nominated the lad to be an Imperial boy companion. The man had known full well what the role entailed but looked forward to the largesse that would be returned for his son's service as one of the Emperor's catamites. He would thereby be bailed out of the financial difficulties that he had fallen into because of his spendthrift lifestyle, which included much drinking, gambling and womanising. He had taken large loans out on the security of his son's undoubted lucrative future reward for being a favourite Imperial bumboy. However, Armillatus' fall from grace and disappearance had ruined his father's plans and he had himself fled Rome and the moneylenders to spend the rest of his life as an itinerant labourer. His son would have welcomed the outcome if he had known.
Armillatus helped his new parents and their small group of well looked after slaves on the farm when not attending school in the local village, where the common language was Latin. His help was not really needed but his parents appreciated his willingness to assist and eagerness to learn about agriculture and husbandry. However, they also insisted that the boy enjoyed at least one day free to himself every week. This was just such a day.
Armillatus' only problem since his arrival had been encountering the school bully who had recognised the newcomer's nervousness and natural timidity when he had first arrived. Armillatus had allowed himself to be cowed and, as a result, received a lot of teasing torment during the early days before he gave thought to what Anthonius, whom he missed and worried about constantly, would have done in response. It was shortly after he had managed to overcome his deep-rooted fears to learn to swim, under his adoptive father's supervision, that he decided to stand up for himself and punched the bully in the nose. Armillatus received a thrashing in return from the older bigger ugly brute, although he confessed only to a fall when the teacher and his parents questioned him about his bruises.
Armillatus was about to receive a second going-over after another confrontation with the bully when a third boy intervened. Faced with two adversaries, and with his own group of sycophants suddenly quiet and seemingly unwilling to come to his aid, the bully backed off, never to trouble Armillatus again for he was thereafter always in his protector's company.
15 years old Junius, son of a shopkeeper and well known within the school for his audacity and fighting ability, had admired the newcomer's own bravery in finally defending himself, as well as some other features relating to the 14 years old. He had therefore decided to help put the younger boy's bullying to an end. Armillatus was deeply grateful and soon the two had become inseparable platonic friends, sitting next to each other in class and spending most of their spare time together. It was Junius who was accompanying Armillatus on the rabbit hunting expedition, although both had a strange premonition that something more profound would be undertaken.
Armillatus and Junius had secured eight rabbits, more than enough to satisfy the cooking pots of their families for now, when they sat in the shade of a tree on top of a lonely hill to enjoy the packed luncheon prepared for them by the former's new mother. It was a hot summer's day, the blue sky virtually cloudless. The scenery all around was magnificent. Junius looked down at his friend's lithe legs, fully revealed below a short sleeveless summer tunic, and could no longer resist temptation.
As Junius placed his right hand on Armillatus' bare left thigh, the Nubian procession was arriving in the port of Ostia. Anthonius' delicate white skin had not taken too well to exposure under the unrelenting overhead sun and was painfully reddening after the slow three-hour walk. However, the sunburn had been the least of his concerns as both the Nubian and Lycian parades had been watched throughout by interested boisterous crowds, thinner but still in place as the road from Rome to Ostia became rural. Anthonius seemed to have been singled out for particular abuse from the hecklers, as they perceived one sparsely clad pretty white boy in the Nubian ranks, presumably destined for enslavement, probably of a sexual kind, in a faraway land inhabited exclusively by a black race. Anthonius' departure from the Empire's capital was in stark contrast to his arrival and the experience was intensely humiliating as the opprobrious scorn constantly rained down on him.
The two processions headed for two large adjacent oared doubled-sailed galleys on Ostia's quayside. Anthonius recognised one of them as Lycian and his heart sank with the thought of his homeland, now about to come under his cruel and vengeful half-brother's rule. The ship for which Anthonius was destined was Roman but crewed by Nubians. The vessel had been lent to Ebana by the Governor of Egypt to transverse the Mare Internum as the King's own boat, which had brought him up the Nile, was suitable only for rivers. Ebana was delighted when Diocletian told him that he could keep it as another gift for it was capable of taking him all the way home, and would further demonstrate to his people his wisdom in paying fealty to and visiting Rome.
The dismantling of the parades and loading of the galleys took a while and the soreness of Anthonius' skin increased as he waited to step off the soil of Italia for the last time. As the boy eventually did so, he said a few quiet prayers to his gods, concentrating first on the welfare of others before turning to his own peril. Anthonius was unhitched from the slavegirl and led up the gangplank onto the wooden deck by a young handsome Nubian slave, about 16 years old. The 14 years old was taken below decks to the dark windowless holds, illuminated dangerously by a few oil lamps, where he was incarcerated, hands still chained behind him, in one of the small cages prepared for the young white human cargo.
At the same time, foreplay over, Junius, kneeling behind Armillatus, was about to penetrate his new friend for the first time. The 15 years old had wanted to do so ever since he had seen the beautiful form of the 14 years old but had been reluctant to try his luck at seducing the newcomer in case the attempt was rebutted and their friendship foundered as a consequence. However, his lustful urges had overwhelmed him in the idyllic surroundings of the hilltop and he had, as if in a trance, been unable to prevent his hand moving towards the deliciously inviting flesh of Armillatus' thigh. Junius was therefore delighted that his action had not been met by reproach but by reciprocation and the two boys were soon naked and in each other's arms, hard cocks pressing against their respective writhing bodies.
Junius' genitals, crowned by dark hair, were impressive for a 15 years old but Armillatus quickly overcame the pain of anal invasion to enjoy the sensation of being simultaneously buggered and masturbated by his friend. It was the first time that he had had a cock inside him since Anthonius had made love to him on a galley in Ostia three months previously. The thought produced a pang of sorrow, quickly subsumed by pleasurable passion as the two young lovers came close to simultaneous orgasm. The memory might not have been so fleeting if Armillatus knew that Anthonius was now on another ship in the Roman port, but in much more sinister circumstances than before.
Having made love for the first but by no means the last time, the unashamedly still-nude Armillatus and Junius finished off their half-eaten food before gathering their clothing and their hunting trophies and running to a river at the bottom of the hill. They happily skinny-dipped for a while before desire returned and mutual simultaneous fellatio took place on the riverbank. Afterwards, passions temporarily spent and post-sex melancholy arrived, the two embracing boys, talked about their pasts, about which Armillatus had to be evasive, if only for his friend's own protection, and hopes for the future.
Junius disclosed that the last thing that he wanted to do was to follow his father as a shopkeeper, declaring that he was determined instead to become a soldier for the excitement and adventure. He did not appreciate that many members of the military actually saw little action in their lifetimes, being engaged more on uneventful garrison duties throughout the huge Empire. Nevertheless, he was to be lucky in his aims because troubles would brew and, after achieving adulthood, he joined a legion that would be at the centre of much action.
As a soldier, Junius would be rewarded for his achievements and outstanding bravery by being promoted to centurion. However, he had been delighted to see his lifelong friend, Armillatus, in whom he had planted the idea of a military career after making love under a tree on the exquisite Hispanian riverbank, far exceed him. The boy's natural timidity was being gradually replaced by intelligent perceptive boldness, inspired by the example of Anthonius' unselfish courage and stimulated further by that of Junius' devoted fearlessness.
Armillatus had daydreamed on that day in his new friend's arms about becoming a great general, little knowing that his dream would come true.
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