Publius Constantinus Placidus
reporting from the Circus Maximum, Rome
April 22, 2671 AUC
It's early morning, and the first
sunrays start shining timidly on the sky of Rome; the marbles and statues of
Circus Maximum start taking their own life; soon, in its interior, the eternal
game of life, the competition, the race, shall happen: just like yesterday,
only two athletes shall move on with their chariots while the other two shall
have no future.
Right now people start crowding at
the entrances, and the sun is already high; the clear sky enchances its shining, and its heat covers the crowd,
which already fills the circus bleachers. Suddenly a fight starts breaking
among Russata and Veneta supporters, but the noisiest ones are the Albata guys,
who sing... already drunk in early morning
or maybe still under the influxes of last night's excess, while the
Praesina people are very quiet and still, may this be an omen of ill fate?
Now everything is ready for the
race: the Consules from the middle tribuna, just like the statues adorning the
circus, are motionless and authoritative, watching coldly the noisy, anxious
audience, incarnating Rome's power in their pride.
The chariots are now standing on the
starting line:
Russata's chariot, Octavia, is in
the inner side, closer to the spina. Its driver, Scipio Falco, a short-bodied
but stout guy with a gnarly face and prominent muscles, has unknown origins but
his merits in the arena and in the ladies' beds are certain, and what's said
about him is good.
Albata's chariot, Biga Fortuna, is
next to Octavia and is driven by a young woman from Britannia, Aoife of the
Silures, long blond hair tied up in a braid which goes down to her bottom.
Unfortunately she has a long scar from the right ear to her mouth, spoiling
what would be a beautiful face, but surely no-one cares about that because of
her well-built body – most certainly not her master Petronius Gnipho, in the
dark.
Third in line, Delectus Consulis
from Veneta. It's holding on its great driver, the small-bodied Syrian Incitator,
with his slender, nervous muscles and his determined gaze with a great inner
strenght, who already sees its goal and glory, while dreaming of a night of
love with his youthful, lightfooted assistant.
In the external side, right below
the bleachers, exposed at all insults but mostly an easy target for throwing
eggs, rotten fruit and some weird liquid which we don't dare suspecting the
origin of, here's the Praesina chariot Volcanus, who's driven by Merddyn –
about whom little or nothing is known, except that he is a Celt, rebellious and
always unsatisfied, who even with his privileged condition, ill-bears Roman
supremacy.
Everything is ready now, high and
solemn the Cornicem fanfare starts sounding before the race, horses
neigh, they rise up solidly held by their drivers. The noise stops suddenly and
an unreal silence covers the circus, almost in a sacred respect or consecrating
the race to the Gods.
At once Merddyn starts over the
straight line, who tries to get far from the others then cutting straight in
the first curve, but Aoife and Incitator behind him hold on and keep within the
Celt's rear weel. Falco is a little off and taking all the dust from his
antagonist. At his first curve the wheels screech on the sand, chariots have
quite some trouble in keepin their road, horses strain and huff clouds of
vapour from their nostrils. People cheer for their pals, who can either lead
them to fortunes or to ruin. Merddyn perilously deranges and ends up leaving
space to the two others, who get on the line as first and second. Third, having
cut the curve at its inner rim, there's Falco, and the Celt is last.
At the end of the first lap, the
chariots march on the inner line. Biga Fortuna leads with her young driver
Aoife of the Silures, followed by Delectus Consulis with Incitator, Octavia
with Falco is third and always last is the Celt. But now on the straight line,
the Celt pushes his horses and overtakes Falco... they are dangerously close
and the clash of the two chariots' woods and metals is unavoidable. Falco,
offended, lets his lash send a hit straight in the Celt's face. The audience
goes wild, shouting "Again! Again! Kill him!!!" Octavia
runs on and tries to overtake Biga Fortuna in the curveÂ… the Briton woman has
sensibly reduced her quick pace. Incitator is always straight on towards the
goal. The second lap thus sees Veneta leading followed by Russata, Albata and
Praesina.
The third lap sees the Celt
overtaking Aoife without too much trouble and Falco overtaking Incitator on the
curve, again nothing special, but the Briton driver's behaviour is
unexplainable... she looks like she has problems, or is it a tactic?!
The
fourth lap sees again Falco on Octavia leading, followed by Delectus, Volcanus
and Biga Fortuna. This lap and the next one follow on without further upsetting
as everyone seems eager to just keep their current standing while saving their
best for last. And this is exactly what happens: breaking the truce is Aoife on
Biga Fortuna, pushing her white horses and charges on, without sparing any of
her whip, towards the line's head. Dust raises high and Merddyn, taken by
storm, cannot contain Aoife's imperious action. Same goes for Incitator, who
overtakes Falco at the first curve. The latter is surprised and
scornful, but he must pay for his mistakesÂ… indeed, having taken his curve at a
high speed he had been forced to get wide not to overturn. Fastly, Aoife takes
advantage from the uncertain situation, overtakes unlucky Scipio Falco very
easily and gets near to Incitator on the straight line leading to the last
curve. The strength is now great, but on the curve the Syran manages to keep
ahead of them all and win the race. Second is Aoife on Biga Fortuna, certainly
feeling a bit sorry. Third is Octavia and last is Volcanus, its Celt driver's face
markedly bleeding.
The drivers now salute the Counsules
and bow to the power of Rome. Slowly the crowd comes off the bleachers and goes
back to their commitments... or their otia.
On behalf of Nova Roma, Plebeian
Aedile P. Con. Placidus sends very special thanks to Gaius Aurelius Vindex,
whose contribution to the actual writing of this report was absolutely
invaluable.
.