I came here this morning, and walked right past Nero’s shoes.
Forum folk were buzzing, saying “Have you heard the news?
All the bravest fighters – sturdy Germans, Gauls, and Jews –
For Caesar’s games!”
They glanced at me sideways, but I looked each in the eye;
They knew I was female, and perhaps they wondered why
I marched to the Flavian – was unafraid to die
At Caesar’s games.
Would the people cheer or curse, the little children wave,
If they knew there was no relevance in being brave?
There’s no choice – that vanished the first day I was a slave
In Caesar’s games!
Now I face a trident-man, a retiarius,
Here, before the Emperor who’s looking down at us –
“Ave Caesar, morituri te salutamus!”
– At Caesar’s games.
Now the signal’s given, and so we begin to dance,
Cat and mouse, as he retreats and I make an advance,
One eye on the sun, the other looking for a chance
At Caesar’s games.
Quickly he steps sideways, so the sun is in my eyes,
Feints, and lashes with his net, and takes me by surprise,
Traps my shield, and lunges at me. I can hear the cries
At Caesar’s games.
One point of the trident catches me below my sleeve,
With my sword I push it low, and trap it on my greave,
Wrap the net once round my shield and give a mighty heave
At Caesar’s games.
Now the net is pulled away, but I have lost my shield,
And my blood is trickling down where many scars have healed;
Wounded, I am hurting now, but still I will not yield
At Caesar’s games!
Left and right and up and down – the trident-man and I
Hammer at each other underneath the Roman sky;
One of us will walk away but one of us will die
At Caesar’s games.
First thing we were dancing, now the proper fight’s begun,
Flashing sword and darting fork below the blazing sun…
Can I get him rattled? Can I make the bastard run
At Caesar’s games?
Sweat, and blood, and rasping breath – the people’s voices hush –
There’s a chance! I see it, and I take him at the rush,
Slash him just above the knee and see his crimson gush
At Caesar’s games.
Now he’s lying on his back, upon the yellow sand,
Cannot reach the trident that has fallen from his hand…
My sword’s at his throat, and I await the death command
At Caesar’s games.
Caesar gives the death sign – smiles, as though it was a jest –
I despatch my enemy, a sword-thrust to the chest…
Pro patria mori dulce et decorum est
In Caesar’s games!
My arms rise in triumph as I proudly walk away,
Realise I’m tired as all crowd begin to bray,
Realise also that I’m alive – just for today –
At Caesar’s games.
Don’t ask me the reason, I have no idea why…
One slave’s like another slave, the next as good as I…
All the gods are laughing… even Emperors can die
In Caesar’s “games”!
Author notes
Notes:
Line 1: “Nero’s shoes” – The Colosseum is named for the giant statue of Nero that used to stand outside it.
Line 7: “Flavian” – The proper name for the Colosseum is the Flavian Amphitheatre; it was commissioned by Emperor Flavius Vespasianus (Vespasian) and completed in the reign of his second son Flavius Domitianus (Domitian).
Line 13: “Retiarius” – a gladiator armed with a net and trident, in ironic imitation of a fisherman.
Line 15: “Ave Caesar, morituri te salutamus” – “Hail Caesar, we who are about to die salute thee”.
Line 51: “Pro patria mori dulce et decorum est” – A paraphrase of a line from one of Roman poet Horace’s Odes, “It is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country”. Gladiatorial combats were partly designed to instil martial virtues in Roman citizens.
Lines 59 and 60: These lines refer to the fact that many Emperor’s met violent deaths, because of power intrigues. No actual Emperor died in the gladiatorial arena, though Hollywood has it happen to Commodus twice! The reference to the gods laughing is a sly reference to the dying words of Commodus, as played by Christopher Plummer, in “The Fall of the Roman Empire”.
In a list
A contest entry
- Photo Prompt --- #3 --- No rules by pantress.
600 points, ended March 26, 7 entries
Gold trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Comments
1 - 41 of 41
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Magnificent Poetry!
This is truely a very intense ballad that brought me into the arena; I could smell the blood, feel the lust and hear the crowd; in fact, I sensed the thrill of the fear and adrenalin rush; the dust of death mixed with the sweat of momentary insanity and hope for one more day of life... DW
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Thank you. Lupa is actually the principal character in one half of a novel that I wrote, and which remains as yet unpublished. The poem is, I guess, unrelated to the action of the novel, but I have used her as a vehicle to make this vignette.
Incidentally, her name means "She-Wolf"; I believe there was a real-life "Lycisca" ("Wolf-girl", a name borrowed from Greek rather than Latin) who was a female gladiator.
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Magnificent Poetry!
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Excellent flow and smartly written, the clever double entendre' in the closing line was unexpected. The repetition seemed appropriate and read without distracting the progression, or the clarity.
Captures the essence of the moment well defined, and straightforward imagery... it had no puzzling metaphors or ill defined phrasings... it was an enjoyable, educational read.
until exhale,
Grimoire -
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Thanks. Looks like I was spot on target!
(will reciprocate in due course
)
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wow this was awsome. i espeacially loved the ending. i thought this was a very nice peice.
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Thank you. I worked hard on it.
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how informative yet poetically lovely all the same. Not often that we see the two combined lol or maybe ive not been reading the right things. Thanks for sharing.
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My pleasure.
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An Excellent narrative poe, with steady rhyme and a fascinating development. I loved to read it again after the first time. Such a beautiful portrayal of the "Caesar's game". Outstanding. Marvellous.
. Rewarded 4
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I am very glad you liked it. Thank you.
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awsome will you plz coment one of my poems like black out or frienda or life maybe plz
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Thanks.
I'll do my best. I try to pay back as much as I can, but sometimes my computer time gets cut short.
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a very enjoyable read, full of action and heroism, there is still room for the historic ballad after all and I love the twist towards the strong female heroine
. Rewarded 4
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Thanks - glad you liked it.
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gUd JoB!!!i lYkD iT!!!
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tHaNk yOu!!!
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perfection
I've read this over and over again. simply marvelous. Thank you so much for entering and writing this amazing poem for my photo. Congratulations on the well deserved GOLD.
Jen
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Thank you for the honour. I suddenly had a streak of writing narrative ballads - so much so that they began to drive me crazy. I think this contest caught me at some kind of a peak.
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wow this is wonderful... You really deserved the gold
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Thank you.
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Congrats on the gold. I totally agree, this was an awesome poem.
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Thank you.
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I love the fact that you did the research and then used authentic latin in the piece. Very well done!
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Thank you. I studied history at college. I don't usually put long notes with my poems, but this time I felt a few things might need explaining.
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I'm not a huge fan of long writes, but this one had me enthralled from beginning to end ... what an awesome write!
Your words are HUGE!
thank you for sharing your talent with us
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Lately I have written quite a few longer ones - this one, "The Ballad of the Northward Traveller", and "The Ballad of the Loyalist" - all "persona" poems. I don't know how much more of this kind of thing I have in me, but we'll see. I am glad you like it.
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You won the fight and my admiration too.
Maybe you can understand my liking for story making/telling (after reading this)as it becomes a story in the mind and not a mere collection of words that disappear with time. The picture stories like we both have written will endure longer and (I hope) remain in the memory longer, though we may forget the actual words. I loved this for many reasons as I would call it a picture poem that I like to write. Yours from the perspective and knowledge of your upbringing and schooling and mine similarly but from another time and another place. I love your work and so glad that you are trying this facet and it just makes the admiration continue on relentless. Great work I loved it.
Barry Bravo.
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I thought you might, Bazza. It wasn't swank that made me point it out, it was simply that I thought it was up your street.
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This is fluid, metered and absolutely brilliant. I read it several times simply so I could recap and remember the way you composed it. The imagery and the story is wonderful. I want to be just like you when I grow up.
Love,
Amera
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I think that is perhaps the loveliest thing you have ever said to me, Amera!
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The slaves can battle for the crowd
They bay for blood and scream aloud
And never ever are they cowed
In Mairi's verse
All the bravest in the land
Must battle at their Caesar's hand
To please the masses as he's planned
In Mairi's verse
I wish that I could write as she
Then what a poet I would be
But much more talent I can see
In Mairi's verse
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You silly boy!
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Bravo
This was well thought out and kept my attention through out, thank you for your notes on this piece
Thank you for your entry and best of luck in my contest. jennifer -
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Thanks, Jennifer. I had fun writing it.
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I also loved that this came from a females perspective. Do you know if women really fought in the games? I would have if I was forced and I think I would have done fairly well. Tough as nails tomboy at heart.
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Yes they did. Not very often, but it did happen. The grave of a female gladiator was found in London.
I have actually written a novel, part of which is the story of a female gladiator. I actually drew very heavily on my martial arts training (from when I was MUCH younger).
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A stunning write, most surely. Takes the reader back in time to a place of great drama and sets the stage for poetry excellence. BRAVO!
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Thank you for the applause.
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Brilliant write, my friend...I am totally taken with your style, your intelligence, your poetry...sigh Love, Lane
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I suppose all I can do is sigh back! I seem to have suddenly got a drive towards longer, narrative poems like this (and "Ballad of the Northward Traveller"). I am glad you like it.
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