A Voice in the Wind

Marcus takes his sister Julia to her first gladiatorial games, but his mind is elsewhere. His father argues that freemen, not enslaved people, should be employed in the building of Rome, but Marcus sees a higher profit in forced labor. Excited by the jostling crowds, Julia chafes at her father’s “prudish” rules. She does not know he has already arranged a marriage for her, though Marcus fears it will be a terrible mismatch.

Soon, the preliminary ceremonies begin. Antigonus leads a parade of gladiators before the emperor, and Julia is enthralled by the spectacle. When Marcus leaves to purchase a wineskin, a man flirts with her. Concerned for his sister’s virtue, Marcus tells her to be aware of flirtatious men. Soon, the preliminaries and mock battles are over, and the real contest—with actual weapons—begins. Julia witnesses her first kill as one gladiator slays another, the sand of the arena soaking up his blood. Despite temporary queasiness, Julia wants to remain; Marcus is proud of her fortitude: “Julia was a true daughter of Rome” (110).