Dromo, alone of all the household, alone of my obsequious, indulged
personal servants, held out against the torture and though he writhed,
yelled, sobbed and even endured the pain until he fainted more than once,
refused to say anything against me.
After Dromo my turn came. When I was stripped Ravillanus rubbed his hands
and remarked:
"You have your character written on your back! How could Falco trust a
fellow so branded and scarred! Easy-going masters like Falco not only
bring on their own deaths, but sap the foundations of safety for all
slave-owners. Your back, in advance, advertises you guilty. Better own
up."
I pass over the details. But I must confess that I was far from heroic.
Perhaps it is true, and not an invention, that Marcus Scaevola voluntarily
thrust his hand into the altar-fire and stood mute and smiling, and
watched it burn and char. If any man ever did that he had more self-
control than I ever had. I could repress every indication of my agonies. I
fainted so many times that I lost count. The afternoon was drawing on
towards evening before Ravillanus began to lose patience.
Tanno and Galen had been from the first among those about the tribunal.
Now, in a pause, while I was being brought back to consciousness to be
again tortured, Galen succeeded in gaining the attention of Ravillanus
enough to induce him, though grudgingly, to permit the celebrated
advocate, Memmius Tuditanus, whom they had brought with them, to speak in
my behalf.
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