"
Tanno and Galen could indicate their grief and sympathy only by looks and
gestures, for they dared not attempt to approach me.
Then Ravillanus called:
"Where is that barber?"
The apparitor who had gone off before the trial began produced a barber.
"Trim his hair and beard!" Ravillanus ordered. And I had to submit to
having my long locks shorn and my beard clipped close, leaving me far too
like my true former self for my comfort, since I still had hopes of
Agathemer catching the real murderers in time to save me from the doom
impending over me because of the fanaticism of Ravillanus, while I
anticipated nothing but inescapable death should I be recognized as not
Phorbas, but as Andivius Hedulio.
I was then, late in the afternoon of the Kalends of July, haled off to the
Colosseum and immured in one of the cells of the lowermost crypt, far
below the street level. To my amazement I found myself sharing the cell
with Narcissus, who had been similarly condemned to exposure to the
beasts, as the murderer of Commodus.
Together we spent five dreadful days in the darkness, dampness, chill and
foulness of that tiny cell. I found that influence such as Tanno and Vedia
possessed and cash such as they had at their disposal, could do much even
for the occupant of such a cell, destined to such a doom.
Pages:
823
824
825
826
827
828
829
830
831
832
833
834
835
836
837
838
839
840
841
842
843
844
845
846
847