I had had through my hands youths from just about everywhere in our great Empire swarthy Negroes with glistening black skins, long-limbed finedrawn Arabs, blond Germans, tough thickset Scythians, acrobats from Spain, slim and perfectly shaped boys from the Greek islands and thoughout the years I began to be quite proud of the way I welded them into a perfect team of servants, choosing the various jobs best suited to each, keeping the peace between them (and there were frequent quarrels with so many young men confined in one house), teaching them their duties, and always watching over their physical condition so that they should be a credit to the household in which they appeared. Often we found them unsuitable they might turn out to be too rough and boorish to take on the necessary polish for serving a gentleman, or too girlish and effeminate to stand up to the quite hard physical training they were given and so we sold them.

Nilo was from the start a rather reserved and silent youth I felt sure that he missed his native land, and he found our Latin tongue difficult — but he gave many signs of strong currents of feeling running under that quiet exterior too strong for a slave perhaps. His physical beauty however was great, his frank and open smile most engaging (again, most unlike a slave), and his muscular young body responded magnificently to the attentions of our skilled masseur. The fair skin that belongs to his northern skies was something quite new to us, but when we saw what a wonderful silken sheen it took when oiled by the massage we were all very pleased and knew we should have something good to show our master on his return.

A week after Laertius got back, in September, we gave our first dinner party. As I have said, these were something of an occasion a dozen wellknown senators and business acquaintances were asked informally for the evening, and the food and drink for which my master was famous was quietly served with one of the young slaves to each guest. The boys wore a special house uniform for the occasion a tight-fitting, pure white cotton singlet from the throat down to the top of their thighs with a strip between the legs, and a soft red leather belt nothing else. Their arms, shoulders, thighs and calves were all bare; and woe betide the sewing woman who made each youth his singlet individually to measure, if there was a single fold or crease in the garment to interfere with the contours of the splendid young torso underneath.

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It was a busy and tiring time for me superintending every detail of these parties, but we had done our work well and all went smoothly till just before midnight. Then the storm blew up suddenly. I had noticed with half an eye as I looked round that the elderly and as I thought highly respectable senator tho whose couch Nilo had been allotted was caressing the boy's thigh with his hand; and I thought no more of it after all we're all human, aren't we, the wine was good, and he wasn't the only guest who behaved like that. Then suddenly I heard a loud cry of pain from Nilo and saw him kneel down on the couch and begin to beat the old man about the face and head for all he was worth, swearing at him all the while in a language I couldn't understand. I hurried forward and with some difficulty got the scowling, furious boy off the old man and with the help of other slaves frogmarched him out of the room. But of course the damage was done; it was a terrible disgrace for a guest to suffer a public indignity like that in our house, and my master was rightly beside himself with indignation. Laertius never raised his voice when angry, and all he said was <«<Have him whipped tomorrow, and dismiss him, please, Agathon»;

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but I noticed the tightening of his lips that always portended extreme rage, and I knew how deeply he felt the sudden blow to his prized reputation for hospitality. He then turned to the much more difficult task of pacifying the old senator having his couch moved up to Laertius' own, plying him with more wine, and so on. I sent in a relief slave in Nilo's place, a stolid Thracian; but the pleasure had gone out of the party and it broke up soon after. I had a most unpleasant ten minutes with my master; I do not take criticism easily and could not stomach his insistence that the incident was my fault, since the slaves were my responsibility. But I got out of the room somehow.

I hate whippings, and have all along set my face against them in this household, believing that there are no situations that cannot be better handled by the exercise of a little ingenuity or cunning or common sense, or even sometimes simple kindness. Indeed I had earned myself the contempt and hatred of Lorio, the very low-class slave from the gymnasium round the corner who carried out for us such whippings as were necessary, for which he was paid a special fee since so few had been necessary in my time. Nilo, however, could not be saved without myself disobeying orders and losing my job not that I felt much like begging him off since I was as angry with him as anyone. But when I saw him next morning bound to the acacia tree in our inner courtyard where the whippings were always done, I almost relented. It's not that I think twice about the pain I've been a slave myself and know well both how searingly and desperately painful the process is, and how soon you forget all about it afterwards; it was just that I thought it hopelessly unsuitable for this particular young man. I couldn't help contrasting the skill and artistry which the Egyptian masseur had devoted to perfecting his glorious body the day before, with the treatment it was now about to receive. The sight of Lorio licking his lips as he strung Nilo's wrists up by a single leather thong across the bough didn't improve

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matters.

Well, Nilo could bear pain no better and no worse than the rest of us. He began to scream early as I had advised him from my own experience to do. It was not the first time I had seen a beating, but today I stopped my ears and turned away, being neither able to trust myself to look or listen. I had, however, taken the precaution to pay money to the only other person present, our house doctor, to intervene and stop the punishment a good bit earlier than was strictly necessary. This trick worked. Much to the annoyance of Lorio the doctor strode up to Nilo and called the beating off. Nilo was cut down, and fortunately gave colour to the doctor's story by fainting on the stretcher.

The doctor and I moved the stretcher at once into my own room; for I must now reveal that it was my intention to disobey the second part of my master's instruction. I would not dismiss Nilo, but bide my time and reintroduce him much later into service again, when I found Laertius in a good mood. For the present, however, Nilo would disappear the slaves' dormitory knew him no more. The only people at first privy to my secret were the doctor, who had to treat his wounds, and the cook, who had to prepare his food; but they were both trusted friends of mine.

I will not weary you with details about the weeks Nilo spent in recovery secreted in my room. For the first days he lay most of the time on his face

on his pallet in the corner of the room. Later when he got up, he fretted a lot