|| A Gladiator's Queer Star-Crossed Love Story||
***
The former Champion of Champions gladiator seizes a chance to forge the next prodigy of the arena, but when his bull-headed student and would-be-lover proves to be a hardcore enemy of the Empire...
In 9 A.D. three Roman Legions were betrayed, lured into a trap and suffered a catastrophic defeat in Germania.
When all seemed lost, a mysterious portal opened in the middle of the battlefield, offering an escape from the slaughter. Desperate Roman legionnaires and auxiliaries poured through it, without questioning its origins. The most audacious of the Germans, in their righteous fury against the invaders, pursued their quarry even to the other universe.
The portal closed as suddenly as it appeared, leaving the survivors trapped on an alien world they called Nanciscor, 'obtained by accident'. There, they founded the City of Fidelium, and from it the new Fidus Empire grew.
124 years and five generations after the Crossing, Maximus, a gladiator trainer—a lanista—is just doing his job.
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Dear reader, welcome to Nanciscor and the City of Fidelium.
If you are impatient for more details about the Crossing, there is a short feature at the end of this book that covers this event. Alternatively, you can just enjoy Maximus' story and read the feature as an afterword.
I avoid the antiquated style of writing and vocabulary, because the gladiators are tough guys with a dangerous job. They speak simply and they use a Latin dialect. So, I use words that mean what Maximus needs to say. He knows how to say it in his first language. I know how to say it in English. That's how we roll.
Some words, however, need additional explanation. Most of them are poached from the Romans, some are fantasy stand-ins in pig Latin. Here they are:
Nanciscor—'obtained by accident', the name of Maximus' world.
Imperium Fidus—the Loyal Empire.
Populus Fidelis—'loyal people', the citizens of the Empire or, more simply, Fidelis.
Urbis Fidelium—'City of the Loyal', the principal city of the Fidus Empire.
P.U.F. on Roman's brand stands for 'Proprietas Urbis Fidelium'—'property of the City of Fidelium'.
lanista—the gladiators' trainer.
rudis (plurial: rudii)—a wooden sword used for training
rudiarius—a freed champion gladiator
sestertius (plural sestertii)—a silver coin, a unit of currency
Mithras—a god of War worshiped among the Roman army; his cult is connected to a bull
Fortuna—the goddess of luck
Flora—the goddess of spring
Viva! —I'm using this as a stand-in for 'Go us!' and/or 'Glory to!'
Ave—I'm using this as 'Hail!'
Claudius Caesar and Messalina Augusta—I use Caesar and Augusta as titles for the Emperor and the Empress of the Fidus Empire. The names Claudius and Messalina are loaned from the historical Roman Imperial couple, but they are AU characters. It's my play on the idea that with the infinite number of the parallel universes, there may be different versions of everyone.
I hope you will enjoy the story!
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