Son of Rome

Chapter 1

The tunnels beneath the Coliseum were dank and cool as he walked toward the arena's battle ground; straw coated the stone floor in order to soak up the spilled blood and other...less savory bodily fluids. Overhead he could hear the crowd roaring for the blood of the current contenders. The manacles that bound his wrists and ankles clanked and rattled as he was led upward by the silent guards. He was to be one of the next combatants in the gladiatorial games, which were held annually in Rome.

His name was Cassius Felix Cato, son to a once powerful senator of the same name who had fallen out of favor with the new Emperor. The elder Cato had been forced to re-join the legion in order to save his honor when the Emperor had threatened to take all their lands and wealth when Cassius' father had refused to back him in his twisted grab for power. His father had retained his honor, earning more glory on foreign fields only to die in his attempts to claim Germania in the name of the Roman Empire.

Cassius continued his trudge up the curving walkway. The stones had been worn smooth over many years and the passage of thousands of combatants, blood stained the walls and floor every few feet. The chains of his captivity jangled incessantly with each ponderous step. He smiled sadly as he thought back to the reasons which saw him in his current predicament.

Cassius had been very vocal on his views about it being the Emperor's fault for his father's death. This alone ruffled many feathers in the Senate, even getting him arrested on several occasions. It wasn't until Cassius was implicated in an assassination attempt on the Emperor that he had landed in real trouble. The tribunal had found Cassius and all of his co-conspirators guilty of high treason against Rome and sentenced to death.

Though, secretly, many agreed with his cries of "A Republic for Rome".