Gladiator

 
go and followed him

across the square. 

“Look at this 
 
one,” said the man. “Isn’t he a beauty?” 
Proximo looked at the tigers through the
 
bars. “Do
 
they
fight?” he asked. 
“Of course! For you, my special price, only eight thousand.” 
“For me,” said Proximo, “four thousand. That’s my special price.” 
“Four? I have to eat . . .” 
Proximo looked around at the group of men in chains. “Do
any of them fight?” he said. “There’s a contest soon.” 
“Some are good for fighting, some 
 
for dying. You need both.” 
Proximo walked over to Juba. “Get up,” he commanded the
big African. 
Juba lifted his head and looked at him. He got up slowly.
Proximo looked at him carefully. He turned over Juba’s hands and
felt the hard skin. 
Then he moved on to Maximus. He saw the wound on his 
24 

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arm and then he saw the mark just above it—the letters „SPQR.” 
Proximo knew that they meant 
Senatus Populusque Romanus
: The 
Senate and the Roman People. 
“A soldier,” said Proximo. “Did you run away?” he asked 
Maximus. But Maximus said nothing. 
“Probably,” said the slave-seller. “They say he’s a Spaniard.” 
Proximo walked on and looked at the others. “I’ll take six—a 
thousand for all of them,” he said. His servant handed him a small 
brush with red paint on it. 
“A thousand!” the slave-seller cried. “The African alone
should cost two thousand.” He whispered to Proximo, “Turn
your back on him, he’ll kill you.” 
“These slaves are no good,” said Proximo, as he walked away. 
“Wait, wait . . . we can discuss the price.” 
Proximo made a mark in red paint on
 
the chests of the slaves
he had chosen. “I’ll give you two thousand,” he said, “and four for
the animals. But it will be five thousand for an old friend.” 
The slave-seller thought for a second and then accepted. 
“But those tigers have to fight,” said Proximo. 
“Don’t feed them for a day and a half,” said the slave-seller,
“and they’ll eat their own mothers.” 
“Interesting idea,” said Proximo, as he walked away. 
His servants pulled the chains tied to Juba, Maximus, and the 
others, and they were led away. 
♦
Proximo’s carriages arrived in a crowded, Moroccan port city. 
Maximus and Juba sat together with twelve other new slaves.
One was a small, very frightened Greek man. He was probably a 
teacher or a writer. He was definitely not a fighter. 
The carriage of slaves was followed by several others carrying 
wild animals—including