whipping or do you like being whipped yourself? Yes, we can arrange a Dionysian mystery according to the book, if you like. Just say the word, give me a sign and I’ll satisfy your secret craving, for our friendship’s sake. This is Misenum, you see, and it’s not far to Baiae, Puteoli and Naples, with all the Alexandrian vices. From Capri we have inherited the god Tiberius’ ingenuity in these matters, and Pompeii has some fine brothels. Shall we row over there?”
I pretended to be shy, but to show myself worthy of his confidence, I said, “I used to think it exciting to disguise myself and go out on night brawls in Subura with your gifted pupil Nero. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced such pleasure as that of the most wretched brothels used by slaves. You see, sometimes one tires of delicacies and gets more pleasure from coarse bread and rancid oil. So I am the exact opposite to you. Since I married, I have finished with that sort of thing, but now I feel an intense desire to make the acquaintance of the naval brothels, which I’ve heard you have excellently organized.”
Anicetus grinned rakishly and nodded his understanding.
‘We have three closed houses,” he said, “the best for the officers, the second for the men and the third for the galley slaves. Believe it or not, I am sometimes visited by noble ladies from Baiae who are tired of everything and wish to serve a night in a brothel. The more debauched women especially like the galley slaves, and are better than our most experienced harlots in their willingness to serve. You see, for financial reasons newcomers must first serve the officers, then the men, and after three years the galley slaves. Some survive this strenuous profession for ten years, but I should say five is the average. Some hang themselves, of course, some become ill and useless, and some begin to drink to the extent that they are a disturbance. But we receive constant replenishments from Rome and other Italian cities. The navy’s brothels are penal institutions for women who have been charged with an indecent way of life, such as stealing from customers or hitting rough customers over the head with wine jars.”
“What happens to those who survive their term of serviceI?” I asked. “A woman has to be very far gone to be no use to the galley slaves,” said Anicetus. “Don’t worry. No one leaves my houses alive. There are always certain men who find their pleasure in occasionally killing a woman in some unpleasant way. They have to be kept in control. The aim of my houses, among other things, is to protect the decent women in the neighborhood from the sailors. On my rolls, for instance, I have a man who
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once a month has to suck blood from the jugular vein of a woman, and because of this, he is chained to the seat in the ship. The stupid thing is that every time he does it, he regrets it bitterly afterward and asks to be flogged to death.”
I did not believe all Anicetus’ stories. He’ was a braggart and was trying to frighten me with his depravity, because deep down he was a weak and unreliable man. I realized that he had exaggerated a great deal, in the way sailors always do.
At first he took me to a graceful circular temple of Venus which had a wonderful view over the glittering sea, and which was connected by an underground tunnel to the naval barracks to avoid attracting unnecessary attention. The first two walled brothels were no different from their Rome counterparts and even had running water. But the house for the galley slaves was more like a prison and I could hardly endure the looks I received from the inmates, so bestially dulled were they.
I could not find Claudia, however carefully I looked. But I found her next day in a naval fortress in Puteoli. I saw a woman aged beyond her years, whose hair and eyebrows had been shaved off because of lice. She was dressed in a ragged slave tunic, for she was busy working among the fortress’ cooking vessels.
Actually I recognized Claudia only by her eyes. She immediately recognized me, though at first she made no sign. It was a simple matter to exchange her for a bag of silver. I could have had her for nothing if I had wanted to, but to cover my tracks from the censors, I thought it safer to have an accomplice by bribery.
When we arrived together at the city’s best guesthouse, Claudia spoke for the first time.
“You must have looked for me very eagerly, dear Minutus,” she said harshly, “since you found me so soon. It is only seven years since we last met. What do you want of me?”
She agreed to my request that she should put on some respectable clothes and a wig, as well as draw some kind of eyebrows in with eyeblack. Thanks to her kitchen duties she had put on weight, and there was nothing wrong with her health.
But she would not say a word about her experiences in Misenum. Her hands were as hard as wood, the soles of her feet like leather, and the sun had burned her a dark brown. Despite the clothes and the wig, she could only be taken for a slave. The more I looked at her, the more alien she became.
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