Historical Fiction, take one
I became very excited about writing fiction around the beginning of 2001. I wrote this work of historical fiction in January also not-for-school. It was intended for a writing competition, so the length was limited. Still, I somehow managed to squeeze quite a few of my favorite things into the story: Classical cultures, Pompeii, tragedy, self-sacrifice, and carefully researched names.
Slave, But Free
It seemed so long since Marcus had last had a good meal. But in reality, only a few months ago, Marcus was living in a loving home with relatively well to do parents. That perfect world of long ago was never to be his again. Marcus could still remember the hushed voices, the grave physician, and the final verdict. Marcus’ parents were dead. Then, before Marcus fully comprehended what had happened came another shock. Marcus’ father was in debt to Caius, the worst slaveholder in Pompeii. After funeral expenses were covered, there was not enough money left to pay the debt, and Caius took Marcus instead.
Marcus was made to work in the stables. This could have been a fine job, but Caius found every mistake that could possibly be found, and rewarded every mistake with a beating. Besides this, Marcus was fed next to nothing. The lack of food and abundance of beatings made Marcus life miserable.
As time went by, Marcus became used to his hard life. He mucked out the stables, fed the horses, and took his punishments without a murmur. He was bitter, though. He did not understand why the gods had deserted him. Before his slavery, he had been a devout worshipper of all the gods. He could not think of one that he had slighted. He made his sacrifices every day; he had observed all the festivals, but his reward was a life of misery.
Caius bought a new slave; a young girl named Diana. She was a quiet girl. Although she was as abused as every other slave, she did not complain at all. She did her jobs well, whereas the other slaves merely tried to do as little as possible. Marcus began to wonder at her silence as all the rest of the slaves sat around at the dinner hour eating and whining. She looked so peaceful as she munched her meager share of the food that Marcus began to wonder why she acted that way. He wished that he could be as peaceful.
The next day he approached her.
“Do you like being here?”
“Not particularly,” she answered in a low soft voice.
“Why don’t you complain about Caius, just like the rest of us do, don’t you hate him too?”
“I believe that I must obey my master without complaining against him.”
“But why? I mean, we all hate him so much. What is wrong with complaining about an unfair master? He is a mean unkind man.”
“About eighty years ago, a man from Nazareth, named Jesus, claimed to be the Messiah of the Jews, yet he offered his salvation to Jews and Gentiles. He died on the cross, and I am one of his followers. I am a Christian. When I was a young girl in Ephesus, my aunt (I am an orphan) used to tell me of a letter received by the church from an apostle set up by Christ himself named Paul. He is dead now, but he said in his letter that we are to obey our masters with fear, as we would obey Christ. We will receive an eternal reward in heaven if we do. I would not grumble about obeying my Heavenly Master behind his back, so I will not grumble about my earthly master either. ”
“Oh,” was all Marcus replied. He had never heard of things like this. Not grumbling about mean masters! Obeying them willingly! That was an entirely new idea to him. He would have to talk to Diana another time about it. He wanted to learn more about this Jesus of Nazareth whose teachings Diana was so comforted by.
Marcus asked questions of Diana every day. Finally he was convinced of his own helplessness, and saw his need for a savior. He rejected his Roman gods, and became a Christian.
From that day on Marcus had an entirely different attitude to his work. He did it to the best of his ability. He did it for the glory of God. Marcus and Diana would pray together every morning. They prayed for the salvation of their master and their fellow-slaves. They worshipped together on the Lord’s Day. Neither of them joined in with the other slaves in gossiping about and complaining against their master.
As the years went by, Marcus and Diana grew to love each other. They were engaged to be married.
On his wedding-morning, Marcus woke to the sound of birds singing. He went to the stables and fed the horses. He had his meager breakfast and his time of prayer together with Diana. Their master was bedridden. Marcus and Diana sympathized with him and prayed for him, but they were still happy. Caius was too miserable to worry about what his slaves were doing, so he gave them the whole day off for their wedding and lent them a small rowboat for the day, something he would never have done under ordinary circumstances.
At noontime, Diana and Marcus were on their way to the borrowed boat. They were going across the bay to meet a minister who would give them a Christian wedding. Suddenly, there was a loud explosion and a cloud covered the sun. Hot pebbles began falling from the sky like rain. Marcus remembered hearing of this phenomenon. The mountain under which the town of Pompeii was built, Vesuvius, must have been a volcano! Marcus and Diana began running. They thought that if they got to their boat they could sail away in safety. Then Marcus remembered his bedridden master.
“Caius!” he shouted to Diana. He knew that Caius had no ship to get him out of the city, and no friends that would help him. Marcus stood thinking for a moment. He should help his master. It would be jeopardizing his life. He made up his mind. “Diana, I am going back to get Caius. You go to the boat, and wait for me there.”
“But - ” Diana protested.
“Just go,” commanded Marcus.
Marcus ran as quickly as possible to Caius’ home. Caius had gotten out of the house, and was struggling down the street. Marcus ran to him. The falling pebbles had turned into ash. It was burning his face. The pebbles were stinging his feet.
“Caius, come with me. I will bring you to safety.”
Caius was very weak and complied immediately. Marcus started pulling Caius through the streets, crowded with frantic people. Caius stumbled, and fell.
“I can’t go any longer. Leave me to die.”
“No, I will carry you.” Marcus put the old man on to his back and struggled toward the wharves. The ashes were getting so thick that Marcus could hardly breathe. He could hardly see Diana waiting for them with the little ship. Marcus stumbled as fast as he could to the boat. He put Caius, now unconscious, into the little boat.
“Diana, row!”
“But what about you?” Diana cried.
“I would not fit in the boat, you know that.”
“But if you don’t come, you will die.”
“I know, but I am prepared to die. Caius is not. I wish that I could come with you, that we could have been married as we had planned, but God works in a mysterious way. You must submit to the providence of God. Go now, and may we meet again in a better place.”
Diana pushed off, hardly seeing where she was going for the tears that clouded her vision. She looked back, and could see Marcus standing at the shore watching her leave. He stood calmly, without any fear as a red river gushed from the mountainside.
Diana rowed harder against the strong waves and managed to make it to the other side of the bay. She got someone to take the still unconscious Caius out of the boat and take him to an inn. Then she found a physician to care for him. Diana watched over Caius until he regained consciousness. He looked at Diana as if he was trying to remember something. “Where is that stable-boy?” Caius queried.
Diana fought against tears. “I believe that he is dead.”
“Didn’t he bring me to the boat?”
“Yes.”
“Then how did he die?”
Diana’s voice was trembling. “There was no room for him in the boat. He stayed in Pompeii.”
Caius was awestruck. “He died so that I could live? Me, who enslaved and mistreated him?”
“Yes, he did.”
“But why? Why did he do that for me?”
“Marcus believed as I do, that we are to love our enemies. Marcus - Marcus wanted to save you not only from death, but give you a chance to hear about eternal life. He was ready to die, but he knew that you were not. He wanted you to hear about his Savior.”
Caius wept as if his heart would break. “If Marcus’ Savior was so great that he could cause him to die for me, he must be a great Savior indeed. I do wish to know more about him.”