House of Simeon

By D.J. Manly

Gold was the uncontested champion in the arena, elevated to a hero by the masses, but nothing but a slave in actuality. His heart was the only thing he had that was his own.

Gold was the unbeatable champion of the House of Simeon but after the gods foretell his death, his master refuses to put him into the arena again. Instead, he makes Gold his trainer, and uses his body for his own pleasure.

Gold wants nothing more than to fight again. It is all he knows, and he hates the fact that people think he is a coward, hiding behind his master. He longs for a death of glory in the arena, the only respectable way for a gladiator slave to leave this world.

Samson comes into Gold's life unexpectedly. A slave with potential to rise through the ranks, but also the first man who has been able to rouse something inside of him he thought was dead.

Can Samson make Gold reveal his feelings, or will he remain the unattainable trainer who longs for a glorious death?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pride Publishing
• Release date: Oct 11, 2010
• ISBN: 9780857153050

D.J. Manly

D.J. Manly is first and foremost a writer, but is also a college professor, a small business operator and a sociologist who works as a consultant on research projects. D.J. is a proud Canadian who lives in French Canada, and speaks both English and French. Human rights are a great concern, and D.J. longs for a peaceful world free of sexism, racism, and homophobia. D.J. writes for the pure love of writing, and always with the reader in mind. If D.J. doesn't enjoy reading it, it won't be written. Great characters, great sex and a great love are the elements you’ll find in D.J’s work. There is nothing quite as exciting as beautiful men falling in love. Come taste D.J’s work, but be careful, you may become as addicted to reading it, as D.J. is to writing it. One reviewer said of Manly’s work that reading it can give you “…third degree burns in an air conditioned room…” I think that says it all.

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Gladiators: House of Simeon

ISBN # 978-0-85715-305-0

©Copyright D.J. Manly 2010

Cover Art by April Martinez ©Copyright October 2010

Edited by Stacey Birkel

Total-E-Bound Publishing

This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Total-E-Bound Publishing.

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The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.

Published in 2010 by Total-E-Bound Publishing, Think Tank, Ruston Way, Lincoln, LN6 7FL, United Kingdom.

Warning:  This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature readers.  This story has been rated Total-e-taboo.

Gladiators

HOUSE OF SIMEON

D.J. Manly

Dedication

To the memory of those who fought and died in the arena.

Chapter One

Gold

This is very exciting, my dear, the master’s wife loudly announced to her husband, ensuring all of the servants heard the conversation. I hear Gold obtained the best price, and soldiers the lot of them, no common criminals this time. She checked her nails.  The crowd doesn’t appreciate those sorts.

Gold wasn’t really my name, however the master—or lanista, as he was more commonly called—had the right to call me whatever he chose. I had earned the name Gold when I became the lanista’s champion in the arena. With twenty two victories, and no ties or defeats, I was the undisputed champion.

He seems to have a good sense for slave buying, Gracia went on with her commentary. It was very astute of you to send Gold to town to do the buying. If anyone knows gladiator stock, Gold does.

Gracia often talked about me as if I wasn’t in the room. But then, I was not really a person to her at all. I was a slave, albeit a somewhat exalted one.

I didn’t even bat an eye when Master Simeon replied with a sly smile, Yes, and Gold even bested my rival in the auction. I have won six of the finest on the block, and that’s not easy to do nowadays, given what we mostly have to choose from is Sparta’s rejects.

I was one of those so called Spartan rejects.

That horrible Phineas must be cursing the gods themselves today, Gracie giggled recklessly.

We were trailing the master as he walked on through the tablinum, the place where he kept an impressive array of written scripts and original paintings.

He paused, a scowl spread across his middle-aged face. He was extremely superstitious and very careful about not offending the gods. His reprimand was severe. Woman, watch that vile tongue of yours. The gods are no joking matter. Do you wish to bring the entire house down upon us?

I am sorry, my husband. She lowered her head.

I hid a smile, noting some of the other slaves in the vicinity did as well. We’d all felt the effects of her tongue and her whip often enough. It was nice to see her get some in return.

When we reached the other side of the grand house, we waited in the atrium, which was really the most important place in the house. It was the room where distinguished guests were usually entertained, so I didn’t get to be in here often.

The master considered this to be an important event, so the new slaves would be brought in through the main door which faced the street.

I glanced up at the high ceiling for a moment and stood with my legs apart. I knew the lanista was relieved to have a new lot of slaves who had some potential for gladiator training. We had lost over twenty gladiators in a short period of time, due to the lanista volunteering many of his best to pay homage to dead family members of prominent citizens. He had ambitions to be elected to the senate, and he was willing to go to great lengths to win favour—sometimes to his own detriment, I felt.

I looked straight ahead now as I heard the shuffle of chained men being herded inside and down the narrow passageway to the grand, sparsely furnished room where we waited. There were six new slaves brought in, all of whom had been warriors in various foreign militaries. They were robust men in their youth and considered a prize, even if I knew most of them wouldn’t see the sun set for more than one more day.

They were naked, hands thrust behind their backs, chains on their wrists. The chains extended in one direction to a metal collar around their necks, and in the other direction to both ankles.

The lanista went to inspect the first one in line and lifted his head up high. He did the same to the next and the next, until he came to the last one in the line.

I knew he’d take extra time with this one. He was the one I had bargained the hardest for, perhaps paying far more than I should have. But I knew he was worth the price. It was true he had an attitude which had actually forced me to order the guards to gag him on the way back home. Attitude, however, could be a good thing if channelled correctly. And I would soon strip him of his defiance, as surely as he’d been stripped of his clothing.

As the master inspected him, the slave did not attempt to disguise the sneer on his face. He stood to all his six feet, almost as tall as I was myself, and glared directly at the master. I knew what was to come. The master, a man of no more than five feet six, and far smaller in stature than his new acquisition, doubled up his fist and hit him directly in the mouth.

The slave’s head went back as if on a spring, and his mouth ran with blood.  His expression however never changed. He didn’t utter a sound. He had the makings of an excellent gladiator, and the lanista knew it because he turned to me and laughed out loud.

A gladiator was taught to face death without crying out for mercy, without acknowledging pain. This one would honour the tradition nicely.

This one has big balls, Gold. You have done well. If he survives the initiation, he will make a fine addition to the ludi.

I nodded.

The master walked around the captive, inspecting his hard, well muscled body. He was a little lean—a bit more girth around the middle was a good thing. It protected the gladiator’s organs if they were stuck in the gut with a sword. Fortunately, his weight could be easily remedied.

And although he was dirty and bruised, his body was sensational with muscles as hard as granite. His cock was almost the size of my own.  I couldn’t deny that from an aesthetic point of view, he was quite pleasing to the eye.

I heard Gracia take a breath as she studied the man. She examined him like a starving person might regard a tasty piece of meat. In a way, I hoped this one might become her new plaything when her husband was away. She’d never taken to Thad, the present champion, and I’d serviced the whore for long enough. Although, since I no longer fought in the arena, I had to admit, she no longer called on me.

He reminds me of you when you first came here, the master announced, holding the man’s chin in his hands again while he struggled. This one could well give Thad a run for it. Don’t you think?

I nodded. Thad, the present acting champion, was as arrogant as the day was long. And given the average life span of a gladiator, we’d need someone to replace him eventually.

It was natural for Thad to be arrogant, I supposed, although I had never thought of myself that way. The citizens idolized their champions. And Thad had been a free man, a man of status once, but had given up all his rights and volunteered to be a part of the brotherhood. Personally, I thought him insane. I would have never volunteered for this life.

Now Thad had become high on the glory. He lived for the roar of the crowd. And it was his arrogance that would finally see him on his knees, offering his throat to his contender.

Thad’s ultimate dream, of course, was to challenge me, to finally take me off my pedestal, to become the true champion of Simeon, but Lanista wouldn’t allow me back in the arena.

Very well, the master was saying now to the guards, have them cleaned up, then give them double rations, and put them in their cells.

The men were quickly escorted out of the master’s house, and I prepared to follow the guards.

We shall arrange for a contest tomorrow, the master told me, indicating that he wasn’t finished with me yet. I waited.

I will have only this evening to give them some basic instruction. It wasn’t a protest.

It’s enough. The people are dying for some entertainment. We’ll make it a public event, in town. We’ll invite the senators, of course. We’ll even invite Phineas. He chuckled. He will die with envy given he was unable to obtain any suitable slaves for the arena.

I doubted he would care. Phineas owned the biggest gladiator school in Rome. Are they to be put against the champion? I asked him. I knew his diabolical mind.

I haven’t decided that yet. He began walking back through the house. His wife stayed behind. She was allowed to view the slaves, but not permitted to be present when business was discussed.

We stood for a moment in the triclinium, which served as the dining room. I had been called to this room often in my time, to be fondled and admired by the master’s high-brow guests.

I waited for instruction.

Choose two of our finest, other than the champion, and use them for training with the newcomers.

Weapons?

No. I want to see what they can do unarmed.

We may well lose them all, I told him. That’s a lot of gold, Lanista.

The master placed a hand on my naked back. You are always thinking about my welfare. Your loyalty will be well repaid in the afterlife by the gods.

I nodded my thanks to him as was the custom. I was not actually thinking of his welfare at all. I could care less about his supply of gold. It was his blatant lack of respect for human life which concerned me. Even though I’d seen him do this sort of thing time and time again—paying good gold for men just so they could be slaughtered for sport in front of a blood-thirsty crowd—it never ceased to amaze me.

It is worth the gold, he waved an elegant hand in front of me, adjusting his tunic as he stood looking outside. It’s the pure sport I love, the smell of fear and of death, the pageantry and the bravery of the defeated. And if any of those slaves actually survive the arena tomorrow, they will be well worth training, will they not? He looked at me for confirmation.

You are right, Lanista, I said.

Ensure that the new slaves are dressed like our enemies. We have lost a lot of good soldiers in this last war. The people need to have an outlet for their anger. Does them good to watch the enemy cut down. The ceremony will be in honour of the glorious Roman army.

Again I nodded. Good choice.

Simeon paused, raked his gaze over me. I knew that look

Reviews for House of Simeon

[serenayates · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is an amazing book and a very promising start to the Gladiators series. Historicals very rarely pull me in as much as this one did, and it is a testament to the quality of the story that it held me captivated from the first to the last page. The descriptions of the environment, the way people lived at the time, and the society and politics were not only historically accurate (from what I remember learning in school and reading about since then), they were detailed enough to make it feel almost like a contemporary book. People are people, after all, so the politics and backstabbing are hauntingly familiar.

Gold’s life as a slave and gladiator is shown in such vivid detail that I felt as if I was right there with him. He is a very ‘hard’ man, having survived years in the arena, having seen friends being slaughtered, and not being in charge of his own life. My heart went out to him as the depth of his helplessness became clearer throughout the story. The way he looks at life makes it very clear what it must have been like to be a slave in those times, revered as a champion gladiator on the one hand, and used by your masters on the other. He is so deeply in that mindset that the only honorable way out he sees is death in the arena. And that is the one thing his master will not grant him.

Samson, on the other hand, has only recently been made a slave. He was taken prisoner by the Roman army and sold to become a gladiator. There is a lot of fight left in him, and a belief that he can somehow survive the next five years, after which he has been promised freedom. He finds it difficult to see how Gold can be so closed off from feeling anything, but cannot stop from falling in love with him. I have a feeling that it will be the source of a lot of heartache for him in the future.

This is only the first of three books, so the story is by no means finished. I cannot even imagine the trials and tribulations Gold and Samson are going to face, but am definitely curious to learn more about them. Thoroughly recommended for people who like historical novels, and everyone who has an interest in understanding how human nature works under adverse conditions.



NOTE: This book has been provided by Total-E-Bound for the purpose of a review.

[silversurfer_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Book one in the Gladiators SeriesGold was the uncontested champion in the arena, elevated to a hero by the masses, but nothing but a slave in actuality. His heart was the only thing he had that was his own.Gold was the unbeatable champion of the House of Simeon but after the gods foretell his death, his master refuses to put him into the arena again. Instead, he makes Gold his trainer, and uses his body for his own pleasure.Gold wants nothing more than to fight again. It is all he knows, and he hates the fact that people think he is a coward, hiding behind his master. He longs for a death of glory in the arena, the only respectable way for a gladiator slave to leave this world.Samson comes into Gold's life unexpectedly. A slave with potential to rise through the ranks, but also the first man who has been able to rouse something inside of him he thought was dead.Can Samson make Gold reveal his feelings, or will he remain the unattainable trainer who longs for a glorious death?

[silverpixies · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

LOVED LOVED LOVED this book!! DJ Manly Did a Wonderful Job of writing Gladiators!! Cant wait to get the others and read them(will write a better review later)