Gladiator Sparticus: Story One: That Was Then

By Yusun Yohance Beck

A fictional character is created as an example, and he is meant to demonstrate a man that runs away from his calling only to find that his chief purpose in life was to fulfill his calling, serving the Maker and trusting Him always. An immortal from 480 BC is resurrected by the Creator after an arrow pierces his heart. His job is to fight against the Prince of the Air and the principalities disguised as the mythological gods, the shadow forces, portrayers of light, and criminals. This historical fiction travels through 480 BC to 800 AD. His powers are not his own, for they are gifted from the Creator, and they will be dulled if he refuses or turns away, yet the Creator knows that he is going to make the right decision all along. Sparticus meets many, including Leonidas, Alcibiades, heroes, Alexander the Great, Spartacus, and Julius Caesar. During this compelling story, he loses his wife, his children are scattered, and his nation is torn apart. Afterward, he runs from his mission for so long that he finally decides that there is no running from a deity that created him, the world, and the entire universe. Escaping an omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent being proves to be impossible! Hence, a turning point was the capture in Rome where he witnessed much and had seen one event that illuminated his mind; thus, he submits to the grand authority to take up the cost and faces off with his predetermined path around 800 AD taking on his first villain. At the end of the day, this is a Christian hero dealing with adult issues. An imperfect man is saved by that same omnipotent deity undergoing a process where he struggles with his own selfishness before fully accepting the cost of the "Great Commission."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 22, 2019
• ISBN: 9781645697138

Book preview

Chapter 1

Thermopylae (480 bc)

What is time to you and to me? To many, it is considered a precious gem. I used to be fixed on how short time could be. My old frame of mind was that I had to seize the day, carpe diem. One fateful day my life was changed though. It is currently present day where I watch cars go to and from, and one can smell the bustle and nasty smog of these engines which by far has improved vastly since the 1900s. Of course, I should be used to it, but I am surely out of my time, and I come from a place where the air was much cleaner than this place ever was. I feel the hardened brick buildings and stare outside, peering upon the concrete jungles whose billboarded branches blot out the sun in place of arrows, trees, and night mist. I can no longer taste the sharply dense fog, the crisp air, a fresh summer’s breeze, or a morning’s dew drop on my tongue. Yet the sun’s heat does beat upon my tongue, and the taste of the stale air sits upon thine tongue as a pine mouthed vinegar-flavored bitter wine. Fresh fruits and vegetables from the vine have become preserved, canned, or frozen seconds these days as if nothing is new under the sun. Although the mornings are still silent as they were in the past, I quickly hear loud horns and cars these days yelling and screeching louder than the sirens blaze themselves. As far as the eye can see are millions and billions of people which is an unheard-of number.

Oh, I remember my promise though. I have a Great Commission to reach these people, and there is also a special purpose here on this Earth for me to do battle as well. Perhaps, you may ask why this current day’s hustle and bustle is so foreign to me. I have lived on this Earth for some time and seen much, but I cannot dismiss my past which I remember so fondly. I would never change where I am most certainly. Time is an interesting prospect. No matter how troublesome, precarious, or difficult your present circumstance is, each moment is meant to be a lesson because there is a sovereign predestined purpose and lesson to learn in that exact moment. There is always a reason. I was born of Sparta, so now you may start having a lot of questions because Sparta existed during the bc timeline, and cars were well after the AD timeline. Perhaps, I need to first go back a little bit to help you understand more about me. To understand me, you need to understand some history about Sparta and its timeline, so let’s begin there.

A timeline could be used to highlight a nation’s greatness, but a leader must make difficult decisions during tumultuous and troubling times. This leads us to the battle of Thermopylae, but how did we get here? Let’s begin by telling you that my home nation was under the concept of creating a warrior nation with military prowess and pride, and the founding of Sparta was in 900 bc. Added to the greatness of Sparta was the colony Tarentum in Magna Graecia colony around 706 bc by the coastal sea which continually allowed for the eyes of its inhabitants to gaze upon the docks enjoying a beautiful view of the glamorous sea. Later, during the time frame of 650 bc, Sparta had its share of grumbles and revolts as far as the eye could see. Thus, the Messenian revolt was crushed like a simple little flea. Afterward, Sparta took hegemony over the Peloponnesian League by allying with Corinth, Elis, and Tegea as our strength as a nation grew just like a strong oak tree. One could indulge and regale a person with the tales of Sparta’s military prowess even though we had a few battles that we struggled through and brought us to our knee. We could never flee. Lost was not an acceptable word or term for I shall suffer death, you see. Bring me to my wife, Aileen, on thine shield, for she is my torch of light to me; hence, let me face victory or on my shield carry me. Sparta is such the great land of thee. This is my home and my heart’s key. This land is where I am simply just meant to be. Thy men shall face no battle to ever fear and flee. The Sparta women are more than the men of other nations to see, so the men are giants of this war industry.

Part of the Spartan training involved the infant fit-for-life program. As an infant, the training immediately begun to be a Spartan warrior at birth with an inspection. We were either taught to survive and be great with no defect or fail. I was bathed in the finest of wine and ignored well by my mother when I cried. My mother and her nurse boasted of how strong they brought me up. I then entered military training as a child, whereas modern-day children can be spoiled and don’t even have to consider the military at all. These people are like a bunch of Athenians, but time has taught me that diversity can yield power in and of itself. It was so long ago, but I believe I was about seven or eight when I entered military training. All I remember was being removed from my parents and forced to train. My life was nothing but fighting, and we would often haze the new guys as I got older. I feared failure because it did lead to being beaten and flogging, but I was more concerned about the shame of it all. I got to live with my wife, Aileen, at age thirty, but I was praised as a hero. It was all confusing then. In any case, I am wavering off course with the story. My point in this journal is that Sparta was a powerful military nation that trained its citizen from birth up to old age to be lifelong soldiers. However, no warrior nation with such greatness could just be left to be.

Sparta hears rumbles and rumors of war as Persian warriors and mythical immortals lay waste to lands afar and pounce about conquering nations. They then turn their eyes toward the Greeks beseeching an audience with the king of the land of Sparta, Leonidas, descendant of Heracles, aiming as such for indignations. How could Sparta refuse to join the ranks of the mighty and powerful Persians? The concept of war has smoked up since Persia took up arms since ambitions twinkling eye iterations. Persia had in its goals to conquer the world through all its determinations. Any nation which stood against them was lacking in all innovations, and any nation that stood against the tide was considered guilty of the worst provocations. The Persian king wanted every knee to bow in heavy dedications. Refusal often led to an onslaught of deadly considerations.

There was a Persian and a Spartan who defined the time of 480 bc at its prime. I shall focus specifically on the Spartan king Leonidas. He is the inspiration that gave me lessons to be a great warrior. I had learned much from him. As a child, he used to battle train me, teaching me much before I needed to endure the Spartan trial of manhood. From his lessons instilled upon my head, they all helped me to gain strength, and I truly came to the battlefield and understood the Spartan ways to fight and battle. I was taught to battle by a battle master who was a favored warrior of Heracles himself and blessed by the gods themselves. This shall be such the greatest feat of all that we are meant to undertake or so I thought then.

Leonidas took me and trained me at the young age of seven years old. Not born to Athens, where men were girlish poets, but I was born to the almighty and powerful Sparta where boys became real men and the women grew away from their girly games into strong women of true fortitude that would handle any man around the world. Oh, Sparta, such the great nation. My training lacked nothing either, for the scents of the morn’s rising sun and the smokes dimming light still stay upon my nostril’s memory from my intense training. Obedience, hardship, and conquer are how we must fight, so if we did anything less, it would lead to a horribly tragic end. We could fear our commanders more than the enemy; however, the worse thing is failure to achieve glory. At our births, our weak are tossed to their deaths. Weakness is never tolerated in our society. We either rise above or die to the wolves. Our commanders and their orders are our shield from destruction. The formation grants victory in battle just as we were taught to sleep together in the pallet beds broken apart by our very hands. Scars from breaking apart the bedding with my bare hands without the usage of knives can be felt on my hand next to the callouses from my swords and other instruments of war and practice.

I could still taste the morning dew, melted frost, and stream waters from those training days we were thrown to the forest with no food, water, or help. That river Eurotas provided so much for us during our training. Twelve years old was a big year where I shed my tunic to receive my first cloak. Why was I chosen to be special? I was one of the hippeis, an elite private guard of the king. I had a special shield that was different than the rest called a hoplon. Among the Spartans, my mantle placed me higher than the other soldiers. The sword was a joke because I mastered the spear. As the leader of the pack, my people would be in the front and organize into a strong enclosed phalanx where we could feel the skin and armor of our brothers in battle fervently and relentlessly pushing forward behind a firm wall of bronze. The sound of clanging was soon followed by the abrupt sounds of yelling and horrid screaming as our enemies could be felt being crushed under our shields and spears. Some of us may have carried swords. It was a spectacle to see as we pushed forward, and you could hear the stomps and yells of our soldiers pushing forward. Huah! We would yell, intimidating and striking fear into the very heart and soul of the enemy. Our king, Leonidas, himself would lead us in bringing down these other kings who would come to Sparta as so-called gods because he was blessed as a man of Heracles himself.

Going forward, the Persian king Xerxes stepped forward after his father, Darius, was defeated at Marathon trying to get into Europe via Greece. The Athenian hoplites terrified the Persian army away just about ten years prior to the battle of Thermopylae. Persia owned about two thirds of the known worlds as it was. Xerxes fancied himself equivalent to the gods and wanted more and Athens. His goal was to start at Sparta, yet King Leonidas initially refused his diplomatic request. The diplomatic exchange did not get seen, but it was heard that Leonidas gave the diplomat Spartan kindness for his simple gesture. It was also said that the oracle gave bad news, but we had to meet the Persians at battle during the religious festival. At first, we marched out for battle and came to terms with what may be our certain demise. We started our preparations to prepare for a battle to the death.

What came next was the battle, so what do I remember? One could see the beauty of the land of Thermopylae’s green trees, long confined valley, high rugged mountains, and smooth cliffs. One could hear the whooshing, swooshing, splishing, splattering, and splashing of the running water and feel the hot midst of the hot springs gushing down the sides. You could taste the fresh air sitting upon your tongue from the open land. The Persian forces were trying to come through Greece, and this was one of the places where Xerxes needed to come through, and King Leonidas had us ready to meet him upon his entrance at the hot gates. Poseidon struck down hundreds of the Persian ships trying to make landfall and flank us in most certain death with a gnarly storm. Each ship fell one by one in unison and uniform. Their bodies float in the water lifeless and no longer warm. Our men were merely just hundreds of men. We were just under one thousand as we lay our eyes upon much more than tens of thousands of Xerxes’s men waiting to slaughter us. Those eyes of mine hath seen many elites incoming as a troop of battle scorpions most hastily swarm. Side by side, my brothers hungrily stood, spearing each soldier’s skin as if to have struck them like a line storm. They fought against our powerful battle-hardened men, and we were seasoned; therefore, this phalanx was our home and our norm. Together in the barracks, we stayed because this field of battle was our retreat home or dorm and our natural form. We could fight in the dead of the heat or during a