Another golden "oldie"
This is the cover of a novel, "Captive of Rome" published in 1962 and written by the American writer, Theodora Du Bois born in Brooklyn in 1890. Throughout her writing career, she wrote mainly crime and mystery stories and this historical novel was a departure from those genres.
Although well-researched and historically accurate, this story wasn't well received by some critics who preferred her more familiar crime/mystery stories. I also found the story uninteresting and my main interest in it is the cover art with which I erotically identified.
As a youngster, I identified with the shackled, semi-naked slave standing on the platform as he is sold. Oh, how I wished it was me. I fantasied about being in his place and I lost count of the many "pleasures" it gave me.
Note the titulus hanging around the neck of the slave in the background as he waits to be sold. Back then, there were even moments when I wondered what the slave-trader would write on my titulus.
Just another of my youthful recollections.
Chris
Chris,
ReplyDeletethanks for recalling this historical American novel that was totally unknown to me.
It’s a pity that, as you say, it did not contain any valuable “sadistic content” if I interpret correctly your words.
However I fully agree with you in drawing our attention on the beautiful painting on the COVER !
You rightly focus your attention, and the one of the readers, on the TITULUS, that is hanging from the neck of the other slave in the background …. while (what a stupid and fully unjustifiable historical mistake by the painter !) the young, athletic (and very cute !) slave who is auctioned in the foreground has NO TITULUS hanging from his neck on his muscular chest and pectorals !
Besides this, I ‘d like to draw our attention on the way in which the auctioned young slave is shackled and somehow “immobilized” (or anyhow how the slave-trader has bound him to make his movements, during his auction and body-inspections by buyers, difficult as much as possible or almost impossible).
Besides the many and various chains and shackles that weight and tie all his limbs , I refer especially to the thick wooden log / pole (probably hanging from the back of his collar) that –positioned at the height of his elbows- hampers and prevents the young robust slave from moving and using his brawny arms.
This way of immobilizing a man was certainly used in Roman Slave Markets.
For bonding and immobilizing even more robust and dangerous / rebellious slaves, traders arrived even to the point of using real wooden yokes for oxen ……. huge and very ponderous wooden yokes, as thick and as heavy as long wooden beams, that were positioned on the nape of the muscular and rebellious slave ….. fastened to his neck by an iron collar ….. and to whose ends the muscular open arms of the “wild” slave were securely tied.
These “spectacles” of outstanding Sadism were absolutely normal and frequent every day in every Slave Market of ancient Rome.
Karel