Spartacus (1960) 

Tony Curtis in his role as Antoninus, the slave of Crassus. Recently purchased by Crassus, his new Master left no doubt in Antoninus' mind as to his intentions toward him. The bath scene and the suggestive 'snails and oysters' conversation confirmed this in Antoninus' mind and he ran away to join Spartacus and his rebel slave army. 

Remembering the great Kirk Douglas and his defining role of the rebel slave, Spartacus who instilled so much fear into the Romans during the Servile Wars. 

I remember reading Howard Fast's novel written in the 1950's and seeing this 1960 movie some years ago and being stirred by its scope and the quality of its actors.

Who can forget the suggestive bath scene and the "snails and oysters" dialogue where Crassus (Laurence Olivier) tries to seduce his slave, Atoninus (Tony Curtis).

This scene was considered to be way ahead of the standards of the day and very controversial. 

Kirk Douglas made many movies during his long and illustrious career but his defining role was and always will be as Spartacus.

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A true beast-of-burden

I have always been fascinated by the idea of slaves being used as beasts-of-burden in place of horses or ponies and it is a theme I have used in some of my stories.

My interest was awakened back in my teen-aged years when I attended an amateur art show in my hometown. Mostly, I found the works uninspiring until I came upon one that caught my eye. It was unexpected and although it was amateurish, it stirred my loins and I enjoyed a most pleasant if somewhat unfulfilled erection.

What was it about this oil-painting that aroused me? Quite simply, everything! It fed all my erotic fantasies and as a slave I immediately identified with it. It was a scene from the old West with a stagecoach standing stationary in a dusty street as passengers climbed aboard. However, instead of a team of horses, it was drawn by a team of near naked slaves in harness with whip-scarred backs.

I can't recall the artist's name but I do remember he didn't win a prize. In later years, I was reminded of this scene from the remake of 'Planet of the Apes' where human males are used to pull heavy wagons.

I'm not sure if it is practical for humans to serve in this manner but I do know, from the many messages I have received over the years that it is a widely held fantasy for many of us to aspire to be slaves.

When writing about slaves being used as carriage ponies or as heavy duty draft-animals, I derive a lot of erotic pleasure describing their naked bodies straining into their harness or of their shoulders weighed down by heavy, wooden yokes. I love describing their sweating, stressed bodies, of overworked muscles,stretched sinews, their laboured breathing and their grunts of pain as a whip is laid across a bare back, shoulders or a naked ass.

Many, many times I have aspired to be used in this manner. Sadly, Ihave never experienced it for myself.

Source of artwork unknown; the text is mine. 

The Imperial Villa, Isle of Capri, AD 26

It is said of Tiberius that he never wanted to be Rome's second emperor. Whether or not that is true, Tiberius apparently grew tired of the affairs of state and left Rome for retirement on the Isle of Capri near Naples in AD26. He left the running of the state to his secretaries and his trusted Praetorian, Sejanus.

Was Tiberius the tyrant that many made him out to be? I guess my answer to that question- for what it is worth - is both yes and no and lies in the middle-ground. Certainly, Tiberius, a member of the Claudian-Julian clan was more of what, in today's political terminology, could be classed as a 'man of the ordinary people' and anti-establishment. This most likely reflected his Claudian sympathies which were more progressive and republican. He had little regard for Rome's senators and ruling class who he persecuted and many were executed in the Senate treason trials at the instigation of an ambitious Sejanus and his cronies. Eventually, Sejanus was also tried and executed for treason on the orders of Tiberius

Undoubtedly, life was difficult and fraught with danger for Rome's ruling elite. However, for the ordinary man in the provinces, life under Tiberius was mainly peaceful and prosperous. Why then does Tiberius have a 'bad image'? What we mostly know about Tiberius is from the writings of Suetonius and other writers who, as members of the elite, no doubt had a vested interest in painting as black a picture of the emperor as possible.

Suetonius tells us that Tiberius lived a debauched and licentious lifestyle on Capri surrounded by young slaves who existed for the 'pleasures of the flesh'. Reports also indicate that Tiberius was a sadist who enjoyed inflicting pain on his slaves and other unfortunate victims. It is recorded that one of Tiberius's favourite tortures was to tightly tie a cord around a victim's penis thus preventing him from urinating. To add to the victim's suffering, the unfortunate victim was made to consume large quantities of wine

Tiberius kept a large harem of young, male slaves who he used for his perverted sexual pleasures. Apparently, he was also a voyeur who liked to watch as his slaves indulged in all manner of sex. It is said he was the originator of a sex position known as ' sprintrie' which involved three slaves sexually engaging with one another.

It is recorded that Rome's elite was horrified by the emperor's excesses and strongly disapproved.

Certainly, the Emperor Tiberius engages our fascination and we are all familiar with his  infamous lifestyle. The above picture captures how it might have been for one of the emperor's slaves living on Capri.

Although, in fact, the slaves don't appear to be too unhappy with their lot as Tiberius's 'pets'.

Artwork by MADAHV whose work I have always admired. He has an evocative style all of his own which captures his subject matter beautifully as can be seen in this post; the text is mine

Another great adventure yarn from my misspent youth!

I first read this book as an impressible boy and loved it. While sex is kept to a minimum and it is heterosexual - not my thing by any means - the main appeal of this story was the slavery element with which I closely identified. 

It's a grand, sweeping, historical story which captured my fertile imagination and introduced me to new aspects of slavery I knew very little about.

Essentially, it is a story about a young, English squire, Michael de Bernay set back in the time of the Crusades who is captured by the Saracens and sold as a galley slave to an Arab merchant trading from the Red Sea with South-East Asia. 

Through a series of misadventures, Michael ends up as a slave of The Khmer king in Kampuchea. After he is branded, he is forced to work alongside Cham slaves who are the natural enemies of the Khmer and labours on the construction of Angkor Wat. Whilst, I was familiar with and fantasised about Arab slavery and galley slaves in particular, the Khmer/Cham aspect of slavery was new to me and it whetted my appetite. It would be fair to say, this story resonated with me and very soon, in my erotic fantasies, I was a naked slave in a team hauling gigantic, stone, building blocks to the top of the enormous temple complex of Angkor Wat.

Peter Bourne wrote this novel in 1956 and named it "When God Slept". My copy is the original one with the old title and cover art. Later, it was re-issued as "The Golden Pagan" for some reason.

Bourne went on to write many more novels and some of them are about black slavery in the West Indies all of which I read most avidly.

Chris

The Honey Pot

Time: Now, somewhere in the Middle-East

Slave-dealer: "Young Ali, you have brought me a fine infidel. He'll make a good slave and sell well. How did you come by him?"

Ali: "I used my usual method of recruiting. The young infidel is travelling alone and I spotted him in the bar of the hotel where he was staying. I made myself conspicuous and attracted his attention."

Slave-dealer: "How did you attract his attention, Ali?"

Ali: "By wriggling my arse as I walked past him, self-groping my crotch, pouting and provocatively licking my lips. Like a greedy fish, he took the bait and was hooked. I invited him back to my place, offered him a drugged coffee and when he passed out, I stripped him naked, shackled him and brought him to you. The stupid infidel thought I was an easy target. No way was he going to fuck me."

Slave-dealer: "You chose well, Ali! Instead, he will be the one who gets fucked and looking at that slave arse it will be well used."

Ali: "As it deserves to be! What price do you offer for such a fine slave?"

Slave-dealer: "Ali, as you know, I buy my slave-meat by live-weight. Depending on the quality of the animal, I negotiate a price per kilogram of a slave's body weight. Let's get him to his feet so I can inspect him before I put him on the scales and then we can haggle over a price for him." 

Ali: Then, let's do it! I am anxious to scout for more 'talent' if you are interested?"

Slave-dealer: "Ali, I will be interested in all the infidel slaves you can bring to me. I have a slave auction scheduled very shortly. The more infidels I have on offer the better."

Art by Bazz, another of my favourite artists. The text is mine.