The Art of Etienne

There would be very few of us who aren't aware of the art of the late Etienne.

Certainly, his works had an affect on me and I well remember these three drawings from his "Sailor Beware" series.

The premise of that story concerned two American sailors, Jake and Cal, whose ship was on a visit to Oman. Drinking in a bar, they were drugged by an Arab, Ahmad who then spirited them away into slavery. He sold them at auction and they were bought by a sultan who used them as his pleasure slaves and put them to work as beasts-of-burden on his estate.

How that resonated with me as my own slavery was emerging and I erotically identified with them.

The three drawings I have chosen from the series show them being auctioned, hauled off into slavery and being used as plough oxen.

I post them here because I know there are those among the blog's followers who would readily trade places with Jake and Cal.

New Cargo: (by Baron of Prague)

All roads end in Rome! And so it is for the recently defeated and enslaved barbarians whose chieftains had foolishly challenged Rome's authority with rebellion.

Left behind, the crucified chieftains, suffered the agonies and torments of their gruesome deaths. Helpless to prevent it, their naked bodies reddened under the fierce rays of the mid-summer sun and stinging, biting insects swarmed, unchallenged, over them. Mangy curs prowled at the base of their crosses occasionally nibbling at an enticing toe or licking the blood oozing from the wounds caused by the iron spikes driven through their ankles. 

Opportunistically, carrion birds sat on the crossbars of the crucifixes awaiting the chance to join the feast.

With their throats parched by thirst and their shoulders torn asunder, they were unable to ease the agony in their outstretched arms. To find some relief, the crucified men danced the macabre "dance of the cross" as they straightened their legs and raised their bodies to gulp precious air into their tortured, oxygen starved lungs and to ease the strain on wildly beating hearts. However, their relief was only temporary and soon their knees sagged once more and their tortured bodies slumped forward until the next time.

Even the crucified value life such as it is and struggle to sustain it for as long as possible. But, they were doomed and after two days, the first of their number succumbed and surrendered to a merciful death. The waiting scavengers wasted no time and soon, sharp fangs and beaks were tearing into the flesh of the dead chieftain. His two companions could only watch in horror at what was happening in the certain knowledge that they will share his fate.

The second chieftain died on the third day and the youngest and strongest of the three lasted for one day more. Now, all that remains are the sun-blackened, shredded bodies of the rebellious chieftains left as a grim warning of Rome's lack of tolerance of rebellion among her subject peoples.

As their crucified leaders suffered and died, the naked and shackled survivors of the rebellion were whip driven south to the port of Massalia (modern day Marseille), loaded onto a galley and taken to Rome's port, Ostia. 

The journey from Ostia to Rome is a short one but it gave the new slaves a foretaste of their futures as they saw countless slaves toiling in fields and on construction sites. They also saw other near naked slaves - litter-bearers with stressed bodies and bulging muscles - carrying their Roman masters and mistresses through the crowded streets. 

Now, they are in Rome - in the Graecostadium slave-market to be precise - and they are available for purchase. 

The artwork is by Baron; however, the text is mine. I am grateful to Madahv who drew my attention to the existence of this picture after an earlier post.  

Enslavement!

Writhing in unimaginable agony on their crosses high on a hilltop, the barbarian tribal leaders gaze through unfocused, pain-filled eyes down into the valley below where the surviving members of their army are being processed into Roman slavery.

So absorbed are they with their own pain and misery, it is doubtful that they spare much thought for the men they led into futile rebellion against the superior Romans. Now, they have time to reflect on their own stupidity; did they really think they could defeat the invincible Roman war machine?

Already, annoying insects swarm over their naked bodies quenching their thirst on the sweat of their suffering and feeding on the drying blood of their wounds. During the long, dark hours of the night, scavenging animals will prowl impatiently around the base of their crosses ready to feast on their flesh and with the coming of daylight, the sky above them will fill with circling carrion birds noisily cawing and squawking as they too await their opportunity to peck at the tasty morsels on offer.

Meanwhile, down in the valley, the Roman soldiers are being rewarded for their victory. As always, an opportunistic slave-trader has suddenly appeared from nowhere and is buying new slaves to add to his coffle before returning to the slave-markets of Rome. He is the first of the despised slavers to arrive - others will follow very soon - and for now, he is free to choose the primest specimens.

Under the supervision of the Roman soldiers, the 'spoils-of-war' are made to strip naked and three by three, they are driven forward so that the vile pedlar of human flesh can make his choices.

After making his selections the unfortunate new slaves are taken away for branding before being chained into his coffle and they will remain naked for the long journey back to Rome. That way, their bodies are accessible to his drivers' whips and no time is lost in attending to the 'calls of nature'.

Richly garbed in his red tunic, the slaver is making his latest selections. As we can see, he has chosen a young red-headed youth to add to his livestock. Red-haired slaves are a novelty with Rome's elite and this slave with his fiery hair and pubes with fetch a high price when he takes his place on the auction-block.  

They most likely won't agree but the crucified are lucky and within, two or three days, their suffering will be over. However, their swollen, blackened carcasses will be  left suspended on their crosses to serve as a warning to all barbarians of the punishment that awaits those foolish enough to rebel against Rome's authority.

For the newly enslaved their fates will be very different as they face years of backbreaking labour under the cruel whips of their new Roman masters.

This magnificent art is by Baron of Prague which he named 'Enslavement'. I don't know if Baron had a particular story in mind when he created 'Enslavement'. However,  this text is purely my interpretation. 

Note: While searching my collection for more of GaryRo's artwork, I discovered I also have a few of Baron's masterpieces. From time to time, I will share these with you in the blog.

Priscus and Verus.

In 80 AD, The Emperor Titus celebrated the opening of the new Flavian Amphitheatre - later renamed the Colosseum - with one hundred days of inaugural games.

As far as we know the construction of the Flavian Amphitheatre was financed with the treasures looted by the Romans after their  destruction of Jerusalem ten years earlier in 70 AD.

The historian, Josephus recorded that 97,000 Jews were enslaved; many to labour on the construction of the Flavian Amphitheatre and thousands of others forced to become gladiators. All those Jews under the age of seventeen were sold into domestic servitude in the slave-markets of Rome. Whether or not Josephus' figures are accurate is open to question as he was known to exaggerate.

On the last day of the games, two gladiators, Priscus and Verus fought before the emperor and a packed audience.

Both gladiators were slaves - and friends - and had attracted the attention of Emperor Titus.Very little is known about either man other than the fact that Priscus had been born a slave and Verus had lost his freedom. Verus is reported to have been Rome's greatest gladiator.

What made their contest memorable is that it was long and hard-fought with neither man giving ground to the other. The fight became so protracted that eventually, Titus called a halt to it as there wasn't a victor. The two slaves had fought equally and neither man was the victor nor the vanquished. 

Titus was moved to give each gladiator a rudis - the wooden sword of freedom thus releasing him from slavery - and a monetary reward.

The battle between Priscus and Verus was so epic that the Roman poet Martial wrote a poem about it and as far as I know, this is the only record that exists of a gladiatorial combat.

The picture was sourced from the internet; the text is mine.
   

How very true!

Slaves have no need for clothes.

For both ascetic and disciplinary reasons a slave's natural state is one of  'slave nakedness'.

Ascetically, a slave's naked and muscular body is there to be enjoyed by his Master and all freemen and, at the same time, it must always be available to the whip should discipline be called for.

However, there are two essential items a slave must wear at all times. These are the metal collar and cuffs of slavery to serve as a permanent reminder of his true status as an owned object.

Nova Baiae: The slave-pens of Volpiscus.

This is the latest batch of new slaves recently brought over from the mainland who are scheduled for this week's auction.

Naturally, before taking their places on the auction-block, potential buyers are given the chance to 'inspect' their suitability. Mostly, these inspections take place in situ and the slaves are made to press their bodies hard up against the front of their pen with their exposed cocks and balls protruding through the bars. 

Once in position, the slaves' bodies are readily available for examination and all a buyer has to do is reach between the widely spaced bars to gauge a slave's worth with his hands.

It's worth noting not all buyers are genuine; among their number are the lechers and voyeurs who are there simply to satisfy their own lust. 

Reaching between the bars, eager hands are free to roam at will over naked, male slave-flesh. 

The new slaves are subjected to the humiliation and shame of being treated as the livestock they have become. Biceps are squeezed to ascertain their hardness, nipples are cruelly twisted as a test of a slave's pain threshold, the depth of a slave's belly button probed to test for any weakness, mouths forced open to check the health of both teeth and gums, balls hefted and weighed in cupped hands and unwilling cocks teased into unwanted erections.

Then, finally, the ultimate degradation of all; the order is given to turn their backs to the bars and to 'bend and spread' thus exposing their arses to public scrutiny. Now, hungry fingers caress the tender, puckering flesh of exposed sphincters as foreplay to the slaves being finger-fucked. 

The wily Volpiscus knows his clientele and before placing his slaves on display, he has their arseholes liberally greased with goose fat. This isn't done out of consideration for the slaves; rather it is done to avoid 'damaging the goods'.

The slaves are powerless to prevent any of this from happening and they are well aware of Volpiscus' overseers hovering in the background with their vicious canes and cruel whips ever ready to beat a slave into submission.

If you look to the right of the picture, you can see a terrified young slave named Telemachus cowering in a corner. Soon, he will feel the pain of the lash as he is ordered to his feet and to take his place against the bars. There are buyers very eager to inspect him.