The German fighter and the Roman Emperor by thadeusz

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When this story started, Gandalf was a huge young adult. He was very strong and also very big. He was a member of a small tribe of Germans living at the start of the 1st century. He was a great hunter who worked hard in his little village and hoped to marry Adalgard, the beautiful daughter of Beaugulf, the chief of the tribe. Gandalf had very long blond hair which he let floating freely in his back. He also happened to be the chief of the defence force created by Beaugulf to defend the village against the Roman Legions sent by Emperor Augustus and led by General Varus.

Gandalf fought well and succeeded to defeat his enemies, and his tribe’s enemies, many times. But Varus had many soldiers and one sad day, the Roman soldiers won. Many Germans were killed and several were taken prisoners to show them with chains in Rome to the Emperor as a sign of victory. Gandalf was one of the prisoners and the fact that he was a former leader made his capture more important.

Varus also forced the chief to accept a peace treaty which placed this chief, and his tribe, under the authority of the Romans. As a sign of respect for this peace treaty, Varus required that Beaugulf give him two children as warrants for the respect by the German of the Roman law. These two boys were Beaugulf’s nephew Otmar and his own son, Eburwin. Both children were 6 year-olds and were to be raised as servants of Roman citizens. The two kids were placed in a wooden cage, and the cage was placed on a cart provided with a leather harness conceived for an ox. Two prisoners were selected to pull, in turns, that cart. One of them was Gandalf who had been selected because he was strong and had to be humiliated: a former chief reduced to play the role of an ox. The other prisoner was Folcher, a brave fighter who was wounded.

After a few days, Folcher, the second "ox" died of his wounds and Gandalf remained alone to pull the cart where Eburwin and Otmar were locked up. Gandalf himself was chained with solid irons on his ankles. His wrists were attached to a solid stick and his neck bore the metallic collar, sign that he was now a slave.

Varus went back to Rome. A victory parade was organized: the General came first on his horse, then came the main officers at the head of their cohorts followed by the different centurions leading, on foot, their men. It was beautiful. Beautiful, but not for everybody: Gandalf with his chains and his metallic collar despised himself for surviving the fight he had lost. He could do nothing to get free again. He was still pulling Otmar’s and Eburwin’s cart. The two boys looked like savage prisoners in their cage and Gandalf was in chains. He was harnessed with a leather horse harness in order to show to all the Romans that his German tribe was now "plowing for Rome".

After the victory parade, Varus took the two children with him, in his palace, as his reward but also as his wards. He later gave his prisoner Gandalf to his best officer who in turn gave it, again as a reward, to one of his former centurions who was now one of his farmers. Gandalf was as of that moment a farmer’s slave, which was another humiliation for the former great fighter.

The farmer kept Gandalf as he was, with his chains and his slave collar. He gave him some rags to cover his private parts, but not more and he put him to work. Gandalf’s hands were constantly attached to a small metallic stick, which kept them permanently apart and made his life difficult. But his owner did not want to risk a rebellion: the revolt of Spartacus was not yet forgotten in Rome.

Gandalf had to work hard in the fields. He had also to provide fresh water by making a wheel turn. In fact, Gandalf’s hands were attached to a large horizontal wheel and he had to push it in circles. That movement made a complex system work and brought up jugs which had been plunged in a well down below and emptied these jugs on plants ! Gandalf hated that job since it made him turn like a rat in a cage and showed him more that he was only a slave.

This slave job lasted about one year until Artorius arrived. Artorius was a Greek. He was a free man, but not a Roman. He was the head and the owner of a gladiators team. He went everywhere searching for good fighters. When he saw Gandalf with his great mane and all his strong muscles, he decided that he had to have this man. Artorius bought Gandalf and paid quite a lot. He took him, still in chains, to his gladiators school and pushed him in a cage provided with strong metallic bars. He gave him good food and better clothes and he let him rest.

The next day, he started to teach Gandalf how to fight as a gladiator. He trained him to fight and kill even if the opponent was not an enemy. He let him start to fight against weaker men, against strong kids who seemed to be weak but were not, against all possible fighters. Artorius presented his new gladiator, still a slave, to many people. He let him fight and kill whenever the audience required that the winner should kill. Gandalf became a great fighter, a great gladiator, a great killer. But as soon as the fight was over, Artorius’ helpers took hold of Gandalf, chained him and brought him back to his cage. There he could rest on his couch made of straw and eat as much good food as he wanted.

One day, Artorius appeared in front of the cage (he always stayed outside for security reasons). He told Gandalf that the Emperor had heard about him and wanted to see him in combat against another gladiator. It would be a deadly combat in the main Circus of Rome. The gladiator who won that fight and killed the other one would also gain his freedom and lots of money given by the Emperor. Artorius would of course have his share of it, but only if Gandalf won. Otherwise, it would be the reward of the owner of the opponent.

There was just a detail: the gladiator had to be well clothed and should have a good appearance. Clothes for Gandalf were easily found. The rest was more difficult: Artorius required Gandalf to cut his big mane in order to look more Roman like. Gandalf did not want to do that. Artorius told him that it was necessary: if he won, which was very likely, he would be seated next to the emperor clad in the Roman clothes worn by free men. Gandalf asked if he would be free to go back to his original village and Artorius told him that he would be completely free and could thus go wherever he wanted. Gandalf hoped to meet again his former lover, Adalgard, the beautiful daughter of the chief Beaugulf. He did not know if she was still alive, but hope made him decide to accept the fight, and the haircut.

Gandalf trained very seriously for this fight. One day he was brought to the Circus Maximus where the fight would take place. There he was placed in a cage, for security reasons, and chained to the wall when he was not training. The cage was much bigger than his usual cage, the food was good. The hay used as straw for his couch had been especially selected. Gandalf fell confident: he wanted to win his fight and he knew he would do it.

On the day of the fight, very early, Artorius entered the cage and made Gandalf sit on a chair. His first chair in years ! The slave was then carefully chained in order to stop him trying to attack his master. But Gandalf did not think about a rebellion: he wanted his fight and his freedom.
The master then started to carefully cut Gandalf’s very long hair. He cut them tuft after tuft. When he was done with a first cut, he cut again in order to equalize the haircut. He kept cutting until Gandalf’s haircut looked like a real Roman haircut: a not too short buzz cut. He then took a bowl full of water and some soap plant (the Romans did not use real soap, only plants). He used this to make a nice mixture which he put on whatever remained of Gandalf’s hair. He then took a great razor with a long blade and started to clean what was left of Gandalf’s hair. During all this process Gandalf remained unmoved, even when Artorius pushed or turned his whole body to have a better access to the last remaining hair.
At the end of all this, Gandalf was perfectly bald.

Artorius then gave Gandalf the clothes he would have to wear for the fight: they were also Roman clothes.

At noon, the fight started. Gandalf’s opponent was a young but very agile man, looking like a Roman by birth. He was wearing a mask and Gandalf could not see who he was, but he had a long mane, like a German and his build reminded Gandalf of somebody he had known in the past, but he could not remember who it was.
Gandalf did not wear a mask and he also looked like a real Roman with his new haircut. He paid his respects to the Emperor.

Someone asked the young man to take off his mask for a few minutes in order to pay his respects to the Emperor. The young man refused. He said that he was a German and that he did not recognize the Emperor of the Romans as his own king or emperor.

Hearing the young man’s voice, Gandalf recognized behind the mask the young boy he had pulled in a cage from their common village to Rome: Gandalf’s opponent was Eburwin, Beaugulf’s youngest son. His opponent was thus the very youngest brother of his best beloved, Adalgard.

Gandalf realized that Eburwin could not recognize him with his bald head and with his Roman tunic: he was only a small boy when he was taken from his German village as a peace warrant ! It was also impossible for Gandalf to kill someone so close to him, but he had to do it if he wanted to get his freedom back. The great fighter did the only possible thing for him: he simulated a stupid attack against his opponent and nearly sprung on his sword. In a few seconds, Gandalf was dead. Eburwin’s life had been saved.

The Emperor did not like the situation: the fight had not been a good one. But he had made a promise and he made Eburwin a fully free man. Artorius tried to explain that Gandulf had lost because he had been ordered to cut his big mane. In fact, claimed Artorius, all Gandulf’s might resided in his mane and cutting it made Gandulf a very weak man. The Emperor did not accept this explanation and let Artorius be chained in order to serve him as fresh food for the lions during the next game.

Eburwin realized with sadness that he had killed a man of his own kin. He left Rome freely and went back to his village where he announced what had happened. On hearing that story, his older sister, Adalgard, who had been hopelessly waiting for Gandalf, suddenly died.

Eburwin became chief and decided to take a dreadful revenge on the Romans, but this is another story.

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