Doctor Who_ Byzantium! - Keith Topping [86]
Which mightn't have meant much to his men, but it allowed Gaius Calaphilus to sleep soundly in his bed at night.
Torture of a Roman citizen was, technically, illegal under the Porcian and Sempronian laws. However it was a permitted way of extracting confessions or of 'examining' the testimony of those suspected of crimes of treason against the state and the empire. For that reason, and that reason alone, Edius Flavia now found himself stripped to his waist and tied with tightly bound leather thongs to the cruciamentuin stauros, a thick and gnarled wooden stake in the centre of the largest dungeon in the barracks.
The one that the soldiers avoided looking at as they passed.
The one from which the screams came.
Ìt is a very simple principle, Flavia,' Gaius told his tribune.
Èither you inform me of the details of those plots and insur-gencies that you have been party to and the names of those that you conspired with or, if you remain silent on these matters, you shall suffer cruciamenturn.’
With the tribune's back turned to Calaphilus, the general could see Edius Flavia's shoulder twitch at the prospect of a severe and possibly deadly scourging.
Calaphilus had often thought that, when put to the ultimate test, most of the young tribunes who served under him were cowardly and insolent curs who could not stand up to the rigours of physical pain. Now was his chance to find out if he was mistaken in his beliefs. He handed the flagellum to the heavily muscled sergeant standing beside him 'Give him a goodly taste of this,' he said. 'But mark you to listen well to whatsoever words he speaks whilst this occurs. And if he reveals his treasons, stop instantly.'
The sergeant indicated that he understood his instructions and took up his position behind Edius Flavia.
`Hold,' continued the general as he walked around the stauros and faced Flavia. 'Your choice, tribune,' he continued.
'An ignoble and harsh torment until you talk, which you will.
And then the ultimate indignity of public execution. Or, simply name the names.’
Edius Flavia gritted his teeth and said nothing. 'Proceed,' said Calaphilus.
The first stroke cut deep into the flesh of the tribune and Gaius heard the terrible gasp of pain from him as the scourge was withdrawn and the metal balls were sucked from the skin into which they had fixed themselves.
`Speak,' commanded Calaphilus. But there was no reply.
On the fifth blow, Edius's knees sagged and he cried out for mercy and for his mother.
On the eleventh, he called on Jupiter to spare him from the pricks of torment.
By eighteen, Flavia was screaming out the intricate details of the plot against Calaphilus. But still, he would not name the names
Ì tire so of these games, tribune,' Gaius told Flavia after twenty-five blows, with the tribune half-slumped against the stauros, his back-flesh caked with smears of blood.
'Stubbornness is not a sign of strength, it is a display of weakness.'
The general turned to the sergeant. 'Salt the wounds and return him to this place tomorrow for a second dose.'
Calaphilus stored the sneaking admiration that he had suddenly acquired for Fiavia somewhere dark and hidden. Tomorrow, tongues would be loosened, and the world would seem a much less troublesome place.
Until then, the general would sleep fitfully, if at all, tonight.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Give 'Em Enough Rope
And when he had looked round about
on them with anger, being grieved for
the hardness of their hearts
Mark 3:5
Are you able to translate this passage, Doctor? I, myself, am having abominable difficulties with the inflections and the tense.'
Rayhab handed the Doctor a fragment of frayed and torn papyrus written in a scratchy and indistinct hand that the Doctor recognised instantly as that of the prophet Mark himself.
Ìt seems to be something about sending a message to someone,' added Amos, helpfully. ‘It's probably part of one of the letters from Paul to the churches of the nations.'
The Doctor ran his finger along the first