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THE FIGHT IN THE ARENA 333
left dead at evening, indifferent forever to those, wild shouts.
The only two who were not spedati the only two tiros who
were to make their appearance were the young British
captive and the young Phrygian slave.
The long defiant blast of a trumpet smote the air the folding
doors of the main entrance were flung open, and, headed
;
by their trainer, the gladiators in a body marched in proud
procession and with firm steps to the space beneath the
podium, on which stood the gilded chair of the Emperor.
They were only sixty in number, but had been selected for
their skill and physique, and belonged to various classes of
gladiators. They were clad in glittering array their helmets,
their shields, and even their greaves, richly embossed
and gilded.
And none were more curiously scanned than Onesimus,
who walked last of the net-throwers, and Glanydou, who
closed the file of the Samnites. It was impossible not to observe
the towering stature and herculean mould of the Briton,
the lithe and sinewy frame of the dark-eyed Asiatic. Then
the Praetor once more flung down the napkin, in sign that the
fighting should begin. Grouped under the Emperor's seat,
they all uplifted to him their right hands and chanted in
'
monotone their sublime greeting
:
Hail, Csesar ! we who are
about to die salute thee!'
Nero flung them a careless glance, and scarcely broke
the animated conversation which he was holding with
Petronius.
Before the hard fighting began there was some preliminary
skirmishing among all the gladiators, with blunt weapons,
merely to display their skill and a
; pair of andabatce amused
the people by their difficulties in fighting practically blindfold,
for their loose helmets had no eyelet-holes.
Then the trumpet blew once more, and a herald cried out,
'
Lay aside your blunt swords and fight with sharp swords '
;
and Pedanius examined the weapons to see that they were
duly sharp. The display began with the contests of the
horsemen and the charioteers (essedarii). It was not long
before two of the chariots were broken, and their wounded
occupants flung down under the hoofs of their own plunging
horses.
Next, two horsemen, both of them popular favourites, of