He had known the enterprise was doomed virtually from the beginning, but he carried on, injecting capital, acquiring new acts, paying for repairs to the creaking timber-built stadium. One by one he sold his other profitable interests to finance the project. First to go was the vineyard, then the warehouses, then the ships.
‘You are an idiot,’ he told himself. Fat and rich by twenty-five! He smiled suddenly and patted his stomach. ‘Halfway there,’ he said.
A bitterly cold draught was seeping under the door. Rising, Persis emptied the last of the uisge into his cup and walked out into the open.
A team of Gath workers was moving through the stadium, clearing away the litter left by the Stone spectators. A small boy was working close by. Persis saw he was wearing only a thin cotton tunic, and his arms and face were blue with cold. ‘Boy!’ he called. ‘Come here!’
The lad walked shyly towards him. ‘Where is your coat?’ asked Persis. ‘It is too cold to be dressed like this.’
‘No coat,’ said the boy, his teeth chattering.
‘Go below and find my man, Norwin. Tell him Persis says to give you a coat. Understand?’
‘Yes, lord.’
Persis watched the boy move away, then returned to his office, where at least a fire was blazing. Sitting at the desk he gazed balefully at the debt papers. There was enough coin left to pay most of the debts, and two reasonably good event-days would see to the rest. But next season was another matter. Persis spent some time going through the papers, organizing them into neat piles. They seemed less threatening stacked in this way.
The door opened and his slave Norwin entered. Just over five feet tall, his grey hair thinning, Norwin shivered with the cold, despite the heavy sheepskin coat he wore.
‘Please let this be good news,’ said Persis.
The little man grinned. ‘The horse-riding acrobats have quit,’ he said. ‘Circus Palantes have offered them a two-season contract.’
‘One day you must explain to me your definition of good news,’ said Persis.
‘Kalder has a pulled hamstring, and will not be ready to fight for six weeks. By the way, the surgeon says you have not paid his bill, and unless he receives his money in full by tomorrow he will not be available any longer.’
‘I’ve known plagues that were better company than you,’ grumbled Persis.
‘Oh, and it’s good to know we are now in the happy position of being able to give away coats. By tomorrow every beggar and his brother will be at the door. Perhaps we should set up a stall?’
‘Tell me,’ said Persis, ‘did you ever act like a slave? Yes sir, no sir, whatever you desire, sir . . . that sort of thing?’
‘No. I have one year left,’ said Norwin, ‘and then I shall be free of this indenture, my debts paid. And you will have to offer me a salary. That is if the circus is still operating by then. You know Rage is approaching fifty? How long do you think he will still pull crowds for exhibition fights?’
‘Oh, you are a joy today.’
Norwin sighed. ‘I am sorry, my friend,’ he said. ‘We took less than ninety silvers today, and without the horse acrobats we’ll take less in future. Have you thought about the Palantes offer?’
‘No,’ said Persis.
‘Perhaps you should. Crowds love to see blood.’
‘I know. It is one of the reasons I despise people – myself included. But the Palantes offer would ruin us. We have fifteen gladiators – all of them veterans. Palantes has more than fifty, all of them young and ambitious. Can you imagine what would happen to our old men if we were to pit them against the highly trained young killers of Palantes?’
‘The majority of our men would die,’ said Norwin coldly. ‘Against that we could draw maybe three thousand people, clear all debts, and leave this stadium with enough coin to invest in a truly profitable business.’
‘Are you truly that callous, Norwin? Would you sacrifice our people for money?’
The little slave peeled off his sheepskin coat and stood by the fire. ‘They are gladiators because they choose to be. Fighting is what they live for, what they know. As matters stand we will not be able to pay any of them winter wages, which means that for the next three months they will be begging work at the docks or the timber yards.’