Livia Address the Gladiators

Gather ‘round . . . Now, these games are being held in honor of my son Drusus Nero, who is worth the whole lot of you put together. It’s my intention that these games shall be remembered long after you’re all dead and forgotten, even by your nearest and dearest. You’re all scum and you know it. But you have a chance here, some of you, to prove that you’re a bit more than that, and for those whom death doesn’t liberate, there will be plenty of freedoms handed out afterwards, to say nothing of gold plate and coin. But, I want a good show. I want my money’s worth. I don’t want any kiss in the ring stuff, and I don’t want my family watching two grown men pussyfooting around each other for half an hour before one of them aims a real blow. There’s been much of that in the past. And don’t think you can fool me either because I know every trick in the book, including the pig’s blood in the bladder to make it look as if one of you is dead, there’s been too much of that too lately. These games are being degraded by the increasing use of professional tricks to stay alive, and I won’t have it. So put on a good show, and there will be plenty of money for the living and a decent burial for the dead, and if not, I’ll break this guild up, and send the lot of you to the mines in Numidia. That’s all I’ve got to say to you.