Friday, March 2, 2012

Assignment 7

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Sophia Wildwood
Ludi and Theater

As they walked from the Gaming House to the Forum Boarium, Arsinoe, full from food and conversation, reflected on the many words of Gaius.
            “Look!” Gaius interrupted her thoughts. Arsinoe turned her had and saw that there were performers and mimes outside of the Temple of Fortuna.
            “Some Ludi put on my some senator.” Arsinoe muttered. She gazed at the undulating ropedancers and women stripping in the mime. Children gathered in a close semicircle around the temple, crouched down so as not to block the view of the many onlookers and participants. Gaius pulled a somewhat resistant Arsinoe to the center of the throng and the mime moved into view, depicting a scene where an old master, distracted by his beautiful and naked neighbor, attempts to chase around a slave who needs to be punished. The slave portraying the master was comical in appearance – fat, with a big round belly, little hair and an expressive face. Arsinoe liked him the best. The slave portraying the slave was, like most young mimes, beautiful and fit with a somewhat cruel expression twisting his mouth.
            Arsinoe looked at Gaius smiling and enjoying the mime. He really seems to like this, she thought. I wonder why – it is just another slave being beaten. To Arsinoe, Gaius looked like one of the children, completely enthralled by the game.
            “You like Ludi, don’t you?” She asked.
            “Oh, I love it – it is what sets Rome apart, what makes us great and what makes us strong!”  Arsinoe shrugged at him and refocused on the mime, now a skit of a husband with the misfortune to catch his wife with the same slave from before (whom Arsinoe thought looked much more involved than before). Her thoughts turned back to Gaius. That’s not why he likes Ludi. Must these senators always justify everything with political propaganda? Its so repetitive.
            “But the real reason why I enjoy Ludi is because they make me smile.” Gaius caught her eye. “And I rarely smile.”
            Oddly, as they continued to watch the mime, Arsinoe could not help but feel warned.