A Real Gladiator Never Says I’m Sorry

The opening narration of 1960’s Spartacus refers to the Christian faith overthrowing the pagan “tyranny” of Rome, implying that all that was wrong with ancient Roman society was due to paganism. Except as the narrator makes clear a moment later, slavery wasn’t abolished for another 2,000 years. That’s right, Christianity did nothing to abolish slavery; when … Continue reading A Real Gladiator Never Says I’m Sorry

Freedom!

Howard Fast’s novel Spartacus is told in a non-linear fashion. It begins after the Servile War has concluded and three Romans are traveling along the Via Appia which is dotted with the signa poenae or “tokens of punishment” as the Romans slyly refer to the “six thousand, four hundred and seventy-two corpses hanging from crucifixes”, the … Continue reading Freedom!

A Common Enemy

In 1959 a story was published that described three mysterious stores that seemingly appeared out of nowhere, in Tokyo, Paris, and New York City. The shops called themselves Martian Shops and displayed technology that was far in advance of anything heretofore known on earth. The stores were staffed by salespeople wearing skin-tight face masks and … Continue reading A Common Enemy