CHILD OF MYTHRA
Part Four
By Arthur
"How does your back feel, Eric?"
"It's better now, it feels looser and now there's hardly any pain, just a numbness most of the time."
"Well lets get back to our history lesson, lets get comfortable again, you ok down there?"
"Yeah this is great."
I settled back again and put my hand on his head softly stroking his hair, it was a relaxing feeling and helped to organise my mind as he sat and watched me with anticipation.
"Well the children of Mythraenos started their training from the day they were born, on the night of their birth they were left naked and the fathers sheild was layed outside the door to the house upside down with a black cloth laid on it and the baby was put down on top of it, he ] was left there for the night, if he was still alive and fighting in the morning he was taken back into the house to be raised to adulthood and given his name, if he died during the night as he had no name he was not mourned but instead cremated that day and the ashes given to Mythros in thanks for his honour, breast feeding was kept to a minimum and as soon as the baby could be weaned he was begun on a diet which was the norm for the people and any more he wanted he had to go and find for himself, even though he had to crawl to do so, the normal fare for those days in Mythraenos was usually olives, goat cheese, wine and a type of gruel that most others outside Sparta said was so vile that it was inedible and that only the Spartans could stomach it. As the child grew he became attached to others of his age group and they hunted for food or stole what they wanted to eat, then spent most of their time fighting with others in readiness for their adulthood, they were kept naked until they were seven years old and then they were given their one peice of clothing that they would wear winter or summer and that was a tunic that barely covered them but that was all they were allowed and they were never given sandals unless they were going into battle so their feet became like steel shod boots, from the age of five they were beaten daily with a Strega, which is like a paddle but made from ox hide, it was about two feet long with a handle of wood, the leather strap was quite rigid about one hand wide, that is about six inches, and four hands in length, the leather was about a half inch thick and on one side was smooth and oiled, on the other it was rough and studded with small holes, in the morning when they arose the five year olds would line up and standing at what we now call The Present they would wait while the six year olds would give them five strokes with the oiled side on their back or butts, in the eveniing before they retired for the night they were given five strokes with the rough side, if they called out or moved they were made to crouch down in what we call The Position of Penitence and recieved one stroke from each of their age group for showing weakness in front of their group, after this was down then the six year olds would line up and the seven year olds would do the duty until they got to the ten year olds, when it was their turn they would line up the same for the next older group but they would recieve ten strokes morning and night, by the age of eight or nine they were almost looking forward to the pleasure it gave them and would wait with anticipation for their turn, even when they joined their conclave this went on until they went to their first battle and then after that they were deemed to important to the state for it to continue.You have all this buddy?"
"It's facinating, did they really like the pain each day?"
"Yes as far as we can tell it became a mark of honour with them, anyway they continued with their training in battle tactics and weaponry, they were all after years of training very competent with all the weapons of the time like the javelin, heavy spear, sling, bow and long sword, but they of all the Spartans only used the short sword in battle and the only armour they wore was a pair of greaves on their legs and a helmet and shield, the rest of their bodies were never covered with armour like so many others as this they believed, with their training the freedom it gave for better movement and speed out weighed the advantages of armour and the shorter sword was to show honour to Mythros who would keep their soul in a special place by his side if they died in battle for his honour, now as you can imagine being children and growing up in a place as hard as that, they were always hungry and to ease that they were expected to search themselves for any other food they needed and if they had to then steal it which was the norm, there was no disgrace in stealing only in being caught and the penalty was very severe for being caught and the whole age group was dishonoured if oone of them was caught even though the culprit was openly punished by the towns councilor the whole group was laughed at by the rest of the boys and adults for being so careless as to let one of their own be caught, the penalty for being caught was thirty strokes of the Strega, given by a newly admitted teen in one of the conclves, that is where we got our Master of The Rod from he is responsible for official punishment under the sign of the Mythraand at the command of the council of Primes, got all that Eric?"
"Yes, they were a tough lot then?"
"yes, very tough and very dedicated, there are many stories of their valour and hardiness in battle but the two most prominent ones were the battle of the six hundred and the battle at Thermopylae where they were most famous for their dedication to king and state.In 547bc when Argos tried to recover Kynouria from the Spartans they agreed that instead of a full battle each side would select three hundred soldiers and the winner of the mini battle would take possesion of the city and state,The Spartans selected three hundred from Mythraenos and the Argives three hundred Hoplites, now a Hoplite was well armoured and held a full length shield also they used a heavy spear and carried a long sword, as you already know the Mythraenians had only their light greaves and shields with short swords and it would seem that they would not stand much of a chance against well armoured troops as the Hoplites but at the end of the fughting their was only two Hoplites alive and one Mythraenian and he was wounded but still standing, the Argives believing they had won left the field of battle claiming victory, but the Mythraenian named Othryades stood his ground and after the Agives had left went around the battle field and dismembered all the enimy bodies then took his own life on the pile of bodies rather than return home to what he saw as a defeat but which the Spartans claiimed also as a victory as their man was the last standing on the field after the Agives left. As both sides claimed victroy they later decided to finish it the old way and the Argives were destroyed in the ensuing battle, the Spartans led, as it would seem right, by two hundred Mythraenians into the battle to regain honour for Mythros and to avenge the death of Othryades. In 480bc Xerxes the Persian arrived at Thermopylae with his army of many thousands and when he found that the pass was only defended by three hundred Spartans and a mixed group of about seven thousand Hoplites from other friendly states commanded by King Leonidas Xerxes could not believe his eyes at the small force and add to that the fact the Spartans were sitting around doing their hair and exercises instead of getting ready for the battle, Exerxes thought this was going to be easy but he was also confused at the antics of the three hundred Spartans, so he called his general Demaratos to explain, He told Exerxes that they were preparing to fight to the death and that it would not be an easy battle as the Spartan first ranks would be made up of two hundred Mythraenians and they would not retreat or surrender to Exerxes. Exerxes didn't believe him and delayed the battle for four days thinking that the enimy would run from the field as soon as they saw the size of his army, it is said that one of the Hoplites was heard to say that he had heard that the archers of Exerxes were so many that the sky would darken with the arrows as the flew, a Mythraenian was heard to answer "So we will fight in the shade" when the asked to surrender their arms King Leonidas said "come and take them", on the fifth day Exerxes ordered the attack but when his troops were beaten back time and again he ordered his best forward, they were called the Immortals and were some ten thousand troops, the best in the army of Exerxes, for two days they attacked time and again but were pushed back sustaining huge losses until eventually Exerxes was told about a Malian called Ephialtes who knew of a secret pass over the hills and behind the Spartans, he sent his best troops and the lightly held pass was surrendered to his tropps and they came up behind the Spartan army in the pass of Thermopylae,when King Leonidas learned of this he called all his troops together and told them what had happened and if they wanted to find a better place to defend,King Leonidas was bound by the laws of Sparta and it is said that the Oracle at Delphi had said a king must fall at Thermopylae for Sparta to be safe decided to stay and fight but would allow those who wanted to go, to leave the feild, most of the Hoplites left but not one Spartan or Mythraenian moved, they knew they would all die but their duty to state and god their gods would never allow them to retreat, when all was decided King Leonidas did not wait for the attack to come but with his three hundred Spartans and seven hundred Thespians spearmen charged the Persian thousands and pushed them back to the beach until at last as the last of the spearmen fell they started to lose ground to the superior numbers, King Leonidas was killed during the battle and the Persians tried four times to steal his body but were beaten back by sword carrying Mythraenians until the last one fell and all there was on the field of battle was death and of course honour, as a mark of the ultimate in honour for stand of the three hundred Spartans the Greeks raised a marble Lion on the spot with the insciprtion,
'Oh stranger, tell the lacedaemonians (Spartans),
that we lay here, obediant to their laws'
This act is the basis of our belief in the need to protect our slaves as they protected their state, and is a very important part or our belief in the Mythra, now the part that is pertinent to you a a Child of Mythra is in the fact that during the old Olympic games a Spartan won the games more often than any other state in fact it is believed that they won it more than fourty times out of the eighty times it was held, of the more than fourty times it is thought that it was a person from Mythraenos that won it more than twenty five times for Sparta and he was given the title of "Son of Mythros" and was allowed to fight at the right hand of the King in battle which is the ultimate honour for a Spartan, also as "The Son of Mythros" reguardless of his age he was allowed to select first a wife then two young boys as his partners, they tended to all his needs and only when he went to his wifes bed for the purpose of having children of his own, did the boys not sleep with him, his wife was for the bearing of children only and his young men were for his pleasure and would serve him anything he wanted, they also fought beside him when the time came as they were still Mythraenians and had a duty and honour to maintain, these two boys were given priveledges and honours far beyond the other boys in their age group because of the standing of their protector and if he fell in battle they would fight on over his body till they also fell or if the battle finished before they died then they would take their own lives so as to accompany him to the throne of Mythros as a sign of their final honour, this is why you now are more important than the other submissives, you are named after these boys and as 'The Child of Mythra' your duty and sense of honour must guide you in you future, soon you will be asked for advise and help from other slaves, your decisions will affect them and our honour, you're going to have a big load on your shoulders, but I want you to always remember that I'm not only your Master but your Protector, you have any doubts at all about anything you can come to me for advice, at first it will be difficult for you to advise the others but I'm sure you'll get the hang of it in time, just always remember I'm here to Protect you, I will never let you be hurt by anyone, so there we are kiddo thats the outline of our history, what do you think?"
"I,I,I'm stunned, its so much, they were so brave, I couldn't do that sort of thing."
"You already have."
"When?"
"Last night, thats why you're "The Child of Mythra" what you did is the same as the three hundred at Thermopylae and Kynoria, it was in a different way but it was just as brave as they were."
"I didn't think of it like that."
"Well it was, buddy, now before we go onto the ceremony I think we should take another break, how's your back feel, are you up to being able to hold the present for a longer time?"
"Yes James, I have to, my back doesn't matter now, I want to be a true follower if I can."
"You already are my little dove, you are more valuable to me than life itself."
"Th,thanks, James."
"You're welcome, kiddo now lets rest a bit, then we'll start again.
To Be Continued: