Slaves of the Empire

by Aaron Travis

The brutality of battle—and the pain and pleasures of being a slave! Swords clang harshly as the arena crowd goes wild. Magnus, the mightiest gladiator in all of Rome, gives the people what they want—bloodlust and death for their entertainment. He and his mortal enemy, Urius, are the best of the best of the slaves doing battle for the roaring crowds. Magnus is invincible—or is he? A conspiracy of evil unfolds around him, threatening to destroy him in ways he could never imagine. You see, cruel Senator Marcellus has plans for the slave. Plans of pleasure—and of pain. Slaves of the Empire is critically acclaimed author Aaron Travis' classic gladiator epic of slavery, sex, and sadism, reprinted for a new generation of heated readers of gay erotica. Slaves of the Empire immerses readers in the brutal age of ancient Rome, when the powerful took their sadomasochistic pleasure from the weak, and pain and death awaited every slave, no matter how strong. If you've ever loved the oily gladiator adventures of the past, you are in for a treat. This tale has it fine writing, complex characters, and a story of rivalry, power, and torment—and of course, an abundance of steamy gay sex. It is the Roman Empire in all its glory, built with the hot blood, sweat, and tears of the slaves. An excerpt from Slaves of the Before him stood Urius, naked as Magnus had last seen him. His blond mane was golden in the warm candle glow. The planes of his face were perfect and smooth like polished marble after the sculptor's touch. His eyes shone. His broad mouth was curved into a sensuous smile, inviting and almost friendly. "So, the newest pleasure slave of the great Senator Marcellus is finally awake." Urius smiled more broadly and stepped toward him. He raised his hand and Magnus flinched—but the touch was gentle, beginning at the hollow of his throat and running with oily smoothness down his chest and belly. Magnus strained to move, and could not; his body was bound in the shape of an X, arms and legs extended and held fast in the posture of slaves crucified upon the cross. At Urius' touch, a shudder of apprehension and strange excitement ran through him. Urius was gazing at his chest. "Oh, Magnus, I have always wanted to see you like this. So naked, so smooth. So ready to be broken upon your master's rod." Slaves of the Empire is a fast-paced gay erotic novel for anyone looking for a red hot, thrilling fantasy. But be forewarned—this book is not for the faint-hearted.

Genres: M M Romance, Erotica, BDSM, Historical, LGBT, Historical Fiction, Abuse

171 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Aaron Travis is the pen name of Steven Saylor.

Reviews

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you, Bo, for recommending this to me :-)

I just love how the author's note explained that this novella was written originally in 1982! 

And then the story opens with:

Open your mind and let down your guard. Let me tell you a story...

I was already hooked by then. And I was not disappointed by the skill and quality of the writing at all throughout the whole book!

But a few sentences into the story, my jaw dropped.



I've read and liked James Lear's work. I'm even a fan of Lisa Henry's dark m/m work.

But this.... this is so much beyond any boundaries I know of that I didn't even dare post any status updates for fear of getting banned from goodreads.

Jesus Christ! I do not want to know how the author came up with the things in this story. It literally ticks off everything on the spectrum of fetishes, from incest to beastiality, you name it.

The erotica aspect is in every single sentence. It is simply everywhere and most of the time it is comically exaggerated, so don't expect this story to really arouse you. It's more of a Holy S*hit!! effect.

Unusually large penises, bodily functions that I do not think work the way they are portrayed in this story and most of all lots of cruelty and non-consensual sex EVERYWHERE!! I think there is almost ONLY non-consensual sex and rape. So don't bother even looking for some romance here. (Maybe a little)

BUT despite all that, the story is great!!
The author freely admits that this is pure fantasy and not historically accurate in any way. And yet it felt grittier and more realistic than many m/m novels nowadays that are set in Ancient Rome.

Inspired by the Italo-American sandal movies of the 1960s, the plot goes like this:
Magnus is a famous gladiator (and a hairy muscle hunk, I need to emphasize that, LOL) who is - as yet - undefeated in the arena. A senator offers him a bribe (a night with two super handsome German princes who were captured recently and are now pleasure slaves) if he wins a fight. 

So far so good. Since it's a fight to the death, it's not really necessary to bribe the guy anyway, but Magnus has the hots for the German twins, so he  gladly accepts the offer. 

However, the next time the senator approaches Magnus, it is to bribe him to lose a fight - promising him that the emperor would give him a thumbs up in the arena (sparing his life) and that he would get his freedom AND the hot twin boys on top. He just needs to sacrifice his honor and lose against his biggest enemy: Handsome and sex-driven blond gladiator stud Usius.

Oh boy, my summary sounds like the back cover of a cheap 1980s porn VHS. Well, I can live with that.

In any case, if you're looking for something DIFFERENT, then this is your book of choice, LOL.

5 stars for shocking the hell out of me and making people think I had blood pressure issues because I was blushing so much reading this :-)

[Dia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 stars

[Rocketkoala]

Slaves in Rome were a large and shifting population comprised of those born into slavery, those captured in battle, slaves purchased from outside Rome, and the children of Romans who found themselves in financial distress.

Slavery in Rome bears more resemblance to the indentured servitude of other cultures- slaves could accumulate wealth (some were wealthier than many plebians) and buy their freedom. Official manumission lead to citizenship in the Roman Empire, and the children of freed slaves could hold political office. However cruelty was common, and legal protections for slaves were nearly nonexistant during the period of the Republic.

At the height of the slave system, slaves comprised 25-40% of the population of Rome. The rising class consciousness of slaves and the economic destabilization caused by rising unemployment in the face of slave labor contributed to the downfall of the Roman Republic.

None of this is discussed in this book.

[mark monday · Rating 2 out of 5]

read during my Punk Rock Flophouse Years

I Remember: extremely brutal erotica set during the Roman Empire... "rapey" doesn't even begin to describe it... man, Aaron Travis can actually write! is that a pseudonym for an actual author? he is definitely no amateur... excellent period detail, interesting character development... sex scenes that are beyond savage... Marcy & I read this one out loud to each other in fey & lisping Gay Voice, which made all the extreme brutality & constant rape seem a lot less non-consensual... read this one again on my own a few years later, to see if it pushed a few buttons, so to speak... mixed results.

[Willo Font]

Steven Saylor (born March 23, 1956) is an American author of historical novels. I'm most familiar with "Rome" and "Empire". I'm about to start reading "The Seven Wonders"
Being bored with "The Zzzzzstone" , I picked up this short novel about gladiators, writen by him under the pen name of Aaron Travis. This is labeled as, gay erotic fiction . Wow! was I in for a surprise. This makes "50 shades of Gray " look like 5o shades of beige.
You have to remember that this was writen in the 80's. Most common slogan at that time was, "The bigger ,the better, the burgers are bigger at Burger King. Well, this rule applies tenfold.I was even a bit shocked ,which is somethin 50 shades of grey never achieved and it's todler's play compared to this.
Did I mentioned I read it in one sitting .

[SA · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the most historically accurate erotica I've ever read. Not for the faint of heart.

[Nico Jaye]

BDSM-y gay erotic fiction set in ancient Roman times with gladiators. Written in the mid-1980s (!!!). This is kind of piquing my interest at the moment. Also, it was written under a pseudonym by Steven Saylor, a historical novelist, and it's supposed to have a lot of historically accurate detail.

[Víctor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great porn, could've definitely been harder.

[Carole-Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rather well done Roman-period gladiator story - but then what else would one expect from Steven Saylor :)

[Rand Boyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent for what it sets out to do. Historical accuracy is minimal, but that isn't the purpose of the narrative is it?

[Valber · Rating 1 out of 5]

Slaves of the Empire
PORNOGRAPHIC GARBAGE

I was looking for steamy, gladiators, man-on-man action and found a collection of bad written, incoherent porn scenes mixed with what sometimes looks like a manual for pedophiles. The entire thing is pornographic garbage.

[Beta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Size is not everything. I don‘t mind the kink, the fetish, the non-consensual, that was part of the deal. But this obsession about size, that was kind of boring. „Built like a horse“... okay, if thats your thing, go for it. *rollseyeshard

[Lens Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bondage, sex and submission a hot boy on boy read

[Steven Patterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is too damn short!

[R. Parr · Rating 4 out of 5]

So yeah, this book was er, strong meat, as they say. Really well written, with nice period detail.

Cheers to Martin for the rec!

[Dolphe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Those naughty Romans .. when they're good, they're very good ... when they're bad they're better!!