Date: Sat, 16 Nov 2002 11:14:10 -0800
From: arthur <rochopa@xtra.co.nz>
Subject: Mythras Child part 4        authoritarian

					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: