Date: Tue, 31 May 2005 00:00:53 -0400
From: Brian Smith <centurion101@gmail.com>
Subject: Ischia Chapter 1

This is a story completely the fruit of my imagination with very
little historical fact sprinkled in. In no way am I an expert on Roman
customs, their army, or Italian geography. If you find an error or
just want to share some insight/knowledge that you have regarding the
story, please email me. I also would love to hear any comments,
criticisms or critiques. There should be plenty of sex, just give me a
little time to get things started. Speaking of which, you should not
be reading this if you are under 18 or the laws of your region do not
permit your reading this story. If that is the case, I suggest you
move. Finally, I retain my copy right to this story and prohibit its
reproduction in any form. Just ask first, I probably don't mind if you
really like it and want to link to it or something.

Ischia
Chapter 1

In 313 AD Constantine, the newly-appointed emperor of Rome, officially
adopted the Christian faith as the religion of the empire. As part of
this agreement, the Church demanded that all homosexuals in the Roman
army renounce their practice or leave the army. Constantine, not
wanting to lose many of his best soldiers chose to compromise by
sending any gay soldiers to remote outposts in order to garrison
important forts, thereby guarding the frontiers of the empire, while
also meeting the demands of the church officials.

One such outpost was the island of Ischia in the bay of Naples.
Pirates seeking to raid the rich south of Italy had to pass closely by
this island paradise before reaching land. The soldiers posted there
would be able to warn residents on the peninsula so that they could
adequately protect themselves. They would also be able to protect the
island should the pirates choose to attack this strategic outpost.

Years before, when times had been more peaceful for Rome, the island
of Ischia had been the playpen of emperors. Emperor Tiberius had built
for himself a lavish palace there in the 1st century BC. Successive
emperors added sumptuous baths and breathtaking gardens. Ischia itself
is set in the beautiful Bay of Naples where the sun shines 250 days of
the year. The weather is always warm and a cool sea breeze refreshes
and renews anyone taking a peaceful walk along the expansive, smooth
beaches.

This then was the new home for some 50 soldiers from the legions of
Southern Italy. Two galleys carried the men to their new home on a
bright, warm day one moon after the summer solstice.  The galleys
landed and the men went ashore carrying their armor and kit. They also
unloaded a month's worth of food in the form of salted meats and fish,
grains, fruits, and vegetables.

The highest ranking man amongst them was a general named Cassius. He
organized the disembarkation and was tacitly appointed the leader of
the garrison. At twenty-four, Cassius had been one of the youngest
generals in Italy, before he was relocated to Ischia. His body was in
peak physical condition. While many men of Cassius' high rank trained
in cavalry warfare, Cassius maintained the rigorous regime of a sword
and lance man that he had used since he was fourteen. This gave him an
incredibly well-defined chest and strong, but agile arms. He brought
with him his partner of four years: Iotus.

Iotus had been given the name of the smallest Greek letter by his
parents because, when he was born, he was a tiny baby but he was also
strong and he grew quickly to become a beautiful six-foot two specimen
of a man. Iotus never really put on much muscle as he originally
entered the army as an archer but was soon transferred to the
messenger squad because of his ability to run fast over long
distances. These two traits gave him a beautiful runner's body with a
slender torso but powerful legs and an archer's arms and back, which
were well-defined without being too muscular. Iotus had been Cassius'
messenger when Cassius was just a lieutenant on the field. Neither one
had realized he was gay until one night after a victorious battle when
Cassius and Iotus returned from a bonfire to celebrate the victory and
Cassius, knowing that the messenger's barracks were on the other side
of the camp, invited Iotus to stay in his tent. That night, while
sleeping in the same bed and both slightly inebriated, the two men
made sensual love to each other for the first time in, what would
become, a long and loving relationship.

Cassius was directing the men to place all their supplies into one of
the warehouses surrounding the port. He decided to send Iotus to
explore their new home and seek out an ideal area to billet the men.
Even though the island played host to four different palaces, some
were in disrepair and would not serve as well as others. As Iotus was
preparing to head up the steep hill leading from the port, he noticed
a man who had lived in his village before he entered the army.
"Giovanni!" Iotus called out, "What are you doing here?"

Giovanni was a strong soldier in the peak of his physical condition.
He was three years younger than Iotus' twenty-one years. The two had
known each other years before but Iotus had mostly spent his time as a
kid with Giovanni's older brother, Marcus, and their gang of friends.
Giovanni joined the army not long after Iotus, but he was placed in
the engineering corps. Giovanni had a great mind for engineering but
he spent the first three years of his time in the engineering corps
running errands for the engineers. He carried heavy supplies, ran up
and down long stretches of road under construction, and worked hard
putting up and breaking down scaffolding for bridges and aqueducts.
All this had given him a well-defined body without over-emphasizing
any particular part.

"I'm here for the same reason you are I guess," Giovanni replied.

"I guess you're right. Well I'm off to explore the island, you
interested in coming? You could fill me in on everything that has
happened since I left home."
Before setting off, the two grabbed a few supplies from the food
stocks in case they missed lunch. They began up a narrow path leading
to the top of the island. After climbing for about an hour the pair
had made it halfway up the island's largest mountain: Monte Vico. They
found themselves on the opposite side of the mountain where Romans
before them had dug out a natural hot spring and built a beautiful
bath. The two were sweating from the long hike and hungry--as it had
been hours since breakfast--so they decided to take a break in the
shade of the bath house.

Iotus and Giovanni sat eating some prosciutto with sourdough bread and
sharing their stories. In the six years since they had last seen each
other, much had changed but the two quickly caught up and began
getting very close. Giovanni had felt very alone once he found out he
had to leave the engineering corps and he had been anxious about
coming to Ischia. Now that he had found someone he knew, he began
attaching onto this older man in a way that he knew had caused him
trouble before. But this time Iotus was not going to reject Giovanni
like so many other men had. Even though Iotus and Cassius were in a
strong relationship, both liked to experience other sexual behaviors
and sometimes bring them, or the men, back to share with each other.
Iotus began to sense that his young friend was interested in him and
it began to make him excited.

As it was summer and southern Italy was quite warm, Iotus was wearing
a short, light tunic. His growing excitement was quickly apparent.
Giovanni was normally very shy but he couldn't miss the message Iotus
was sending him; it was no small letter. Maybe it was the adrenaline
from the climb or maybe it had just been so long since Giovanni had
felt the firm grasp of a man, but he couldn't hold himself back.
Giovanni attacked the soft lips of a willing Iotus. They kissed
forcefully as two, strong, army men would but there was also relief in
that kiss. Both had been scared about what Ischia would hold. They had
been exiled from their families, friends, and country, but this fear
evaporated as Giovanni pressed his lips against Iotus' and slipped his
hungry tongue into the mouth of his eager friend.

Iotus placed his hand on the leg of the slightly smaller Giovanni. He
moved it up to Giovanni's tight butt and with a swift, powerful motion
he lifted the man up off the bench they had been sitting on and laid
him on the floor. Each man quickly stripped the tunic off the other
and suddenly they were both naked. Iotus broke away from Giovanni
breathing heavily and pushed himself up, locking his arms, and
examined his fiery Eros. Giovanni lay underneath also panting with
excitement and anticipation. His strong, cock stood seven inches
straight out of a small patch of light brown pubic hair. A treasure
trail lead up from this patch to the bottom of his navel, but his body
had little other hair. The fast breathing accentuated his hard abs and
caused his smooth pecs to move just enough to draw attention to their
perfection. Before Iotus could continue his survey, Giovanni came out
of the haze he had been in and he grabbed Iotus, pulling him down, and
forcing their two cocks to rub against each other and the smooth
stomach of each man. Giovanni ran his hands over Iotus' strong,
well-defined back, shaped by years of archery. Iotus lifted his head
again but bent back down again, this time to run his now wet lips over
Giovanni's smooth chest. He traveled lower and swirled his tongue
around the excited man's brown nipple. Iotus continued lower still
until he reached Giovanni's penis. Not wanting to ruin the first
contact, he slowly licked the underside, starting at the base and
running to the tip. There he gently kissed the crown and then quickly
thrust the entire shaft deep down his throat. Giovanni gasped and
lifted his head in ecstasy. He was close to blowing right there
because so much excitement had built up in him, but Iotus paused with
Giovanni's throbbing cock deep in his throat, and let the man come
down from the edge.

As soon as Giovanni relaxed back down Iotus began flexing his throat
muscles and bobbing his head up and down Giovanni's cock to drive him
wild. With his right hand, Iotus grasped his lover's nipple, still wet
with his own saliva, and rolled it gently between his forefinger and
his thumb. This proved too much for Giovanni, who hadn't had such
wonderful sex before in his life, and the young man began blowing
salty semen into Iotus' hungry throat. Iotus pulled off enough to let
Giovanni's large load fill his mouth and tickle every one of his taste
buds. Iotus knew well how to handle such large loads and he didn't
leak a single drop. The milk of Giovanni's cock was some of the
sweetest Iotus had ever tasted and he made every effort to savor it as
long as he could before swallowing. With the lingering taste still in
his mouth, Iotus stretched out over Giovanni again and kissed him
firmly to allow the man to taste his own sweet juice.