Since they were about to be sent to the gladiator school, the two were assigned light tasks. As of now, Zhang Heng had still not experienced the cruel oppression of the evil slavery system created by the current society.
As if he had completely forgotten about them, the overseer did not come to them to assign them new tasks after they had finished their work. Hence, Zhang Heng and Varo made use of the time for a short break.
Zhang Heng started communicating with Varo a little more, trying to get as much useful information as possible. His knowledge of ancient Rome was limited to only the more famous historical figures and historical events. Varo, on the other hand, was different. Before he became a slave, he was a Roman citizen and a businessman. He was well informed about current happenings. Although he had a burly figure, he was very kind, probably feeling sorry for what he did to Zhang Heng earlier. Hence, he answered every question that Zhang Heng posed.
Taking into account their current situation, Zhang Heng first asked Varo about the status of the slaves. Varo told him that the slaves lived at the very bottom rung of Roman society. Their fate, however, varied among each other.
“Of course.” Varro explained patiently, “For instance, slaves working in the city usually fare better than those in the countryside. That is because the city is relatively richer, and with wealthier families, it naturally led to improved living conditions for the slaves. Some nobles care about their reputation a lot, so they ensured that they provided opportunities to display their kindness to others. Most of these don’t overwork their slaves. Their job includes taking care of their masters and cleaning the house. There is not much heavy work for them. On the other hand, slaves sold to the countryside have a completely different fate.”
Varro licked his slightly dry lips and continued. “Being sold to the countryside, slaves had to do either farming or mining. The food that they eat and their living conditions are terrible. All their masters care about is making them work nonstop, not caring about how their slaves live. The more they do, the less they get to eat. And at the same time, they will earn more money. Female slaves suffer an even worse fate. They are forced to keep giving birth to babies. Every time a child is born, that’s money for the masters. When the child grows up, they will either enslave or sell it off.”
“Then what about the investment you mentioned earlier?” Zhang Heng asked.
“Oh, that is the best destiny for a slave with a certain talent like me. The slave can ask the owner to invest a sum of money in him and start a business. As long as you can bring a steady stream of income to the owner, your status will slowly grow. The higher your status, the less you have to serve your master. And if you are lucky, you will eventually regain your freedom. In order to motivate other slaves, many masters come up with a certain amount of money. Once the slave earns that amount of money, he will be able to regain his status as a Roman citizen again.”
“It sounds good,” Zhang Heng said.
Varo hesitated and then added, “Actually, a gladiator… is a way out for the slave as well, albeit barely. If you can pass the assessment and become a gladiator, your status will be higher than an ordinary slave. And if you can win a certain number of battles in the arena, you can regain your freedom too. However, it is an extremely challenging task. There were many gladiators with extraordinary combat skills. Unfortunately, they didn’t survive to the day they would regain their freedom. Let alone us. By the way, where are you from? I have never seen someone with your facial features.”
“I come from the Great Han Empire in the Far East,” Zhang Heng said.
Zhang Heng was not lying. In the second century AD, China was ruled by the venerable Eastern Han Dynasty. At that time, the Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire were the two most powerful empires globally. In the future, there would be heated discussions on online forums about who would turn out to be the winner if a fight brought out between the Han Dynasty and Rome.
Although China had unearthed artifacts like the Roman Cup, there had been no unified answer among the archaeological community regarding whether or not Rome had contact with the Han Dynasty. Let alone a battle between them. That said, such rhetorical and subjective talk with no absolute answer could go on forever.
Sure enough, Varo was at a loss when he heard about the Han Empire, and he had no idea where China was. “Then why did you come to Rome and become a slave?”
“I wanted to see what’s on the west side. That was why I traveled here. When I went to Persia, I encountered a robber. He attacked me and sold me to a slave trader. After that, the slave trader transported me to Rome.”
Zhang Heng casually made up a believable story.
“You have been so unfortunate, my eastern friend.” Varo mourned for Zhang Heng for three seconds. In his opinion, Zhang Heng’s temperament and well-maintained skin were proof he was a nobleman. And he also guessed that Zhang Heng was no ordinary nobleman but one with a prestigious status.
Varo suspected something wrong with Zhang Heng. Why would he give up on the good life of being part of the ruling class and come to a place that was so far away from where he lived. Not only was he attacked by a robber, but he was also sold to a slave trader. Now, there would be no way for him to return home, and it increasingly seemed like he was going to lose his life here.
However, before Varo felt sorry for Zhang Heng, he thought his own tragic experience was not much better than Zhang Heng. His mood dropped to the bottom of the sea again. At the same time, he felt that his relationship with Zhang Heng had only gotten closer. Both of them had lived a good life, but great misfortune had befallen them and turned them into slaves.
Varo could not help but pat his chest and said, “Don’t worry, if I regain my freedom in the future. I will make a lot of money, redeem your freedom from this arena, and let you return to your hometown.”
“Thank you very much,” replied Zhang Heng politely. However, he did not take Varo’s promise seriously.
Since he knew that slaves were at the bottom of Roman society, he would not allow himself to stay a slave the entire game. Fortunately, although Rome was in the stage of slavery, that did not mean there was no way for the slaves to regain their freedom. According to Varo, they could regain their status as Roman citizens through hard work. The status of a Roman citizen was higher than that of a foreigner. Logically speaking, a civilian could also transform into a noble. Of course, it was way harder than transforming from a slave to a civilian.
Zhang Heng did not need to overthink things at this stage. He needed to focus on getting rid of his slave status first.
The two chatted for a while until dinner.
In all fairness, dinner was quite good. It was not comparable to the food that Zhang Heng ate from where he came from. Other than the beans in the porridge, Zhang Heng found meat and crabs in it.
However, Varo did not cheer up when he saw the meat. He then whispered to Zhang Heng, “It seems that they are really planning to make us enter the gladiator school.”
