But I am not grateful. I suffered too much. I am still smarting
with indignation.

"And, apart from any remains of anger, I ache with the humiliation
of it all. Think of the infamy, of the degradation Almo has brought
on himself!"

Lutorius pursed his lips.

"There is a certain social stigma upon any man who has joined
a prize-fighting gang," he conceded, "but the obloquy resulting
from having been a gladiator has greatly attenuated amid the
loose manners of our day. Nothing that becomes fashionable
remains disgraceful. The social disgrace of it has greatly
lessened as the thing has become more usual, and freemen who
have been gladiators are rather acclaimed and sought after than
condemned and shunned. They win a sort of vogue, if successful
fighters.

"The treatment of such persons has greatly changed in recent
years. Even since I began to remember there has been an all
but universal alteration in the general attitude towards such
cases--they have become too numerous for the old feelings to
survive. Not only Roman citizens have entered gladiatorial
schools, risen high in the profession, fought countless fights,
served out their time as prize-fighters, and returned to their
families, but noblemen have done so, even senators. Vescularius
is as much a senator as if he had not won seventy-eight bouts
in three years."