"I should explain," the elderly guide said to the ladies, who didn't really seem to be listening, "That I was raised at Vetera, so I'm effectively a Roman too. This wild ceremony - gross and savage as it is - is actually as new to me as it is to you."

"Anyway, I was reading about it in one of your Roman historian's accounts (he recites from memory):

They have only one kind of public show, which is performed without variation at every festive gathering. NAKED youths, trained to the sport, dance about among swords and SPEARS levelled at them. Practice begets skill, and skill grace; but they are not professionals and do not receive payment. Their most daring FLINGS have their only reward in the PLEASURE they give the spectators."

"Is anyone listening to me?"