Chapter 50

The ape-man smiled and shook his head. “No,” he said, “not I, but there is one here to whom I offer the imperial diadem upon the condition that he fulfils the promises I have made to the barbarians of the outer villages. “Dion Splendidus, will you accept the imperial purple with the understanding that the men of the outer villages shall be for ever free; that no longer shall their girls or their boys be pressed into slavery, or their warriors forced to do battle in the arena?” Dion Splendidus bowed his head in asse…