Slaves of the Empire (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Magnus the gladiator ran the whetstone down the length of his long sword..." (more)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Aaron Travis epic of gladiator sex, slavery, and sadism is not good pornits great. Not only is the story told well, but it is populated by real people who are at once pornographic archetypes and complex models of psychology. Caught between the real and the fantastic, Travis has given us the best of both worlds. -- Michael Bronski

Mr. Travis has penned a story that keeps a mood and period as fertile as a Fellini epic. -- John Preston

Slaves of the Empire has more sexual excitement than any novel of Roman times I have ever read. It is Aaron Travis masterpiece. -- Drummer

With hardly a pause, Travis torments us from sex scene to sex scene, each building higher than the one before, all satisfying, original, and leading surely to the hair-raising last chapter. -- Bay Area Reporter

Product Description

The brutality of battle—and the pain and pleasures of being a slave!

Swords clang harshly as the arena crowd goes wild. Magnus, the mightiest gladiator in all of Rome, gives the people what they want—bloodlust and death for their entertainment. He and his mortal enemy, Urius, are the best of the best of the slaves doing battle for the roaring crowds. Magnus is invincible—or is he? A conspiracy of evil unfolds around him, threatening to destroy him in ways he could never imagine. You see, cruel Senator Marcellus has plans for the slave. Plans of pleasure—and of pain. Slaves of the Empire is critically acclaimed author Aaron Travis' classic gladiator epic of slavery, sex, and sadism, reprinted for a new generation of heated readers of gay erotica.

Slaves of the Empire immerses readers in the brutal age of ancient Rome, when the powerful took their sadomasochistic pleasure from the weak, and pain and death awaited every slave, no matter how strong. If you've ever loved the oily gladiator adventures of the past, you are in for a treat. This tale has it all: fine writing, complex characters, and a story of rivalry, power, and torment—and of course, an abundance of steamy gay sex. It is the Roman Empire in all its glory, built with the hot blood, sweat, and tears of the slaves.

An excerpt from Slaves of the Empire:

Before him stood Urius, naked as Magnus had last seen him. His blond mane was golden in the warm candle glow. The planes of his face were perfect and smooth like polished marble after the sculptor's touch. His eyes shone. His broad mouth was curved into a sensuous smile, inviting and almost friendly.

"So, the newest pleasure slave of the great Senator Marcellus is finally awake." Urius smiled more broadly and stepped toward him. He raised his hand and Magnus flinched—but the touch was gentle, beginning at the hollow of his throat and running with oily smoothness down his chest and belly. Magnus strained to move, and could not; his body was bound in the shape of an X, arms and legs extended and held fast in the posture of slaves crucified upon the cross. At Urius' touch, a shudder of apprehension and strange excitement ran through him.

Urius was gazing at his chest. "Oh, Magnus, I have always wanted to see you like this. So naked, so smooth. So ready to be broken upon your master's rod."

Slaves of the Empire is a fast-paced gay erotic novel for anyone looking for a red hot, thrilling fantasy. But be forewarned—this book is not for the faint-hearted. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Badboy; 2nd edition (January 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563336464
• ISBN-13: 978-1563336461
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,457,870 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Travis (a.k.a. Steven Saylor) eroticizes Roman slavery here., February 28, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Slaves of the Empire (Paperback)

Saylor, an editor for a number of soft-core gay porn magazines in the 1980s under the name of Aaron Travis, retained his pen name for the erotica published by Richard Kasak in his BadBoy imprint. The original novel was serialized around 1980, in Drummer magazine I believe. It's explicit SM fiction that follows the erotic adventures of an arena warrior subjugated by the Roman upper class as well as other warriors. Saylor knows his Roman history (as he reveals in his novels about the Roman "detective"), and writes better in this format than most of his fellow pornographers. Ironically, the graphically portrayed sexual abuse of slaves is probably more accurate of their actual condition than in the Quo Vadis-type bestsellers, which romanticized their Christian conversion (as late as the film adaptation of Spartacus in 1960, Kubrick had to cut direct allusions to sex between masters and slaves). Ultimately the book isn't up to much, and it's unlikely anyone will ever do a dissertation on Saylor's work, but it's a fun weekend read. A note to anyone interested: get it now, because BadBoy is letting many of these books go out of print.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific writing, and erotic as well, May 12, 2007

By	Tim Evanson (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Slaves of the Empire (Paperback)

"Slaves of the Empire" launched the career of Steven Saylor (writing at this time under the name "Aaron Travis"). It's easy enough to see why: Unlike most erotica, this work is primarily a historical fiction novel first and erotic a distant second. Most erotica writes the sex, and then tacks on, in the most unappealing way, the story and characters. "Slaves of the Empire" does not. These are fully-fledged and portrayed people, acting in character during a time of great social, economic and political upheaval. Saylor/Travis is a stickler for historical accuracy, and it shows here. Thankfully, that historicity doesn't get in the way of the story or sex, as it does in many other historical erotica novels. Intead, Saylor/Travis uses the historical realism to add to the erotic potential of the sex scenes.

Most people will buy this novel because of the sex scenes. In that regard, Saylor/Travis thinks far outside the box. Absent are the typical pornographic BDSM tropes which litter lesser works of erotica. Saylor/Travis is one imaginative BDSM afficionado! His understanding of the dynamics of BDSM sex -- the power relationships, the sexual relationships, the need for proceed slowly (for that alone can be its own torture), the need to structure sexual attention over time (rather than fulfill fantasy in one scene) -- rank far and above those of most BDSM and erotica writers. Coupled with the historicity of the novel, and the reader's growing (and horrible) realization that "this could have really happened", make for some very powerful erotica.

This work has long been recognized as one of the premiere efforts in the genre of BDSM erotica, and any erotica (for the matter). It is a joy to see it back in print. It is a novel no serious student or fan of gay erotica should be without.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Historical One-Hander, June 12, 2002

By	Jesse Monteagudo "book nook" (Plantation, Florida USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Slaves of the Empire (Paperback)

Aaron Travis writes historical novels about Imperial Rome under his real name, and his love for and knowledge of that period shows in this classic... novel. Within this genre, "Slaves of the Empire" ranks just below John Preston's "Mister Benson", Wiliam Carney's"The Real Thing", and the classic novels of Larry Townsend. Alas the Badboy edition does not have the hot erotic drawings that the original had.