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<span>Spoiler: <span class="bbCodeSpoiler-button-title">Maximus</span></span>
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</div></div>Maximus had traveled by foot for many miles to arrive at the agora in Athens on that particular morning, a pack made from animal skins slung over his shoulder and filled with crusts of bread. A waterskin hung from his waist as he stood upon a series of steps leading to a richer part of the market, where various important citizens made their purchases and did their trading, though Maximus cared very little about commerce. His long bright red hair shone in what little sunlight managed to pierce through the overcast skies above Athens, giving Maximus a strange, ethereal, perhaps even unearthly glow as a crowd of onlookers gathered around him, curious about the musings coming from the stranger's wind-dried lips.<br/><br/>The wanderer held a long walking stick in his left hand while his right gesticulated, curving through the air as if he were cradling the words coming from his mouth so they could properly be dispersed into the air for his growing crowd to hear. His voice was loud and booming, stronger than his delicate but passionate movements would imply. A confidence dripped from his tongue as he lectured the group of strangers, a collection of merchants, families, women, and children, all kinds from all social standings, listening.<br/><br/>"We pride individual human experience, friends," Maximus said, his voice ringing clearly across the dozens of pairs of ears at his disposal. "This is evident in the ways we examine our own nature, analyze our emotions, write plays about our tragedies, tell our children stories of the gods and all of the various troubles they encounter amongst themselves, the troubles they impose upon us mere mortals. Athens loves our emotions, but it does not love its people." Gasps could be heard swimming through the collection of citizens and non-citizens, but no one had moved away in protest. One voice called out from the breathing mass, "What forces you to make such claims, wanderer?"<br/><br/>"A fair and appropriate question, friend!" Maximus called back. A wide smile bloomed on the man's face, hidden beneath his fiery beard. The hair on his face was long and thick, covered in a fine layer of dust from his travels. He was in desperate need of a bath, but that could wait for the moment. The people wanted to hear his words, and he was more than willing to share with them his cultivated thoughts. "Tell me, who here is a citizen?"<br/><br/>A few blank stares came from the crowd, but some understood and briefly lifted their hands. The only ones who did so were well-off males. "Ah, there we are. You will notice that only certain individuals are allowed to become citizens in Athens. Where are the voices of our women? Our children, our slaves? Are we not all human beings? Do we not all deserve the ability to think for ourselves, to speak with our own voices, to live our lives in the manners we find pleasurable?"<br/><br/>Maximus' eyes scanned the group. Some were looking back at him blankly as if they did not comprehend his words, while others seemed to have a look of consideration upon their faces. Some wore masks of disgust, while others had eyes that sparkled with new fire, as if Maximus was saying the words they had held deep inside of them for a very long time. "A slave born as such, or taken as a prize from war can become anything he wishes. A respectable member of society. A woman can become a powerful landowner or politician without being married. Two men can engage in a romantic and sexual relationship without the framing of pederasty, without the penetrated being deemed weak and feminine." More sounds were coming from the group as Maximus expanded upon his beliefs, more vocal than before. The wanderer's eyes fell upon a new young man, one who had eased his way through the crowd and was looking at him now with large, inquisitive eyes. Maximus felt his heart skip a beat as he admired the man's dark hair, the freckles across his smooth cheeks and his intense, mesmerizing gaze. He was stunning.<br/><br/>"You," Maximus breathed, pointing to the man he would eventually come to know as Ajax. "What do you think, friend? Should we be condemned and judged for who we love and what we choose to do in the privacy of our own homes? Do we deserve to be judged for how we show physical love?"