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| LADY CALIGULA Dialogue between Caligula and Drusilla (Imperial Princess Drusilla Julia Octaviana, the splendid 19-year-old sister of 24-year-old Roman Emperor Gaius Caesar Caligula, is meeting her brother in his luminous private study on the fourth floor of the Imperial Palace, overlooking the Eternal City. After discussing various political matters, they get involved in a more philosophical conversation.) "How are the works proceeding?" asked Drusilla as some hammering was heard from the window facing the right wing of the Palace. "Marius Fortunatus isn't only a great architect but also a man of honor," answered the Emperor glancing at his younger sister's tall, gorgeous body. "The whole remodeling will be ready for the Calends, and the opening party's going to be... well, I don't want to spoil your surprise, baby." She saw a spark in his eyes as he was covering his mouth with the palm of his hand to hide a mischievous grin. "What do you have in mind, Cal? Do you want me to be nice with someone at the banquet?" Caligula shook his head. "Not just someone," he said. "Some handsome foreign ambassador?" asked Drusilla licking her upper lip. Caligula shook his head again. "What?" she asked. He lowered his hand from his mouth and slowly mouthed: "E-very-one." Even Drusilla was momentarily shocked, "Oh come on, Cal! Are you out of your mind?" Caligula opened his eyes wide, making a crazy face and nodding repeatedly, agreeing with her suggestion. "You want to show me off with my rings?" "The rings are just an addition to your beauty, Drusilla. We're going to give them an example." "What do mean by we?" "We, the powerful, the young, the rich, the beautiful... all of us at Court. We want things to change for the better and elevate humans above ignorance and fear, don't we." "Yes...." "You see, everything starts from the basic instinct of sexual attraction which exists from the very beginning of life. Every man and woman feels that lust, do you not agree?" "Of course." Lasse Braun "Hmm, but isn't all this inherent with life?" "Perhaps... But if we don't try to find the cause and revert the abuse of sexual repression, we'll never know." "So, what's the cause?" she asked. "The excessive power of men over women!" "Oh, that's interesting...." "And what I want it's to break the grip that men hold on women. We both know that without that grip, all women would be much more liberal and mingle much more often with many different lovers." "Don't they all do that already?" "Not at all, my dear. What we see it's only a relative small number of daring young girls, courtesans and some special women following the luminous example of Cleopatra and our grandmother Julia. Most women are scared to be left out in the rain and they remain attached to a single man for life. Some other may add five or ten lovers throughout all of their lives, and that's it. End of the road." "That's because men have more muscles, more money, more skills," said Drusilla, "and they don't have to stay at home for at least three months blocked by a big belly like all women who are expecting a baby." "What are three months once in a while? The reality is that most women are kept like slaves of the household by men who repress their sexual desires in order to keep them enslaved." "Women are happy to have a household to take care of." "But if that's all what they have as a dream, their true nature cannot be revealed." "True nature, uh?" said Drusilla thinking of Briseis (her Gallic slave with whom she was having a love affair.) "Yes, true nature... Who knows what kinds of worthy, expansive ideas could come out from their mind if all women enjoyed what you enjoyed... Can't you see how hugely superior your brain is in comparison with all other women?" "Well, I had the chance to grow up in a permissive environment and your love was a tremendous support." "Right... But do you remember how many times I had to push you into having sex with other lovers when you just wanted to stay with me and give it all to me?" "Yes, you even convinced uncle Tiberius to ban me to Lyparis just to loosen up my stiff attitude. I wonder why I felt so prone to sexual exclusivity before that time." LADY CALIGULA "Are you claiming that by having lots of lovers women can become more intelligent?" "Yes, my darling... Every sexual contact with different men improves their ability to understand and evolve, for every new experience opens up a part of our brain. Aren't all men much more active when it comes to sex? Don't they all satisfy the need for different lovers?" "And that's why men are more enterprising?" "Exactly! By reducing the number of sexual contacts with different men or even with other women, women's brain shrinks instead of growing. Think about how much power and vitality your skin absorbs from the skin of each lover. Don't they all smell slightly different?" "No doubt about that." "Think how much you learn when you're skin-to-skin with men or women, stroking your bodies together, and how good you feel when you get off with each other. And even if you don't get off and feel unsatisfied, any new experience is always positive even when it looks negative." "Hmm... Why?" "Because you're going to look for a better one. But since better it's very relative, you'll keep looking for another one. And remember, Drudi, the day we stop looking is the day we die." "Hey, that's a good line! Tell me again...." "The day we stop looking is the day we die." Drusilla smiled at her brother and nodded. She really loved him when he was so outspoken and noble. "You want to know why?" he asked. "Of course. Why is my favorite question." "Good.... We can't stop looking because the need for change is vital to every form of life. We must change, and the most necessary is the change of sexual contacts, which are also the most available and easy to carry out. Didn't the Gods give us that chance? Do they not suggest to us to imitate their sensuous capers? Shouldn't all men learn from Jupiter and all women from Venus? Didn't they look for different lovers on a daily basis?" "Men do that pretty much...." "Because men are used to grab all what's available and force weaker people, and women in particular, to do as they want." Lasse Braun "Of course! That will come just as a natural consequence with the change of Roman traditional life-style that I'm going to promote and if necessary force upon all citizens. Within two years, my new laws making any form of marriage entirely private and available to anyone--with the abolition of all powers of the paterfamilias--will take full effect throughout the Empire. Meanwhile, I want to launch a major reeducation program to teach the children of both sexes how to deal with each other with respect for reciprocal liberties." "Before we'll get any chance to carry on such radical changes, we better get rid of the boni (ultra-moralistic politicians opposing the Imperial rule and plotting to restore the Republic.)" "Yeah, they must go. Until a new generation of reeducated citizens will come to power in twenty five years from now, any opposition has to be considered treason. I'll take care of that too." "How? Kill them all?" "I'll have executed only those who resort to violence. The others are going to be reeducated at State expenses in the beautiful colleges I'm going to build all over the Empire. And within a short while they'll all agree because what I'm fighting for is going to benefit them as well as anyone else." "So, what are the basic elements of this reeducation?" "Freedom for everyone to be as imaginative and original as anyone can be. Exercise freedom only as long as it doesn't impair other people freedom." "They are all afraid of freedom, Cal. Freedom means that you could end up a beggar." "People are afraid of freedom because the fucking boni are spreading around the idea that freedom means more criminals, less justice, and less protection for both the individuals and the families. As I said, it's a matter of reverting our culture. We'll put to work the best intellects of our times. They'll write the songs, the poems and the philosophy of liberation which will serve as the texts and backbone of the Great Cultural Revolution." "Oh, I love revolutions, Cal! What are we going to fight?" "First, we'll fight human resistance--jealousy, envy and scapegoating above all. We'll teach all lovers, male or female, the basic law of change. Men and women must be taught from the very beginning that they all have a fundamental right and duty to pursue any endeavor and satisfy their lust for sexual interchange in all occasions. No one can ask anyone to block their need for experimentation and restrict their carnal deliverance to a single person. Everyone should be taught how to do as I did with you when you were still a child. Instead of restricting your desires, I've pushed you to go and meet with new lovers at will." LADY CALIGULA Caligula got up and moved to the window, looking outside. "Not really," he said. "I've talked with lots of men about that... They all know that after a few months of exclusive intercourse the heat of passion cools down and there isn't a better way to keep it hot than by looking for new adventures with new lovers... Even the guys who were more infected by human resistance agreed that it turned them on to at least fantasize that their women were doing all sorts of things with strangers or even with their friends." Drusilla stood up and approached him, putting an arm around his shoulders. "And you know what, Cal? When I understood that you did that because you loved me, I've fallen in love with you more and more every day." "I know... Isn't this a much more advanced and liberating concept of love? Isn't the bound between us much stronger because we don't need to cheat on each other?" "Oh, yes," said Drusilla, "cheating destroys love and yet people have to cheat to get what is natural to have and cannot be repressed." "With the new rules there will be no cheating. Couples will share their love and the excitement for different affairs as well. Affairs will be considered a plus instead of a minus once ad for all." "Everyone is going to receive what's natural without need for cheating when they understand how to encourage each other to enjoy sexual interchange, isn't that so, brother?" "And there lies the fundamental truth in what you're saying, Drudi. You understood this because you got the energy from many different lovers beforehand." "What do you mean?" she asked. "You couldn't have been able to understand the concept without doing it first. What I mean is that no one can't just speculate about such a new approach to sex and love and understand how it works without trying. They first have to do it. The understanding is a result of the widening of the vision, which follows the events. It can't be obtained just by studying a theory." "That's why you feel we need to give the example?" "Exactly. Our example is absolutely essential." "Did you talk Lady into doing something at the party?" "Yes, of course. How would I look if my own wife wouldn't support my vision?" Lasse Braun "Marcia is going to come with some of the new lupae (Roman prostitutes belonging to the powerful Prostitutes' Guild) who just finished sex-school in time for the Lupercalia. Pyrallis and my other concubines will also be there. Too bad we don't have Missi, Nymphidia and Lesbia." "What about Agrippinilla?" "Hmm... I didn't have time to talk to her. Why don't you do that?" "Okay. What about men?" "Senators, actors, charioteers, patricians, knights, soldiers, Scouts, bureaucrats, magistrates, craftsmen, populares... people from every class, but each man must come with his own wife, or concubine, girlfriend, even young boys. I don't want anyone to possess the most beautiful women of the Empire without giving out theirs." "To you...?" "To me and to the crowd of course." "Terrific, Cal! What about Macro and Ennia?" "I'll think about them. I may want Ennia to come alone." "What about Cathegus? If he's going to see me doing things with others he may get jealous and violent." "Hmm, you're right. We'll deal with that when we'll send the official invitations." "You know what, Cal?" Caligula looked at his sister as if she was part of his own body, mind and soul. "What, Drudi?" "I love you," she said. Then she kissed him. "I'm so proud of you," she murmured during the kiss, "and the more I'm proud the more I love you, and the more I love you the more I thank the Gods for having given me you as my brother." In the whole world, there was no sweeter kiss, nor such a total involvement, and trust and support, than between the two Julian Imperial siblings. A special aura was emanating from their bodies when they embraced after having so truly stimulated their minds with the project of the Great Cultural Revolution. It really looked as if they were combined into single Force resulting from the greatness of their common ancestry, and fueling on their own personal male and female magnetism. They felt so strong together! And their beliefs were so deep that they really thought they could break through the barriers of human resistance and open the world to a new era of fulfillment. END EXCERPT -- CHAPTER TWENTY ONE TO BE CONTINUED...
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