The Charioteer of Rome

The Charioteer of Rome

By

M.J. Burgess

Self-Published, New York City

THE CHARIOTEER OF ROME © 2016 By Monique Janelle Burgess Self-Publishing ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author. This is a work of fiction. Any names or characters, businesses or places, events or incidents, are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. DESIGNED BY MONIQUE JANELLE BURGESS COVER ART BY MONIQUE JANELLE BURGESS "The Chariot of Rome," © 2016 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

In Memory of William Shakespeare

christened April 26, 1564, died April 23, 1616

Good Friend, for Jesus’ sake forbear To dig the dust enclosed here. Blessed be the man that spares these stones And cursed be he that moves my bones. -epitaph

Also in Memory of

John Heminges and Henry Condell, Friends and colleagues of Shakespeare who compiled

The First Folio of Shakespeare’s Works in 1623

This book is dedicated to Shakespeare’s fans all over the world; to every actor who has played a Shakespearean character – whether it was on stage, on film, or at a high school auditorium – I salute you. To every artist and every dreamer - I hope you enjoy this play and hold on to the words of Buddha:

What you think, you become. What you feel, you attract.

What you imagine, you create. Keep dreaming. And continue to create art.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) is widely regarded

as the greatest writer in the English language and the

world’s most famous playwright. He wrote 37 plays,

154 sonnets, and 2 narrative poems. His most famous

and beloved plays include Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet,

MacBeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, King Lear, Othello,

Julius Caesar, and Henry IV. Born and raised in

Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England,

Shakespeare moved to London and worked as an

actor, writer, and part-owner of the theatrical

company, The Lord Chamberlain’s Men (later known

as the King’s Men after Queen Elizabeth passed away

and her Scottish successor James I became king of

England). In 1599, the company built The Globe

Theater near the Thames River. Here, many of

Shakespeare’s plays were performed by the most

famous actors of the Elizabethan Era including

Richard Burbage, Will Kempe, and Robert Armin. On

April 23, 1616, Shakespeare passed away. In 1623,

John Heminges and Henry Condell created and

published the first collection of Shakespeare’s works

called the First Folio.

Table of Contents

Introduction to the Charioteer of Rome…..XIII Poem: To Master Shakespeare…..XXI

The Charioteer of Rome Dramatis Personae…..23

Act One Scene 1…..27 Scene 2…..34 Scene 3…..47

Act Two Scene 1…..57 Scene 2…..67

Act Three Scene 1…..70

Act Four Scene 1…..88 Scene 2…..101 Scene 3…..119

Act Five Scene 1…..147 Scene 2…..162 Scene 3…..174 Scene 4…..187 Scene 5…..192 Scene 6…..197 Dramatis Personae for Actors…..199

Afterword Commentary Essay: Brotherly Love and Sibling Rivalry…..207

Second Commentary Essay:

The Four Wherefores…..211

Bibliography…..224

Poem: Author’s Autobiography…..231

XIII

INTRODUCTION TO THE CHARIOTEER OF ROME

his year marks the 400th anniversary of

Shakespeare’s death and many companies

around the world are celebrating by putting

on Shakespeare’s plays. However, I decided to write a

new Shakespearean play. In July 2008, I was living

and working in Tarrytown, New York when I read

the article, “The Man with The Golden Pen,” in The

Vanity Fair magazine. The estate of Ian Fleming – the

writer who wrote twelve James Bond novels – asked

novelist Sebastian Faulks to write a new James Bond

novel in honor of Fleming’s 100th anniversary of his

birth (May 28, 1908). When Vanity Fair interviewed

Faulks, he admitted that he wanted to read the novels

first. Eventually he agreed to write the novel and said,

“…it wouldn’t be like writing a new Shakespeare play,

would it?” That got me thinking, can you write a new

Shakespeare play? At the time, I was writing my first

screenplay so I decided not to think about it. I had no

plans to write a Shakespearean play.

It took me nine months to write my first

screenplay. In May 2009, I was getting rid of papers

and cleaning my desk when I found the Vanity Fair

magazine again. I kept hearing this strange voice

nudging me to write a Shakespeare play. But, I felt I

was not qualified and it seemed impossible.

Shakespeare is a genius according to –everyone! But

what changed my mind was when I asked myself the

T

XIV

following question: If Shakespeare was alive today,

what would he write about? If I can find an idea, I

will do it. If I can’t find an idea, I won’t do it. And the

idea for the play came to me. Right away, I said to

myself, “He would write about cheating.”

I thought about what happened in 2008 – The

Olympic Games and the IOC cracking down on

doping among athletes. I thought about the headlines

in December when Bernie Madoff was arrested for

the biggest ponzi scheme in American history. I

thought about the number of politicians who was

caught cheating on their wives over the years–

Democratic Presidential candidate John Edwards,

Former New Jersey Governor James McGrevey,

Former New York Governor Elliot Spitzer. Madoff,

Olympics athletes, American politicians all have one

thing in common – cheating. Cheating in its many

forms.

When I started writing, I knew three things: it

would be about two brothers – the oldest who is a

politician and the youngest who is an athlete, it would

take place in Rome and I knew I needed the Greek

Gods. But then another theme began to emerge and I

figured I was going to write a play with a main plot

and a subplot. And these two plots would show a

juxtaposition between brotherly love and sibling

rivalry. I started writing poetry when I was 11 and one

of the things I learned is poetry writing forces you to

pay attention to things most people overlook. And I

have noticed in my life and among other people (in

XV

general) that siblings have a huge impact on us. Being

an only child has a major impact on a person. It’s as if

siblings are an invisible force – just as important on

us as human beings as our parents and grandparents.

I started writing the play in the late spring of

2009 and I decided then a good time to put on the

play would be 2016. I had seven years to work on the

play. During that time, I wrote my first book of

poetry and learned about self-publishing. I stopped

writing poetry for several years so spending the next

few years writing a book of poetry helped me write

the poetry in the play. I also wrote a novel during

November 2013 and November 2014. I read as much

as I could about Shakespeare, Greek mythology and

Ancient Rome. However, the most important book I

read was The Complete Works, all of his plays and his

sonnets in one volume.

How do you write a new Shakespeare play? I

started with the article in Vanity Fair in which the

reporter writes that Faulks’ James Bond novel is not a

Fleming clone. So I decided not to write a

Shakespeare clone. Next, I read about Shakespreare’s

flaws. Prior to this I never knew Shakespeare had

flaws but a professor at Oxford wrote an essay about

it and in his opinion, Shakespeare wrote too much

too quickly. So that was the next goal, don’t write a

play that is too wordy. I personally have the opposite

problem; my professors at Columbia thought I didn’t

write enough. But learning about Shakespeare’s flaws

along with being aware of my own flaws, I began to

XVI

believe that writing this play was going to be difficult

but no longer impossible.

Shakespeare also provided no moral

instruction in his plays. I made a note to myself: no

preaching, no Aesop’s fables. Next, all of

Shakespeare’s characters are fully fleshed out - which

is in line with the observation that Shakespeare was a

humanist and compassionate towards all of his

characters including the villains. Some also believed

Shakespeare was an early feminist. And it is possible

since he had two daughters and he started his career

under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. My next goal

was to embrace the feminist in me and unleash it. As

a result, I created the character of Amoris, the only

female charioteer in the world of the play.

I came up with more goals. According to

scholars and experts, Shakespeare’s shortest play is

The Comedy of Errors, his worst play is Titus

Andronicus and, his best play was Hamlet. So my

original plan was to write a play as short as The

Comedy of Errors and just as good as Titus

Andronicus. The idea of writing a new Shakespeare

play is very ambitious; thinking I can write a play as

good as Hamlet is arrogant, delusional, and unrealistic.

A good writer should know their limitations.

The next goal is to simply do my best in

honoring Shakespeare and writing a play my acting

colleagues can be proud of. From time to time over

the past seven years, I was reminded of what my

grandmother told me – when you do your best, angels

XVII

in heaven can’t do better. So I promised myself I will

stop editing the play until I reached a point where I

feel I have written the best Shakespeare play I can

possibly write.

But why? Why do it? Why honor Shakespeare?

Why write a new Shakespeare play? I honor him

because he means too much to too many people. Also,

studying him made me a better writer and a more

compassionate human being. I wanted to learn how

to write a Shakespearean sonnet. And also, I had an

idea for a play and I felt I needed to write it.

At the time of writing the first draft of this

introduction, I finished the 2nd revision of the play.

Like my screenplay, this play will go through several

revisions. The play now is different from the play I

imagined in 2009. The play has less characters – 22 in

all. In 2009, none of the human characters had names.

The politican, Sapienas, and the charioteer, Milesares,

have a middle brother, Secundus – who is of African

ancestry and adopted. Adoption, I learned, was

common in Ancient Rome. In 2009, the main

characters were Sapienas and Milesares. Now the

main characters turned out to be Milesares, Minerva,

Mars, and Apollo. Even the plot structure changed.

At first, I had 21 scenes divided into five acts: Acts 1,

2 and 4 had five scenes and Acts 3 and 5 had 3 scenes

each. Then after watching “Romeo and Juliet” on

Broadway in September 2013, I realized I needed to

write the play in 2 acts. So that was the plan for the

past 2 years. Then when I finished the first draft, I

XVIII

had 15 scenes instead of 21 and I was able to divide

the play into 5 acts. So in the book, the play will be

divided into 5 acts and in the theater, the play will be

divided into 2. Even though the main characters have

a lot to do, the minor characters have a lot to do as

well. To my surprise, the longest monologue (written

in blank verse) is recited by the Magistrate. And Act 2,

scene 2 is one long hip-hop-styled poem recited by

the servant boy, Kyrio, and chariot racing fans in the

audience at the Circus Maximus. This is just proof for

me that I can never fully plan and write an accurate

outline of a play. The plan keeps changing. The story

keeps changing. And the characters will take over at

some point in the writing process and surprise the

writer.

Now, I am convinced that this story had to be

told. I resisted because I was not confident in my

abilities as a writer. But even though I am an okay

writer, I do believe that the older I get the better my

writing gets. And I do believe the best person to write

a new Shakespearean play is someone who loves his

works, who considers themselves a fan. Most

importantly, the characters were there all along –

waiting for an opportunity for their story to be told. It

was a pleasure to spend time with them these past few

years. My hope for the future is that people continue

to enjoy Shakespeare and that a few more writers

spend a couple of years of their lives writing

Shakespearean plays of their own. And I hope there

XIX

are actors who are brave enough to bring these stories

(including this one) to life.

-November 12, 2016

XXI

To Master Shakespeare Shakespeare, we must be silent in thy praise.

We must look at ourselves in Hamlet -

Must feel for Romeo and Juliet -

For love was a bright smoke and a sick health.

For in the hearts of our forefathers,

Hidden in the crevices of our brothers,

Virtue turned to vice, vice turned to virtue –

Silver and gold turned poison to their souls.

The place we find ourselves is neither

Church nor school but the world on a bare stage

Where I look at I, thy gaze on thy self,

My weals, thy woes, my rues, thy yesternights,

Til I know not where my story begins

And thine end. In thy mirror, I. am. thee.

23

Dramatis Personae MARS, The Roman god of war (His Greek name is Ares.) MINERVA, The Roman goddess of war and wisdom (Her Greek name is Athena.) APOLLO, The Roman/Greek god of the sun, medicine, music, archery, poetry and prophecy; (His nickname is Phoebus.) CALLIOPE, The chief goddess of the nine muses, the muse of epic poetry, Thalia’s oldest sister THALIA, the muse of comedy, Apollo’s lover DIANA, the Roman goddess of the moon, the hunt, and the wilderness; Apollo’s twin sister (Her Greek name is Artemis; her nickname is Phoebe.) ERIS, the goddess of discord and chaos, Mars’ twin sister THANATOS, The god of death SAPIENAS GERMANUS, A Roman senator and the eldest Germanus brother SECUNDUS GERMANUS, A tax collector, a retired charioteer, and the brother of Milesares and Sapienas MILESARES GERMANUS, A professional charioteer, the youngest Germanus brother ATHENA GERMANUS, matriarch of the Germanus family, mother to Sapienas, Secundus and Milesares SANFRIDA, Sapienas’ wife KYRIO, servant boy to the Germanus family Kyrio’s GRANDFATHER, a blind man and a fan of chariot racing

24

MERETRICIA, Sapienas’ mistress and one of the wealthiest courtesans in Rome Servant GIRL, Meretricia’s servant and a fan of chariot racing MAGISTRATE of the horse, the highest official of the chariot racing sport and one of its financial sponsors BELLATOR, manager of the Russata chariot team (aka the Red team) FLAVIUS, A horse breeder and one of the wealthiest members of the Equites class AMORIS, Flavius’ daughter and a charioteer The ARABIAN, A fan of chariot racing The ROMAN, A fan of chariot racing and the Arabian’s friend Roman citizens

25

The Charioteer of Rome

26

27

Act One Scene One

A dead body is on the ground. Enter THANATOS. He

picks up the body and walks across the stage. Enter MARS.

MARS

hanatos! Handsome death with raven’s wings,

To you the sickly, the hopeless soul sings

Thanatos - called Letus by the Romans –

How is the job, your mistress, your woman?

THANATOS

Away from me, you call this hell a job -

How’s it? You should know – you keep me busy –

You are bloodthirsty and you are cheating.

You rob, you mob, babies scream, women sob.

MARS

Come, Thanatos, come – we don’t spend much time-

You and I – and your life seems so sublime.

THANATOS

Only you could say those sarcastic words.

Only you have fun with daggers and swords.

When death sees the lifeless soul of a youth

He is angry – now that’s more of a truth.

Exit MARS left and THANATOS right.

Enter MILESARES and KYRIO.

T

28

MILESARES

Did you not see a fight break out just a while ago – here in front of the temple of our great god, Jupiter?

KYRIO

Yes Master, but it seems the fight is over.

Why you ask?

MILESARES

Wherever there is a brawl or an argument,

that’s where Mars will be.

KYRIO

You are looking for the god of war?

MILESARES

Yes.

KYRIO

Why?

MILESARES

You will see why.

KYRIO

No, I will not see why. I will be gone before I

see anything. So you might as well tell me now.

29

MILESARES

You are not going anywhere. Who is the

master here?

KYRIO

I am.

MILESARES

Are you crazy?!

KYRIO

A servant is a master in disguise so don’t let my fashion fool you.

MILESARES

If you think you are fashionable, then you are

the fool.

Enter MINERVA wearing a cloak.

MINERVA

Milesares.

MILESARES

Nothing makes me happier than a beautiful

woman saying my name -

MINERVA

-I heard you were looking for the god of war.

30

MILESARES

Yes. Who are you?

MINERVA

I am the goddess of war.

MILESARES

Forgive me, but you do not look like the

goddess of war or so I’ve heard -

MINERVA

- And what have you heard?

MILESARES

That your eyes are a light shade of grey and

cold as a trip to the highest peak of the Alps.

If you are the goddess of war –

MINERVA

-I am therefore I am.

MILESARES

I accept you are what you are, goddess. But,

where is your brother?

MINERVA

He is not here.

MILESARES

Where can I find him?

31

KYRIO

Master, you don’t need him. You have the

goddess of war.

MILESARES

(speaking to Kyrio but staring at Minerva)

I still need him. I switched to his team

therefore, I need his help to win the races.

(to Minerva)

You have beautiful lips. How come no one

talks about your lips?

KYRIO

She is also the goddess of chariot making.

Goddess, can you make him the finest chariot

in all of Rome?

MINERVA

I could. A light weight chariot that once the

magistrate drops the mappa and the horses

speed down the stadium floor, the crowd will

think you know how to fly.

MILESARES

Goddess, I am your servant. (bows)

MINERVA

Good. You do not need Mars helping you

anyway.

32

MILESARES

Why not?

MINERVA

He’s been a sore loser these days. And you

Milesares, - you are a winner. I have been

watching the races.

MILESARES

Have you? I thought the gods were ignoring

us mortals these days.

MINERVA

We pay attention to the chariot races. You are

one of my favorite charioteers: a thousand

races, nine hundred fifty-eight wins, twenty-

nine second place finishes, thirteen third place

finishes. No one has the kind of record you

have – you are the closest person to being an

unbeatable charioteer.

MILESARES

I am also unbeatable in other things.

MINERVA

So am I. But the only thing I will do for you is

build you a chariot. Nothing more.

Milesares bows.

MINERVA exits.

33

KYRIO

Don’t even think about it. She will kill you if

you get too close. Please tell me we are going

home. We do not need the god of war.

MILESARES

We will go. But I still need the god of war.

And I know she is dangerous. I like danger.

And besides, she likes me.

MILESARES and KYRIO exit.

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