Gladius

From The Seven Sages of Rome
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The Sword

A soldier in love with a married woman sends his servant to her house to arrange an assignation. Enamoured of the young servant, the wife seduces him in his master's stead. The soldier then comes himself to the house, and the wife hides the servant in the back room in order to welcome her lover. However, the woman's husband also soon returns. in a panic, the wife asks her lover to stand at the gate with his sword drawn, shouting and swearing, but answering no questions. The soldier agrees, and the husband, approaching his house, sees the armed man shouting at the gate. When the husband rushes inside and asks what is the matter, the wife replies that the man's slave had fled from his ill treatment, and that she had sheltered him; the young servant is brought forth, and the husband praises the wife for her actions.