Antony and Spartacus


Information about this story:

 

A presentation by the research institute "Andishe Online Germany (AOG)"

Excerpt from the book "The Miracle of Guadalupe"

Author: Faramarz Tabesh

Date of completion/publication of the original Persian version: Winter 2004-2005/March 03, 2019

Publication date of the English and German versions: January 01, 2025

The following text was translated from German into English by Faramarz Tabesh.











This story is a personal interpretation of what really happened.     

Antony and Spartacus


After the apparent defeat of the anti-slavery movement led by Spartacus, who was himself enslaved, he was arrested along with some of his followers and Antony, the famous Roman poet, and crucified like Christ on the crosses placed side by side.

On that summer afternoon, as the sun shone feverishly red and yellow at the other end of the sky, these two great men of history were crucified dusty and bloody by chance or by a clever twist of fate. Despite such a critical situation, they seemed so confident and relaxed. It is as if the vultures and scavengers, so happy, were waiting for the death of others and not of those men, or perhaps these two famous men of their time placed death in the hands of oblivion.

Antony composed new poems or recited those he had written before. His voice could cast a spell over anyone and transport them to distant illusions and sweet dreams.

If Antonius' friends could see him in this state, they certainly found him a different person: infinitely kinder than he was, a person with a new nature.

On that wooden cross, although he was close to death, Antony had become a hundred times more poetic, and it was as if he had already crossed the boundaries of existence and approached the limits of eternity.

 

Above all, the beautiful light shone from his eyes, which gave his face particular strength and dignity.

Although he had lost a lot of blood because his hands and feet were nailed to the cross, the last reflection of the sunlight on his face gave him a holy countenance.

He complained about nothing and did not think about the fact that he had lost everything because he heard an infinitely beautiful and melodious poetry from within him. He was calm, and his face showed no trace of impatience or worry.

 

Antony was saying poetry and singing, but this time, his poems did not just smell of rivers, plains, and fields of flowers but of something more substantial. Sometimes, he would turn to his friend Spartacus to ask his opinion of his poem, and again, after hearing his friend's positive answer, he would fall deep in his world as if lost in utter peace and in a distant thought. It was as if he was being called from somewhere or as if he was witnessing an exciting scene.


Spartacus had experienced years of suffering and misery in captivity and slavery, and this pain and pressure had given him a strong face. But what emerged now more than ever in the deep creases of his face was an indescribable maturity that attracted and impressed every observer. It was as if he had torn the veils in the depths of his soul to see the facts without obstacles. He contemplated absolute tranquility, grandeur, and glory, like a wise spectator controlling his emotions and contemplating unique, dreamy movie scenes.

Spartacus was seemingly in another world. It was as if he there grasped the depth of this grandeur and was so surprised that the dove of his spirit seemed to stop flying.


There was the same peace and radiance on his face as on Antony's face. But the peace that reigned around them, which had actually been created by the inner peace of the two men, was interrupted from time to time by a question that came mainly from Antony.

In the hot, stuffy air of that bloody sunset, simple, ignorant people cheered beneath the crucified crosses.

Some knelt and thanked God that they were not among the prisoners. Others painted a cross on their faces and asked God for forgiveness for the rebels on the cross. In their opinion, this was the best they could do for the guilty.

Did Christ, like the men on the cross, not stand up for the helpless and suffering?

Others, often intellectuals, regretted the slave liberation movement's failure and the imprisonment of its leaders, especially Spartacus, and expressed their grief at its end. These people put forward intellectual theses about the possibility of continuing the struggle or forming another group for this purpose.


Of course, one must remember that these discussions were conducted quietly, in whispers, and were limited to intellectual comments. These people knew very well that Superman, the hero of this game, was personally hanging on the cross.

So, in this situation, who could create a new movement with all the characteristics of Spartacus and even more?

In any case, nothing was left but to speak of these nonchalant and pretentious speakers. It is interesting to note that even those who were a part of the movement and, for some reason, escaped the hands of the government agents and reached the foot of the crosses amid the crowd were unaware of the unique inner atmosphere of these two men. Therefore, they began to pray in their hearts for their dying and suffering companions, asking God to deliver them from the pains and sufferings of this world as soon as possible or at least to alleviate them. However, the two men were no longer feeling any pain at all but experiencing a kind of unprecedented spiritual ecstasy. This Reality was incomprehensible to the material-minded people down at the foot of the crosses.

These people tried to express solidarity with like-minded friends on the cross by using their only means: the human mind and prayer.

Meanwhile, others were cursing our heroes and asking God to send them to hell while they were looking at their half-dead bodies with contempt and hatred.


Some naive and ignorant people who did not understand the essence of the matter at all and never bothered to comprehend this or any other event in such cases, those who were basically incapable of thinking at all, threw stones at the crucified ones to satisfy the soldiers and then amused themselves with obscenities and reprehensible pleasures.

The deep, blissful world without fear and dread that the crucified was experiencing on the cross was very different from the world of pain, humiliation, and illusions of the ordinary people beneath the crosses. But only Spartacus and Antony were aware of this difference, and they thought less about it, for the passion and calm that reigned over them had put every cell of their bodies and minds into a royal relaxation. It was an atmosphere that proclaimed to them a final liberation, and no one but these two men could understand their inner beauty.

 

On this beautiful evening, as the sky threatened to darken, Antonius was murmuring verses from one of his poems, in which the thought of death and dying was hidden. He had written it many years ago in his youth, and now, he remembered it wondrously in these last moments of his life. Suddenly, as if something had occurred to him, he turned to Spartacus and asked questioningly:

 

"Are you afraid of death?"

 

Perhaps it was the first time Antony had really thought about death, or because he was in this indescribable state on the border between life and death, he was asking about his great friend's inner vision. Perhaps in this wonderful moment, he was experiencing a dimension of the soul's existence hitherto unknown to him and was looking for an explanation to make this light meaningful.

 

Spartacus, this hero against slavery, turned his brave face towards Antonious and answered his friend's question in a loud voice:

 

"No, I do not fear death. But I do fear rebirth."


Excerpt from the book "The Miracle of Guadalupe"

Author: Faramarz Tabesh

 

 

Faramarz Tabesh


A story from the book Miracle of Guadalupe

Article code in research institute AOG:

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