The Judgment of Paris

The Judgment of Paris was a play performed in 170 in the Carnuntum arena, where many animals and men had been slaughtered for sport a few weeks earlier. Based loosely on the Iliad, it told how Prince Paris of Troy judged the beauty of the goddesses Juno, Minerva, and Venus, and then returned with Queen Helen of Sparta to his homeland, in defiance of the Greek army, leading to the Trojan War. In the mind of time-traveled Nicole Gunther, it resembled a television comedy-drama, with a serious plot but lots of comedic intervals. The gods were portrayed as comical and scheming, which surprised Nicole, as the Catholics she grew up amongst would never make such sport of their God. The orchestra was loud and insistent, the swordfights were poorly choreographed (as observed by army veteran Titus Calidius Severus in the audience), the costumes were gaudy and colorful, and the women who played the goddesses and Queen Helen took every opportunity to wear as little as possible, to the joy of the male spectators.

Tragically, the play was interrupted when a woman in the audience fell sick. Doctor Dexter was also in the crowd and ministered to her, but was powerless to treat her mysterious illness, which Nicole recognized as measles. It was one of the first signs that the pestilence, with had ravaged other parts of the Roman Empire, had finally come to Carnuntum.