And walking under the waterfall of orange flame
We came out and into our view fell a most horrid site,
One I can scarcely even describe in words
In line, as my keen-eyed guide, Julius Caesar, pointed out,
Were the souls of military betrayers, mutineers and deserted generals,
Forced to walk endlessly round and round in a long train.
The men of this train, all donned in their finest military dress,
Marched this endless line in a deep gorge,
Their position vulnerable, as my guide grumbled.
Lining the walls of the gorge mere inches apart were weapons
Of all forms - slings, arrows, spears, cannons, missiles -
No more than inches apart any one of them.
My guide spoke thus, "These men were the violent against their own brotherhood,
Their own military. They must walk endlessly around, and occasionally
A weapon will be released at random, to kill on of them at random, yet they know not who."
As he finished his words a shot rang out and a man in a Nazi uniform collapsed.
The other men looked around out of fear, but soon forgot about their comrade and marched on,
His body caught on fire and burned to ash.
I turned to Caesar, "Is there but any chance I may speak to one or more of these men,
To better learn their reasons?" And my guide replied, "We must wait for them to die, as
They reform right about where we stand before leaping back into the gorge out of false desire."
We waited a few minutes, Caesar pointing out the traitors to me - there was Benedict Arnold, and over there Quintus Sertorius and the arrogant Titius Labienus, the man who deserted Caesar to fight with Pompey in the Civil War - intermingled with these men were countless others,
Nameless centurions and sergeants and captains of all ages of time, from Imperial Rome
to America's own Vietnam War. As we watched to parade of the infamous
The Nazi who had been shot appeared out of the ground behind us, his form regenerated.
How he communicated with us I could not explain, as I was native to English, him to German,
My esteemed guide to Latin, yet it happened, so I best not argue. "Greetings soldier, what is your name
and crime?" asked Caesar as a true military commander would, calm and firm.
The Nazi recognized my guide immediately and fell upon his knees. "Caesar, oh, mighty Caesar! My
name is Erwin Rommel, I was one of the greatest tank commanders of all time, in the greatest war the
world has ever known." Caesar seemed unimpressed.
"I detest groveling, now rise and state your crime Rommel." Upon which Rommel rose to his feet.
His medals and his steely eyes reflected the orange flames around us, giving him an eerie look.
"I…I tried to assassinate the Furher, his mind was gone, we could not have won the war -
so I along with a few others tried to rid Germany of him, for the good of the Fatherland. But alas he was
paranoid, and our plans failed, and I was forced to take my own life rather than give him the pleasure."
As he finished saying this he set eyes upon me, recognized my dress as modern.
"You, from what time are you?" he asked. "The late nineteen hundreds" I replied. At this
statement he appeared a bit saddened. "So you have not seen the Fatherland rise again,
that is a shame. The Fourth Reich will be the true one, lead by light rather than shadow."
"A Fourth Reich, but Germany is so carefully watched that that could never happen.
Hitler destroyed any faith society may ever place in that country." At that my guide balked.
"No, the Germans have never been trusted, not even in my time, but they will rise again, he is right."
Both of them saw my paling face, the thought of another world war crossing my mind. It was Caesar
Who moved to calm my thoughts. "No, no, Germany will be the saviors of the world, not the destroyers,
Under the Fourth Reich mankind will truly find peace." Rommel spoke his agreement, then looked
To the gorge. He turned and went for it at a run - I turned and went after him, but as he
Leapt over the cliff Caesar's strong arm held me back. "Let him go, he cannot help it,
That was the lot given to him…come, let's move on."
And thus we left the Pit of the Mutineers and moved on to the lower regions of Hell.