Rome Must Fall

Chapter 4: Spartacus

Just enough for everyone to have a meal. Spartacus looked at Crixus and asked, Have our brothers finished equipping all the weapons and armor?

Yes, Crixus grinned and pointed behind himself, 20 brothers have all put on infantry equipment, and with you and me taking down the guard at the iron gate and changing into these outfits, plus an archer falling from the balcony We now have twenty-two infantry and one archer. If anyone dares to stop us again, we can crush them like ants!

Roar! The fully armed gladiators behind him roared, causing others on the training ground to look back in astonishment.

Spartacus scanned these fully armored gladiators and noticed that they were all Gauls. He nodded and calmly said, Well rely on you if we encounter enemies while escaping.

Dont worry, Ill lead them at the front, Crixus replied confidently.

How are the injuries of our brothers? Spartacus then looked at Artorix.

Artorix replied in a low voice, 21 dead, 11 seriously wounded, and 32 slightly wounded

The leaders of the gladiators fell into silence at the same time. The school had a total of 295 gladiators, and this uprising had mobilized all of them, resulting in a high casualty count of 64, which was more than one-fifth of their number.

Spartacus quickly regained his composure and said in a deep voice, For the slightly wounded, let our brothers take turns carrying them. For the seriously wounded let them depart without suffering.

Understood, Crixus responded and went to carry out the order with his men.

Thus, Maximus saw these gladiators approaching their unconscious and seriously injured comrades, closing their eyes and silently reciting a prayer before drawing their short swords and piercing their chests directly.

No one stopped them, nor did anyone raise objections. Since the day they became gladiators, they had dealt with death and had long grown accustomed to it.

But this greatly shocked Maximus and also horrified his injured companion, Phaselus.

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At this moment, Spartacus spoke loudly, Brothers, after our bloody battle, we have broken free from the cage set by Batiatus for us! The gates are now open, but as you escape from this school, do not forget that many of the guards you killed were Roman citizens! The wicked wolf Batiatus must have already sought help from the officials in Capua. Romans are always cruel to slaves who betray their masters. They will surely send troops to hunt us down, capture us, nail us to cross, and torture us to death!

Do not forget the strength of the Romans. They control all of Italy and the entire Mediterranean. Trying to escape and hide alone will not work. We must unite tightly and gather all our strength. Only when we have the strength to overcome one difficulty after another can we finally achieve true freedom!

As soon as he finished speaking, there were immediate shouts from other gladiators, Spartacus, rest assured, I will not run around. I will follow you all the way!

Right, Spartacus, you have the best plan. We believe in you and will fight alongside you!

Spartacus, you are our leader. Under your guidance, we will tear apart any Romans who dare to stop us!

The shouts of the gladiators continued, eventually merging into an excited roar:

Spartacus! Spartacus!!

Maximus curiously gazed at Spartacus standing in front:

This real Spartacus bears no resemblance to the actors who portray him in the movies and TV series from the past. He is tall and muscular, but not bulky. His brown, curly hair, soaked with sweat, gently drapes over his broad forehead. With his long, oval face, slightly pointed chin, prominent nose, large and bright eyes with a particularly spirited brown iris, long and thick eyelashes, and a reserved smile

A phrase popped into Maximuss mind: A face as gentle as a lamb. This image did not match his physique, but it was this contradiction that gave a strong sense of familiarity. Perhaps it was because of this that the schools top gladiator, who was undefeated in the arena, was so trusted and followed by everyone.

Spartacus put on the Roman-style helmet left by the guard he had killed. The lingering glow of the sunset reflected upon it, forming a hazy halo that made it especially dazzling. His gaze was resolute as he waved forcefully, Follow me, lets leave this place! With that, he rushed towards the gate, followed closely by the armed gladiators, and then by the unarmed ones carrying their injured companions on their backs

Without hesitation, Pequot lifted Phaselus onto his back. Maximus said from the side, Pequot if you get tired, you can let me carry him.

Pequot ignored him.

The gladiator school was surrounded by walls over four meters high, with a thick oak door and a large iron lock, it can be said that it was heavily fortified. Although the iron lock on the gate was not opened, a large hole had been smashed into the wooden door, and the edges were smoothed out with short swords. Thinking of the incredible strength of Oenomaus and the other Germanic people in the previous Maximus memories, Maximus was not surprised.

Passing through the hole, they found themselves in a narrow, winding alleyway

Capua was once the capital of the Campanian League and remains the primary city in the region. Gladiator games were very popular here, and it was one of the first towns within Roman territory to build a gladiator arena. Some Capuans even proudly claim that gladiator games originated in Capua. As a result, there were over ten privately operated gladiator schools here.

The Capuans loved watching gladiator competitions, but they didnt want to live with these murderous monsters who killed for a living. The constant noisy fights from the gladiator schools were also annoying. Many years ago, the citizens of Capua collectively demanded that all gladiator schools be moved outside the city. However, schools with hundreds or even thousands of gladiators couldnt operate without daily supervision. Eventually, these schools were required to be built near the city walls, so the soldiers patrolling the walls could keep an eye on them.

With the expansion and conquests of the Romans, Rome became the center of the Mediterranean. A huge amount of wealth and slaves poured into Rome, and countless foreigners and poor people came to Rome in search of survival and opportunities. Capua, not far from Rome and with a better environment, became a destination for their migration. The inner city of Capua couldnt accommodate a large number of immigrants, so they began building houses outside the city. Due to the lack of unified planning and self-will of the immigrants, the houses in the outer city of Capua were disorderly, the alleys were narrow, and the roads were poor, resembling a large maze.

Normally, Spartacus and his companions would enter the arena directly under the guard of Batiatus men. After the matches, they would immediately be taken back to the school. Batiatus never gave them the right to go out alone, which was also related to the fact that most of them were criminals or war captives.

As the sky darkened, the gladiators suddenly stopped running after a while because they encountered a dead end ahead.

Spartacus couldnt help but feel anxious. He scanned the closed wooden doors on both sides of the alley and said firmly, Break open the doors, grab two people, and have them show us the way!

No need for that trouble, I know the way. Ill lead the way! Someone in the crowd shouted loudly.

Spartacus looked over and was somewhat surprised. Maximus? Youre still alive?!

I just passed out. Later, when I woke up, I saw you fighting with the guards at the entrance to the training ground, so I joined the battle Maximus said as he walked towards Spartacus.

The reason he dared to step forward at this moment was that he realized the previous Maximus actions were too despicable. If the gladiators found out, he could only imagine what would happen. So, he couldnt continue to do nothing and had to actively contribute to gain Spartacus protection and reduce everyones animosity towards him.

***

Authors Note:

The historical records about Spartacus mention that there were over 200 gladiators in the gladiator school where Spartacus was located. However, there are two different accounts regarding the number of people who escaped after the riot.

One version says that Spartacus led a charge into the kitchen, wielding cooking utensils as weapons, and ultimately only around 70 gladiators managed to escape after the riot. Another version, as described in this book, presents a different narrative.

I still remember reading a world-renowned work titled Spartacus written by an Italian author in my childhood. It mentioned that there were over ten thousand gladiators in the gladiator school where Spartacus was situated. However, this seems to be an exaggeration, and such a massive scale is likely only found in Romes gladiator school during the Roman Empire era.