"In the last century, before the birth of the new faith called Christianity, which was destined to overthrow the pagan tyranny of Rome and bring about a new society, the Roman Republic stood at the very center of the civilized world." ""Of all things fairest," sang the poet," ""first among cities and home of the gods is golden Rome. "" "Yet, even at the zenith of her pride and power the Republic lay fatally stricken with a disease called human slavery." "The age of the dictator was at hand waiting in the shadows for the event to bring it forth." "In that same century, in the conquered Greek province of Thrace, an illiterate slave woman added to her master's wealth by giving birth to a son whom she named Spartacus." "A proud, rebellious son who was sold to living death in the mines of Libya before his thirteenth birthday." "There, under whip and chain and sun, he lived out his youth and his young manhood, dreaming the death of slavery" "2,··· years before it finally would die." "Back to work!" "Back to work!" "Get up, Spartacus, you Thracian dog!" "Come on, get up!" "Get up!" "Get..." "Oh, my ankle!" "My ankle!" "My ankle!" "Guard!" "Guard!" "Spartacus again, huh?" "Well, this time he dies." "Move along!" "Back to work, all of you!" "Welcome, Lentulus Batiatus." "Welcome, indeed, my dear Captain." "Oh, 11 miles through this disastrous heat and the cost of hiring an escort, ruinous." "Even so, I warrant you have nothing fit to sell me, have you, Captain?" "I've wasted both my time and my money." "Tell me the truth." "We have a few you might be interested in." "These?" "Carrion." "The buzzards are late." "This one's not bad." "He's a Gaul." "I don't like Gauls." "Hairy." "Can he come down unassisted?" "Come down, you." "Come down!" "Be good enough to show me the teeth." "Open your mouth." "Thank you." "Yes, as the teeth go, so go the bones." "This mouth is really impermissible." "The fellow's made of chalk." "We have many others." "The sun's over there." "I have to pay these people." "Who's that?" "This one's a Thracian." "I'm making an example of him." "How?" "Starve him to death." "It's the only thing that impresses slaves." "What a pity." "He reacts." "Good muscle tone." "Can I see his teeth?" "Open your mouth, Spartacus." "You smell like a rhinoceros." "Captain, the teeth." "You asked him to open his mouth." "He doesn't obey you?" "His teeth are the best thing about him." "He hamstrung a guard with them not more than an hour ago." "Marvelous." "I wish I'd been here." "I'll take him." "Let's look at some of the others." "Come along." "In spite of sickness and death, we will profit 11,000 sesterces." "Including your commission, of course." "Oh, no, sir." "Without my commission." "Marcellus, there they are." "They're a dirty-looking lot, but it's the best I could find." "No one else could have made so fine a choice." "Slaves, you have arrived at the gladiatorial school of Lentulus Batiatus." "You'll be trained by experts to fight in pairs to the death." "You won't fight to the death here." "That will be after you've been sold and then for ladies and gentlemen of quality, for those who appreciate a fine kill." "A gladiator's like a stallion, he must be pampered." "You'll be oiled, bathed, shaved, massaged, taught to use your heads." "A good body with a dull brain is as cheap as life itself." "You'll be given your ceremonial caudas." "Marcellus, please." "There." "Be proud of them." "On special occasions, those who please me will even be given the companionship of a young lady." "Approximately half our graduates live for five, 10, 10 years." "Some even attain freedom and become trainers themselves." "Marcellus." "I congratulate you." "And may fortune smile on most of you." "Marcellus, watch the second from the right." "He's a Thracian." "They were going to kill him for hamstringing a guard." "We'll break him of that." "Don't overdo it." "He has quality." "Next." "Next." "I like you." "I want you to be my friend." "I want to be your friend." "All I ask is that you get along with me." "What's your name, slave?" "Spartacus." "I feel you don't like me." "Give him your sword." "Take it!" "I have a feeling you want to kill me." "This is the only chance you'll ever get." "Kill me." "Don't be afraid, slave." "You have that sword." "I only have this piece of wood." "Are you going to disobey me?" "Take his sword." "You're not as stupid as I thought." "You might even be intelligent." "That's dangerous for slaves." "You just remember, from now on everything you do I'll be watching." "You did the right thing." "Every once in a while Marcellus likes to kill a man as an example." "I think he's picked you." "Better watch him." "How long have you been here?" "Six months." "I wish he'd pick me." "I want one chance at that pig before they carry me out!" "Quiet!" "No talking down there." "Dionysius, you'll get us in trouble just like in the mines." "What's your name?" "You don't want to know my name." "I don't want to know your name." "Just a friendly question." "Gladiators don't make friends." "If we're ever matched in the arena together," "I'll have to kill you." "Helena with Galino." "Patricia," "Crixus." "Priscilla," "David." "Claudia," "Pharox." "Varinia," "Dionysius." "No, no." "Spartacus." "Spartacus." "Felicia..." "I've never had a woman." "You have one now, Spartacus." "You must take her." "Go away." "What will she think of you?" "Indeed, what will I think of you?" "Go away." "Come, come." "Be generous." "We must learn to share our pleasures." "I'm not an animal!" "You're not trying to escape, by any chance?" "Direct your courage to the girl, Spartacus." "I'm not an animal!" "I'm not an animal." "Neither am I." "What's your name?" "Varinia." "You'll have to take her out of here, Marcellus." "You may not be an animal, Spartacus, but this sorry show gives me little hope that you'll ever be a man." "First rule, you get an instant kill on the red." "Here, here." "Always remember, go for the red first." "If you don't, your opponent will." "In the blue, you get a cripple." "Here, here, here and here." "Second rule, go for the cripple before the slow kill." "Here's a slow kill on the yellow." "Here, here and here." "Remember, a slow kill may have enough left in him to kill you before he dies." "With a cripple, you know you've got him if you keep your distance and wear him down." "The rest is all right for a public spectacle in Rome, but here at Capua we expect more than simple butchery and we get it." "Spartacus, why are you looking at that girl?" "Varinia!" "Stand still." "Since all you can do is look at girls, all right, slave, go ahead and look." "I said, look." "No." "No, this one goes to the Spaniard." "Have a good night's rest, Spartacus." "In there." "Woman!" "I've warned you about this kind of thing." "All right, bring them in." "No talking!" "Move along." "Did they hurt you?" "No." "That's a kill." "One, two, three, four, five." "One, two, three, four..." "We have visitors, tremendous visitors." "Two simply enormous Roman lords on the hill." "How easily impressed you are, Ramon." "Just 'cause they're Romans, I suppose they're enormous." "Tell them to wait for me when they arrive." "Master, you don't understand..." "How enormous do these Roman lords get?" "One of them is Marcus Licinius Crassus." "What?" "Wait a minute." "Crassus here?" "My red toga with the acorns." "Chairs in the atrium." "Second-best wine." "No, the best, but small goblets." "Gracchus." "You know how Crassus loathes him." "Take him away." "I can't lift it." "Use your imagination." "Cover him." "Tell Marcellus to get the men ready." "Crassus has expensive taste." "He'll want a show." "Forgive me, Gracchus." "Marcus Licinius Crassus." "Most noble radiance, first general of the Republic, father and defender of Rome, honor my house." "Bless it with your presence." "Wine, sweetmeats!" "Can't you see that Their Honors are exhausted?" "Have the goodness to sit." "Is anything wrong, Your Nobility?" "No." "Welcome to the Lady Claudia Maria, former wife of Lucius Caius Marius whose recent execution touched us all deeply." "Honor to the Lady Helena, daughter of the late Septimus Optimus Glabrus, whose fame shall live on forever in the person of his son, your brother," "Marcus Publius Glabrus, hero of the Eastern War." "How very much he knows." "Allow me to bring you up-to-date." "We're here to celebrate the marriage of my brother to the Lady Claudia." "A mating of eagles, Your Sanctity." "Fan His Magnitude." "He sweats." "No, no." "No, no." "My young friends desire a private showing of two pairs." "Two pairs?" "Oh, yes." "I have something that would please them." "Two pairs to the death." "To the death, Your Ladyship?" "Surely you don't think we came all the way to Capua for gymnastics?" "But I beg, Your Honors, we train the finest gladiators in all Italy." "We can give you a display of swordsmanship which is better than you can see in Rome." "When they're sold, their new masters may do with them as they wish." "But here, no, we never fight them to the death." "Crassus." "Today is an exception." "But the ill feeling, it would spread through the whole school." "Then the cost." "Oh, the cost." "Name your price." "25,000 sesterces." "Arrange it." "Are you serious, sir?" "Arrange it immediately." "Of course, we shall want to choose them ourselves." "You do have a certain variety?" "Inexhaustible." "Spartacus, there's going to be a fight to the death." "To the death?" "How do you know?" "I heard Marcellus tell one of his guards." "Who fights?" "I don't know." "To the death." "What if they matched you and me?" "They won't." "What if they did?" "Would you fight?" "I'd have to." "So would you." "Would you try to kill me?" "Yes, I'd kill." "I'd try to stay..." "I'd try to stay alive, and so would you." "All gladiators up to the training area." "Some visitors want to admire you." "Form a line in front of me." "Would Your Excellencies care to make your selection now?" "Claudia." "Oh, they're magnificent." "For you, Lady Helena, may I suggest Praxus?" "A veritable tiger." "I don't like him." "I prefer that one." "Which one?" "No, no." "David?" "Oh, Crixus, yes." "Ah, Marcellus, Crixus for the short sword." "Have you ever seen such a pair of shoulders?" "Dionysius." "I admit he's small, but he's very compact and extremely strong." "In fact, he looks..." "He looks smaller here than he does in the arena." "Optical." "Give me that one." "Oh, Galino." "Yes, yes." "Galino." "You have a shrewd eye, Your Pulchritude, if I may permit myself the..." "Galino." "Practically every man in this school is an expert with a Thracian sword but the trident is something very rare these days." "May I suggest the Ethiopian?" "There are very few Ethiopians in the country." "Ethiopians are recognized as masters of the trident." "I'll take him." "Draba?" "Oh, no." "For you I want the best." "I do think the Ethiopian..." "I want the most beautiful." "I'll take the big black one." "Draba." "Only one man in the entire school stands a chance with the Thracian knife against the trident." "There." "Over there, Lady Helena." "He's impertinent." "I'll take him." "And he's a coward to boot." "Have him flogged." "Over there, Lady Helena." "The beast of Libya." "I prefer the coward." "Spartacus." "If both men are down and refuse to fight your trainer will slit their throats." "We want no tricks." "Tricks, madam?" "At the school of Batiatus?" "You heard the instruction, Marcellus?" "Remember it." "I feel sorry for the poor things in this heat." "Don't put them in those suffocating tunics." "Let them wear just enough for modesty." "Whatever they wear, Lady, they'll bless your name." "Back, the rest of you." "Our choosing has bored you?" "No, most exciting." "I tingle." "Do let's get out of the sun." "May I conduct Your Magnificences to the gallery?" "An eavesdropper." "Oh, the gods." "How far from Rome must I go to avoid that cunning face?" "Don't talk about Gracchus." "He's so hateful." "For Gracchus, hatred of the patrician class is a profession and not such a bad one, either." "How else can one become master of the mob and first senator of Rome?" "Crassus, it's so boring." "I believe that girl smells of perfume." "Whatever it is, she smells most delectable." "You can't keep slaves from stealing unless you chain them." "When a slave's as pretty as she is, she doesn't have to steal." "An arrangement is made." "If her ankles are good, you can be sure an arrangement was made." "Oh, master!" "A catastrophe." "I've been anointed." "Why, you trollop!" "You did that on purpose." "It was an accident." "Come here, girl." "Don't be frightened." "What country are you from?" "Britannia." "How long have you been a slave?" "Since I was 13." "You have a certain education." "My first master had me tutored for his children." "I like her." "She has spirit." "I'll buy her." "Buy her, Your Magnificence?" "I have spent quite a lot of money on her." "I've no doubt of it." "2,000 sesterces." "She'll be waiting at your litter." "No, I don't want her feet spoiled by walking." "Send her to Rome with your steward the next time he has to go there." "He leaves tomorrow, and the girl with him." "More wine, and thank your gods." "You provoke me, Crassus." "I shan't be nice to you anymore." "Why distress me so much?" "You're horribly rich, yet you're the only one of my brother's friends who hasn't given him a wedding present." "I was saving it for a more suitable moment." "Here." "Give it to him, child." "What is it?" "As from this moment, your husband is commander of the garrison of Rome." "Wonderful." "I don't know how I shall ever be able to repay you." "Time will solve that mystery." "The garrison of Rome." "Yes." "The only power in Rome strong enough to checkmate Gracchus and his Senate." "You are clever." "Open up." "Through that door." "You will have to watch him, Claudia." "Father almost disinherited him because of slave girls." "The marriage contract absolutely forbids a harem." "What about your litter bearers?" "Every one of them is under 20 and taller than they should be." "She sets rather a high standard for you." "Your pleasure, Your Highness." "To you, my dear, shall go the honor of starting this poetic drama." "Open up." "First pair!" "Crixus and Galino!" "Those who are about to die salute you." "Crixus." "Next pair!" "Those who are about to die salute you." "Your Thracian's doing well." "How were you able to get my appointment without Gracchus knowing?" "I fought fire with oil." "I purchased the Senate behind his back." "I still think the trident's going to win." "Why doesn't he kill him?" "Kill him." "What's the matter now?" "Kill him!" "Kill him!" "Kill him, you imbecile!" "Kill him!" "Kill him!" "He'll hang there till he rots." "Take a last look, Spartacus." "She's going to Rome." "She's been sold." "She's been sold?" "No talking in the kitchen, slave." "There's trouble in the mess hall." "They killed Marcellus and maybe the other two." "Call out the guard." "Move, move." "On second thoughts, I'll deliver the girl personally." "Ride to Capua." "Call out the garrison." "I don't trust this lot." "I hold you responsible." "Yes, sir." "Around Capua, they ravaged the countryside, forcing other slaves to join them." "Looting, robbing, burning everything, while they make their camp in the escarpments of Vesuvius." "Each day swells their numbers." "The situation lies in the hands of this august body." "Where's the mighty Crassus?" "Out of the city." "At least, you're here." "No need to fear for Rome as long as Glabrus is with us." "Let me add, over 100 estates have been burned." "Among them, gentlemen, my own." "Burned to the ground and 3 million sesterces lost." "I propose the immediate recall of Pompey and his legions from Spain." "I could raise 500 men and bring the lot of them in." "Don't make a fool of yourself." "Why call back the legions when the garrison of Rome has nothing to do but to defend us from sausage makers?" "Let's send Glabrus against these scoundrels." "Give them a taste of Roman steel." "I protest." "I most strongly protest." "There are more slaves in Rome than Romans." "With the garrison absent, what's to prevent them from rising, too?" "I did not say the whole garrison." "Six cohorts will more than do the job." "The rest can stay in Rome to save you from your housemaids." "Will you accept such a charge, Glabrus?" "I accept the charge of the Senate, if the Senate truly charges me." "The garrison of Rome stands ready." "Slave hunting's a dirty business." "It takes a brave commander to consent to it." "I propose we turn the city out tomorrow in tribute to Glabrus as he marches through." "And for temporary command of the garrison during his absence," "I propose Caius Julius Caesar." "You don't look very happy over the new job." "It's not a serious disturbance." "Glabrus will be back." "Maybe." "At least it gives me a chance to separate Glabrus from Crassus for a while." "You know, this Republic of ours is something like a rich widow." "Most Romans love her as their mother." "But Crassus dreams of marrying the old girl, to put it politely." "Hail Glabrus." "Hail Glabrus." "Hail Glabrus!" "God be with you, Glabrus." "And with you, too." "I hope he returns to such applause." "Oh, one fat one, Fimbria." "Keep the change." "Give it to your wife." "May the gods adore you." "Only through your prayers." "Let's make an old-fashioned sacrifice for Glabrus' success, hmm?" "I thought you had reservations about the gods." "Privately, I believe in none." "Neither do you." "Publicly, I believe in them all." "Greetings, Marcus Clodius Flavius!" "Is Marcus Glabrus in attendance?" "He awaits you in the atrium, sir." "Excellent." "What have we here?" "A gift from the Governor of Sicily." ""Antoninus." "Sicilian, age 26," ""singer of songs. "" "For whom did you practice this wondrous talent?" "For the children of my master whom I also taught the classics." "Classics, indeed." "What position have we, I wonder, for a boy of such varied gifts?" "You shall be my body servant." "Instruct him." "All of you, come with me." "Are you on guard duty?" "My dear Crassus, congratulate me." "Or better still, let us congratulate each other." "I congratulate us." "Tomorrow I lead six cohorts of the garrison against the slaves on Vesuvius." "The whole city is turning out to see us off." "Great merciful bloodstained gods!" "Your pardon." "I always address heaven in moments of triumph." "Did Gracchus have something to do with this brilliant affair?" "Yes, he proposed it." "Rather decently, too." "And you?" "Do you think I made you commander to control some rock patch on Vesuvius?" "It was to control the streets of Rome!" "I only take six cohorts." "The rest of the garrison remain." "Under whose command?" "Under Caesar's." "Oh, excellent, excellent." "Finding Gracchus in control of the mob and the Senate, you felt impelled to hand over the garrison to him also." "I see." "I'll refuse, withdraw from the expedition." "One of the disadvantages of being a patrician is that occasionally you're obliged to act like one." "You've pledged to go, and go you must." "If Gracchus should decide to move against you..." "He won't!" "Has no need to." "He has, with your assistance, immobilized me altogether." "Your legions are in camp outside the city walls?" "My legions?" "Do you truly believe I'd order my legions to enter Rome?" "You can, if you have to." "Are you not aware of Rome's most ancient law, that no general may enter the city at the head of his armed legions?" "Sulla did." "Sulla?" "To the infamy of his name!" "To the utter damnation of his line!" "No, my young friend." "One day I shall cleanse this Rome which my fathers bequeathed me." "I shall restore all the traditions that made her great." "It follows that I cannot come to power or defend myself by an act which betrays the most sacred tradition of all." "I shall not bring my legions within these walls." "I shall not violate Rome at the moment of possessing her." "Go." "Prepare your troops at once." "March out of Rome tonight, but the tribute is impossible." "We've already been made to look a fool." "Let's not add the trappings of a clown." "Leave by unfrequented streets without fanfare, without even a drum." "Sneak out." "As you wish." "And for heaven's sake, my young friend, see to it that you don't have to sneak back again." "Farewell." "Come on, fat boy!" "Spartacus, come on!" "Come on!" "Noble Romans." "Fighting each other like animals." "Your new masters, betting to see who'll die first." "Drop your swords." "No!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "I want to see their blood here where Draba died!" "When I fight matched pairs, they fight to the death." "I made myself a promise, Crixus." "I swore that if I ever got out of this place," "I'd die before I'd watch two men fight to the death again." "Draba made that promise, too." "He kept it." "So will I." "Go on." "Get out!" "What are we, Crixus?" "What are we becoming?" "Romans?" "Have we learned nothing?" "What's happening to us?" "We look for wine when we should be hunting bread." "When you've got wine, you don't need bread!" "We can't just be a gang of drunken raiders." "What else can we be?" "Gladiators." "An army of gladiators." "There's never been an army like that." "One gladiator's worth any two Roman soldiers." "We beat the Roman guards here, but a Roman army's different." "They fight different." "We can beat anything they send against us if we want to." "It takes a big army." "We'll have a big army." "Once we're on the march, we'll free every slave in every town and village." "Can anybody get a bigger army?" "Once we cross the Alps, we're safe." "Nobody can cross the Alps." "Every pass is defended by its own legion." "There's only one way to get out of this country." "The sea." "What good is the sea if you have no ships?" "The Cilician pirates have ships." "They're at war with Rome." "Every Roman galley that sails out of Brundusium pays tribute." "They've got the biggest fleet in the world." "I was a galley slave with them." "Give them enough gold, they'll take you anywhere." "We haven't got enough gold." "Take every Roman we capture and warm his back a little." "We'll have gold all right." "Spartacus is right!" "Let's hire these pirates and march straight to Brundusium!" "Come join us." "All of you, come join us." "Come on and join us!" "Come on!" "Hey!" "Back to Vesuvius!" "Varinia." "I thought I'd never see you again." "Everything's so different." "The last time I saw you, you..." "You were waiting in the arena to..." "I..." "I thought you were in Rome." "How'd you escape?" "I..." "I jumped out of the cart and Batiatus was so fat..." "I flew out of the cart and Batiatus was so fat that he couldn't catch me." "He couldn't catch up with me." "Do you realize nobody can ever sell you again?" "Nobody can sell you." "Or give you away." "Nobody can ever make you stay with anyone." "Nobody can make you stay with anybody." "Oh, I love you, Spartacus." "I love you." "I love you." "I love you." "I still can't believe it." "Forbid me ever to leave you." "I do forbid you." "I forbid you." "I forbid you." "I forbid you." "It was funny at the time." "How good you are to me, if I may say so." "You may." "Thank you." "Don't just eye those birds." "Eat them." "There's no need to be on your best behavior here." "May I remind you you've been good to me in the past." "I've been good to you?" "Oh, ho, ho." "Oh, yes." "You've sold me slaves at an extremely reasonable price." "And you arranged gladiatorial jousts at cost, practically." "You are both ethical in business and certainly farsighted socially." "Zenobia's put on weight since I last saw her." "Hasn't she?" "I like it." "So do I." "You and I have a tendency towards corpulence." "Corpulence makes a man reasonable, pleasant and phlegmatic." "Have you noticed the nastiest of tyrants are invariably thin?" "In spite of your vices, you are the most generous Roman of our time." "Vices?" "Ladies." "Ladies?" "Since when are they a vice?" "Perhaps I used the wrong word." "An eccentricity, a foible." "I hope I pronounced that word..." "It's well-known that even your groom and butler are women." "I'm the most virtuous man in Rome." "I keep these women out of my respect for Roman morality." "That morality which has made Rome strong enough to steal two-thirds of the world from its rightful owners, founded on the sanctity of Roman marriage and family." "I happen to like women." "I have a promiscuous nature and unlike these aristocrats, I will not take a marriage vow which my nature will prevent me from keeping." "You have too great a respect for the purity of womankind." "Exactly." "It must be tantalizing to be surrounded by so much purity." "It is." "Let's mix business with pleasure." "How may I help you?" "Great Gracchus, I find it difficult to hate, but there's one man I can't think of without fuming." "Who's that?" "Crassus." "You've grown very ambitious in your hatred." "Do you blame me?" "There I was, better than a millionaire in the morning and a penniless refugee by nightfall with nothing but rags and my flesh." "All because Crassus decides to break his journey at Capua with a couple of capricious, over-painted nymphs." "These two daughters of Venus had to taunt the gladiators, force them to fight to the death, and before I knew what had happened, revolution on my hands." "What revenge have you in mind?" "I sold Crassus this woman Varinia." "Whom?" "Varinia." "May the gods give her wings." "There was no contract, but she was clearly his slave as soon as the deal was made." "Now she's off with Spartacus killing people in their beds." "And Crassus, no mention of money." "You never offered me this woman." "Why not?" "Well, she's not remotely your type, Gracchus." "She is very thin and..." "Look around you." "You'll see women of all sizes." "Well, yes." "500 sesterces deposit on Varinia." "Since he hasn't paid, this gives me first call over Crassus when she's caught." "May the gods adore you." "Why do you buy a woman you've never seen?" "To annoy Crassus, of course, and help you." "Fetch a stool, Antoninus." "In here with it." "That will do." "Do you steal, Antoninus?" "No, master." "Do you lie?" "Not if I can avoid it." "Have you ever dishonored the gods?" "No, master." "Do you refrain from these vices out of respect for the moral virtues?" "Yes, master." "Do you eat oysters?" "When I have them, master." "Do you eat snails?" "No, master." "Do you consider the eating of oysters to be moral and the eating of snails to be immoral?" "No, master." "Of course not." "It is all a matter of taste, isn't it?" "Yes, master." "And taste is not the same as appetite and therefore not a question of morals, is it?" "Hmm?" "It could be argued so, master." "That will do." "My robe, Antoninus." "My taste includes both snails and oysters." "Antoninus, look." "Across the river." "There is something you must see." "There, boy, is Rome." "The might, the majesty, the terror of Rome." "There is the power that bestrides the known world like a colossus." "No man can withstand Rome." "No nation can withstand her." "How much less a boy?" "Hmm?" "There's only one way to deal with Rome, Antoninus." "You must serve her." "You must abase yourself before her." "You must grovel at her feet." "You must love her." "Isn't that so, Antoninus?" "Antoninus!" "Antoninus?" "Take your time!" "How are they coming?" "Good." "Give me another thousand like them and we can march on Rome." "Come on, once again." "Here, on Vesuvius, we're safe from attack while we organize ourselves into an army." "It may take six months, a year." "Once we're strong, we're gonna fight our way south to the sea." "We're going to arrange for ships with the Cilician pirates." "The sea will be our road home." "If you agree, you may join us." "If you don't agree, go back before your escape is discovered." "Too many women." "What's wrong with women?" "Where would you be now, you lout, if some woman hadn't fought all the pains of hell to get you into this accursed world?" "I can handle a knife in the dark as well as anyone." "I can cast spells and brew poisons." "I have made the death shrouds for seven Roman masters." "I want to see Spartacus." "All right, grandmother." "I'm Spartacus." "Stay with us." "We'll need a million Roman shrouds before we're through." "Where do you come from?" "Most of us come from the estate of Lillius." "What kind of work did you do there?" "Sixteen years a carpenter, a mason." "Good." "We can use carpenters." "What kind of work did you do?" "Chief steward." "You'll help with the food supplies." "Report to Patullus." "What kind of work did you do?" "Singer of songs." "Singer of songs?" "But what work did you do?" "That's my work." "I also juggle." "Juggle." "What else do you do?" "I can do feats of magic." "Magic?" "Maybe he can make the Romans disappear." "I'll need one volunteer, man or woman." "How about you?" "You, sir?" "Here we have a likely subject." "You'll notice there is nothing in my hand, true?" "How many fingers do you see?" "Three." "How many fingers do you see?" "Three." "I make a bowl." "My hand is upside down and I ask you to blow at it." "Not hard enough." "Hard!" "Thank you." "Would you like to try?" "Hit it against the rock, gently." "Poet, I haven't had an egg in days." "You haven't?" "Here." "Thank you." "I'm not going to let mine get away." "Sing us a song." "Sing us a song, Antoninus." "Sing, Antoninus." "When the blazing sun hangs low in the western sky, when the wind dies away on the mountain," "when the song of the meadowlark turns still, when the field locust clicks no more in the field," "and the sea foam sleeps like a maiden at rest, and twilight touches the shape of the wondering earth," "I turn home." "Through blue shadows and purple woods," "I turn home." "I turn to the place that I was born, to the mother who bore me and the father who taught me, long ago, long ago, long ago." "Alone am I now, lost and alone in a far, wide, wondering world." "Yet still when the blazing sun hangs low, when the wind dies away and the sea foam sleeps," "and twilight touches the wondering earth," "I turn home." "Where'd you learn that song?" "My father taught it to me." "I was wrong about you, poet." "You won't learn to kill." "You'll teach us songs." "I came here to fight." "Anyone can learn to fight." "I joined to fight." "What's your name?" "Antoninus." "Antoninus." "There's a time for fighting and a time for singing." "Now you teach us to sing." "Sing, Antoninus." "When the blazing sun hangs low in the western sky..." "You like him, don't you?" "Who wants to fight?" "An animal can learn to fight." "But to sing beautiful things and make people believe them..." "Hmm." "What are you thinking about?" "I'm free." "And what do I know?" "I don't even know how to read." "You know things that can't be taught." "I know nothing." "Nothing." "And I want to know." "I want to..." "I want to know." "Know what?" "Everything." "Why a star falls and a bird doesn't." "Where the sun goes at night." "Why the moon changes shape." "I want to know where the wind comes from." "The wind begins in a cave." "Far to the north, a young god sleeps in that cave." "He dreams of a girl and he sighs, and the night wind stirs with his breath." "I want to know all about you." "Every line, every curve." "I want to know every part of you." "Every beat of your heart." "Go on about the city of Metapontum." "What garrisons will we find there?" "There are two legions in the garrison." "Some have been sent south..." "Set the litter down there." "Well, where is this slave general?" "Dionysius, get the litter bearers out of the rain." "Give them food, a bed and their freedom." "All right, follow me." "We'll pay you for them." "We have no slaves in this camp." "Tigranes Levantus at your service." "My credentials." "Come in." ""To the General of the Italian slaves called Spartacus" ""from Ibar M'hali, Cilician Governor of Delos. "" "Sit down." ""Greetings." ""Word has been received that you wish to embark your armies on the Cilician ships" ""from the Italian port of Brundusium." ""Receive my agent, Tigranes... "" "Levantus." ""... who bargains in my name." ""May Isis and Serapis bring victory to your cause." ""The Governor of Delos. "" "Who are Isis and Serapis?" "Gods of the East." "Why should they want us to win?" "Because they favor Cilicia, and Cilicia, like you, fights against the Romans." "Would you like some wine?" "I drink only after the bargain has been concluded, never before." "How many ships do these Cilicians have?" "Five hundred, at least." "But no deal is too small, I assure you." "We'll need them all." "All?" "What is the price?" "Price is 100,000 sesterces per ship." "For 500 ships, that would be" "50 million sesterces." "You have such a sum?" "We will have." "See for yourself." "Beautiful." "When will the ships be ready?" "Beautiful." "I love to see such beauty." "When will the ships be ready?" "Ah, my friend, when will you be ready?" "How long will it take you to cross one-third the length of Italy fighting a major battle in every town?" "One year?" "Two years?" "If we're not in Brundusium seven months from now, we'll never be there." "What if we assemble the ships, and there is no longer a slave army to board them?" "We'll give you a chest of treasure now, the rest when we get to Brundusium." "This one?" "Yes." "Done!" "Seven months from now the ships will be assembled." "Arrange to have the chest loaded." "And now, with your permission," "I should like to have the wine you offered me." "Will you join me?" "I will." "Excellent workmanship." "It came from the estate of a wealthy nobleman." "I've heard that you are of noble birth yourself." "I'm the son and grandson of slaves." "I knew that, when I saw you couldn't read." "Of course, it pleases Roman vanity to think that you are noble." "They shrink from the idea of fighting mere slaves, especially a man like Crassus." "You know him?" "I entertained him one afternoon." "You?" "In the arena." "Excellent wine." "May I..." "May I ask you something?" "You can ask." "Surely you know you're going to lose, don't you?" "You have no chance." "At this very moment, six cohorts of the garrison of Rome are approaching this position." "What are you going to do?" "We'll decide that when they get here." "Let me put it differently." "If you looked into a magic crystal and you saw your army destroyed and yourself dead, if you saw that in the future, as I'm sure you're seeing it now, would you continue to fight?" "Yes." "Knowing that you must lose?" "Knowing we can't." "All men lose when they die." "And all men die, but a slave and a free man lose different things." "They both lose life." "When a free man dies, he loses the pleasure of life." "A slave loses his pain." "Death is the only freedom a slave knows." "That's why he's not afraid of it." "That's why we'll win." "Spartacus, that pirate was right." "The garrison of Rome, they're setting up camp." "How many are there?" "About six cohorts." "Where?" "At the mouth of the valley, against the cliffs." "Strong camp?" "They've built no stockade." "No stockade?" "Are you sure?" "I'm very sure." "This campaign is great sport for them." "The Romans are having a picnic." "Did they see you?" "No." "We were hidden." "Maybe we ought to join this Roman picnic." "Form your men." "Six cohorts." "A lot of arms and weapons to build our army with." "Crixus always wanted to march on Rome." "Now he doesn't have to." "Rome's come to us." "Half this way!" "The rest over there." "Stand up, the way a noble Roman should!" "That's Roman pride for you!" "That's better." "What's your name?" "Marcus Glabrus." "Glabrus." "Commander of the garrison of Rome." "Commander?" "He was commanding it on his belly when we found him, playing dead!" "You disappoint me, Marcus Glabrus." "Playing dead." "You afraid to die?" "It's easy to die." "Haven't you seen enough gladiators in the arena to see how easy it is to die?" "Of course you have." "What are you..." "What are you going to do to me?" "I don't know." "What should we do with him?" "Let's have a matched pair, him and me." "I'll not fight like a gladiator!" "You keep staring at this." "Do you recognize this baton?" "Yes!" "You should!" "It was in your tent." "The symbol of the Senate." "All the power of Rome!" "That's the power of Rome!" "Take that back to your Senate." "Tell them you and that broken stick is all that's left of the garrison of Rome!" "Tell them we want nothing from Rome." "Nothing, except our freedom!" "All we want is to get out of this damn country!" "We're marching south to the sea." "And we'll smash every army they send against us." "Put him on a horse!" "Their leader said their hatred of Rome was such that all they wished was to escape from her rule." "If unopposed, he promised a peaceful march to the sea." "If opposed, he threatens to ravage the countryside and destroy every legion sent against him." "And once they get to the sea?" "They plan to take ship with Cilician pirates and return to their homes." "From which port do they propose to embark?" "I don't know." "But city garrisons can't stand up to them." "If they are to be intercepted, it's work for the legions!" "What sort of a man is this leader of the slaves?" "I don't know." "I think they called him Spartacus." "Spartacus." "Is that name familiar to you?" "Yes, it does seem to be." "I can't place it." "After he talked to you, what happened?" "I was tied to a horse and lashed out of camp." "How many of your company escaped?" "Fourteen have reported thus far." "I, myself, was taken prisoner in my own command tent." "The camp was thoroughly infiltrated before an alarm could be sounded." "Did you surround your camp with moat and stockade?" "No." "We arrived after sunset." "Sentries were posted every 10 paces." "There was no reason to expect an attack by night." "Then again, well, they..." "Continue." "They were only slaves." "I see." "I submit that Publius Marcus Glabrus has disgraced the arms of Rome." "Let the punishment of the Senate be pronounced." "If we punished every commander who made a fool of himself, we wouldn't have anyone left above the rank of centurion." "But this is a case of criminal carelessness!" "Six cohorts have been slaughtered." "Crassus sponsored this young man." "Let him pronounce sentence." "The punishment is well-known!" "Let Publius Marcus Glabrus be denied fire, water, food and shelter for a distance of 400 miles in all directions from the city of Rome." "One thing more." "Glabrus is my friend and I will not dissociate myself from his disgrace." "I now lay down the command of my legions and retire to private life." "Goodbye, Crassus." "This is no time for a man of honor to withdraw from public affairs!" "All:" "Shame, shame!" "Sit down." "This sort of heroic public behavior is nothing new." "I've seen it before, and I know the meaning of it." "Crassus acted on a point of honor!" "Patrician honor!" "No matter how noble this looks from the outside," "I don't like the color of it." "Crassus is the only man in Rome who hasn't yielded to republican corruption and never will!" "I'll take a little republican corruption along with a little republican freedom but I won't take the dictatorship of Crassus and no freedom at all!" "That's what he's out for and that's why he'll be back." "To the mother that bore me, to the father that taught me," "to the god..." "To the blue woods and the purple shadows, I..." "To blue shadows and purple woods." "Spartacus, you frightened me!" "I'm sorry." "How long have you been there?" "A little while." "Why didn't you say something?" "You seemed so happy." "I didn't want to bother you." "I am happy." "Spartacus, I've been trying to remember the song that Antoninus sang." "Is it blue shadows and purple woods, or is it purple woods and blue shadows?" "I want to make love to my wife!" "Spartacus, put me down." "I'm dripping!" "I don't care." "You've got, you've..." "Yes?" "You have to be gentle with me." "Why?" "Why, darling?" "I'm going to have a baby." "Now put me down." "What?" "A baby." "A baby?" "When?" "In the spring." "Well, how?" "I mean, how do you know?" "I know." "A baby in the spring." "I'm gonna have a son." "It might be a daughter." "Why didn't you tell me?" "I just did." "You're cold." "Here, get underneath this." "Did I hurt you?" "No, you didn't." "I didn't mean to be so rough." "Why don't you kiss me?" "This is the first time I was ever going to have a baby." "Varinia." "A baby." "I'm just the same as I ever was, Spartacus." "I won't break." "These slaves have already cost us a thousand million sesterces." "If now they want to relieve us of their unwelcome presence, let them go!" "Lmpossible." "They've infected half of Italy with this uprising." "If we permit them to escape, this will spread throughout the entire empire." "The Republic is still weak from 20 years of civil strife." "We're engaged in two wars, one in Spain and the other in Asia." "Pirates have cut off our Egyptian grain supply, and Spartacus raids the commerce of all south Italy." "Half the precincts of Rome are without bread!" "The city is close to panic." "There are two things we must do immediately!" "Confirm Caesar as permanent commander of the garrison" "And..." "And assign two legions to intercept and destroy Spartacus at the city of Metapontum!" "If we could only have had Batiatus in the other pot!" "Now you're talking!" "Varinia, wonderful meal." "Varinia." "A small piece of land with a few goats on it." "Oh, no, no." "I don't care." "The best wine in the world." "For wine, you've got to go to Aquitania." "Come to Lidya for wine." "That's the best." "The best wine comes from Greece." "Everybody knows that, even the Romans!" "No, Lidya!" "You're all wrong!" "The best wine comes from home, wherever it is." "I agree with you." "Gentlemen." "Any reports on Metapontum?" "Heralds are crying the news now." "We lost 10,000 men, including Commodius and his officers." "Nineteen thousand?" "Have you estates in Metapontum?" "No." "A son with Commodius." "With your permission, good day." "We take five years to train a legion." "How can this Spartacus train an army in seven months?" "There's something wrong, something very wrong." "We should have an investigation." "By all means, an investigation." "Where is Spartacus now?" "He's nearing the seaport of Brundusium." "I need a few moments of the Commander's time." "Will you excuse us?" "I hear you've taken a house in the fourth ward." "Not a very splendid house." "And you feasted 11,000 plebeians in the Field of Mars." "It scarcely could've been called a feast." "For 200 years, your family and mine have been members of the Equestrian Order and the Patrician Party, servants and rulers of Rome." "Why have you left us for Gracchus and the mob?" "I've left no one, least of all Rome." "But this much I've learned from Gracchus, Rome is the mob." "No!" "Rome is an eternal thought in the mind of God." "I had no idea you'd grown religious." "That doesn't matter." "If there were no gods at all, I'd revere them." "If there were no Rome, I'd dream of her as I want you to do." "I want you to come back to your own kind." "I beg you to." "Is it me you want, or is it the garrison?" "Both." "Tell me frankly." "If you were I, would you take the field against Spartacus?" "Of course." "Why?" "We have no other choice if we're to save Rome." "Ah, Caesar!" "Which Rome?" "Theirs or ours?" "You know Gracchus is my friend." "I won't betray him." "Caesar?" "Which is worse?" "To betray a friend or betray Rome herself?" "My dear Crassus, I face no such choice." "You will, sooner than you think." "Good afternoon, Crassus." "I've been looking for you." "Your new master." "The Senate's been in session all day over this business with Spartacus." "We've got eight legions and no one to lead them." "The minute you offer the general's command, they start wheezing like winded mules." "I've seen such epidemics before, haven't you?" "How's your health?" "Excellent, as you very well know." "I take it the Senate's now offering the command to me." "You've been expecting it." "I have." "Have you thought how costly my services might be?" "We buy everything else these days." "No reason why we shouldn't be charged for patriotism." "What's your fee?" "My election as First Consul, command of all the legions of Italy, and the abolition of senatorial authority over the courts." "Dictatorship." "Order." "Let me know if my terms are acceptable." "I can tell you now." "They're unacceptable." "For the present, perhaps, but times change and so does the Senate." "When that day comes, I shall be ready." "Convey my respects to your wife." "With pleasure." "He's right, you know." "If something isn't done about Spartacus, the Senate will change." "And Crassus will save Rome from the slave army by assuming dictatorship." "But that depends on which way Spartacus jumps." "Just now he's trying to get out of Italy." "If he succeeds, the crisis is over and Crassus may stay in retirement indefinitely." "I've arranged for Spartacus to escape from Italy." "What?" "I've made a little deal with the Cilician pirates." "I've assured them that we won't interfere if they transport Spartacus and his slaves out of Italy." "So now we deal with pirates." "We bargain with criminals." "Don't be so stiff-necked." "Politics is a practical profession." "If a criminal has what you want, you do business with him." "How far are we from Brundusium?" "About 20 miles." "Our army will camp here tonight." "They're six hours behind us." "Patullus, ride ahead to Brundusium." "Bring Tigranes here." "Marco, report back to Spartacus." "Tell him we camp tonight by the sea!" "If all goes well, we can load 150 ships a day." "That's your job, Dionysius." "Work with the Cilician pirates." "That ought to keep him busy." "Saves me finding someplace to sleep." "Crixus, keep giving me reports on Pompey." "There won't be any surprises." "I still want patrols up to the time we call them to board ship." "I'll get them together." "Spartacus, the harbor district in Brundusium has food warehouses, but not enough to provide for the whole fleet." "The countryside's filled with cattle." "We've salt to preserve them." "I'll handle it." "Find out how many men we have in camp who were galley slaves or sailors." "Tigranes Levantus." "Ah!" "My dear General." "Welcome, Tigranes." "No, no." "You needn't look for litter bearers to emancipate." "I rode a horse." "Your gods, Isis and Serapis must've been good to us." "The balance of the 50 million sesterces we owe you." "General, I..." "I bear a heavy burden of evil tidings." "What is it?" "Pompey and his army has landed in Italy." "At the port of Rhegium three days ago." "We get complete reports on their movements." "But do you also know that a Roman fleet carrying Lucullus and his army arrives tomorrow at Brundusium?" "Lucullus, here?" "You have no ships." "I saw them in the harbor." "The Cilician fleet, out of strategic necessity, has been obliged to withdraw." "Withdraw?" "There are no ships at all?" "Cilician pirates can destroy any Roman fleet that ever sailed." "If they run away now, it's not because they're afraid!" "You better give me a better reason." "I'm as desolated as you are, General." "Stand up." "Up!" "On your toes." "You'll cut the skin." "Why did the Cilicians run away?" "They were paid." "And who paid them?" "Who?" "Crassus." "Crassus." "Crassus won't fight us himself." "The reports say he won't take the command of an army." "Why would he bribe your pirates to keep us from escaping?" "I don't know." "How can I answer, when there is no answer?" "I've been betrayed just as you have." "There is an answer." "There must be an answer to everything." "Five miles from Brundusium." "Here's Rhegium." "Pompey's march must've brought him to about here." "He's four days away, maybe more." "Lucullus lands at Brundusium tomorrow." "If we engage Lucullus," "Pompey will have time to march against our rear." "If we turn west to meet Pompey," "Lucullus will march against our rear." "The only other army in all of Italy is here." "Rome." "Yes, of course!" "Crassus is inviting us to march on Rome, so he can take the field against us." "Crassus wants us to march on Rome?" "He's forcing us to." "He knows I won't let myself be trapped between two armies with my back to the sea." "He knows my only other choice is Rome." "Somewhere on the way, we meet." "If he beats us, he becomes the savior of Rome, and there's his final victory over the Senate." "General, allow me to redeem myself in your eyes." "For a small commission," "I can arrange for you, your family and your leaders, of course, to be smuggled out of Italy and transported to one of the eastern countries where men like you are welcome and appreciated." "You can live like kings for the rest of your lives." "What do you think, General?" "Go away." "Go away?" "Go away." "Tell the trumpeters to sound assembly." "Tonight, a Roman army lands in the harbor of Brundusium." "Another army is approaching us from the west." "Between them, they hope to trap us here, against the sea." "The Cilician pirates have betrayed us." "We have no ships." ""By order of the Senate" ""be it known that we have this day elected" ""Marcus Licinius Crassus" ""First Consul of the Republic" ""and Commander-in-Chief of the armies of Rome. "" "Hail Crassus!" "Rome will not allow us to escape from Italy." "We have no choice but to march against Rome herself and end this war the only way it could have ended." "By freeing every slave in Italy." "I promise you a new Rome, a new Italy and a new empire." "I promise the destruction of the slave army and the restoration of order throughout all our territories." "I'd rather be here, a free man among brothers, facing a long march and a hard fight, than to be the richest citizen of Rome, fat with food he didn't work for, and surrounded by slaves." "I promise the living body of Spartacus for whatever punishment you may deem fit." "That, or his head." "This I vow by the spirits of all my forefathers." "This I have sworn in the temple that guards their bones." "Hail Crassus!" "We've traveled a long ways together." "We've fought many battles and won great victories." "Now instead of taking ship for our homes across the sea, we must fight again." "Maybe there's no peace in this world, for us or for anyone else." "I don't know." "But I do know that as long as we live, we must stay true to ourselves." "I do know that we're brothers." "And I know that we're free." "We march tonight!" "Hail Crassus!" "Hail Crassus!" "Greetings to you, Crassus." "Caius." "Gentlemen." "Have your dispositions been made?" "Each maniple knows its position, sir, and exactly what's expected." "Every legion commander has been given his battle orders." "Excellent." "All positions will now be changed." "Changed?" "Spartacus takes too keen an interest in our plans, I fear." "New battle orders will be issued in a short while." "Spartacus has every reason to believe that he has outdistanced the pursuing armies of Pompey and Lucullus." "However, there are passes through the Apennine Mountains unknown to any map." "It may fortify your courage to know that Pompey is encamped some 20 miles to the west and that the army of Lucullus approaches from the south by forced night march." "Sir, allow us to pledge you the most glorious victory of your career." "Aye!" "I'm not after glory!" "I'm after Spartacus." "And, gentlemen, I mean to have him." "However, this campaign is not alone to kill Spartacus." "It is to kill the legend of Spartacus." "You may go, gentlemen." "Hail Crassus." "Hail Crassus." "Lentulus Batiatus awaits Your Excellency." "Who?" "The lanista, sir." "Ah!" "Admit him." "Most Blessed Highness, as soon as I received your message I hurried into your distinguished presence." "I'm glad you were able to spare the time." "Sit down." "Oh, how gracious." "I understand..." "I'm informed that Spartacus once trained under your auspices." "Yes!" "In fact, if it isn't too subversive to say so," "I made him what he is today." "You're to be congratulated." "You're so admirably qualified to give me what up to now I've not been able to obtain, a physical description of Spartacus." "Oh, yes." "But you saw him." "What?" "In the ring." "When?" "When you visited my school with those two charming ladies." "What!" "I trust they're both in good health." "They selected him to fight against Draba, the negro." "I remember the negro." "You had good cause to." "If I..." "If I may say so, a brilliant dagger thrust, difficult angle." "Spartacus was the opponent?" "Yes." "What did he look like?" "That's a matter of some importance to Your Highness?" "Yes, to every man who loves Rome and wishes to see her strong." "We're both Roman patriots." "You're a great one." "I, of course, smaller." "We both believe in Roman fair play." "You want something from me." "I would be lacking in respect for my conscience, if I did not say that I wish something from you." "Name your price." "If..." "Uh, no." "When you win your victory tomorrow, presumably the survivors will be auctioned off in order to pay for the expenses of this heroic expedition." "Could not the agent for that sale be he who shares this tiny moment of history with Your Honor?" "I authorize you to be the agent for the sale of all survivors." "In return, you will remain here until after the battle and aid me in identifying Spartacus." "After the battle?" "Mm-hmm." "You misunderstand me." "I'm a civilian." "I'm even more of a civilian than most civilians." "If you wish to remain so," "I strongly advise you to stay here and be our guest." "Guard!" "Hmm?" "My dear, all-conquering Marcus Licinius Crassus, what if it is Spartacus who crosses the battlefield looking for you?" "In such circumstances, I have no doubt you will be helping him." "This fellow remains with us until after the battle." "Make him comfortable." "Don't let him feel lonely." "Mommy?" "Mommy?" "When do we go home?" "Go to sleep, dear." "No pains yet?" "He's a bad child." "He hits me with his fists." "He wants to see his mother." "Can you blame him?" "Can you feel it?" "No, I don't." "I hope he waits till we get to Rome." "Rome." "They've never beaten us yet." "No." "But no matter how many times we beat them, they still seem to have another army to send against us." "And another." "Varinia, it just seems like we've started something that has no ending." "If it ended tomorrow, it would be worth it." "Oh, Varinia, don't make me weak." "You're strong enough to be weak." "Oh, Varinia." "Oh, Varinia," "I love you more than my life." "Yet, sometimes, even with you sleeping beside me" "I feel so alone." "I imagine a god for slaves and I pray." "What do you pray for?" "I pray for a son who'll be born free." "I pray for the same thing." "Take care of my son, Varinia." "And if he never knows me, tell him who I was and what we dreamed of." "Tell him the truth." "There will be others to tell him lies." "I can't live without you, Spartacus." "Varinia, Varinia." "Varinia." "Varinia, for you and me there can be no farewells." "As long as one of us lives, we all live." "I felt it." "Did you feel it?" "Yes, I did." "That was so strong." "Does it hurt you?" "No." "That was so strong." "Oh, Varinia, Varinia, Varinia." "Lucullus and Pompey." "Have we a count of prisoners?" "We haven't made the final count, sir." "I bring a message from your master," "Marcus Licinius Crassus," "Commander of Italy." "By command of His Most Merciful Excellency, your lives are to be spared." "Slaves you were and slaves you remain." "But the terrible penalty of crucifixion has been set aside on the single condition that you identify the body or the living person of the slave called Spartacus." "I'm Spartacus!" "I'm Spartacus." "I'm Spartacus!" "I'm Spartacus!" "I'm Spartacus!" "I'm Spartacus!" "I'm Spartacus." "I'm Spartacus." "Forgive me for being one of the last to congratulate you." "There's an ugly rumor going round the camp that the prisoners are to be crucified." "That is true." "Perhaps this is the moment to remind Your Highness that you promised me I could be the agent in their auctioning." "You promised Spartacus to me!" "Where is he?" "In return, I promised you the sale of the survivors and there will be none!" "But it's Varinia." "Yes, I remember." "You're the woman of Spartacus?" "I'm his wife." "And this is his child?" "Yes." "Where is Spartacus?" "Dead." "Did you see him killed?" "Yes." "You're lying." "Where is he?" "At least here is someone worth selling, Your Enormity." "I'll even take the child as an investment." "How many women have been taken?" "Under 40, sir." "Those who weren't killed have run off to the hills with their children." "You may sell all the others but not this woman." "You haven't seen the others." "They're of surpassing ugliness!" "A genius wouldn't be able to sell them." "Flog that scoundrel out of camp." "This woman and her child are to be conveyed to my house in Rome." "Halt them!" "Halt!" "Antoninus?" "Tribune!" "Slaves are to be crucified along the roadside the full distance between here and the gates of Rome." "Hold this man till the end." "And that man, too." "March on." "March on!" "I've more stripes than a zebra." "Every time I touch my wounds, they sing like larks." "But in spite of that, I found something I never had before, with all my wealth." "What is that?" "Don't laugh at me, but I believe it to be dignity." "In Rome, dignity shortens life even more surely than disease." "The gods must be saving you for some great enterprise." "You think so?" "Anyone who believes I'll turn informer for nothing is a fool." "I bore the whip without complaint." "Indeed, that sounds like a bad attack of dignity." "I hope this will not deflect you from the revenge you were going to take on Crassus." "On the contrary, it only strengthens my resolve." "That's enough." "I'm glad to learn that." "This woman, Varinia, is in his house." "All Rome knows about it." "Malicious tongues even say that he's in love for the first time." "Yes!" "Oh." "I noticed a strange look in his eye when he first saw her." "It would take a great woman to make Crassus fall out of love with himself." "I'll be honest with you." "She's not as unattractive as I told you she was." "Dignity and honesty in one afternoon." "I hardly recognize you." "But she is an impossible woman." "Beautiful?" "Beautiful?" "Well, beautiful." "The more chains you put on her, the less like a slave she looks." "Proud?" "Proud, proud." "You feel that she would surrender to the right man which is irritating." "I like Crassus." "Let's save him from his agony." "Let's steal this woman." "Steal the woman?" "Why?" "I can no longer hurt Crassus in the Senate but I can hurt him where he'll feel it most, in his pride." "Attack our enemy from within." "The scheme is excellent, but I hope you're not suggesting that I steal the woman." "Yes!" "Buy some horses and a cart with a canopy." "Bring her here by nightfall." "Oh, no." "Add courage to your newfound virtues." "Would half a million sesterces make you brave?" "Half a million?" "Well, Crassus does seem to dwindle in the mind, but..." "Let's reduce him further." "A round million!" "A million." "For such a sum, I could bribe Jupiter himself!" "With a lesser sum, I have." "Forgive the intrusion." "I'm not in the habit of coming uninvited." "You've always been welcome here." "As a pupil." "You're not alone." "No." "This time you've come to teach." "You've joined Crassus?" "Am I arrested?" "No." "But I must ask you to come with me to the Senate immediately." "What I do, I do not for myself but for Rome." "Rome?" "Poor, helpless Rome." "Let's go and hear more about Rome from Crassus." "Did you truly believe 500 years of Rome could so easily be delivered into the clutches of a mob?" "Already the bodies of 6,000 crucified slaves line the Appian Way." "Tomorrow the last of their companions will fight to the death in the temple of my fathers, as a sacrifice to them." "As those slaves have died, so will your rabble if they falter one instant in loyalty to the new order." "The enemies of the state are known." "Arrests are in progress." "The prisons begin to fill." "In every city and province, lists of the disloyal have been compiled." "Tomorrow they will learn the cost of their terrible folly, their treason." "Where does my name appear on the list of disloyal enemies of the state?" "First." "Yet, upon you I have no desire for vengeance." "Your property shall not be touched." "You will retain the rank and title of Roman senator." "A house..." "A farmhouse in Picenum has been provided for your exile." "You may take your women with you." "Why am I to be left so conspicuously alive?" "Your followers are deluded enough to trust you." "I intend that you shall speak to them tomorrow for the sake of their own good, their peaceful and profitable future." "From time to time thereafter, I may find it useful to bring you back to Rome to continue your duty to her, to calm the envious spirit and the troubled mind." "You will persuade them to accept destiny and order, and trust the gods!" "You may go." "Halt!" "Why hide behind that stola, hmm?" "That's better." "That dress took some weeks of a woman's life." "You, above all people, should respect the work of slaves and wear it proudly." "Come here." "This belonged to a queen, the Queen of Persia." "It's heavy." "In time you will wear it lightly enough." "Sit down." "Will you have some squab and honey?" "No." "You'll enjoy it." "And a piece of melon?" "And some wine, of course." "Eat." "I did not command you to eat, I invited you." "You find the richness of your surroundings makes conversation difficult?" "Why am I here?" "Good question." "A woman's question." "I wish the answer could be as good and straightforward." "The infant, it thrives?" "He thrives." "I purchased a wet nurse for him, yesterday." "I hope the milk agrees with him." "I sent her away." "I prefer to nurse the child myself." "I'm not sure I approve." "It ties you to the old life." "I want you to begin to look forward to the new." "I don't care about my new life here." "You care about the life of your child, don't you?" "Why do you threaten me with my baby?" "I belong to you." "You can take me anytime you wish." "But I don't want to take you." "I want you to give." "I want your love, Varinia." "You think by threatening to kill my child you'll make me love you?" "I did not threaten to kill your child." "I'm sorry, Varinia." "One shouldn't grieve forever." "I'm not grieving, I'm remembering." "Do I interfere with your memories?" "Oh, no." "You tread the ridge between truth and insult with the skill of a mountain goat." "Well." "What do you remember, when you think about Spartacus?" "It doesn't distress you to talk about him?" "No." "Well, then, what sort of a man was he, really?" "He was a man who began all alone, like an animal." "Yet on the day he died, thousands and thousands would gladly have died in his place." "What was he?" "Was he a god?" "He wasn't a god." "He was a simple man." "A slave." "I loved him." "He was an outlaw!" "A murderer!" "An enemy to everything fine and decent that Rome ever built!" "Damn you!" "You tell me." "Why did you love him?" "I can't tell you." "I can't tell you things you can never understand." "But I want to understand." "Don't you see?" "I must understand." "You're afraid of him, aren't you?" "That's why you want his wife, to soothe your fear by having something he had." "When you're so afraid, nothing can help." "Nothing." "We shall see." "Could we have won, Spartacus?" "Could we ever have won?" "Just by fighting them, we won something." "When just one man says "No, I won't,"" "Rome begins to fear." "We were tens of thousands who said no." "That was the wonder of it." "To have seen slaves lift their heads from the dust, to see them rise from their knees, stand tall" "with a song on their lips, to hear them" "storm through the mountains shouting, to hear them sing along the plains." "And now they're dead." "Dead." "Varinia" "dead." "And the baby." "All of them." "Are you afraid to die, Spartacus?" "Hmm." "No more than I was to be born." "Are you afraid?" "Yes." "Hail Consul!" "Guard, fall in." "Where are the gladiators?" "Over there, sir." "Antoninus, the night passes slowly, doesn't it?" "Spartacus." "You are he, aren't you?" "Gladiator, I'm Marcus Licinius Crassus." "You must answer when I speak to you." "Centurion!" "Let them fight now." "Unchain them." "The entire city's been told they'll fight tomorrow in the temple of your ancestors." "They will fight now for me." "Here!" "And to the death." "And the victor shall be crucified." "We will test this myth of slave brotherhood." "Unchain them!" "Form a circle." "Don't give them the pleasure of a contest." "I'll kill you on the first rush." "I won't let them crucify you." "It's my last order." "Obey it." "Let them begin." "I won't let them crucify you." "Do you realize how long it takes to die on a cross?" "I don't care!" "Forgive me, Antoninus." "I love you, Spartacus, as I loved my own father." "I love you like my son that I'll never see." "Go to sleep." "Here's your victory." "He'll come back." "He'll come back and he'll be millions!" "I wonder what Spartacus would say if he knew that the woman, Varinia, and her child are slaves in my household?" "Yes." "Spartacus." "Crucify him!" "I want no grave for him." "No marker." "His body's to be burned and his ashes scattered in secret." "Did you fear him, Crassus?" "Not when I fought him." "I knew he could be beaten." "But now I fear him, even more than I fear you." "Me?" "Yes, my dear Caesar." "You!" "I don't see the letter here to the leader of the Senate." "Oh, yes." "Julia, I don't like the sound of weeping." "This is a happy house." "Please stop." "Oh, there you are." "Go away, Julia!" "Where have you been?" "The city is full of Crassus' legions." "We've been hiding." "I don't know Rome as well as I know Capua." "They're arresting everyone." "So this is the woman it took Crassus eight Roman legions to conquer." "I wish I had time to make your acquaintance, my dear." "Unfortunately, we all have to make journeys to different destinations." "Where are we going?" "You're going to Aquitania." "The governor's one of my innumerable cousins." "Here's a senatorial pass." "It's valid in all the known world." "Why do I have to go to Aquitania?" "'Cause I asked you to." "It's very good of you, Gracchus, but I..." "Double the money I promised you." "Here's two million sesterces." "Two million?" "Here." "Articles of freedom for the woman." "And here's a smaller document that I've prepared for the child, befitting its size." "Where are you going?" "Hmm?" "Oh, to Picenum." "Picenum?" "That's the dreariest town in Italy." "Will you please leave me?" "Come with us." "See to it that I don't misuse the money." "Don't be ridiculous." "I'm a senator." "Will you please go before the soldiers come here?" "Oh!" "This would really make Crassus jealous." "Go and make my joy complete." "Save your tears now." "Save them for the journey." "Well." "Prettier." "Halt!" "Identify yourselves, please." "Lentulus Batiatus." "Climb down, please, and identify yourselves." "I object to that tone." "I've got my orders." "Come down and identify yourselves, please." "As I told you, I'm Lentulus Batiatus, the lanista from Capua." "This..." "My sister-in-law." "Lady, please." "She's traveling with her child to Aquitania on a senatorial pass." "Take a look through his baggage." "Not a word, please." "What did you say?" "Oh, Spartacus." "Tell the lady no loitering's allowed." "Instantly." "Move on." "Yes." "This is your son." "He's free, Spartacus!" "Free!" "He's free." "He's free." "He'll remember you, Spartacus, because I'll tell him." "I'll tell him who his father was and what he dreamed of." "Varinia, have mercy on us." "Get in the wagon." "Oh, my love, my life." "Please die, die." "Please, please die, my love." "Oh, God, why can't you die!" "Come on." "Come on." "Goodbye, my love, my life." "Goodbye, goodbye." "rafal1974"