"Gain your father's approval to dissolve your marriage, and find me as wet with desire as you now stand." "Whims of your desires to his loving daughter lifts up." "Remove encumberance as discussed." "You'll see your child never born." "A necessary thing." "It's a red vial." "I'd see its contents replaced with water and bitter herb." "Your wife slaves, even through the night." "In her hand, a thing familiar to me." "I know what I hold and the intent it carries!" "Let these men not fall here tonight, but in the arena." "We are for the arena in Capua." "I give you Gannicus!" "We had last faced each other upon the sands as Melitta always feared." "Did you lay with her?" "Oenomaus." "We will cover this land in passion until Rome falls as a cinder, to scorch brow." "Spartacus." "But Gaius, where is my father?" "Help me!" "He has fallen at the hands of Spartacus." "They live!" "Get the Medicine!" "Get cloth to tend wounds!" "What news?" "!" "The arena is burned to fucking ground." "With many Romans among the ashes!" "What of Rhaskos?" "He fell as all men should." "With sword in hand and blood upon his thoughts." "You suffer no wound?" "The gods favor me, little man." "Call me that again... and they shall turn from you." "Can he be healed?" "Nasir had but a single wound." "This man beyond what should warrant life." "His name is Oenomaus." "And he is more than common man." "Let pray the gods hold him in equal esteem." "Do I yet dream?" "If so, I would never have you wake..." "Then it began to collapse." "They screamed and flailed like children as the arena burned around them." "The scent of smoke and death carried by the winds to the very heart of Rome!" "Lift troubled heart." "Oenomaus stands a titan." "One that shall live to raise sword again." "To fight by your side?" "If he chooses to take up cause against the Romans." "Cause?" "You have cock to rival Jupiter himself." "A few errant slaves amounts to flies circling a bull's ass." "Did he miss the part where we pulled the arena down on his head?" "Rome is propped up by more than a few wooden beams." "If your cause is to see your lives cut short, then you march towards certain victory." "Why did you choose to aid us, if you believe such?" "You mistake choice for repayment of a debt." "One owed to Oenomaus." "Absent it... we would not be breaking words." "He is right." "We were mistaken." "To have placed faith in his intentions." "Nasir once made attempt on my life, and yet now he stands trusted among us." "Perhaps Gannicus can be swayed as well." "Or perhaps you should have killed him in the arena." "The witnesses in Rome also attest the will grants the family domicile in Rome and the villa here in Capua." "In addition there is the vineyard in Atella, forty goats in the hills of Pompeii, twenty head of cattle..." "What is the worth of the livestock?" "Nine thousand denarii, depending upon deal struck." "See them to market." "And post decree announcing reward of the coin for knowledge leading to the capture of Spartacus." "Forgive me, Praetor, but the law grants you no such authority to part with these assets." "You are only to oversee Senator Albinius' holdings until his heir comes of age." "Laws must bend toward greater purpose." "If Spartacus is to pay for what he has done." "Praetor..." "Prattling on serves only to inflict further wound on grieving heart." "Apologies." "The memory of your father shall not soon fade." "All the Republic mourns his loss." "Leave us." "What moves your tears most?" "A father forever removed from loving embrace?" "Or his tongue forever stilled, before commanding to dissolve this marriage in favor of Varinius?" "I have made a grave mistake." "And the gods have punished me by striking down my father." "It is not enough." "Gaius..." "The only reason you have not joined your father is the child that grows within you." "My child." "My heir." "Protect him with your life." "Or see it forfeit." "We must keep appearance of mourning for the prescribed days." "I would not have the stench of grief slick upon you." "See yourself to a bath." "Give report." "A hundred more bodies pulled from the arena." "This was found at wreckage." "Why do our numbers stand so few?" "More have been recalled from Neapolis, to return by nightfall." "Yet many have taken to the wind." "They turn from their oath to Rome?" "Fear and panic grip the region, and our men." "Many believe that Spartacus unleashes the wrath of the gods." "A meaningless thing." "Legions could return to swell rank." "Yet still fall to Spartacus and his men." "Apologies, but as I warned young Marcus before life fled, gladiators are far from common slaves." "Three of your men would not equal one so trained, despite their eagerness to die." "No." "Did you not once stand amongst the brotherhood, upon the sands?" "A lifetime ago." "Then give lesson... prove boast." "The Syrian wants to taste his own blood." "Come on!" "Begin." "Come on!" "And I was considered lowest among the brotherhood." "Would that I had an army formed in your base image." "There are others that share my reflection." "Men in name only, a word masking truer nature of rabid animal." "Such a force under my guidance could prove useful in these difficult times." "The Senate would frown upon lowering standard into muck and shit." "As they frown upon many things that ambitious men must embrace." "You leave these walls?" "At request of the praetor." "He blesses Ashur with well deserved favor." "Would that he turn such grace toward grieving wife." "It is a hard thing, to have a father torn from breast." "I never knew mine..." "How did Glaber come to know of the silphium in Ilithyia's chambers?" "Perhaps the gods spoke to him." "You forget your place." "No." "I secure it." "You secure nothing without me, you fucking Syrian." "Move against my commands again..." "You command shit and piss." "I am Glaber's man now." "A word from me how you knew of his wife's intent to rob him of his unborn child..." "Or how the gods are nothing to do with delivering Oenomaus..." "You yet draw breath because I have not whispered your secrets into the praetor's ear." "No, Ashur." "Ashur." "Ssh." "Consider it a kindness." "One I shall see repaid..." "Does it hurt?" "A few cuts and scrapes." "Soon faded from memory." "Would that all scars were so easily erased." "I see no scars." "You risked all." "For pale shadow of the woman you once loved." "Then let us ignite the sun." "And strike darkness with its warmth." "Stop!" "Naevia..." "They have taken everything from me..." "Even your touch..." "I have heard tales of your victories in the arena." "Days long past." "Mira tells you were just upon its sands." "Standing as executioner for the Romans." "I stood for a brother." "See him to an honorable death." "And Rhaskos?" "Did he find the same?" "The man held some meaning to you?" "He elevated position." "I gave comfort." "It appears that bargain has come to an end." "I would see another struck." "With a man of greater worth..." "I hold no position among these men." "Nor do I seek it." "Yet you stand among them." "I seek only words with an old friend." "Nothing more." "We are here, in the shadow of Vesuvius." "A single man placed upon its crest would have clear view for many miles in all direction." "A Roman advance easily spotted." "Is there a way to its peak?" "A single path." "Narrow, but easily tread." "The rest is sheer rock." "Impassable, absent wings." "We will choose three men, of years beyond the taking up of sword." "Each to command a separate watch." "There's but one entrance to the temple." "The Romans could easily trap us inside." "Tunnels extend below our feet." "Perhaps one can be dug beyond these walls." "A few men with bows would give the Romans pause long enough to make use of it, if walkway were built." "How many among you shoot with purpose?" "There is not much call for arrows in the arena." "You no longer fight upon the sands." "Nor can you forge a sword from a fucking tree." "Then we will fashion weapons from what nature provides." "With practiced hand instructing in their use." "We can train until the gods take us." "House slaves will never be gladiators, something we are in short supply of now." "We need fighting men." "Perhaps it is time to revisit plans towards Neapolis." "And its slaver ships from foreign wars." "You would attack the port?" "With so few men?" "We brought the arena down with less." "Take two men and what coin we have." "Weight palm in Neapolis to loosen tongue of ships soon to dock." "Apologies." "I did not intend to halt conversation." "Unless I can drink that, it holds no worth to me." "I seek only wine." "We have none." "Then I truly am among the damned." "For both of you?" "I'm a whore." "Not a fool." "I would have words." "Fuck your words." "It is not with you that I seek them." "I have an offer to discuss." "One suited to your particular talents..." "Apologies." "I did not think you would need the bath, with days of mourning yet left." "My husband commands it, despite tradition." "Stay." "I would have your company." "Your eyes betray recent tears." "Events weigh heavy on the heart." "To the point of crushing it." "Why did the gods not warn of Spartacus' attack?" "Or of my father's..." "Do they punish me?" "A life, for the one I had planned to take..." "We both carry the burden of our acts." "If the gods have cast us adrift, we must together discover the course to return to the blessing of their shores." "Varinius has turned from me." "Gaius..." "I fear not even the gods could sway his hatred of me now." "Resume appearance of loving wife." "Submit to his will..." "The day will come when he will lose sight of hateful intention." "A slip, however fleeting, that we shall take advantage of." "There was a time when all I dreamt of was your throat beneath my hands." "Now your breath is all that gives me life." "I shall not be moved from your side." "Until my own husband calls me to the afterlife." "I have seen that look." "It often fell upon me, when we were yet beneath Batiatus' roof." "You knew Gannicus there, years before my arrival..." "What is your opinion of the man?" "He is a champion, as we once stood." "A boon to your cause." "He has expressed doubts towards it." "As have we all." "And yet you always find way to convince otherwise." "We have done the impossible." "We have brought down the arena in Capua." "A monument of Rome built upon the backs of slaves." "We have struck a deep blow to the very heart of our enemy." "Yet their numbers are vast." "As vast as their desire to see freedom crushed beneath heel." "One day, perhaps soon, they will strike back." "How do we avoid them?" "I do not intend to." "How?" "Is that true?" "If we are to face the might of Rome, I would do it here." "In the shadow of Vesuvius." "Upon terms that we set." "No hand will stand idle." "We must prepare ourselves for what is to come." "What is to come?" "What is to happen to us?" "Proper weapons are in short supply." "Fashion what you can from wood and stone, til more can be secured." "I would also see the tunnels beneath our feet further dug towards escape, which we will need." "To set eyes again upon your heart." "I understand now why a man would risk all for such a thing." "If it were not for you and the others," "I would have fallen in the arena." "Never to gaze upon her face again in this life." "It is a thing I will not forget." "...continue to hone skill." "Nor the lie you told, that saw her stay in that place another fucking day." "She is safe now." "All other things fall to unimportance." "Do you think a few words can change all that has happened?" "You stand a larger fool than I thought." "...be more dangerous than a thousand men." "Apologies." "The mistake was mine." "To offer comfort to a fucking Gaul." "You offer shit!" "Regain yourself!" "Crixus!" "I thought we had moved past this." "Wounds still linger." "I move for Neapolis." "And thoughts of swelling rank with better men." "You need not fear the Romans." "Your own men make attempt to kill each other." "You know what must be done." "See to it." "Gannicus." "I would have words." "You would have me fight?" "I would have you hunt." "Everyone has been set to purpose." "Ours is to provide meat." "You spoke of a debt to Oenomaus." "Was saving his life not repayment enough?" "That is for him to decide." "You are a free man." "Your decisions your own." "As it was when you stood in the arena." "To strike down your brothers." "What moved your hand?" "Honor, as you have it?" "Or the promise of coin?" "Never to be collected." "Because I chose not to kill you in the arena." "And now my rudis, my freedom, is forever buried beneath its rubble." "Freedom is not a stick of wood, to be presented as a bone to obedient dog." "It is a thing all men deserve." "We are gladiators." "Deserving only death equal to the lives of we have taken." "It was not always so for me." "I lived free once, in the lands of Thrace." "With a wife, promise of children..." "What became of her?" "Batiatus claimed her life." "I took his in return." "Then you have balanced scale." "It was Glaber who condemned us to slavery." "And I will not rest while he yet draws breath." "This is the reason you provoke the Romans?" "For the memory of your woman?" "For love." "The greatest cause of all." "One that has dragged many a man to his ruin." "You have scared away the game." "I would fare better alone." "Keep fucking sword up!" "Let it drop, and fall forever beside it!" "Again!" "I would not have you expire from the heat." "Gratitude." "I would also not have you at Agron's throat." "If he had his way, he would have left you in the mines." "Perhaps he was right." "Do not say such a thing." "You have not thought the same, after last night?" "If such a thought threatened," "I would rip it from fucking brain with bare hands." "All that matters is the woman I love stands before me once again." "Does she?" "Or is it but faint spirit, haunting the memory of her body?" "You have lost mind." "Hundreds dead." "An arena destroyed." "And this is what you offer?" "Lucretia to prostrate herself in the market, begging the gods to piss out the flames that yet smolder?" "Apologies, young Seppius is but moved by passionate heart." "I'm sure the gods take notice." "Of his lack of faith." "We must humble ourselves before the gods, in attempt to regain their favor." "Ritual will do much to ease the people's fears." "Better assuaged by the capture of Spartacus." "My men sweep the countryside, taking action in favor of prayer." "As they have for many months, to no result." "Yours have fared no better." "True." "The only one who benefits from our divide is the man who causes us injury." "And most keenly felt." "Your father's guidance and even hand is deeply missed." "His absence from this world has set it upon end." "Seppia fell to similar heart, when our cousin Sextus was snatched from life by Spartacus." "And she relives the moment in Mercato's passing." "A family friend since she was yet a child." "Too many have been lost." "I would see no more of note follow." "Let us set difference aside, join our men in common force." "One, which will overwhelm Spartacus and his murdering horde." "Yes, for the good of the people!" "The city will praise you both, our voices carrying to the very steps of the Senate." "I would need to consult with Varinius." "The very same man who galloped back to Rome while the stones of the arena were yet falling?" "Varinius moves to distance himself from all that has happened here." "Including you." "Take my hand, and with it see more lasting bond forged." "I will consider your proposal." "To give answer tomorrow." "A night's rest..." "Loving sister may sway a brother, where others fail." "Mind to be certainly cleared by morning." "Seppius, I would extend invitation to your sister." "In hopes that we may find greater strength in the beating of two wounded hearts." "A thoughtful offer." "There is no deeper solace for a woman, than in the bosom of her gender." "It would come as great comfort." "Gratitude." "I will arrange visit." "Your wife speaks with swift thought." "Seppia will take words to heart on the matter, with Seppius to find them better received from her lips." "Yes." "Your invitation may yet prove to be welcomed aid." "Come." "I would discuss other matters with you." "Did I not tell you?" "Together we will see ourselves freed from this abyss." "I do not see the man." "You are certain he lives?" "There were four others held with him at the bottom." "He did not care for the company." "Their memory is carved into his flesh, joining the marks of the other souls that he has taken." "What is it you seek of such a beast?" "What I seek of the Egyptian is none of your concern." "I come under authority of Praetor Gaius Claudius Glaber." "A noble title." "Yet absent the man himself," "I cannot break my charge." "Of course." "If you do not mind waiting here with my men, until I return with him...?" "Well the day has been long and hot." "I would have shade, and wine... to cool overheating concerns." "Let us see you into the light, my friend." "And set hands to purpose..." "You must keep your left arm steady, pull through to the cheek, take breath, and release." "Make attempt." "Pull through to cheek..." "Deep breath..." "And release." "Do not jerk from the string." "But let it gently slip from your fingers." "With practice, you will be as the goddess Diana, striking enemies from afar." "Donar!" "I would accompany you." "I hold no interest in the bow." "We lay together once and you expect us to never be parted?" "You mistake me for a fucking Gaul." "You seek Donar's affection now?" "I seek only my place in this world." "Then seize it with your own hands." "Not by the spreading of your legs." "In two weeks time, a ship will dock here." "Its hold laden with fighting men captured by the Romans." "If a few of us dressed as merchants could gain entry, before they're unloaded..." "Such a thing is possible." "Your labors have born fruit." "Not all as sweet." "News carries through the streets." "Glaber has raised the bounty on your head to 9000 denarii." "It seems you have caught nothing but Rome's attention." "You will find that a sour meal." "Were the Gauls not fucking bad enough?" "I have heard many tales of the Undefeated Gaul." "A fine title." "Yet I recall you absent victory when we faced Solonius' men in the opening of the arena." "True." "I was not awarded victory." "Yet I did not suffer defeat in proper challenge." "Perhaps we will yet have one." "Perhaps." "It warms heart to know that you were champion." "Show how much you desired it." "Yet it comes as a surprise, to see you here." "Following a Thracian's lead." "Spartacus has opened my eyes." "We stand together." "Then why do you now sit, while he and the lumbering oaf make plans that affect all?" "I am taken by other concerns." "Naevia is your woman now?" "I remember her, when she was yet a flower untouched." "What led her to be so rudely handled?" "My affections." "And discovery of them by Lucretia." "The heaviest price is always paid by those we love." "You should carry her far from Spartacus and his foolish cause." "Before he drags you all to your end." "Oenomaus awakes." "I am here only for words." "Which do you think could ever hold meaning now?" "That Melitta chose you." "That your heart was cherished above all others." "Then why was she with you the night she died?" "To share a final drink before I was to be sold to Tullius." "The only reason?" "Whatever happened between us, I am to blame." "Not her." "Never her." "I loved you as a brother." "And I you." "No." "You are a man that stands only for himself." "And would betray the gods to gain what he desires." "Perhaps I was a fool." "To have ever believed otherwise." "I see it every time I close my eyes." "Spartacus, hurling his spear." "Cossutius' final gasping breath..." "And Mercato..." "Poor Mercato..." "He will be sorely missed." "Apologies." "I babble on as if I am the only one that has suffered loss, and you grieve a father's passing." "The heart is overwhelmed by his absence." "You shall embrace him again." "As I shall Mercato, and beloved cousin Sextus." "Upon the shores of the afterlife." "Where my husband Quintus patiently awaits." "And with him countless other Romans of note." "All snatched from this life too soon, by common foe." "The years between you far outweigh mine." "Yet do not think me naive." "You extend invitation not to counsel grief, but to maneuver me to sway my brother's position." "Seppia..." "He's been clear in his desire that he, and he alone will bring our common foe to justice." "And his passions when set are not easily moved." "You have uncovered the veiled schemes of two old women." "But know attempt springs from wounded heart." "One shared between us all, regardless of age or experience." "I looked into his eyes, when Spartacus stood down upon the sands." "They burned with a fire that would consume the world." "And it shall." "If good men fail to set quarrel aside, and face Spartacus as one." "As I have said to your wife, my brother can be most difficult." "Faults is not his alone." "I regret not having taken different path towards more agreeable solution." "But know that I place foot firmly upon it now." "I will have words." "And attempt to set him upon it beside you." "Most welcomed news, is it not, Gaius?" "Yes, most welcomed." "You are a ray of light, in a house mired in shadow." "Forgive me." "Pressing matters call my attention." "You're blessed, to hold such a man." "The gods grant only what is deserved." "The men required have been assembled." "Come then." "I would see if they are all that you've promised." "Gannicus' bounty is being prepared." "Come, let us take food." "You have honed it to fine edge." "Life would easily run from veins, if brought to bear upon flesh." "Naevia..." "That is a name that holds no meaning." "She was a different girl, young and foolish." "Ripped from this world by rough hands and hot breath upon neck." "The things she was forced to do to survive..." "We will go from this place." "Find a new life on distant shores." "Beyond the shadow of Rome." "There is no place that memory would not follow." "I cannot run from this." "What would you have me do?" "Stand idle, and watch as you fade?" "No." "I would not have you watch." "I would have you teach." "How to breathe again." "How to live." "How to fight." "So that no man will ever lay hands on me against my will." "And the girl who's name was robbed may reclaim it." "We will have vengeance for what the Romans have done." "Together we shall see them drown in rivers of blood." "Nothing!" "Nor here!" "Calm yourselves!" "What moves to such fits?" "Our remaining coin is missing." "Fuck the coin." "The map is gone." "Our position, plans towards Neapolis..." "Someone seeks to betray us, for promise of Glaber's reward." "Spartacus..." "Gannicus." "You leave without words?" "I have had them with Oenomaus." "What do you carry with you?" "Water." "Meat, caught by my own fucking hands." "Our map takes flight in your wake." "A thing I have seen your gaze upon." "I am guilty of many things." "Betraying ill-fated cause does not stand among them." "Remove yourself from fucking path." "I knew eventually you would lead these men to their deaths eventually." "Is this the day you would do it?" "They are but loyal." "A quality you seem unfamiliar with." "No!" "Do not come between us!" "I would show him what a man with cause is capable of." "Your sword." "You fight in the style of Dimachaerus." "Trained by Oenomaus himself." "Let me pass." "Or put skill to final test." "We must stop this." "Spartacus has made desire known." "We shall honor it." "Spartacus!" "Chadara!" "She was trying to slip away." "When all others stood fixed." "A fine shot." "I meant only to wound." "She took the map." "Why would she do such a thing?" "She felt she had no place among us." "She sought to secure one elsewhere." "Apologies." "Your words prove true." "It has not always been so." "I would take to path now, unless you would seek further quarrel." "Go." "Enough blood has spilled." "Do you stay?" "We do." "Then I shall mourn your passing." "Is it wise to let him go?" "Every man has a right to his own choice." "Gannicus has made his." "And may yet prove a threat." "We have faced far worse." "The Egyptian and your men prove themselves." "As promised." "See the bodies of the slaves properly attended." "Draw no attention." "Apologies." "I could not wait until morning." "You wish to give voice to my offer?" "I fear it comes too late." "S-S-Seppia..." "I've seen how close you hold her to heart." "Leave this life knowing she's safe." "Beneath my roof." "My hands to comfort her in days to come." "Words no longer hold meaning." "And I've had too many of them, by fools presuming themselves to be my better." "Such days are at an end." "Your men are now mine." "And with their addition to my own, clear path to the end of Spartacus."