"OENOMAUS:" "No one even knows where he came from." "Some say he was from Thrace in Greece." "But he never said." "All I know for sure is he had once been in the army." "And then he and his wife were seized and taken to the slave market in Rome." "And that's where the story of Spartacus really began." "SLAVE TRADER:" "A woman and a child." "We'll start at 3,000 sesterces." "What am I bid?" "3,000 sesterces." "BIDDER:" "Four!" "SLAVE TRADER:" "Four. 4,000 sesterces." "Yes, come on." "For the family." "Good workers." "Good breeders." "Who will give me 5,000 sesterces?" "You've a good eye, Batiatus." "He's special, this one." "Where did you serve?" "Not a soldier." "So you're not a soldier?" " I'll take him. 2,000 sesterces." " 3,000." "With the female." "BATIATUS:" "What do I want with a woman?" "This one I'll make a gladiator." "Two." "Two and a half." "Hold on." "All right, all right." "Two." "Get him." "No, no!" "WOMAN:" "No!" "WOMAN:" "No!" "No!" "No." "No!" "No, Spartacus!" "No!" "OENOMAUS:" "Spartacus would become known as the man who fought back." "He was a hero." "No, Spartacus!" "He was my friend." "No!" "But most of all, he was a slave who took on the might of Rome to be free." " Pleased to meet you." " Welcome to hell." "Come on!" "OENOMAUS:" "He didn't look like much when I first saw him." "We'd been there for years, me and my mate Crixus, ever since they'd snatched us in Gaul." "One of the perks of being a veteran gladiator was beating up the new arrivals." "And I fancied my chances with him." "Huh?" "You call this fighting, huh?" "Good." "Good." "I'll kill you!" "You'll be pissing blood for a week." "Guards!" "SPARTACUS:" "One, two, three!" "Get them to the cells!" "Come on!" "Put your backs into it!" "CRIXUS:" "No use." "I said..." "You should listen to him." "You know how long he's been here?" "He's crazy." "Whoever she is, forget her." "Best to forget everything in here." "Believe me." " You'll learn." " No, he won't." "You won't forget your hate." "OENOMAUS:" "A few months later, Spartacus had become one of us." "We were ordered to fight in the arena in Capua." "It was a routine job." "A politician who wanted to suck up to the voters would put on a show." "And we were the entertainment." "So what have you got for me this afternoon?" "A marvellous spectacle, I assure you, Senator." " Worth every penny." " Well, I should hope so." "It cost me enough." "OENOMAUS:" "Our paymaster that day was Marcus Licinius Crassus, a man with a fortune in slaves and property who was aiming for high office." " A good turnout, don't you think?" " Mmm." "A full house, sir." "More people, more votes, Batiatus." "What a pleasant surprise, Senator Lentulus." "More than we deserved, I'm sure." "Or at least expected." "The people appreciate seeing the future consul, I always think." "Of course." "We are deeply honoured." "That's very gracious of you, Marcus Crassus." "What the hell is he doing here?" "He'd turn up at the opening of a shithouse if he thought there was a vote in it." "OENOMAUS:" "When you went into the arena, you didn't expect to die." "The deal was simple." "Fight hard, put on a good show, keep the crowd happy, and they'd let you live." "If you showed cowardice, then they'd turn nasty." "Fight me." "I'm trying to save your life." "Fight me." "MAN:" "Send him to the galleys!" "MAN:" "Fight him!" "Fight him!" "How disappointing." "And after all the trouble you went to." "You promised me a spectacle." "This is pathetic." "I assure you, sir." "It will not happen again." "CROWD:" "Kill him!" "Kill him!" "Kill him!" "Kill him!" "Please." "You'll get used to it." "OENOMAUS:" "But he never did get used to it." "I wonder if it was then that he started thinking about escape." "Roll." "Tell everyone supper's ready." "We're getting out of here." "Not your lucky night." "Spartacus!" "Welcome to hell." "High ground." "Move!" "OENOMAUS:" "And that was it." "We were out." "We had no plan." "Just 70 of us on the run, hiding on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius, 20 miles from Capua." "Do it." "OENOMAUS:" "Escaped slaves were like vermin." "We had to be hunted down." "So they sent 4,000 men." "They outnumbered us fifty to one." "OENOMAUS:" "We're trapped." "No way out." "SPARTACUS:" "There's always a way out." "Look at them." "They're not patrolling the perimeters, and the sentries are all facing this way." " That should tell you two things." " CRIXUS:" "What?" "One, they don't expect us to attack." " We're gonna attack?" " You try and stop me." "And two, they're raw conscripts, amateurs." "Now, look again." " What are they doing?" " Watching us." "Exactly." " Just like the crowd in the arena." " So?" "So the crowd in the arena doesn't watch the exits, does it?" "No one's watching the rear." "How thick are those vines?" "Evening, ladies." "ALL:" "Spartacus!" "Spartacus!" "Spartacus!" "Spartacus!" "Spartacus!" "Spartacus!" "Spartacus!" "Spartacus!" "Spartacus!" "Spartacus." "Psst!" "There's something you need to see." "Who are they?" "They're slaves, mostly." "What do they want?" "What do you think they want?" "They wanna join you." "OENOMAUS:" "Over the months, more and more of them came." "Soon there were thousands." "Not just men." "Women and children." "Suddenly, we weren't just outlaws." "We were a movement." "That's when the trouble started." "Hundreds of them." "Where are they all coming from?" "They're flocking to the mighty Spartacus." "Look, this one's brought his wife and his bloody mother." "How old is he?" "How old are you?" "Not a fighting man among them." "Useless." "So what are you gonna do with all this lot, then?" "I don't know." "Feed them." "What do you think you're doing?" "What's it look like?" "You can't spare that." "There isn't enough for the men." "So what do we do?" "Let them starve?" "They're no use to us." "That's your army, Spartacus." "Feed it or someone else will." "You want food?" "Go find it, then." "OENOMAUS:" "We weren't the only ones who didn't have enough food." "We slaves had built the Roman Republic." "Slaves worked the fields." "We brought in the harvest." "We built their buildings and we cleaned their streets." "Without us, Rome would be brought to its knees." "You see this?" "It costs twice what it did last week." "How am I supposed to feed my family?" "Answer me that." "I understand, I really do." "It's a disaster." "What is Consul Lentulus doing about it?" " What are you doing about it?" " Leave it with me." "What makes you think you can do better?" "Because I'm here and Lentulus isn't." "Because I'm listening and Lentulus isn't." "Look, if you need money to tide you over, come and see me, do you understand?" "I'll do everything in my power to help." "OENOMAUS:" "Meanwhile, Crixus took Spartacus at his word and went looking for food." "Prepare to die, Roman slaves!" "Empty the granaries!" "Take the cattle, the sheep, anything!" "Whatever you can find!" "No!" "No!" "No, please!" "Don't!" "Don't!" "Please stop!" "No!" "I should have killed you when I had the chance." "You think you had a chance?" "You gutless piece of shit." "You're no better than the Romans." "I never said I was." "Hey!" "Hey!" "Where are you taking him, Spartacus?" "Where are you taking us?" "Where are we going?" "OENOMAUS:" "In his own brutal way, Crixus had put his finger on it." "And Spartacus knew it." "We couldn't carry on living as a robber band, hidden in the hills." "There were too many of us to hide." "And too many of us couldn't fight." "We needed a plan." "A plan that could look after thousands of men, women and children." "Crixus has a point." "OENOMAUS:" "Mmm?" "We can't run forever." "Face it." "We can't run at all, not with this lot." " We can stand and fight." " And lose." "No." "We can't beat the whole Roman army." "We keep moving." "Where?" "Where are we going?" "As far as we have to." " That's it?" " Have you got a better idea?" "It's not much of a life." "But it is life." "We'll go north, across the Alps." "Tomorrow!" "Tomorrow, we march north to Gaul and out of Roman territory." "We'll find ourselves a new home." "Gaul?" "Have you ever been to Gaul, Spartacus?" "Have you seen the women?" "No." "I didn't think so." "You go to Gaul." "I'm gonna stay here and fight." "I saw my family burn, Spartacus." "I saw my children burn." "I want revenge!" "Who's coming with me?" "Who's coming with me?" " Me!" " Me!" "MAN:" "Me!" "Oenomaus?" "I'm sorry, Crixus." "Why?" "Because I think you're wrong" "about the women." "OENOMAUS:" "Spartacus' rebellion had become a political embarrassment." "But for some, it was also an opportunity." "My friends, my heart goes out to you." "You decent, hard-working merchants are facing ruin." "And what does Lentulus do?" "Well, either he's been sending incompetents to deal with the situation," "or he's allowed the army to grow so soft, it can't defeat a bunch of slaves." "He is weak." "Weak." "If you have a grievance, Marcus Crassus, air it in the Senate rather than the marketplace." "With respect, Consul, it's in the marketplace that the people are suffering, not the Senate." "I know exactly what you're up to." "You don't give a damn about the slave revolt or the people." "This is about power." "All I'm doing is giving the people a voice." "And it's you who have the power, not me, remember?" " Even if you're not prepared to use it." " How dare you?" "As a matter of fact, I've decided to take control of the situation myself." "OENOMAUS:" "Lentulus mobilised a massive army." "The first slaves they ran into were Crixus' mob in the Garganus Mountains." "We got there too late." " I'm sorry, Oenomaus." " Don't say another word." "He was my friend." "You know what?" "Perhaps he was right." "He's dead." "What, and this is living?" "Looking after a bunch of women and children?" " At least he died like a man." " He died like a fool." "We made a promise." "Revenge, Spartacus." "We lived for it." "It was all we had." "You want revenge, then live." "They want you dead, so live and you win." "There's no other way." "Come with me to Gaul." "What kind of a victory is that?" "It's the only one we can get." "OENOMAUS:" "So Spartacus led 40,000 of us north, slowly getting nearer and nearer to the Alps and our new home in Gaul." "All the time, the Romans were closing in." "They're gaining on us all the time." "We can't move any faster." "There is nothing for it." "We'll have to stand and fight." "You said that we couldn't do that, said that was suicide." "Two miles north of here there's a gorge." "If we can lure them in there, their numbers will count against them." "Packed together like rats in a trap." "It's our best chance." "Now!" "Go, go, go, go!" "We did it." "We bloody did it!" " We were lucky, that's all." " No." "No, that wasn't luck." "Huh?" "With you leading us, we can beat them all." "They want you to lead us against Rome, to victory!" " No, Oenomaus..." " Victory!" " Oenomaus, listen." "Listen." "Listen!" " Victory!" "Victory!" "Another three days' march, maybe two, and we're there." "Gaul." " We've done it, we're out." " No." "Escaping, you'll just be an escaped slave." "Huh?" "You'll still be a slave." "Wherever you are." "To be free, I mean really free, we have to kill our master." "Now, Spartacus." "Now for Rome." "Huh?" "Rome." "Huh?" "Rome!" "ALL:" "Rome!" "Rome!" "Rome!" "Rome!" "Rome!" "Consul Lentulus." "I came as soon as I heard." "What for, to gloat?" "To offer my sincere commiserations." "I'd like to say it could've happened to the best of us, but it didn't." "Oh, you're enjoying this, aren't you?" "No, Lentulus, I'm not enjoying this." "Who could enjoy a disaster on this scale?" "I did my duty." "Your duty?" "Thanks to you, a slave army is marching on Rome." "It's time someone strong was put in charge." "Someone who gets the job done." "CRASSUS:" "So, you're the army that ran away from slaves." "Soldiers?" "You're a laughing stock." "No doubt you're saying I'm a businessman, not a soldier." "What do I know about strategy and tactics?" "Well, I do know about leadership." "I know about discipline." "I know about efficiency." "Every 10th man to step forward." "Decimate them." "OENOMAUS:" "You had to hand it to Crassus." "In just a few months, he changed that army." "When we arrived on the hills outside Rome, that was only too clear." "This is a mistake." "We could've been in Gaul by now." "You think we can't win?" "You swore to lead us." "What do you want me to say?" "I want you to lead us." "They believe in you!" "I didn't ask for this!" "Go!" "Go on, get out!" "Go!" "Go on!" "You go with them." "You still don't understand, do you?" "There's nowhere left for them to go." "You said you'd lead us to a new home." "You've done that." "You're their home, Spartacus." "We're staying with you." "Forget Rome." "Just tell us what to do, we'll do it." "We can't go north, we head south." "OENOMAUS:" "So, once again, Spartacus led us off, with no real idea of where we were going." "All the while, Crassus followed us, tracking our every move." "They're heading south." "Good." "Don't let them turn or rest." "Herd them like cattle." "We're gonna drive those bastards into the sea." "OENOMAUS:" "And that's just what he did." "He pursued us all the way from Rome to Rhegium at the toe of Italy." " What do we do now?" " We grow wings." "Gentlemen, we have them cornered." "And now we're going to build a wall, 35 miles across, stretching from coast to coast and bordered by trenches." "No one gets in or out." "I'm sorry." "What for?" "Everything." "No one said I had to follow you." "Anyway, there's always a way out." "That wall, what does it look like to you?" "'Cause to me it looks defensive." "OENOMAUS:" "So?" "They're scared of us." "They don't want to fight, not if they can help it." "They'll starve us out." "That'll take too long." "We're an embarrassment to them, remember?" "They need a result and they need it fast." "Perhaps they'll listen." "What do you mean, a deal?" "What have we got to offer them?" "SOLDIER:" "Sir." "Over there, sir." "Look, over there, sir." "Well, I'll be damned." "So, you're the mighty Spartacus." "I've come to offer you terms." "You've come to offer me terms?" "Kill me." "Spare my men." "You really are stupid, aren't you?" "You've no idea." "Do you think the life of one slave means anything to me, or to Rome?" "You will surrender to me, and I'll decide who lives and dies." "All those who fought against us, I will execute." "The others will return to work." "These are my terms." "Then it's over?" "Yes, it's over." " So, we fought for nothing, then?" " No, Oenomaus." "We fought for everything." "But I haven't understood it until now." "SPARTACUS:" "We have what we fought for." "To be free means having the right to choose." "Tomorrow, you can stand and fight with me, or you can accept Rome's terms and take your chances." "It's up to you." "I'm not going to give you orders." "This is your choice." "Who's with me?" "Once we lived for our masters." "Tomorrow, we die for ourselves." "That is freedom." "Go!" "Go!" "On my command, we charge the centre of the line." "ROMAN COMMANDER:" "Company, halt!" "Are you ready?" "Attack!" "Where's the body of Spartacus?" "I told you I wanted the body." "I'm sorry, sir, we can't find it." "Crucify them." "Crucify them all." "OENOMAUS:" "Six thousand of us were crucified as a warning to any slave who might dream of rising up against Rome." "But the Romans never did find Spartacus' body." "I like to think he's still out there." "Of one thing I am sure, when the centuries pass," "few will remember the name of Marcus Licinius Crassus, but Spartacus will live on forever," "because he showed us something that we never knew before." "That a slave didn't have to just take it." "He could be free."