Rome Must Fall

“As for the captain of the cavalry unit…” Spartacus pondered for a moment, then looked at Artorix. “The gladiator who accompanied you on the reconnaissance mission and was the first to notice the movement of the Capuan army and promptly informed us… his name is…”

“O… Omarkel,” Artorix interjected. “He’s quite clever and skilled in horsemanship.”

“I suggest he take command of the cavalry unit,” Spartacus said.

Crixus hesitated. Although Omarkel was a Gaul, he was one of the few who didn’t always obey him. But he didn’t want to appear envious, so he reluctantly said, “I… have no objections.”

Spartacus continued, “We have acquired a considerable amount of supply already, and we will gain even more spoils in the future. To avoid conflicts and chaos caused by everyone scrambling for them, we must manage the spoils properly. Additionally, our numbers are increasing, and ensuring everyone is well-fed is no easy task. We need to establish a logistical unit responsible for managing supplies and providing ample food for everyone. I suggest that Hamilcar take on the role of the logistics team leader, with Maximus as his assistant, overseeing a temporary team of twenty people. What do you all think?”

Everyone unanimously agreed. The gladiators were enthusiastic about fighting and killing, but they had little knowledge of logistics and supply. They were eager for someone to handle these complicated matters. Therefore, Crixus only glanced at Maximus. Instead of humiliating him, he said seriously, “Spartacus, our biggest problem right now is the shortage of weapons and armor. Hamilcar mentioned earlier that after occupying this farming estate, aside from the ten sets of city guard equipment we obtained from the slain guards, we haven’t found any other weapons. At least half of the slaves who joined us are without weapons. Are we going to let them fight the Romans unarmed?”

Spartacus was about to speak when Maximus cleared his throat. “May I speak a few words?”

“Feel free to speak,” Spartacus said, interested in hearing what Maximus had to say. This young man possessed knowledge about Italy that other gladiators lacked, which was why Spartacus tolerated and valued him. Of course, the half Thracian blood in his body also played a role.

“I don’t have a solution, but I want to inform everyone,” Maximus began, combining his knowledge of ancient Rome from his previous life and the firsthand experiences of the original Maximus. He spoke earnestly, “A few decades ago, every citizen in Italian city-states who had some wealth in their homes would possess one or two sets of weapons, ready to answer the call of their city-state and fight alongside the Roman army. However, since Rome started recruiting unemployed vagrants using money and directly providing them with weapons to form their armies, these Italian civilians no longer needed to prepare their own weapons. Therefore, the households in the Campania region, including farms, are unlikely to possess many weapons. Only the towns, due to their obligation to establish city guard units according to Rome’s law, have armories to provide weapons for the city guards.”

“Are you suggesting… that we attack the towns and seize their armories?” Artorix frowned.

“No, I’m just informing you about the distribution of weapons in the Campania region to give you an idea,” Maximus quickly clarified.

“While the people of Campania may not be skilled in combat, we are also not adept at siege warfare. To minimize casualties, we should temporarily avoid attacking towns,” Spartacus said thoughtfully. “After raiding these farms, we can gather as many weapons as possible. Slaves who don’t have weapons for now can fight with sharpened sticks or wooden swords, just like during our training. Those things can still kill.”

Everyone nodded, understanding the situation.

“However, Maximus, your words reminded me that the citizens of the entire Italy haven’t been equipped with weapons for decades. It’s likely they have little training in combat and are not capable of fighting us. As long as we can defeat the Roman army, we don’t have to worry about anything else!” Spartacus said passionately.

His enthusiasm infected everyone, and they became excited.

Crixus exclaimed, “No wonder those Capuans fight like women! That explains it. The Romans may be despicable, but they did a good job with this.”

Everyone burst into laughter.

Maximus joined in the laughter, but in his mind, he remembered the fate of Spartacus and the others in history.

Spartacus smiled and said, “Today, we have found a place to settle down, and many new brothers have joined us. We should celebrate properly! Hamilcar and Maximus, your first task as part of the logistics team is to prepare a sumptuous dinner for us and bring several dozen bottles of fine wine from the cellar. Let our brothers drink to their hearts’ content!”

“I wholeheartedly agree!” everyone exclaimed excitedly.

Maximus was also happy because, through his efforts, he had gained the recognition of Spartacus and the others and had been given some authority, even if it was just assisting Hamilcar in the logistics team. It was still a significant progress.

………………………………………………………

Gaius Claudius Glaber, born into Rome’s prominent Claudius family, was also the youngest of the eight praetors in the Roman Senate. Although he was serving as a praetor for a short time, he had no lack of war experience. In his youth, he had accompanied the Roman legions to Asia Minor to battle the king of Pontus. Later, he followed Sulla in his march on Rome. While he didn’t receive the same recognition as Lucullus and Pompey, he was still respected and had a relatively smooth political career in Rome.

As a praetor, he aimed to further advance his position—to become a consul. However, there were many competitors, and he lacked impressive military achievements and strong support. Even obtaining the opportunity for nomination would be difficult. He felt helpless in this regard. But in recent days, he discovered an opportunity.

A group of lowly gladiators initiated a rebellion at the Capua gladiator school and then fled to the Mount Vesuvius area. They occupied the hills, raided farms, killed civilians, and took slaves as hostages. Their actions grew increasingly disruptive, disturbing the peace in the entire Vesuvius region, and even threatening the safety of nearby towns and the Roman roads. But more importantly, it harmed the interests of the Roman senators and patricians in the area. Therefore, in the past two days, the senators had proposed sending troops to eliminate these rebels and swiftly passed a resolution.

Although the reports indicated that these thieves had already grown to several thousand in number, the senators only allowed half a legion to be deployed. It was evident that the senators did not consider these rebels a significant threat. However, if Glaber could quickly defeat them and restore peace to the Vesuvius region, he would surely gain some favor from the majority of the senators and recognition of his abilities.

It was precisely because he saw this point that Glaber actively sought and petitioned to lead troops on this expedition.

According to regulations, praetors had the authority to lead troops, but the other praetors didn’t even bother with the small achievement of eliminating a handful of rebels. Thus, Glaber easily obtained this task. However, Rome didn’t have readily available troops, so he had to first issue a recruitment notice in the square. The news quickly spread throughout the city, and a large number of unemployed and poor citizens flocked to Campus Martius.

As a first-time commander, Glaber was cautious. Based on the information he collected, although most of those rebels were a rabble of slaves, there was a group of gladiators leading them. Gladiators were not proficient in military strategy, but their individual combat abilities were astonishing. When the Germanic Cimbri invaded, the Roman army suffered consecutive defeats. The Senate urgently called upon Marius, who found the soldiers he recruited to be too inexperienced to resist the fierce barbarians. Following the advice of his colleague, Lucius Rufus, Marius recruited some gladiators and trained his soldiers using gladiatorial methods. The process was extremely rigorous, with soldiers being injured constantly. However, several months later, the new recruits’ individual combat abilities greatly improved, laying a solid foundation for the eventual defeat of the Cimbri.