Rome Must Fall

I have been reborn? Reborn as this gladiator named Maximus?!

Maximus realized something, but he was unwilling to believe it was true, preferring to think it was just a dream. However, as he struggled to open his eyes, what appeared before him was a dark and cramped room. There were no windows, no wooden doors, only uneven stone walls, a floor covered in dusty soil, a tattered wooden bed with a straw mattress on top… The air was filled with nauseating sweat and the stench of excrement and urine. What a terrible living environment!

To make matters worse, his ears were filled with piercing shouts. Countless fierce, shirtless men were shouting and running towards the iron gate…

This is not a dream!

Maximus subconsciously clenched his fists, but felt a sharp pain in his chest. It was the injury caused by Crixus’ blow. However, he didn’t have the mind to think about it at the moment.

Spartacus… Crixus… gladiator school… Batiatus… Could it be that I have been reborn in the ancient Roman times during the Spartacus uprising? And now is the crucial moment when Spartacus leads the gladiators in a riot at the gladiator school?!

Thinking of all this, Maximus realized that he had to escape from here with these gladiators. Otherwise, the only fate awaiting him would be crucifixion.

Maximus propped himself up with his hands and stood up with great difficulty. His head was still dizzy as he staggered towards the door.

Outside the door was a long, narrow corridor, with a few sparse torches inserted on the stone walls on both sides. The weak and lonely flames cast some light in this dim corridor, and the swaying shadows only added to the eerie and terrifying atmosphere.

There were many small rooms on both sides of the corridor, like dog holes chiseled into the stone walls. The space inside could barely accommodate one person lying down. Thinking that the original owner of his current body had lived in such a dreadful environment, Maximus couldn’t help but shudder and made up his mind to escape from here.

He looked at the gladiators running ahead and staggered to catch up. Gradually… his head no longer felt dizzy, and his body became more agile…

Ahead, a row of iron bars blocked the entire corridor, with thick iron rods deeply embedded in the ground and stone walls, making it seemingly impenetrable. Fortunately, the iron door in the middle has already been opened. Maximus lowered his head and squeezed through the iron door.

On the other side of the iron door, he saw three bodies lying below the stairs, almost turned into a pile of mud by countless trampling.

The bloody and terrifying scene frightened Maximus, who came from a peaceful era, but his body did not have the corresponding nauseous vomiting reaction. Yes, the original Maximus, although a mediocre gladiator, had been here for several years, had been to the arena, and had killed people. He had seen even bloodier scenes and was not a newcomer to this…

Maximus ran up the stairs and felt a refreshing breath of air. The air was fresh, and the light was soft and bright. Above him was a sky adorned with brilliant sunset hues. However, countless gladiators were congested in front, preventing him from moving forward. Voices kept shouting, “Brothers, give it your all! Push aside those guards that are blocking us, and we will be free!”

In the memory of the previous Maximus, after leaving the corridor and ascending the stairs, there was a training ground. It was a large courtyard capable of accommodating 300 gladiators training together. But now they were crowded at the entrance and unable to move forward.

“Brother, what’s happening up ahead?” Maximus couldn’t help asking a gladiator in front.

“Batiatus’ guards are blocking us——” The gladiator turned his head to reply, but before the gladiator could finish his sentence, a shadow flashed by, and the gladiator let out a scream as an arrow pierced his neck, causing him to fall to the ground.

“Watch out for arrows!” someone shouted hoarsely, causing a commotion in the crowd.

Maximus fearfully followed suit, crouching like the others with his eyes alertly scanning upward. On the other side of the training ground, there stood a three-story building with two guards holding bows and arrows on the second-floor balcony. On the third-floor balcony, a middle-aged man in a light gray robe, with a fierce face, was waving his fists and shouting loudly. This man was the Lanista (the trainer of a gladiator school), Batiatus.

Amidst his shouting, the guards on the balcony shot arrows again, causing two more gladiators to fall, while at the same time, there were screams from the front, indicating that the guards blocking the gladiators had also drawn their short swords.

Although the gladiators outnumbered the guards, they were unarmed, while the guards were fully armed and, with Batiatus’ permission, they attacked without hesitation. The guards’ short swords continuously stabbed at the gladiators, causing the gladiators to fall and preventing them from breaking through guards’ defense line.

The gladiators’ screams were continuous, but did not deter their comrades. After all, the gladiator’s profession was to kill or be killed by their opponents. Most gladiators had long disregarded life and death, and their companions’ injuries and deaths only fueled their ferocity.

“Brothers, Batiatus wants to kill us! Let’s fight back!”

“Charge! Knocked them down! I will bite off the throats of these bastards!”

…

The gladiators roared like wild beasts, disregarding the enemy’s swords and arrows. Those behind pushed forward, pressing against the backs of those in front, advancing with determination. Occasionally, someone fell, but others quickly took their place…

The guards were being pushed back, leaving gaps in their shield wall.

“Hamilcar, take the brothers to the kitchen and get weapons!” a deep voice, likely Spartacus, shouted over the chaos.

Maximus, through the memory of the previous owner of his current body, felt puzzled:

Are there weapons in the kitchen?

But then he realized:

Kitchen knives, forks, and pots could serve as weapons. Also, the benches and wooden tables in the adjacent dining hall could be used as weapons as well.

Hamilcar, a gladiator with a robust physique and visibly aged facial appearance, gestured and led the charge through the gap. An arrow was immediately shot at him.

Although not the top-ranked gladiator in the school, Hamilcar had experienced facing archers in group combat in the arena before. As he ran, he kept his eyes on the archers on the balcony. When one of them pulled the bowstring, he rolled forward to dodge the arrow, then rolled to the side to avoid another arrow.

Indeed, both archers were targeting him, but once Hamilcar entered the training ground, he had enough space to evade them.

As the archers reloaded their bows, some gladiators also rushed into the training ground, sprinting towards the building where Batiatus was located.

Based on the memory of the original Maximus, the current Maximus knew that the gladiators’ kitchen and dining hall were on the ground floor of that building, but there was no direct access to the second and third floors.

Upon seeing the archers aim at the gladiators heading for the dining hall, Maximus didn’t rush out with them. However, he kept his attention on that area because he knew that in order to overcome their current predicament, they needed the gladiators who went to retrieve weapons.

Soon, Maximus saw Hamilcar and a few others swiftly emerge from the dining hall on the ground floor. They took two steps outside, turned around, and waved their hands upwards, executing a well-coordinated movement.

Suddenly, one of the archers on the second-floor balcony clutched his neck and fell down, causing the other archer to quickly crouch down behind the railing in fear.

Other gladiators also emerged from the dining hall. Some wielded kitchen knives, others had pots and spoons, and some carried benches. They attacked the guards who were still engaged in fierce combat at the entrance to the barracks.

These 20-plus guards included retired veterans and former gladiators who had gained their freedom. They not only had the responsibility of ensuring the school’s security, but some of them were also mentors who trained these gladiators. They were experienced in combat and fully armed with helmets, breastplates, greaves, long shields, and short swords. However, outnumbered by the gladiators, they were eventually overwhelmed and defeated one by one.