Rome Must Fall

“You traitor, how dare you show your face!” Crixus immediately rushed forward, grabbing his chest and raising a huge fist. His scarred face had a pair of wolf-like eyes, emitting a fierce and menacing light. He viciously said, “You’ve killed so many of our brothers, and now——”

“Enough, Crixus. Now is not the time for internal strife. We need Maximus’ help!” Sure enough, Spartacus quickly stepped in to stop the confrontation.

“Ptui!” Crixus spat a thick phlegm onto Maximus’ face before reluctantly being separated by Spartacus.

Maximus wiped the phlegm off his face and momentarily felt relieved. If Spartacus hadn’t intervened, he was genuinely afraid that Crixus might have killed him. Based on the memory of the original Maximus, this guy, although was only second best gladiator of the gladiator school, either left his opponents dead or seriously injured in the matches he participated in. Even during training, he often caused injuries to his companions. He was a dangerous man who valued human life very little.

Even though Crixus had let go, his sharp gaze remained fixed on Maximus, piercing through him like a sharp knife. It sent a chill down Maximus’ spine, making him regret his decision to step forward a little.

“Maximus, are you really familiar with the roads here?!” Spartacus asked very seriously.

Maximus collected himself and confidently said, “I grew up in Capua. I can find my way around here with my eyes closed! With me leading the way, we can leave here quickly. However——”

Maximus paused for a moment, and continued with a hint of show-off, “Our current location is in the south of the city. From Capua, there are two main roads to the south. One is the Appian Way, heading southeast towards the Samnite Mountains. The other is the Via Annia, heading south, crossing the entire Campanian Plain. Which one should we take?”

South of Rome, Capua was one of the few large cities intersected by two major Roman roads. It was an important transportation hub, thriving not only in agriculture but also in commerce.

“We should go to the mountainous region, it would be easier for us to hide,” Artorix suggested from the side.

“It’s getting dark, and it’s not safe to go to the mountains at this time. Plus, the Samnites are not to be trifled with. We should head south.” Although the uprising was sudden and somewhat hasty, Spartacus had a plan in mind. However, he didn’t intend to reveal it at this moment, so he came up with another reason.

However, everyone’s opinions were reasonable. Not far to the east of Capua was the Samnite mountain region. The Samnites were impoverished but fierce, and they were a major source of auctoratus (a term used for those Roman citizens who volunteered to become gladiators). Although they were not from the same gladiator school, they encountered them as opponents in the arena, and their strength should not be underestimated. Therefore, no one objected.

However, Maximus boldly suggested based on the memory of the original Maximus:

“Let’s head south from the Via Annia. There’s a Temple of Flora (Flora is a Roman goddess of flowers and spring) by the roadside, about three or 4 kilometers from Capua. When it gets dark, we can rest there.”

“We’ll talk about it then,” Spartacus replied noncommittally.

Maximus turned and looked to the back of the group. The gladiators’ eyes had already begun to look at him with suspicion, a sign that Crixus’ angry outburst had affected them.

Crixus, with a stern face and a short sword in hand, closely followed Maximus, clearly intending to monitor him and prevent him from leading them the wrong way.

Maximus felt a bit nervous, but seeing Spartacus beside him, he calmed down.

The group set off again. Although they were delayed a bit, the narrow alleys they passed through remained empty. The nearby residents had realized that there was an abnormality in the gladiator school, but no one dared to organize a group to stop these murderous monsters. Instead, they closed their doors and hid.

Guided by Maximus, the gladiators quickly exited the maze-like streets and stepped onto the Via Annia. Many of them breathed a sigh of relief. The wide and solid road increased the speed of the entire group’s advance.

As Maximus walked and glanced around, he couldn’t help but marvel at the famous Roman road, despite having the memory of the original Maximus. The smooth and sturdy stone road, deep water ditches on both sides, lush roadside trees, paths for pedestrians, and even simple benches could be seen for people to rest—all these elements were present, resembling modern city roads, and it was built a hundred years ago. With careful maintenance, it still functioned well, revealing a glimpse of Rome’s power.

How could a powerful nation like this be defeated by a group of gladiators alone?

A strong sense of unease suddenly surged in Maximus’ heart.

The sun had descended behind the western mountains, and the lingering glow of sunset gradually dissipated as night approached. Normally, there would still be some pedestrians along the road at this time, but the fearsome gladiators scared them away. However, the vehicles on the road couldn’t avoid the gladiators blocking their way. They intercepted a donkey cart loaded with flour, and the gladiators cheered, “Finally, we can have some delicious bread!”

The gladiators trained and competed every day, requiring a large amount of food. However, the school needed to make money and couldn’t afford to provide them with good meals. Apart from occasionally being able to eat meat from killing wild animals in the gladiator matches, their main food was cheap and unappetizing barley, which provided high calories but little else. As a result, the gladiators were derogatorily called “barley men”. Despite this, their situation was still better than the poor citizens, who often went hungry.

The gladiators were overjoyed and spared the driver of a donkey cart.

After a while, a large wagon approached from the front, but the owner of the wagon sensed trouble and quickly turned the horses around.

Some gladiators, led by Oenomaus, rushed over and intercepted it. Soon, he excitedly shouted, “Spartacus, come quickly! There are many weapons in this wagon!”

Spartacus perked up and rushed towards the intercepted wagon with Crixus and the others.

Inside the wagon were numerous weapons such as short swords, long swords, spears, rectangular shields, round shields, helmets, greaves, and even a few fishing nets, but there were no breastplates, as these were all gladiator equipment.

Spartacus touched the cold shield and excitedly said to the gladiators, “Brothers, our actions have received the blessing of Ares. He has brought us weapons!”

The gladiators erupted in cheers, with some even shouting, “With weapons, we have nothing to fear! Let’s go back and take down Batiatus!”

However, someone immediately countered, “Fool, Batiatus has already fled into the city. There is no way we can catch him.”

…

Spartacus ignored their argument and turned around and said, “Hamilcar, carefully count how many weapons there are.”

Before Hamilcar could respond, Maximus eagerly said, “Let me do it.”

It was another opportunity to show his abilities. Seeing Spartacus not objecting, Maximus jumped into the wagon and began to count seriously.

Meanwhile, Spartacus approached the driver who quickly begged him for mercy. Spartacus asked in a deep voice, “Tell me, where did you bring these gladiator weapons from? And where were you taking them?”

“To… to the arena inside the city,” trembling, the driver replied. “Because the day after tomorrow is the founding day of Capua… the magistrate is hosting a large gladiator competition to celebrate… and they were afraid there wouldn’t be enough weapons… so… I was ordered to transport some from Naples…”

Spartacus and Crixus exchanged a glance. In fact, their gladiator school had also received an invitation from the city lord’s mansion. It was said that the rewards were quite generous. If it weren’t for this uprising, many of their brothers might have fallen in the arena to satisfy Capua’s bloodthirsty audience.