Rome Must Fall

Early in the morning, the gladiators woke up. Hamilcar brought some people to use the cooking utensils to the backyard of the temple to make barley porridge and bake bread.

Meanwhile, Spartacus sent Artorix to disguise himself as a civilian and ride a horse to go out and investigate the situation in the city of Capua. So when Vibius led the army out of the city, Artorix had already reported this news to Spartacus.

After breakfast, the fully energized gladiators did not panic despite being outnumbered by the enemy. Instead, they showed a strong desire to fight and began to prepare for the battle.

Since the weapons seized by the gladiators last night were not enough to equip everyone, according to Spartacus’ suggestion, they were first given to the gladiators with strong combat abilities. As a result, Maximus was not chosen and was only given a kitchen knife in the end.

This was not a street brawl but a war confrontation. With the enemy outnumbering them, it was too dangerous to fight with a kitchen knife. So Maximus learned from his companions and broke off a thick and straight branch from an oak tree in the grove, sharpening one end to use it as a spear.

Even though he was in the rear, Maximus still felt nervous when he saw the fully armed enemy approaching. When Spartacus led the charge, he followed his companions in a sprint, but his fear subconsciously slowed his pace.

Then he saw Spartacus and the others showing their might, breaking through the front lines of the Capuan formation, and shortly after, the Capuan militia started screaming and retreating.

The victory came so quickly that Maximus could hardly believe his eyes. With his confidence soaring, he and his companions chased after the retreating enemies. This was not the time to hold back!

Maximus, tall and long-legged, without armor and a shield, ran swiftly and soon caught up with the fleeing militia.

He thrust his stick forward, but the pointed end of the wooden stick failed to pierce through the enemy’s armor, but it still made the enemy stumble to the ground.

Maximus didn’t pay him any more attention. With a swing of his stick, he fiercely struck another fleeing soldier on the head, causing the person to scream and fall to the ground.

The scream didn’t startle Maximus; instead, it excited him. He chased after a few more steps and struck another fleeing enemy on the head with his stick…

He knocked down three or four in a row. Seeing the other fleeing soldiers getting farther and farther away, he stopped and turned around. He saw his companions already clearing the battlefield. Some were stripping the armor from the dead enemy soldiers, some were finishing off the wounded enemy soldiers, and some were gathering the prisoners who had surrendered voluntarily because they couldn’t escape.

Due to the overly excited pursuit just now, Maximus now felt even more exhausted after stopping his pursuit of the fleeing enemies. He didn’t join in the actions of his companions, but instead sat on the grass, panting heavily…

Yesterday, witnessing his companions killing severely wounded comrades felt cruel, but today, seeing them kill the similarly injured and fallen Capuan militia, Maximus only felt a slight discomfort.

Am I already getting used to this?

Maximus looked up, and the warm sunlight filtering through the gaps in the trees, shining on him, was unusually comforting…

Just as he was lost in thought, a voice sounded beside him:

“Maximus, I never thought you could run so fast and take down three of them in one go, kid.”

Maximus turned to look, and the speaker was Torquevado, a strong Gallic gladiator. Like most the gladiators, he used to look down on Maximus, but now his face showed a hint of admiration.

It seems my desperate performance earlier was not in vain!

Maximus extended his right hand, spread out his fingers, and emphasized, “Torquevado, I didn’t bring down just three, but five enemy soldiers! However, if it weren’t for your attacks breaking them down, I wouldn’t have been able to take them down so easily. If you weren’t wearing armor, you could have run faster than me and killed more enemies.”

Torquevado was a straightforward man. Upon hearing Maximus’ flattery, he cracked a smile and said, “Don’t worry, this victory has gained us a lot of weapons and armor. Next time, you can fight alongside us with a shield and spear.”

Torquevado’s approval dispelled the inexplicable sadness in Maximus’ heart and temporarily made him forget his fatigue. He got up from the ground and was about to say, “Let me help you take off your armor,” when a commotion came from nearby. It turned out that Spartacus and Crixus were having a dispute.

Crixus wanted to kill all the prisoners to intimidate the Romans.

Spartacus opposed this, believing that all the prisoners should be released. He argued that these cowardly Capuan soldiers would spread the word of their terror, making the Capuans think twice before sending troops to attack them, thus buying them more time. Releasing the prisoners would also make the Capuans less hostile towards them, benefiting their future activities in the Campania region and strengthening their forces…

“Spartacus has a point,” Torquevado murmured quietly, having been listening attentively.

Maximus looked at him with some surprise. The group of Gallic gladiators had always regarded Crixus as their leader and fully supported him. It was rare to find one who didn’t blindly follow and could think independently.

Maximus looked at Spartacus, who was trying to persuade Crixus, and realized that his words from last night must have had some impact on the leader of the gladiators. It was evident that Spartacus was a commander who was not stubborn and could accept the advice of his subordinates. This gave Maximus a bit more confidence in persuading Spartacus to lead the army to escape from Italy in the future.

Spartacus’ opinion received support from Hamilcar, Oenomaus, Artorix, and others. As a result, the prisoners were forced to remove their armor, leaving them only with their waistcoats, before being released.

Crixus remained silent with a dark expression.

Spartacus looked at the pile of weapons on the ground and said to Hamilcar, “Go and call Maximus. Let him count our spoils.”

Maximus gladly accepted the task and soon finished counting.

Hamilcar reported, “Spartacus, in this battle, we killed 58 people, captured 137 people, and obtained a total of 195 leather armors, 320 leather helmets, 261 short swords, 452 spears, and 500 long shields.”

“This is a huge gain. Now all our brothers can have weapons!” Spartacus was excited and then asked, “How many casualties do we have?”

“Only three people were lightly injured.”

Spartacus looked at the people around him and said with a smile, “This battle was too easy. The Capuans are really kind. They knew we lacked weapons and specially sent us a batch.”

Laughter erupted among the crowd.

Crixus said coldly, “The Capuans are weaklings, everyone knows that. It’s easy to defeat them, but the Romans are not easy to deal with.”

“You’re right,” Spartacus restrained his smile and said seriously. “That’s why we must quickly head south to Mount Vesuvius, strengthen our forces as soon as possible, and rely on the terrain of the mountains there to confront the Roman army that may come to attack us at any time. These armor and weapons are hard-won. Let all our brothers wear them. For the remaining ones, Hamilcar, you will be responsible for finding a way to take them all with us, and let Maximus assist you.”

“Alright.” Hamilcar nodded decisively.

Upon hearing Maximus’ name, this time Crixus merely snorted and didn’t voice any objections. After all, he had witnessed Maximus taking the lead in pursuing and defeating the fleeing soldiers, as well as his performance from last night, which had somewhat changed his negative impression of him.

After receiving the notice from Hamilcar, Maximus’ first thought that came to mind was:

So they want me to handle logistics support, does that mean I don’t have to go to the front lines and fight anymore?

So he readily agreed and asked, “What should I do now?”