Behold the man as he
becomes legend!
The new champion of Capua!
Spartacus!
He did not stand against
theokoles on his own.
Crixus is not forgotten.
I overheard him whisper to pietros
Intensions to buy their freedom.
Now you're free.
Barca purchased his freedom,
do you understand?
Yes domino.
He was to take me with him.
The price of freedom was too
steep for the both of you.
Is there any news of my wife?
Found.
She moves ever closer
even as we speak.
They came out of nowhere,
they attacked.
My word is kept.
They're reunited.
I'm here.
Ah, ah,
That was...
Vigorous.
You look like the sort of man
That could handle it.
I am rather rugged...
Must go.
Father will be worried.
As well he should be...
I have to go.
If you do, my heart will break.
Ask me to stay.
Stay.
Ask me.
By my name.
You do not even know it, do you?
Sure.
My name is sure.
Sure.
As beautiful as the woman herself.
My name is..
Every woman knows who you are.
And to avoid you.
That bad, am I?
Huh, the worst.
Then why lay with a man
of such ill reputation?
The gods led me to your bed.
The gods?
They come to me.
In my dreams.
They showed me the
man you could become.
Could?
If set upon the right path.
And what else did the gods tell you
About my future?
That you will never
love another woman.
The heart weighs heavy.
So much hope in reunion.
To come to such bitter end...
How is it so?
The fault is mine.
The road from neapolis is
known to be treacherous.
I should have doubled the guard.
Tripled it.
I should have delayed
giving barca his freedom
And sent him along as well.
{sigh}
Pray the gods forgive my error.
No.
You kept your word.
The fault lies with the
men who took her life.
And with claudius glaber,
Who condemned her to slavery.
There is nothing to be done
To change what has passed.
We must look towards the future.
You are the bringer of rain.
The slayer of death.
Together we will etch
the name Spartacus
To the pillars of history.
{soft} Spartacus.
That is not what she called me.
That is not my name.
It is now.
Nearly a year you had me searching
For that Thracian woman.
Why have me take her
life short of the mark?
An unfortunate necessity.
I trust the sum sufficient?
If other "necessities" arise,
Consider me your man.
So great an expense,
to have her delivered all but dead.
You could just as easily
have told Spartacus
That she perished abroad.
She was his life.
The heart beating
beneath his chest.
No.
Such a man would not
believe she was gone,
Unless his own eyes
told him it was so.
It was the only course.
And one which you
could have told me
You were undertaking.
I would keep such blood
from these hands,
As I have said.
They hold yours.
Are they not stained by the touch?
There has been too
much death of late.
I would turn towards more
respectable ventures.
With his wife removed from thought,
I will mould Spartacus
into a gladiator
The likes of which the
world has never seen.
He has already defeated theokoles.
Imagine what he will
accomplish once his mind
Has been focused on
nothing but victory.
You will be the greatest lanista
In the republic.
And on such a title we will climb
Beyond our station.
Beyond Capua.
Perhaps to the very steps
of the senate itself.
The fever still grips him?
I would know if his
condition changes.
A word, doctor.
Pietros.
The birds, left in barca's cell.
What should I do with them?
Whatever you wish.
He said we would release them.
Once he gained our freedom.
He intended yours as well?
That was his purpose in
speaking with our dominos.
Ashur said the price was
too steep for us both.
Ashur?
He helped negotiate the sum.
Would it be ok if I kept them?
The birds?
It would not cause notice.
Thank you.
That is unwise.
If the guards were
to see you with it...
What could they do to me,
That hasn't already been done?
I never should have left her.
You did not leave her.
She was taken from you.
Before I left for war.
She asked me not to go.
You did what you thought was right.
To protect her.
You should toss
that over the cliff.
Best to be done with such thoughts.
Careful with that,
it costs more than your worth.
It won't be long until our
house is finally liveable again.
Tilt your bow higher!
We aim at the heavens!
The palace of batiatus!
Where dignitaries kneel
To suck the cock
of my good fortune!
Well, they'll have
to get in line...
Crixus?
Lie still!
Best to heed the advice.
For a while we thought
you for the afterlife.
When will I fight again.
When will I fight again he says.
Worry of nothing but recovery,
The crowd will once again
cheer the name crixus.
A word.
It would be improper
for me to visit
You in the ludus.
But know that my
thoughts are with you.
I'll send my slave naevia
often to attend your needs.
Rest now.
And worry for nothing.
Your swords for practice, champion.
The day's training begins.
Pair up!
Sword and shield!
Spartacus!
You face me.
Your wife's passing.
That was an unfortunate thing.
As was your plan for escape.
I have not tasted
wine for many years.
Yet a single cup would
not rob me of my senses.
The choice was to see you sleep...
Or never awaken.
Your victory over theokoles...
Is the only reason batiatus
Does not know of your treachery.
Champion or no,
you would be crucified.
Then part your lips
and see it done!
Next time you seek escape...
You'd best kill me.
Make it half, yeah?
Good mercato!
You must excuse the chaos!
I had hoped to see such affairs
Completed before your arrival.
Fortune favours you.
As it does all of Capua,
since the rains!
My time is pressed.
Come, let us to business.
Ah, to the matter then.
I secured six of your
men for my games,
Honouring the storied
history of my family.
Arrangements made before the
vulcanalia, if you recall.
As if it were yesterday.
Well, I've decided as highlight
To re-enact Rome’s
victory over the made,
The Thracian tribe who
dared invade Macedonia.
They were slaughtered
for their insolence
By my grandfather,
Marcus minucius Rufus.
A name that carries weight,
long after it's passing!
I'd planned for to play
the very man himself,
Leading the charge.
Apologies.
Crixus is yet recovering
From his battle with theokoles.
Ah. As I suspected.
Perhaps gnaeus, then?
I turn thought towards Spartacus.
He is much in demand.
The cost of such a thing?
An additional forty percent.
Prisoners to play the
Thracians included?
Consider it done.
I will see it announced
all over Capua!
Spartacus, slayer of theokoles!
To assume the mantle
of my grandfather!
A great day!
Pietros.
Bring more water.
Now.
Fucking pig.
The way he paws at the boy...
The fault lies with barca.
For leaving him.
Is it delivered?
As promised.
A letter to my wife.
Long overdue.
Yeah.
Did you bring reply?
She did not favour me with one.
She insisted on bringing
you message herself.
How did you gain entry?
Your man ashur spoke to
batiatus on my behalf.
Did he ask coin for the service?
He said he would take
the matter up with you.
Who cares of coin
on such a day, eh?
The boy has grown monstrous!
And his mother ever
more beautiful...
I miss the taste of your lips.
The letter came as a surprise.
Every day I prayed for word.
And that it would not be news
Of your death in the arena.
We agreed no letters, Aurelia.
To keep you and the
boy far from this.
And my mind on the task.
And what has changed?
A friend.
His loss.
A friend.
You are moved by a friend.
I am moved by the
need to see my wife.
To know she is still real,
And not the dream
of a desperate man.
After one more year
my debts will be paid.
We can start again.
All of us, together.
We should have just left.
To Pompeii. Or Sicilia.
It would not have been honourable.
Honour?
Where is the honour in debts
of gambling and chance?
Where is the honour in
leaving your wife and child?
Every mistake I have made...
I will set right.
I will be the man you deserve.
From this moment on
my life is yours,
And yours alone.
I am with child.
Child?
What is your meaning?
Varro..
Your meaning.
Your absence has been difficult.
The money you send barely enough
To keep us fed and sheltered.
Titus offered assistance.
Titus?
An acquaintance,
from the marketplace.
And you repay him by
spreading your fucking legs?!
No. I thought of him
only as a friend.
He forced himself upon me.
Why didn't you stop him?
You think I wanted this?
Where were you, Varro?
Where the fuck were you?
{soft} fighting.
For us.
As you should have been.
The house of batiatus is
filled with champions.
Father's.
Grandfather's.
Soon you will stand among them.
I have commissioned you to
be immortalized in stone,
At great expense.
You honour me, dominos.
Well the laurels
do not cease there.
Good mercato has insisted that
Spartacus be moved to the
forefront of his games!
You will take the guise of
his storied grandfather,
Marcus minucius Rufus!
Rufus?
You know of him?
I have heard the name,
Spoken by my father
when I was a boy.
You will be dressed
in his very armour,
Four of our gladiators
bedecked as roman legion.
Our enemy?
Six prisoners sentenced
to execution,
Clad in the barbaric fashion
Of the Thracian
hordes of the made!
It will be a grand spectacle,
With you its shining helm!
I will not fight.
You misunderstand.
I do not ask.
I command.
I will not dress as a roman
And pretend to slaughter
my own people.
It is time for you to
release your hold upon past.
You are no longer of Thrace.
You are destined for great
And wonderful things, Spartacus.
Embrace the path the
gods have set you upon.
Your mind is clouded by grief.
Pause to clear it.
You bathe me as if a child.
You must rest.
Lay still.
You'll reopen your wounds.
I can't even rise.
In time.
Always the enemy of a gladiator.
Yet friend to us now.
Domino has given excuse
for us to be together.
Let us pluck blessing
from misfortune.
Crixus, you live.
My prayers, answered.
I would have more prayers,
To return me to the
sand to be by the men.
You shall rejoin your
brothers soon enough.
Brothers?
None have visited me.
Not even barca.
Have you not told him?
The moment has not arisen.
Has he fallen, in the arena?
Far the opposite.
He has purchased his freedom.
The beast of cartage?
What is barca if not a gladiator?
A man. Free to roam
outside these walls.
The thought is foreign.
The giant fuck tending goats
And picking vegetables?
With pietros his ever doting wife?
He left the boy.
He'd sooner part with his own cock!
The news found me surprised also.
He did not wish it,
but had no choice.
You shared words with him?
No, but I saw it in his eyes,
As he was escorted
through the gates.
You were there?
Regain your strength.
I would see you with
a sword in hand soon.
Barca gone.
Spartacus champion.
I have awoken to a world of shit.
You are a fool to refuse batiatus.
The man makes unreasonable demands.
He is your master.
His demands your duty,
unreasonable or otherwise.
I will not be forced to
slaughter my countrymen.
Countrymen in dress only.
You share no kinship
with these prisoners.
They are murderers.
Rapists.
Their death well deserved.
Then let another
man's blade grant it.
You act as if you have
free will in the matter.
You are a gladiator.
I am a Thracian.
You are a slave.
To cling to a life
beyond these walls
Is to see your heart
parted from your chest.
You above all others
should know this.
I do not think before I speak.
I will remove myself to
less deserving company.
Pietros.
Gnaeus' hand?
I shall have a word.
To what end?
Will it see barca return?
Will it see us reunited,
Or free, as he promised?
Fate often takes a man
far from his heart.
To his regret.
Felt more keenly by
the one left behind.
Rome is positively aflutter
With news of theokoles' defeat.
No one could believe such
a thing was possible.
Especially at the
hands of a Thracian.
The gods truly bless
the house of batiatus.
We've even entertaining
thoughts of a patron,
To share in our good fortune.
Hm.
And does your good
fortune extend downward?
I don't follow.
The priestess.
Has her ferity rite born any seed?
I was unable to conclude the rite
In the allotted time.
No!
Well my husband was sadly absent.
What of the other man?
Oh. You still have not
told me anything about him.
Is it solonius?
I would rather fuck an eel.
No, no, a woman as beautiful
as you are deserves a man.
Someone of position maybe...?
He's no one of note.
No one of note...
Someone more physical, perhaps.
A slave?!
Oh, your cups empty.
...Isn't it?
But not just any slave,
no not for you.
He would have to be forged
by Jupiter himself...
Let us move on from the subject.
Of course. To other matters.
How fares crixus?
Crixus?
His injuries,
suffered against theokoles.
Is he expected to live?
His strength returns.
Joyous news.
It would be a great
tragedy to see such a man
Pass from this world, would it not?
It would.
Pity he will not take the
sand in good Mercator’s games.
I long to see his
sword thrust home.
How did you fare?
The game of dice and bones.
Poorly, as I often have.
I will balance the
loss at next chance..
It would seem pietros has
lost control of his flock.
Pietros..
The boy has freed himself.
Gnaeus!
Enough!
What is this foolishness?
Pietros.
The boy took his own life.
He will be missed...
Especially his lips around my cock.
This morning I boasted the top
retiarius in all of Capua!
Now I possess nothing
more than bones
And brains scattered
upon the rocks!
Apologies.
Fuck your apologies!
I will have return
of the value lost!
The price of the man will be
subtracted from your winnings
Until the remainder is balanced!
As you see fit, dominos.
All of this for what?
Pietros?
He was nothing. Shit from a whore.
He was a man. His life had worth.
Half a coin at most.
Gnaeus was a gladiator!
Years of training,
each mounting to exorbitant cost.
That is true worth!
He did not deserve to live.
I alone decides who live!
Not you! Not a fucking slave!
Argh!
My generosity has been boundless,
Yet you defy me still.
Mercator’s games are upon us.
I expect you to fight
as a loyal roman.
Or die as a Thracian.
See him to the medicus.
You shed tears for the boy?
His passing saddens me.
He was too weak for this place.
Without barca to protect him.
Not all of us can be strong.
Have you been making friends again?
Gnaeus.
A disagreement.
And you emerged the battered cunt.
What, did his tiny net prove
too fierce an opponent?
For the slayer of theokoles?
Ask the man himself.
If you can scrape enough of
him off the cliff for reply.
Gnaeus is dead?
What reason did you
have to take his life?
My reasoning lies forever silent.
Your actions betray us all.
Gnaeus was a gladiator!
A brother.
He was no brother of mine.
When you swore the oath.
Every man in here
became your brother,
Deserved of an honourable
death in the arena.
Your actions shame my
fighting beside you.
You speak as if you had
choice in the matter.
I did and I chose
not to end your life
In the arena.
A decision I presently regret.
As do I.
You knew pietros well?
Only in passing.
Yet you tend to his pets.
A duty not required.
A foolish gesture.
Born of a kind heart.
It surprises, that barca
would claim his freedom
At yet leave the things
he loved in captivity.
Did he speak to you of his plans
For life outside the ludus?
No.
Did he exchange words with ashur?
Ashur?
He was there, was he not?
I do not recall.
Surely if you set your
mind to the task...
Apologies, but I must
return to the villa.
Domino awaits.
The fear in your eyes betray
the lie on your tongue.
Your questions put
me in harm's way.
Please. Let me pass.
The day approaches
When I'm finally free of this.
Perhaps you can fashion
a proper cock from it.
Remove yourselves.
Remain.
I seek information.
On what subject?
Barca.
I understand he made wager
upon the theokoles fight.
Yeah, and won a small fortune,
Applied towards his freedom.
With no thought towards pietros?
Not enough coin remained
to liberate him.
Hm.
Barca's eyes filled with tears,
Though spurred by regret
Or impending freedom, I know not.
It is a stirring sight.
To see the bonds of
servitude lifted.
Hm.
I confess my eyes swimming
As barca took leave of the villa.
Who else offered farewells?
Ah, only our master and myself.
Naevia claims to have
escorted barca to the gates.
She made no mention
of your presents.
Why, she's a simple thing,
her mind easily..
Stories in conflict
give me concern.
If I find there is
more to the matter
Of barca's departure...
We shall have words.
{ laughter }
You still believe in them?
The gods?
Yes.
Why?
Our entire village is gone.
Everyone we knew, dead.
If there are no gods...
There is nothing to shape
what happens in our lives...
There is no meaning to any of it.
I cannot believe the gods
would lead me to you...
To bless me with such love...
Only to make me bare
witness to your suffering.
No.
There is a deeper purpose
To the path you've been set upon.
One that has yet to reveal itself.
I will never see you
from my side again.
Without you, there is
no reason for breath.
There is always reason to live.
I would be lost.
No.
The gods would set you
on the proper path.
All you have to do
is close your eyes...
And place yourself in their hands.
We leave for the games.
Is your decision made?
It is.
What sort of answer is this?
A gesture.
I care not for its
means of delivery.
Perhaps its meaning
will be more agreeable.
Out with it, then.
Sure spoke often to me of the gods.
She believed in them.
I never truly have.
The cock on you,
daring to doubt the gods!
And I have suffered much for it.
But no longer.
From this point forward...
I give myself over
to her beliefs...
And embrace my fate.
Your words give my heart great joy.
Enough even to erase questions
Of how a blade belonging
to the magistrate's son
Came to your possession.
Let us put the past
truly behind us.
Come the games await you.
I have but one condition.
Condition?
You kiss my cheek only
to finger my ass?!
Uh! Speak!
Before I carve out
your fucking tongue.
I will take to the sands
Against the spectre
of my countrymen.
But I will face them alone.
Six to your one?
I will not risk the champion
of Capua to such absurdity.
If this is my fate,
If this is the path the gods
Have truly set me upon...
Then they will not see me fall.
And if you are wrong?
Then I will give your city
A great spectacle of blood...
Before joining my wife.
The gods have brought you this far.
I believe they are not
done with you yet.
But I have a condition of my own.
When you have killed
the last of these shits
Garbed as your countrymen,
What's left of the Thracian
inside you dies with them
And you will embrace this fate
And your destiny as Spartacus,
The champion of Capua. { cheering }
{ cheering }
{ booing }
Citizens of Capua!
Today, we honour
The noble Marcus minucius Rufus.
A roman consul and commander
unmatched in glory.
As tribute, good mercato
has seen fit to re-enact
His grandfather's
most famous victory
Against the Thracian hordes!
{ cheering }
Gaze at the prisoners
standing before you.
And imagine the Thracian
made that invaded Macedonia.
Rape, pillaging its noble people.
Murdering all in their path...
Even a roman governor!
{ booing }
Violence and madness
swept the land.
Echoing into the heavens,
Where the gods themselves
turned their backs.
All seemed lost,
until Rome dispatched
It's favoured son...
Enter Marcus minucius Rufus!
For the honourable role of Rufus,
There was but one choice.
The bringer of rain!
The slayer of theokoles!
The champion of Capua...
Stand up!
I present to you.
Spartacus!!!
{chants of "Spartacus!}
Spartacus!
Spartacus!
Spartacus!
Spartacus!
I thought it was your
grandfather we honour.
Yet the crowd chants "Spartacus".
Worry not of details, good mercato.
The glory is your
grandfather's alone.
Come!
Give the signal to begin
the glorious victory!
In honour of Marcus
minucius Rufus...
Let blood be shed!
All you have to do is
close your eyes
And place yourself in
their hands...
Yeah!
{ the crowd reacts }
You do realize my
grandfather won this battle?
Perhaps this day history
will not repeat itself.
{ cheering }
There is always a reason to live.
The gods would set you on
the proper path.
Yeah!
He fights like a man possessed.
By the gods themselves.
Kill!
Kill!
Kill!
Kill!
Kill!
Kill!
{chanting kill, kill...}
Don't.
A marvellous show!
An honour to be of service.
Spartacus!
Spartacus!
Spartacus!
I...
Am...
Spartacus!!!
Spartacus!
Spartacus!
