Chapter 17: 17

——Chapter 17: Slave Revolt (1)——

 

Rumors that the slaves of Capua had revolted, soon spread throughout Rome.

 

In fact, Rome had already experienced two slave wars in Sicily.

 

The reason why slave revolts occurred twice in Sicily was simple.

 

This was because Sicily, traditionally a granary of Rome, operated large-scale farms using slaves, and in the process, slaves were severely abused. 

 

But both of these revolts were suppressed by the Roman army.

 

In other words, the commotion that occurred this time could be called the third slave rebellion or the third slave war.

 

Naturally, it was a topic of discussion at most family meals at least once in every family of Rome, and it was no different for the Crassus family too.

 

"Father, what kind of response is the senate considering to deal with the slaves who escaped from Capua this time?"

 

"Well. Since only about 70 escaped, wouldn't it be possible to properly organize a riot force in Capua? The general consensus is that this is not an issue to be discussed in the Senate."

 

To Marcus's question, Crassus replied that they didn't think much of it.

 

This was almost a common perception of modern Romans.

 

Virtually no one thought that only 70 slave gladiators could do anything big.

 

Even among the senators, who were considered to be neoliberal, the case was expected to subside within a month.

 

Crassus took a piece of well-cooked roasted pig to his mouth. Then he turned his head towards Spartacus, who was guarding Marcus' back.

 

"I know you're from Capua too, but do you have any acquaintances among those who escaped?"

 

Spartacus had recovered somewhat from the shock, but his complexion was still not very good.

 

He bowed his head with a sad expression and said.

 

"The teacher and close friend... seems to be the main culprit of this escape."

 

"Really? Your mind must be quite complicated. Tsk, if he endured it a little longer, he would have had a day to shine. It seems that your close friend didn't think too deeply. Your complexion doesn't look good, so go and get some rest."

 

"Thank you for your consideration."

 

Spartacus left with a slow pace that was unimaginable to him.

 

When Crassus couldn't see his back, he asked in a suspicious tone.

 

"Can we trust that guy?"

 

“Of course. He is already absolutely loyal to me.”

 

“No matter how close they are, if they are subjugated, their loyalty may be shaken.”

 

"I decided to find someone who is more important than those close friends. And he is a person who will never give up on the convictions he once made. Even if he sheds tears for his dead friend, there is no possibility that he will change his mind. I guarantee it."

 

"Okay? Well then, I'll believe you for now. But if I see any strange behavior, I'll take care of it on my own. No objections, right?"

 

Marcus nodded. Crassus was by no means overreacting. In this situation, a gladiator from Capua should be careful about how he behaves.

 

Spartacus, who heard the story after the meal, naturally agreed.

 

"I think it's natural to be suspicious. It's clear that I was the most famous gladiator in Capua."

 

"Yes. But you are a member of our family now. If you are calm and careful, the suspicious eyes will naturally disappear, so don't worry too much."

 

Of course, even if he just stays still, their doubts won't completely subside. 

 

It may not be possible if the rebellion is suppressed in an instant, but if it becomes long like history, it is necessary to think of a countermeasure of its own.

 

"Yes. But Young master, what will happen to Crixus now? If I go and persuade him even now..."

 

"How can you persuade him? To make him surrender? If that's the case, crucifixion would be changed to beheading. If he just ran away, there is room for salvation, but he killed a Roman citizen and escaped. He won't be able to get away with it."

 

Under Roman law, a Roman citizen could never be put to death without trial. Anyone who kills a Roman who has not been sentenced to death becomes an enemy of Rome. So if a slave killed his master, who was a Roman citizen, there will only be death for him.

 

Spartacus buried his face in his hands and murmured.

 

“Crixus…why couldn’t you be patient a little longer?

 

"His anger must have accumulated to the point where he can't even think of taking care of himself. But still, the law is the law, so there's nothing you can do for Crixus in this situation."

 

"Is there no way to survive?"

 

"At least within the territory of Rome, it's impossible. If he keeps going north like this and runs away to Gaul or Germanic, he might be able to survive, but that won't be easy either."

 

"I see. As expected..."

 

Even if he walks 8 hours a day from Mount Vesuvius to the Alps, it will take him close to a month.

 

For that long time, it was close to impossible to keep running away from Rome's hands and solving problems like food, clothing, and shelter.

 

There was only one way to do it.

 

There was no choice but to defeat the pursuing army.

 

Marcus had a few things to check and move on in this regard.

 

There were three main culprits in the history of Spartacus' rebellion. One of them, Oinomaus, died early.

 

The slaves were later led by Spartacus and Crixus.

 

Although Spartacus was the leader of the pack, Crixus' influence was also considerable.

 

Now, since Crixus alone will lead the slaves, there was no guarantee that it will go the same way as actual history.

 

No, nine times out of ten it should be viewed differently.

 

Will he be easily subjugated by the initial forces, or will he be defeated or lead an enormous army of slaves?

 

All of this depended entirely on how competent Crixus was as a commander.

 

If he had qualities comparable to, if not as much as, Spartacus, this slave rebellion would likely be as long as history.

 

“I know that Crixus is a warrior comparable to you, but what about his talent for leading others? The other day we talked, and you already know the basics of military science. Is Crixus the same?”

 

"Yes. I taught Crixus military science. I don't know if he knows it, but I was much weaker than Crixus at first.

 

"Crixus helped me and gave me much advice. I'm grateful for that, I wanted to help him with my knowledge.

 

"In fact, military science is not very helpful in individual battles, but it is surprisingly useful in group brawls. In particular, Crixus had almost the same understanding of surprise tactics as I did."

 

"Oh, so you learned the sword from Crixus and Crixus learned military science from you? It's like you both are each other's teachers."

 

This was very useful information for Marcus.

 

Historically, it was said that Crixus had a rougher personality and had a deep anger towards Rome, but it should be seen that he had the minimum ability.

 

Marcus began to get a sense of how the situation would develop in the future.

 

'For now, subjugation with the Capua suppression army is absolutely impossible.'

 

It will be certain until the suppression forces were reversed and strengthened with more armament.

 

Marcus could not guarantee what will happen to judge Glaber, who will lead 3,000 new recruits, not regular corps, to subdue.

 

If this could be overcome, Crixus' rebellion will spread to a nationwide slave rebellion just like in history.

 

'The praetor Glaber and the later commander Barinius were all defeated by Spartacus' surprise. If Crixus is good at this kind of surprise strategy, then I should as well make my own preparations, right?'

 

**

 

Marcus' prediction was correct.

 

Crixus easily defeated the riot forces dispatched from Capua and stole their weapons, growing into a huge bandit group.

 

The Capua government eventually asked for assistance from Rome when the situation was beyond their control.

 

But even at this time, Rome looked down upon the slave army too much.

 

Glaber, who led 3,000 recruits, not regular legionnaires, was not good at improvising.

 

He set up a plan to block the road to Mount Vesuvius and drive in and annihilate the slave army step by step.

 

It was not a bad decision, faithful to the standard.

 

However, Glover, who showed off his victory, ignored the rear.

 

Crixus made a rope out of wild vines and led it down the cliff and into the rear of the Romans.

 

The Roman army, which judged that the enemy would only be in the front, was completely caught off guard.

 

They were so relieved that they didn't even post a proper sentry in the rear.

 

In return, the Roman army was exposed to the surprise of the slave army without any preparation.

 

Crixus and his companions ruthlessly ravaged the Roman army like wolves over a flock.

 

"Let's kill all the Romans!"

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"What! Didn't they say that the enemy was in front? It's different from what I heard!"

 

The Roman army, which was attacked unexpectedly at night, collapsed without even being able to swing their swords properly. More than a hundred surprise troops each cut down two or three, and in an instant, the blood of close to three hundred Roman soldiers was splattered on the floor.

 

"Don't panic! Line up! The enemy is only slaves and bandits! Form as you've been trained!"

 

The cries of the centurion who tried to command somehow were mere screams as no one heard them.

 

Crixus, who broke through the enemy lines with tremendous speed, cut only those who seemed to be commanders first.

 

When the blood of his enemies gushed over his head in the vanguard, the gladiators running behind him attacked the demoralized Roman soldier and created a mountain of corpses.

 

"Run away!"

 

"I'm not just a slave!!"

 

A feeling of fear spread among the undisciplined soldiers.

 

In particular, Crixus, who single-handedly slaughtered dozens of soldiers, looked almost like a demon to the Roman soldiers.

 

Even in the middle of the night, the vivid red color stands out because of how much blood was covered.

 

The Legion's morale had already been savagely broken.

 

There was no way that the resistance of the soldiers recalling the defeat would have any strength.

 

"Ahh!"

 

"Kwaaaak!"

 

The soldiers who came out of the barracks belatedly ran away without even thinking about forming ranks.

 

Their morale was so low that they threw away even the standard, the heart of the Legion.

 

Glover, distraught, sent the order to retreat only after the number of dead was close to 1,000.

 

"Hu.., retreat! All troops retreat!"

 

However, they were ambushed from behind and the front was a rugged mountain road, so even retreating was not easy.

 

The gladiators also did not look at the fleeing Roman soldiers.

 

In particular, Crixus, the commander-in-chief, stepped forward and swung his sword more tenaciously than anyone else.

 

A soldier threw down his weapon and surrendered, but Crixus snorted and blew the soldier's throat.

 

He shouted in a voice that flashed with murderous intent and hatred.

 

"There is no need for surrender! Kill, kill, kill! Let's fill this mountain with the blood of the Romans!"

 

"Oohhhh!"

 

The response, covered with madness, came like a wave.

 

The Roman soldiers realized only then.

 

They were not fighting to win the war.

 

Gladiators fight to kill every single Roman soldier.

 

The sound of cut flesh and broken bones echoed across the mountain.

 

The blood that moistened the ground continued to increase, eventually forming a large puddle.

 

The reason there were those who barely escaped with their lives was because the Roman army outnumbered the slave army.

 

The bloody slaughter, not the battle, continued until the two-legged Romans were out of sight.

 

Having won a great victory, Crixus ordered his men to gather all the goods left behind by the Romans.

 

"We've been running out of weapons, armor, and food, but this battle will give us a breather."

 

Ashre, a fellow gladiator who escaped together from Capua, came up to him and said to him with a smile.

 

“Since you destroyed the Romans very well, Oinomaus-sama will finally be able to sleep comfortably.”

 

"Yes. I hope so."

 

Oenomaus, who played a leading role in escaping the slaves with Crixus, was killed by an arrow while fleeing to Vesuvius.

 

The shooter of the arrow was cut by Crixus himself, but he did not think he had taken proper revenge.

 

Even after killing a thousand Roman soldiers, he was still not completely satisfied.

 

Ashre shook his head and bit his lip as if he couldn't bear it.

 

"If Spartacus-sama was with you..."

 

"Never bring up that guy's name!"

 

Crixus resolutely cut off Ashre's words.

 

He warned again in a stern tone.

 

"He's gone to Rome and lives his own life. The traitor has nothing to do with us, so don't ever mention his name!"

 

"All right."

 

"Remember! Spartacus is not a Capuan gladiator. Unless he escapes from Rome and joins us, he is only a traitor before then. Tell the rest of your comrades once more. Whoever misses the traitor is our division. I will consider him a spy for the enemy who is trying to do something wrong."

 

"Sorry, I was short on my thoughts."

 

Ashre meekly bowed his head and apologized.

 

If he thinks about it, Crixus was right a hundred times.

 

No matter how much Spartacus was the spiritual leader of the gladiators in the past, he was now nothing more than a traitor who sold himself for gold.

 

It angered him that he still believed that Spartacus was on the same side as him at heart.

 

He immediately went to tell the others the words of Crixus.

 

Crixus, who was left alone, smiled as if he was lying about his anger a moment ago.

 

Sitting on a moderately flat rock, he looked up at the moon in the sky.

 

“In Rome, where you are, the moon must be shining brightly.”

 

Crixus gulped down the diluted wine he found in Glaber's luggage.

 

After a fierce battle, the feeling of the cool wine running down your throat was indescribably refreshing.

 

"You'll probably get angry when we meet. Why didn't I wait? I couldn't help it. I can't be like you. So I want you to live your life there. Yes, you're better than that moon. Let the sun shine even brighter."

 

Spartacus believed in the future and made the choice, but Crixus was different.

 

He chose now over an uncertain future.

 

He didn't have fanciful thoughts that he can destroy Rome.

 

No matter how good they were, they will lose. This was an unavoidable fate.

 

But losing didn't matter.

 

Crixus was just trying to prove it by killing at least one more Roman.

 

The fact that they were not trash could be trampled on mercilessly. And the fact that they too have teeth to bite them.

 

He couldn't wish for anything more if he could burn this life to give Rome even the slightest warning.

 

"But it shouldn't be a nuisance to you by doing that."

 

The reason why Spartacus was declared a traitor to his subordinates was because he decided that it was good for Spartacus to completely sever the relationship.

 

'Even if the paths diverged, it would be enough as long as we moved toward the direction we believe in.'

 

Crixus shook his head excitedly, laughing at himself talking to himself differently than usual.

 

"It's strangely sentimental even though I haven't gotten drunk. Maybe it's because I won with the knowledge I learned from you."

 

Crixus knew himself well. He has talent as a fighter, but his ability as a commander was lacking.

 

So he constantly reviewed and contemplated what he had learned from Spartacus.

 

If he were in this position, what kind of tactics would he have used?

 

What methods did he use to counter the enemy?

 

If he hadn't done this, he wouldn't have thought of going down the cliff by weaving vines.

 

The two close friends who were always by his side were no longer by his side, but the things he received from them remained.

 

Crixus vowed not to stop until the day his breath ran out.

 

Even though he knew he wouldn't be able to reach the moon, he stretched out his hand toward the moon floating in the sky and made a fist. His hand was filled with a firm determination that he would not regret it no matter what the outcome might be.

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