Peterson's Theater was packed with people waiting for the premiere of Spartacus to begin. As a theater located near the Saint-Antoine district, the Peterson theater was not large and had a very narrow backstage, and Armand added a choir to the script for the soundtrack chorus. These people can't hide in the backstage at all - outside the changing room, some of the instruments are stuffed in the backstage, and they are already full. There was no way, Armand had to arrange the singing team in the audience. The auditorium at the Petersen Theatre is also not large, it only has more than 300 seats, and as for the private rooms, there are no rooms at all. The singing troupe occupied more than 20 seats, leaving the audience without even 300 seats.

Of course, there is an advantage to the fact that the theater is so small, that is, it is very easy to fill up. Armand has been boasting about his new play for a long time, he has traveled extensively, his friends alone have come in dozens, plus some of the people mobilized by his friends, plus Armand has a little sponsorship from the Duke of Orleans, so he announced that the premiere was free of charge, and as a result, the Peterson Theater, which originally had a capacity of only three hundred, squeezed in almost six hundred people in one go, and many more wanted to squeeze in. In order to let them in, the theater manager simply decided to remove all the seats in the theater and let everyone stand. But because there is no money, the entire theater is still packed. In addition, the ordinary people at the bottom don't pay much attention to etiquette, and the whole theater is as lively as a vegetable market. One aunt even actually squeezed in with a hen that had just been bought from the market.

"Spartacus" began in such a noise. The first act begins with Spartacus leading a small group of gladiators and another team of gladiators led by his friend Enomayi in the gladiatorial arena. And on one side, the host of the gladiatorial event announced: "The generous Crassus decided that in this battle, the victor who killed the enemy, will become a free man!" Immediately afterward, for the sake of "freedom", the two teams fought, and people kept falling, and soon, only Spartacus and Enomayi were still standing. However, Enomayi was wounded by this time and could only barely stand, and his small shield was also lost in the previous battle, making it almost impossible for him to fight effectively. His opponent, Spartacus, his best friend, was almost unscathed. The suspense seems to have been lost.

"Kill him, kill him!" The actor playing the gladiatorial audience shouted.

"Spartacus, come, kill me, and you'll be free." Enomayi knew that even in his best form, he was probably no match for Spartacus, a guy who had already won more than a hundred victories in the gladiatorial arena. What's more, he was already injured at this time.

"There are not many such opportunities," said Enomayi, "and it is rare for Crassus to be generous, or else, if your new master, the miserliness of Akzien, misses this opportunity, you will never have the opportunity to become a free man again." If I were you, I would never let go of this opportunity. ”

"Nope." Spartacus said, "I'm not going to kill my friends." If I were willing to wield a sword at my friend, I would be a citizen of Rome by now. ”

After saying this, Spartacus ignored the shouts around him, put his sword in his sheath, and turned to leave.

"Kill him! Otherwise you'll be waiting to eat the whip! Someone shouted.

"Cheap slave!" Someone scolded.

"I knew he was a sissy!" One audience member said disdainfully. Playing Spartacus in the premiere was Armand's friend Louis, who had no problem with his figure, but his face was so handsome that he even looked a little girl-like that it seemed unsuitable for a role like Spartacus.

"Die!" Enomayi suddenly shouted, waving his dagger and staggering towards Spartacus, who had his back to him.

With a flicker, Spartacus gave way to Enomayi's sword, and at the same time struck Enomayi's chest with his elbow, and Enomayi threw away his short sword and fell to the ground in pain.

"Kill me!" Enomayi gasped.

"No, I'm not going to fall for you. I don't wield a sword at a friend. ”

In the next scene, Spartacus, who has been whipped, is with the other surviving gladiators, who ask him why he didn't kill Enomayi so that he would be free. Spartacus replied with "I don't swing my sword at my friends." But another gladiator, Kressie, coldly pointed out that his insistence had no effect, because Enomayi would soon die in the next gladiatorial fight to entertain the public: "It is said that very few gladiators have the opportunity to become free men or leave the gladiatorial arena. But I have never seen such a lucky person. Even, apart from you, Spartacus, I have never seen a gladiator live more than three years. Spartacus, you are an invincible warrior who has won more than a hundred battles, whether against a man or a tiger or lion, but do you really think you can survive in the gladiatorial arena? ”

This silenced everyone, and finally someone said, "Unless we escape!" ”

"But who can lead us to escape?" Someone else asked.

In the second act, Spartacus escapes from the gladiator school with a group of gladiators, who try to flee north and escape from Rome, but the Roman soldiers keep chasing them. Many of the gladiators died on the flight, and they had to turn south and hide in the mountains of Vesuvius.

It was on this way of escape that Spartacus came to the conclusion that "slaves cannot truly be free by fleeing alone, but only by overthrowing the slavery of oppression and enslavement of man, can slaves be truly free." Our goal should not just be to try to evade the Roman soldiers, but to destroy Rome and free all the slaves. Only when all slaves are freed can we truly get our own freedom! ”

As Spartacus spoke to the dozens of exhausted companions who remained, backstage the band began to play the melody of Joseph's new war song, first a low and tragic prelude, like a dark cloud that fell low before a storm. Then the somber first theme begins, and the music is composed and determined, and at the end of each measure, there is a heavy accent, like a heavy rain falling from the sky, and like a rumbling war drum.

In the midst of this music, Spartacus's speech continued: "I know, my friends, my brothers, you will be suspicious, you will say, 'There are so many soldiers in Rome, they are well trained, well equipped, and well organized, how can we be so few people against the whole of Rome?' ’

But I say, fear not, my brothers, what have we to fear? We don't have to be afraid of anything! For what could be more painful and terrible than the days we live in this life? We live like pigs, trampled like dirt, and what is there to be afraid of for us? Is there anything we have to lose? Is there anything else in our lives that is worth nostalgic?

Friends and brothers, if there is anything we have to lose in battle, the only thing we can lose is the chains that bind us, but once we win, what we win will be the whole world! A whole new world in which no one can oppress and enslave man! Cheer up, my brothers, it is Rome that should be feared, those slave owners, vampires! We, we don't need to be afraid! ”

The theater fell silent. The uneducated inferiors stopped talking, and they all stared with longing eyes at the actor who played Spartacus, listened to his sonorous speech, and nodded silently. Someone whispered: "That's right, we, we are not kings, we are not nobles, what do we have but chains?" What else do we have to fear? ”

The remnants of the gladiators were reinvigorated. After that, they continued to raid the nearby manor to free the slaves there, and slaves who had fled from other regions fled to Vesuvius, and Spartacus and his friends continued to win new victories, and their ranks now numbered in the thousands. Spartacus' friend Enomayi also joined the rebels during this time. Under the auspices of Spartacus, the slaves even established a genuine democracy based on the equality of all men.

"It's, it's so good, it's like a dream." Under the stage, an audience member couldn't help but whisper.

"It's like an archangel speaking. I kind of understand how they could let a girl play a general. Another viewer said.

"Isn't it? I dare say that even God's paradise could not be better. Another audience member also whispered in response. Then he quickly drew a cross on his chest, "Lord, forgive me. ”

"It's good that all people are equal, that there are no more nobles, that there are no more privileged classes. But men and women are equal...... Is it still possible to make a woman press on a man? Someone else said so.

But then the plot became tense again. In order to destroy them, Rome sent an officer named Claudius, with three thousand well-armed soldiers, to surround and suppress them. With the assistance of local slave owners, the guys made their way into Vesuvius. Lacking weapons and supplies, the rebels struggled to hold back the Roman soldiers in a frontal battle, and they retreated one after another, eventually surrounding themselves on a steep mountain. In front of them were Roman soldiers who were in high formation, and behind them were cliffs. Spartacus and his rebel army seem to have reached a desperate point. Even Kress said, "It looks like this is going to be the last time of my life." Fortunately, I was a free man during these days. ”

But in a desperate situation, a woman named Agnip suggested a solution: "There are many wild vines on this mountain, and we can weave these vines into ropes, and then you men can slip down the mountain along these ropes and attack the Roman soldiers from behind." ”

"Hmph, I looked down on women just now, without us women, just you stupid men......" The aunt in the audience who was still holding a chicken in her hand couldn't help but say.

Spartacus took Agnipe's advice, and he led his warriors down the mountain at night with these ropes, and then launched a surprise attack from behind, crushing the Roman army in one fell swoop. Wielding the short sword in his hand, Spartacus led the slaves in pursuit of the Roman soldiers, and he shouted: "Brothers, sing our song!" ”

So in the midst of the deep and majestic music, the slaves on the stage sang such a song:

“

Debout ! les damnés de la terre

Debout ! les forçats de la faim……”