Decisioniaffrettatesonopericolosi (sloppy decisions are dangerous)

- Sophocles (one of the three great tragic writers of ancient Greece)

After everything in the conference room was settled, Oscar called the meeting to a distraction; Oscar, who was feeling a little hungry, was about to go to Mary for dinner, only to find Mary still taking a shower. So, Oscar came to Thales' room; At this time, Thales was sleeping on the bed with a cloth belt strapped. Looking at the sleeping Thales, Oscar sat on a chair in the house and took out a stack of parchment rolls from his bosom and began to look; This stack of parchments is all that Thales did during Lilipar, as reported by the intelligence officers who were planted in the gladiators by the Dead of Sorrow.

In this world, there are large estates everywhere that make mass use of slave labor, and slaves are called "talking tools". For fun, slave owners built huge gladiatorial arenas, forced slaves to fight in pairs, and had gladiators fight each other with swords and daggers in hand. After a gladiatorial scene, the corpses of slaves are left on the field. The brutal rule of the slave owners made the slaves live in misery.

The new identity of Thales, arranged by Oscar, was that he was originally a Thracian from northeastern Greece, named Spartakus; Born handsome and fit, brave and courageous, he was captured in an anti-Thracian battle and reduced to slavery. Because he was intelligent, well-bred, and physically strong, his master sent him to a gladiator school in order to train him to be a good gladiator. As a result, he killed the instructor in the gladiator school, and then the master had no choice but to sell him to Lilibal along with other slaves.

Spartak (Thales), who came to Lilibal, was put in a cell with the gladiators; Although everyone was nominally called gladiators, not slaves. However, slave-turned-gladiators were closely watched, their every move was strictly restricted, and heavy shackles were placed on their feet. Their fate is doomed to death, because they could die in the arena at any moment, and they are effectively death row prisoners on probation.

In Lili, there were daily tournaments for the nobles, and the able-bodied slaves were sent to gladiator schools for training, and then the nobles' private theaters were wrestling with each other or fighting wild beasts. The slave-owning aristocracy, on the other hand, was amused while watching gladiatorial fights. Spartacus, who had won ten consecutive victories in the private theater of a certain nobleman, was sent to the Colosseum of the city of Lili, which was held on the first day of every month.

On September 1st, the wind was mild, and the sky was cloudless; All the nobles of Lilica and the citizens of Carthage came to the Colosseum. Because today is the monthly city-state gladiatorial competition, no one wants to miss out on this special and exciting entertainment. "I bet the one with the sword will win." "The one with the dagger wins, and lo and behold, how strong he is! I bet 20 gold coins. The Roman aristocrats in the audience were arguing boisterously.

Two young gladiators were brought into the arena and began a brutal fight. Spartak shielded himself with his shield, looking for an opportunity to stab the opponent with the weapon in his hand. Suddenly, the other party was stabbed and blood flowed down his shoulder. "Good, good!" "One more stab, one more stab!" The aristocrats in the audience shouted frantically.

In the event that a gladiator is seriously injured or surrenders, his fate is in the hands of the audience. In arena games, the Doge was the final speaker in deciding the life and death of the gladiators, but the rulers and tournament organizers usually left the decision to the spectators. It is common for the crowd to gesture with a "thumbs down" to signal the end of the life of the vanquished, but this may not be the only case.

The gesture to kill the opponent is to extend the fingers of the fist, with the thumb pointing up and the thumb pointing down, and waving a handkerchief as a sign of "mercy". Whatever gesture is used, it is usually accompanied by a shrill cry, not "Don't kill!" It's just "Kill!" ”。 If the audience decides the death of the losing side, the winning gladiator stabs his opponent in the heart from both shoulder blades or neck.

Finally, the wounded fell. I saw a witch on the stage stand up, and she decided the fate of the loser. With her thumb up, the loser can get away with it; With the thumbs down, the loser was executed on the spot. I saw her thumb down, and suddenly, the loser was killed on the blood-soaked field. There were bursts of cheers from the audience.

Spartak held his sword and shield aloft in the middle of the arena and shouted to the nobles and citizens in the stands: "Spartakus! In the next moment, the shout of "Spartacus" filled the entire arena; That's the charm of the winner. Soon, Spartak, the victor, was brought back to his cage, which was the treatment of his slaves.

The 300 family gladiators who came to the arena with Spartak are now less than 100 left; However, Spartak had amassed the appeal and prestige he needed. Moreover, it is said that Hanno, the consul of Carthage, was to come to Liliba with an army; So, Spartak decided to start an uprising as soon as possible.

Late at night on September 5th. The gladiators of the city of Liliba in central Lower Sicilia suddenly screamed terrible screams from within the bars, which was especially miserable in the silence of the night. Three guards hurried over and asked through the bars, "What are you doing?" Look for death! Don't sleep honestly yet! One of the gladiators stuck out his head and said, "Killed." The Gauls killed our partners. He's been subdued by us, what do you think should be done with him? If you don't care, we'll strangle him. ”

The guards took the oil lamp and shone it, and sure enough, one person was dead, and the other person was being twisted by several people. The soldier said, "Give him to us." Bring out the dead too. As he spoke, he opened the door. It was too late, but it was too soon, and the gladiators quickly knocked them down, drew their short swords, and rushed out of the prison door. Heavy iron doors were opened one by one, and gladiators rushed out of the house in shackles. "Run out of Lili's city!" A high-pitched shout pierced the night sky, and the gladiators swarmed out and disappeared into the night. The leader of this gladiator uprising was Spartakus. In the cage where the gladiators were imprisoned, he became the spiritual leader of the gladiators with his bravery and wisdom. He used every opportunity to persuade the gladiators to die for their freedom and not to fall prey to the pleasures of the Carthaginian nobility. When he organized more than 200 gladiators (including 100 members of his family) to prepare for a riot, he accidentally leaked secrets, so he decided to act early, and as a result, 78 people rushed out of the tiger's mouth.

The Spartacist rebel army, which escaped from the city of Lilibal, grew rapidly, containing a large number of fugitive slaves, gladiators, bankrupt peasants, and soldiers who had escaped from the Carthaginian legions of Lower Sicilia amounting to 4,000 men, and defeated many small units of the Carthaginian army on several occasions. The uprising spread from Liliba to Marsala and Trapani in the south of Lower Sicilia and to the region of Colleone in the north.

Spartak adapted the army in the form of the Roman army, and in addition to the infantry legions, there were cavalry, as well as scouts, signal troops, and small baggage units. Weapons taken from the enemy or made by the rebels themselves. The command of the army is based on democracy (the Council of Military Commanders and the General Assembly of Military Officers). There was a strict system of training, camping, and marching of soldiers. On 7 September, the Carthaginian consul Hanno's governor Teaugurs led a Lilian garrison against Spartakus, only to be severely defeated by the rebels.

By 10 September, the Spartak army had grown to 6,000 men. He marched into Marsala and Trapani, and his total force grew to 10,000 men. The Carthaginian Senate, shocked by the strength of the rebels, sent two armies led by the consuls Hanno and Theagus to attack Spartak on 11 September. It was at this time that divisions arose within the rebel army. Most of the slaves, including Spartacus, advocated leaving Marsalla and Trapani, rushing into Lili, gaining freedom, or expelling the Carthaginians from Lower Sicilia.

But the poor who participated in the slave revolt were reluctant to leave Marsala and Trapani. This disagreement caused the 3000 rebel army to leave the main force, and at Marsala and Trapani all were annihilated by the Carthaginian army (2800 killed). Although the Spartacist army was weakened, he took advantage of the weakness of the Carthaginian army's scattered forces to defeat the army responsible for his pursuit.

On 12 September, the Spartacist army moved along the coast of Sicily to the whole of Lower Sicily. At the Battle of Palermo, Spartak once again routed the army of the governor of Teages. Spartak was supposed to cross Palermo and continue north, but somehow he turned back, bypassing Lili, and swung south. In order to crush the Spartak army, the Carthaginian Senate sent the commander Hanno to lead 5,000 troops to conquer.

On 13 September, the Spartacist army assembled in the port of Lower Sicilia in an attempt to circumnavigate the coast on a pirate ship, trick Hanno's army into the harbor and then land in Palermo. However, the pirates did not keep their promises and did not provide Spartak with ships, and their attempts to circumnavigate the coast on their own rafts were unsuccessful. At this time, Hanno built a defensive line behind the rebel camp, cutting off the rebels' retreat back to Lilibi.

The line of defense was a trench (about 55 km long, 4 wide and 4 deep) that led to the sea at both ends. 5 meters), a wall was built on the ditch. However, the rebels filled the trenches with soil and trees, stormed the fortifications, and broke through the defensive line. Spartak lost about 3,000 of its most elite men in the assault. In order to prevent the Carthaginian army from continuing the pursuit, Spartak decided to set up an ambush on Hanno. He marched north and laid an ambush in the woods; When Hanno's pursuit was approaching, he immediately sent troops to meet him.

The battle, though not inflicted many casualties on the armies of Hanno and Teagos; But the 5,000-strong army of the two was scattered. While Hanno and Theagus were busy gathering their armies, Spartak led his army to quickly capture the city of Lilibal; He released all 2,000 slaves and gladiators in the city to expand his power in case Hanno led his army to retaliate.

On 15 September, Hanno and Teargus led their armies back against Lilibal; Then came the offensive and defensive battles of the rebel army of Spartak and the army of Hanno. Since Spartacus's most elite 3000 troops had been largely lost in the previous breakout battles; So, the rebels were at a disadvantage under the attack of the Hanno Corps. In the end, it was the scene that Oscar led his army to see.