Rome Must Fall

Depetimas was a Roman veteran living near Brindisi. His experience was somewhat similar to that of Quintus. He brought a group of people who had served in the Roman legions to join the rebel army, which greatly strengthened the The strength of the rebel army;

Cleonis, a horseman from southern Calabria, was the leader of the rebel army that clashed with Pheasalus' first legion.

However, when Spartacus introduced Cleonis to Maximus, the former wrangler did not do anything radical and acted very calmly. Maximus was already mentally prepared. Despite the accusations from some people, everything has been quiet until now. It seems that Spartacus has made a lot of efforts to bridge the conflicts between the leaders.

Just as Maximus was quietly observing everyone, Cross suddenly knocked on the table hard and said: "I say Spartacus, we finally got together today, and we were not allowed to eat something good. Celebrate it well, you won’t even have some meat here, right?”

Spartacus put down the bread in his hand, stretched out his fingers to spread the remaining bread crumbs into his mouth and ate it, and said softly: "I have some meat here, but there are tens of thousands of brothers outside, and I am stewed here. Do you want to share the meat with them? If you give it, the meat will not be enough; if you don’t give it, we will all be brothers in suffering, and no one is nobler than anyone else. If we are the leader, we can eat more meat and let them. If they only eat porridge, are they still willing to follow us to the battlefield and fight to the death against the Romans?”

When Cross saw everyone's eyes turned over, he grinned a few times: "I just want to make a suggestion. Just like before, you still make a lot of sense. Okay, okay, if you don't eat meat, don't eat it. Meat, let’s have some wine. You don’t need to pay this time. I brought a cart of wine from Turi, and the taste is no worse than that of Campania.”

After Cross said this, several leaders swallowed subconsciously.

"Enomuyi will be buried tomorrow. It might not be good to drink at this time." Hamilcar reminded softly.

Spartacus saw that Cross's face became a little ugly, and then said: "Of course we have to drink the wine that Cross finally brought, but it is not suitable at this time. We will wait until everyone is finished." These things, let’s enjoy the wine in Tuli together, Cross, what do you think?”

"Whatever you want." Cross leaned back on the chair, hugged his arms with his hands, drooped his eyelids, and said in a low tone: "Since Enomui was mentioned, I just have something to say. Regarding Enomue I am very sad about Nomuyi's death! As you all know, I had a very good relationship with him when we were in Gladiator School. Later, in Campania, we often acted together because we had the same ideas. The camps were also close to each other, and later he took the initiative to discuss with me our trip south to Tuli...

But, as long as people stay together for a long time, they will inevitably quarrel and curse each other, not to mention that Enomui and I are both bad-tempered people, and we had a fight over a trivial matter. Fighting between each other was very common in the gladiator school. Originally, I thought about having a drink with him the next day and making some concessions, and the matter was over...

But I didn’t expect...I didn’t expect that he would actually leave Tuli with his team...I didn’t expect that he would actually die in Metapontum..."

Cross's voice was choked up, and Maximus could clearly see tears streaming down his face and dripping on his breastplate.

Is this really sad or staged? ...Maximus sat on the wall and watched with interest.

Cross took a sharp breath, reached out and touched one, his tearful eyes suddenly widened: "But when I came here, I heard some rumors, saying that I killed Enomui, I should To atone for Enomui, what kind of nonsense is this!”

Spartacus was a little stunned. Hamilcar whispered a few words into his ear. His expression became serious and he said in a deep voice: "This should be the angry words coming from Enomui's brothers." After Enomui died in the battle, they came here. Some of them were a little resentful towards you, thinking that if it weren't for you, Enomui would not have led his team to leave Turi and attack Metapontum. , leading to the final death in battle...

I have talked to them twice, and they promised not to talk nonsense again. It seems that they have broken their promise. I will send people to warn and punish them. I believe there will be no more rumors in the future——"

Having said this, he looked at the other people in the room with sharp eyes and said with emphasis: "We, Free Italy, are made up of poor people and slaves from all over Italy. In order to defeat the powerful Romans, we must unite and never Allowing people to talk nonsense and spread rumors will only make our huge team suspicious of each other and eventually break up!"

"Spartacus, you are right! This should be listed as a law of free Italy and let all soldiers know it!" Cross took over and said harshly.

"I support Cross's proposal." Maximus spoke immediately as if he were striking while the iron was hot. It was rare for him and Cross to reach an agreement. Both of them had similar troubles in this regard.

This suggestion was quickly adopted, which was a bit surprising to Spartacus because it was not included in tonight's agenda, but it was also what he wanted to see.

However, Cleonis' expression was slightly strange. Without the right to vote, he could only watch helplessly as the law "prohibited rebel soldiers from slandering and criticizing others, and violators would be punished with military sticks, and severe cases would be beheaded."

Cross uncrossed his arms, reached out to grab the bread, and took a big bite.

Maximus let out a breath and felt much more relaxed.

"Well, let's eat and discuss." Seeing that Spartacus had already started, he said simply: "The two leaders Artemidonus and Tormaas have been together for more than four months. They joined us in Free Italy before, and our smooth journey south is inseparable from their efforts.

After coming here, they led the team to conquer everywhere. They have a share of the credit for our team to become as strong as it is today. So I propose that Artemidonus and Tormaas be made official members of the council of our military governors of free Italy. "

Everyone unanimously approved Spartacus's proposal, which made the other three newcomers look eagerly.

"The unfortunate death of Enomuyi in battle is a great loss for us. He was a great warrior and a brave leader. He played an important role in the smooth development of our free Italy to this day! It is a pity that he will not be able to do so in the future. Come fight with us again!" Spartacus said with a heavy tone.

Hamilcar, Altonix, and Cross, the three former gladiator companions, all showed expressions of grief.

Maximus covered his mouth with his hands and put on a painful expression. In fact, he didn't feel much about Enomui's death in his heart. Instead, he felt that Enomui was just a barbarian, suitable for charging into the battle. A warrior, not a leader commanding an army, his unexpected life and death is a good thing, otherwise it is very likely to become Agathius's heel in the battle with the Roman army.

"...Hamilka and I had a discussion before, and we felt that we should not simply bury Enomui, but should make it very solemn, so that all the brothers would know the greatness of Enomui!" Spartacus said solemnly:

"...Early tomorrow morning, all the troops will gather in the open space in the north of the city. Several of our leaders will carry Enomui's coffin. It will go around the open space and then be placed in the center. The priest will sing a eulogy and honor him. Clean the body, place the silver coins, all brothers pray silently, and finally we light the coffin..."

"Spartacus, you are very thoughtful. I completely agree. Let's arrange it this way and let Enomui go underground safely like a hero!" Cross said with a sincere face.

Maximus and the others had no objections.

"Then the matter of burial tomorrow is decided." Spartacus continued: "After Enomui left, his army finally retreated here, but now, the team is a bit chaotic...

Wolfe wants to be the new leader of this army, but Witt disagrees and thinks that he is the most suitable candidate, while Pecot and other other leaders hope to lead the team to join other armies..."

"What do you think we should do?" Spartacus finished speaking and looked at Cross, Maximus and Attumus.

Cross, who had spoken positively just now, did not speak first at this moment because he realized that Enomui's subordinates were dissatisfied with him, so he did not want to pick a fight to avoid saying something wrong and causing new people to spread it. trouble.

Maximus did not respond first, but asked: "I wonder how many people there are in Enomui's army now?"

"There are less than 6,000 people left, and more than 2,000 of them are wounded." Hamilka replied.

Cross was shocked: "How come there are so few people?! I remember that when Enomui left Tuli, he brought tens of thousands of troops with him!"

"Enomuyi attacked Metapontum for more than half a month and suffered a lot of casualties. In addition, he died in a surprise attack. The troops attacking the city suddenly lost their command and quickly became chaotic. The enemy launched a counterattack again, and many brothers died under the city before they even had time to escape..." Spartacus said with a heavy tone.

The organization and discipline of the Enomui army are the worst among the rebel armies. As it is said in the book, such an army can fight with favorable winds, but once it encounters difficulties, it will easily be defeated no matter how large the number is... Maxi Musi was secretly alert, took over the conversation, and said:

"Enomui's army suffered a disastrous defeat, and its morale was greatly affected. If they are allowed to fight independently again, they are likely to suffer another defeat... Well, and I don't think Wolfe and Witte have the prestige of Enomui. , able to make the entire team obey their orders.

I heard that even Pecot, who did not want to be the leader, had much more support from the warriors than the two of them, so I felt that I should listen to Pecot and the others and let the warriors of the Enomui army work according to their own wishes. willing to join other teams. "

The fact that Maximus focuses on his own army and has little contact with other teams does not mean that he does not know about other teams.

These important leaders in Enomui's army were all companions of the original gladiators, and Wolfe and Wit were Germans and were Enomui's confidants.

Enomui wanted to recruit as many German slaves as possible to form a team, just like Cross, but the problem was that there were few German slaves in Italy at that time, so the soldiers of other races in his team far outnumbered the Germans. As a leader, Enomui treated his warriors fairly. Wolf and Witt had no such scruples and took better care of their own people, so it was impossible for them to return to their hearts.

Of course, this was not the main reason why Maximus opposed them being leaders.

The main reason was that more than 200 gladiators who escaped from Capua jointly elected Spartacus, Cross, Enomui, Artonicus, and Hamilcar as leaders, and Maximus eventually became one of them through his clever operation.

Except for these six people, even though the rebels have become very large now, the other gladiators have almost become officers commanding hundreds of people, but they have no right to lead the army independently. If Wolf or Witt is promoted to leader now, will the other gladiators have any ideas?

Not to mention other teams, Maximus did not dare to guarantee that Phesalus and Toleruge, who had become legion commanders in his army, could remain calm.

"I think Maximus is right. We should let them voluntarily join other teams to avoid losing the battle again." Cross looked at Maximus and expressed his support again, which was very rare in the past.

"I also think what Maximus said makes sense. I support his opinion."

After Spartacus finished speaking, Artonicus and Hamilcar also agreed. Obviously, everyone had the same consideration as Maximus, and they must ensure the stability of the rebels.

There were no rebel veterans from the Capua Gladiators in Arttumus's team. He agreed only to express his friendliness to Maximus.

After deciding on the treatment of Enomui's army, Spartacus picked up the pot, drank a few mouthfuls of porridge, and said in a deep voice: "The Metapontum people killed Enomui and many of our brothers. We must avenge this! I propose to gather our troops and attack Metapontum again. We must capture it to commemorate the loss of Enomui and many brothers, and at the same time deter other southern towns!" Spartacus held the pot in his right hand and clenched his left fist. His originally gentle face burst out with a compelling momentum.