When I fight matched pairs, they fight to the death.
I made myself a promise, Crixus.
I swore that if I ever got out of this place...
I'd die before I'd watch two men fight to the death again.
Draba made that promise too.
He kept it.
So will I.
Go on. Get out!
What are we, Crixus?
What are we becoming? Romans?
Have we learned nothing?
We look for wine when we should be hunting bread.
- When you've got wine, you don't need bread! - [Laughter]
You can't just be a gang of drunken raiders.
- What else can we be? - Gladiators!
An army of gladiators.
There's never been an army like that.
One gladiator's worth any two Roman soldiers.
We beat the Roman guards, but a Roman army's different. They fight different.
We can beat anything they send against us if we want to.
- It takes a big army. - We'll have a big army.
Once we're on the march, we'll free every slave in every town and village.
Can anybody get a bigger army?
Once we cross the Alps, we're safe!
Nobody can cross the Alps. Every pass is defended by its own legion.
There's only one way to get out of this country.
The sea.
What good is the sea if you have no ships?
The Cilician pirates have ships.
They're at war with Rome.
Every Roman galley that sails out of Brundusium pays tribute.
They've got the biggest fleet in the world.
I was a galley slave. Give them enough gold, they'll take you anywhere.
- We haven't got enough gold. - Take every Roman we capture and warm his back a little.
- We'll have gold all right. - Spartacus is right!
Let's hire these pirates and march straight to Brundusium!
[Cheering]
Come join us. All of you, come join us.
Come on and join us!
[Cheering]
Come on!
Hey!
Back to Vesuvius!
Come on!
Varinia.
I thought I'd never see you again.
Everything's so different.
The last time I saw you, you...
you were waiting in the arena to...
l... I thought you were in Rome.
How'd you escape?
L...
I jumped out of the cart...
and Batiatus was so fat...
I flew out of the cart...
and Batiatus was so fat...
he couldn't catch me.
He couldn't catch up with me.
Do you realize...
nobody can ever sell you again?
Nobody can sell you.
- Or give you away. - Or give you away.
- Nobody can ever make you stay with anyone. - Nobody can make you.
Oh, I love you, Spartacus.
I love you.
I still can't believe it.
Forbid me...
ever to leave you.
I do forbid you.
I forbid you.
[Batiatus] It was funny at the time.
How good you are to me, if I may say so.
- You may. - Thank you.
Don't just eye those birds. Eat them.
There's no need to be on your best behaviour.
May I remind you...
you've been good to me in the past.
- I've been good to you? Oh, ho, ho. - Oh, yes.
You've sold me slaves at an extremely reasonable price.
And you arranged gladiatorial jousts at cost, practically.
You are both ethical in business...
and certainly farsighted socially.
Zenobia's put on weight since I last saw her.
- Hasn't she? I like it. - So do I.
You and I have a tendency towards corpulence.
Corpulence makes a man reasonable, pleasant and phlegmatic.
Have you noticed the nastiest of tyrants are invariably thin?
In spite of your vices...
you are the most generous Roman of our time.
Vices?
[Chuckle] Ladies.
Ladies! Since when are they a vice?
Perhaps I used the wrong word. An eccentricity, a foible.
I hope I pronounced that word.
It's well-known that even your groom and butler are women.
I'm the most virtuous man in Rome.
I keep these women out of my respect for Roman morality.
That morality, which has made Rome strong enough to steal...
two-thirds of the world from its rightful owners...
founded on the sanctity of Roman marriage and family.
I happen to like women. I have a promiscuous nature...
and unlike these aristocrats, I will not take a marriage vow...
which my nature will prevent me from keeping.
You have too great a respect for the purity of womankind.
Exactly.
It must be tantalizing to be surrounded by so much purity.
It is.
Let's mix business with pleasure.
How may I help?
Great Gracchus, I find it difficult to hate...
but there's one man I can't think of without fuming.
- Who's that? - Crassus.
- You've grown very ambitious in your hatred. - Do you blame me?
There I was, better than a millionaire in the morning...
and a penniless refugee by nightfall...
with nothing but rags and my flesh.
All because Crassus decides to break his journey at Capua...
with a couple of capricious, over-painted nymphs!
These two daughters of Venus had to taunt the gladiators...
force them to fight to the death, and before I knew what had happened...
- revolution on my hands! - What...
revenge have you in mind?
I sold Crassus this woman, Varinia.
- Whom? - Varinia. May the gods give her wings.
There was no contract, but she was clearly his slave...
as soon as the deal was made.
Now she's off with Spartacus killing people in their beds.
And Crassus, no mention of money!
You never offered me this woman. Why not?
Well... she's not remotely your type, Gracchus.
- She is very thin and... - Look around you.
- You'll see women of all sizes. - Well, yes.
500 sesterces deposit on Varinia.
Since he hasn't paid...
this gives me first call when she's caught.
May the gods adore you!
Why would you want a woman you've never seen?
To annoy Crassus, of course, and help you.
Fetch a stool, Antoninus.
In here with it.
That will do.
Do you steal, Antoninus?
No, master.
Do you lie?
Not if I can avoid it.
Have you... ever dishonoured the gods?
No, master.
Do you refrain from these vices...
out of respect for the moral virtues?
Yes, master.
Do you eat oysters?
When I have them, master.
Do you eat snails?
No, master.
Do you consider the eating of oysters to be moral...
and the eating of snails to be immoral?
No, master.
Of course not.
It is all a matter of taste, isn't it?
Yes, master.
And taste is not the same as appetite...
and therefore not a question of morals, is it?
Hmm?
It could be argued so, master.
That will do. My robe, Antoninus.
My taste includes...
both snails and oysters.
Antoninus, look.
Across the river.
There is something you must see.
There, boy, is Rome.
The might, the majesty...
the terror of Rome.
There is the power...
that bestrides the known world like a colossus.
No man can withstand Rome.
No nation can withstand her.
How much less...
a boy!
Hmm?
[Chuckle]
There's only one way to deal with Rome, Antoninus.
You must serve her.
You must abase yourself before her.
You must grovel at her feet.
You must... love her.
Isn't that so, Antoninus?
Antoninus!
Antoninus?
Take your time!
- How are they coming? - Good. Give me another thousand like them...
- and we can march on Rome. - Come on, once again.
Here on Vesuvius, we're safe from attack...
while we organize ourselves into an army.
It may take six months, a year.
Once we're strong, we're gonna fight our way south to the sea.
We're going to arrange for ships with the Cilician pirates.
The sea will be our road home.
If you agree, you may join us.
If you don't agree, go back before your escape is discovered.
Too many women.
What's wrong with women?
Where would you be now, you lout...
if some woman hadn't fought all the pains of hell...
to get you into this accursed world?
I can handle a knife in the dark as well as anyone.
I can cast spells and brew poisons.
I have made the death shrouds for seven Roman masters.
- I want to see Spartacus. - All right, grandmother. I'm Spartacus.
Stay with us. We'll need a million Roman shrouds before we're through.
- Where do you come from? - Most of us come from the estate of Lillius.
- What kind of work did you do there? - 16 years a carpenter.
Good. We can use carpenters.
- What kind of work did you do? - Chief steward.
You'll help with the food supplies. Report to Patullus.
What kind of work did you do?
Singer of songs.
Singer of songs?
But what work did you do?
That's my work. I also juggle.
Juggle. What else do you do?
I can do feats of magic.
Magic?
Maybe he can make the Romans disappear.
I'll need one volunteer, man or woman.
How about you? You, sir?
Here we have a likely subject.
You'll notice there is nothing in my hand, true?
- How many fingers do you see? - Three.
- How many fingers do you see? - Three!
I make a bowl. My hand is upside down...
and I ask you to blow at it.
Not hard enough. Hard!
Thank you.
[Chirping]
Would you like to try?
Hit it against the rock, gently.
[Chirping]
Poet, I haven't had an egg in days.
You haven't?
- Here. - Thank you.
I'm not going to let mine get away.
- Sing us a song. - Sing us a song, Antoninus.
Sing, Antoninus.
[Antoninus] When the blazing sun hangs low in the western sky...
when the wind dies away on the mountain...
when the song of the meadowlark turns still...
when the field locust clicks no more in the field...
and the sea foam sleeps like a maiden at rest...
and twilight touches the shape of the wondering earth...
I turn home.
Through blue shadows and purple woods...
I turn home.
I turn to the place that I was born...
to the mother who bore me and the father who taught me...
long ago, long ago...
long ago.
Alone am I now, lost and alone in a far, wide, wondering world.
Yet still when the blazing sun hangs low...
when the wind dies away and the sea foam sleeps...
and twilight touches the wondering earth...
I turn home.
Where'd you learn that song?
My father taught it to me.
I was wrong about you, poet. You won't learn to kill.
- You'll teach us songs. - I came here to fight.
Anyone can learn to fight.
I joined to fight!
What's your name?
Antoninus.
There's a time for fighting, and a time for singing.
Now you teach us to sing.
Sing, Antoninus.
When the blazing sun hangs low in the western sky...
You like him, don't you?
Who wants to fight?
An animal can learn to fight.
But to sing beautiful things...
and make people believe them...
Hmm.
What are you thinking about?
I'm free.
And what do I know?
I don't even know how to read.
You know things that can't be taught.
I know nothing.
Nothing!
And I want to know.
I want to...
I want to know.
Know what?
Everything.
Why a star falls and a bird doesn't.
Where the sun goes at night.
Why the moon changes shape.
I want to know where the wind comes from.
The wind begins in a cave.
Far to the north, a young god sleeps in that cave.
He dreams of a girl, and he sighs...
and the night wind stirs with his breath.
I want to know all about you.
Every line...
every curve.
I want to know every part of you.
Every beat of your heart.
Go on about the city of Metapontum.
What garrisons will we find there?
There are two legions in the garrison.
Some have been sent south...
Set the litter down there.
Well, where is this slave general?
Dionysius, get the litter bearers out of the rain.
Give them food, a bed and their freedom.
- [Dionysius] All right, follow me. - We'll pay you for them.
We have no slaves in this camp.
Tigranes Levantus at your service.
My credentials.
Come in.
"To the general of the Italian slaves called Spartacus...
"from Ibar M'hali, Cilician governor of Delos.
"Greetings. Word has been received that you wish...
"to embark your armies on the Cilician ships...
"from the Italian port of Brundusium.
- "Receive my agent, Tigranes... - Levantus.
"Who bargains in my name.
May Isis and Serapis bring victory to your cause. The governor of Delos."
- What are Isis and Serapis? - Gods of the East.
- Why should they want us to win? - Because...
they favour Cilicia, and Cilicia, like you, fights against the Romans.
[Chuckle]
Would you like some wine?
I drink only after the bargain has been concluded...
never before.
How many ships do these Cilicians have?
500 at least.
But no deal is too small, I assure you.
- We'll need them all. - All?
What is the price?
Price...
is 100,000 sesterces per ship.
For 500 ships, that would be...
50 million sesterces.
- You... have such a sum? - We will have.
See for yourself.
[Chuckle] Beautiful.
- When will the ships be ready? - Beautiful.
I love to see such beauty.
When will the ships be ready?
Ah, my friend...
when will you be ready?
How long will it take you to cross...
one-third the length of Italy...
fighting a major battle in every town?
One year? Two years?
If we're not in Brundusium seven months from now...
- we'll never be there. - Hmm.
What if we assemble the ships...
and there is no longer a slave army to board them?
We'll give you a chest of treasure now...
the rest when we get to Brundusium.
- This one? - Yes.
Done! Seven months from now, the ships will be assembled.
- Arrange to have the chest loaded. - And now...
with your permission, I should like to have the wine you offered me.
- Will you join me? - I will.
Excellent workmanship.
It came from the estate of a wealthy nobleman.
I've heard... that you are of noble birth yourself.
I'm the son and grandson of slaves.
I knew that when I saw you couldn't read.
Of course, it pleases Roman vanity to think that you are noble.
They shrink from the idea of fighting mere slaves...
especially a man like Crassus.
- You know him? - I entertained him one afternoon.
- You? - In the arena.
Excellent wine.
May l...
- May I ask you something? - You can ask.
Surely you know you're going to lose, don't you?
You have no chance.
At this very moment, six cohorts of the garrison of Rome...
are approaching this position.
What are you going to do?
We'll decide that when they get here.
Let me put it differently.
If you looked into a magic crystal...
and you saw your army destroyed, and yourself dead...
if you saw that in the future, as I'm sure you're seeing it now...
would you continue to fight?
Yes.
Knowing that you must lose?
Knowing we can't.
All men lose when they die, and all men die.
But a slave and a free man lose different things.
They both lose life.
When a free man dies, he loses the pleasure of life.
A slave loses his pain.
Death is the only freedom a slave knows.
That's why he's not afraid of it.
That's why we'll win.
Spartacus, that pirate was right.
The garrison of Rome, they're setting up camp.
- How many are there? - About six cohorts.
- Where? - At the mouth of the valley...
against the cliffs.
- Strong camp? - They've built no stockade.
No stockade? Are you sure?
- I'm very sure. - This campaign is great sport for them.
The Romans are having a picnic.
- Did they see you? - No! We were hidden.
Maybe we ought to join this Roman picnic.
Form your men.
Six cohorts.
A lot of arms and weapons...
to build our army with.
Crixus always wanted to march on Rome.
Now he doesn't have to.
Rome's come to us.
[Shouting]
Half this way! The rest over there.
Stand up...
- the way a noble Roman should! - That's Roman pride for you!
[Laughter]
That's better.
What's your name?
Marcus Glabrus.
Glabrus.
- Commander of the garrison of Rome! - Commander?
He was commanding it on his belly, playing dead!
You disappoint me, Marcus Glabrus.
Playing dead.
You afraid to die?
It's easy to die.
Haven't you seen enough gladiators in the arena...
to see how easy it is to die?
Of course you have.
Why...
What are you going to do to me?
I don't know.
What should we do with him?
Let's have a matched pair, him and me.
I'll not fight like a gladiator!
[Booing]
You keep staring at this.
Do you recognize this baton?
- Yes! - You should!
It was in your tent.
The symbol of the senate.
All the power of Rome!
That's the power of Rome!
Take that back to your senate.
Tell them you and that broken stick...
is all that's left of the garrison of Rome!
Tell them we want nothing from Rome...
nothing... except our freedom!
All we want is to get out of this damn country!
We're marching south to the sea.
And we'll smash every army they send against us.
Put him on a horse!
[Cheering]
Their leader said...
their hatred of Rome was such...
that all they wished was to escape from her rule.
If unopposed, he promised a peaceful march to the sea.
If opposed, he threatens to ravage the countryside...
and destroy every legion sent against him.
[Symmachus] And once they get to the sea?
They plan to take ship with Cilician pirates and return to their homes.
From which port do they propose to embark?
I don't know.
But city garrisons can't stand up to them.
If they are to be intercepted, it's work for the legions!
What sort of a man is this leader of the slaves?
I don't know.
I think they called him Spartacus.
Spartacus.
Is that name familiar?
Yes, it does seem to be.
I can't place it.
After he talked to you, what happened?
I was tied to a horse and lashed out of camp.
How many of your company escaped?
Fourteen have reported thus far.
I, myself, was taken prisoner in my own command tent.
The camp was thoroughly infiltrated before an alarm could be sounded.
Did you...
surround your camp with moat and stockade?
No.
- [Murmuring] - We arrived after sunset.
Sentries were posted every ten paces.
There was no reason to expect an attack by night.
Then again, well... they...
Continue.
They were only slaves.
I see.
I submit that Publius Marcus Glabrus...
has disgraced the arms of Rome.
Let the punishment of the senate be pronounced.
If we punished every commander who made a fool of himself...
we wouldn't have anyone left above the rank of centurion.
[Laughter]
But this is a case of criminal carelessness!
Six cohorts have been slaughtered.
Crassus sponsored this young man.
Let him pronounce sentence.
The punishment is well-known!
Let Publius Marcus Glabrus be denied...
fire, water, food and shelter...
for a distance of 400 miles from the city of Rome.
One thing more. Glabrus is my friend...
and I will not dissociate myself from his disgrace.
I now lay down the command of my legions...
and retire to private life.
[Murmuring]
Goodbye, Crassus.
This is no time for a man of honour to withdraw from public affairs!
- Shame, shame! - Sit down.
[Gracchus] This sort of heroic public behaviour is nothing new!
I've seen it before, and I know the meaning of it!
- Crassus acted on a point of honour! - Patrician honour!
No matter how noble this looks from the outside...
I don't like the colour of it.
Crassus is the only man in Rome...
who hasn't yielded to republican corruption!
I'll take a little republican corruption...
along with a little republican freedom...
but I won't take the dictatorship of Crassus...
- and no freedom at all! - [Applause]
That's what he's out for...
and that's why he'll be back.
[Applause]
[Thunder]
To the mother that bore me...
to the father that taught me...
to the god...
To the blue woods and the purple shadows, l...
To blue shadows and purple woods.
- Spartacus, you frightened me! - I'm sorry.
- How long have you been there? - A little while.
- Why didn't you say something? - You seemed so happy.
I didn't want to bother you.
I am happy.
Spartacus, I've been trying to remember the song that Antoninus sang.
Is it blue shadows and purple woods?
Or is it purple woods and blue shadows?
I want to make love to my wife!
Spartacus, put me down. I'm dripping!
I don't care.
- You've got, you've... - Yes?
You have to be gentle with me.
Why? Why, darling?
I'm going to have a baby. Now put me down.
What?
A baby.
A baby? When?
In the spring.
Well, how?
- I mean, how do you know? - I know.
A baby in the spring.
- I'm gonna have a son. - It might be a daughter.
- Why didn't you tell me? - I just did.
You're cold. Here, get underneath this.
- Did I hurt you? - No, you didn't.
- I didn't mean to be so rough. - Why don't you kiss me?
This is the first time I was ever going to have a baby.
Varinia.
A baby.
I'm just the same as I ever was, Spartacus.
Oh.
I won't break.
[Symmachus] These slaves have already cost us a thousand million sesterces.
If now they want to relieve us of their unwelcome presence...
let them go!
Impossible. They've infected half of Italy with this uprising.
If we permit them to escape, this will spread throughout the entire empire.
[Murmuring]
Ah... the Republic...
is still weak from 20 years of civil strife.
We're engaged in two wars:
One in Spain and the other in Asia.
Pirates have cut off our Egyptian grain supply...
and Spartacus raids the commerce of all south Italy.
Half the precincts of Rome are without bread!
The city is close to panic.
There are two things we must do immediately!
Confirm Caesar as permanent commander of the garrison...
- [Applause] - And...
and assign two legions...
to intercept and destroy Spartacus at the city of Metapontum!
[Cheering]
If we could only have had Batiatus in the other pot!
- Now you're talking! - Varinia, wonderful meal.
Varinia.
A small piece of land with a few goats on it.
- Oh, no, no. - I don't care.
The best wine in the world.
For wine, you've got to go to Aquitania.
Come to Lidya for wine. That's the best.
The best wine comes from Greece.
Everybody knows that, even the Romans!
- No, Lidya! - You're all wrong!
The best comes from home, wherever it is.
I agree with you.
Gentlemen.
- Any reports on Metapontum? - Heralds are crying the news now.
We lost 19,000 men, including Commodius and his officers.
19,000?
Have you estates in Metapontum?
No. A son with Commodius.
With your permission, good day.
We take five years to train a legion.
How can this Spartacus train an army in seven months?
There's something wrong, something very wrong.
- We should have an investigation. - By all means, an investigation.
- Where is Spartacus now? - He's nearing the seaport of Brundusium.
I need a few moments of the commander's time.
Will you excuse us?
I hear you've...
taken a house in the fourth ward.
Not a very splendid house.
And you feasted 11,000 plebeians in the field of Mars.
- It scarcely could've been called a feast. - Tsk, tsk, tsk.
For 200 years, your family and mine have been members...
of the Equestrian Order and the Patrician Party:
Servants and rulers of Rome.
Why have you left us for Gracchus and the mob?
I've left no one, least of all Rome.
But this much I've learned from Gracchus: Rome is the mob.
No!
Rome is an eternal thought in the mind of God.
I had no idea you'd grown religious.
That doesn't matter.
If there were no gods at all, I'd revere them.
If there were no Rome, I'd dream of her...
as I want you to do.
I want you to come back to your own kind.
I beg you to.
Is it me you want, or is it the garrison?
Both.
Tell me frankly. If you were I...
- would you take the field against Spartacus? - Of course.
- Why? - We have no other choice if we're to save Rome.
Ah, Caesar!
Which Rome?
Theirs... or ours?
You know Gracchus is my friend.
I won't betray him.
Caesar?
Which is worse?
To betray a friend or betray Rome herself?
My dear Crassus, I face no such choice.
You will, sooner than you think.
[Gracchus] Good afternoon, Crassus. I've been looking for you.
Your new master.
The senate's been in session all day over this business with Spartacus.
We've got eight legions and no one to lead them.
The minute you offer the general's command...
they start wheezing like winded mules.
- I've seen such epidemics before, haven't you? - I sure have.
I take it the senate's now offering the command to me.
- You've been expecting it. - I have.
Have you thought how costly my services might be?
We buy everything else these days.
No reason why we shouldn't be charged for patriotism.
What's your fee?
My election as first consul, command of all the legions...
and the abolition of senatorial authority over the courts.
Dictatorship.
Order.
Let me know if my terms are acceptable.
I can tell you now. They're unacceptable.
For the present, perhaps, but times change and so does the senate.
When that day comes, I shall be ready.
- Convey my respects to your wife. - With pleasure.
He's right, you know.
If something isn't done about Spartacus, the senate will change.
And Crassus will save Rome from the slave army by assuming dictatorship.
But that depends on which way Spartacus jumps.
Just now he's trying to get out of Italy.
If he succeeds, the crisis is over...
and Crassus may stay in retirement indefinitely.
I've arranged for Spartacus to escape from Italy.
What?
I've made a little deal with the Cilician pirates.
I've assured them that we won't interfere...
if they transport Spartacus and his slaves out of Italy.
So now we deal with pirates. We bargain with criminals!
Don't be so stiff-necked.
Politics is a practical profession.
If a criminal has what you want, you do business with him.
How far are we from Brundusium?
About 20 miles.
Our army will camp here tonight. They're six hours behind us.
Patullus, ride ahead to Brundusium.
Bring Tigranes here.
Marco, report back to Spartacus.
Tell him we camp tonight by the sea!
If all goes well...
we can load 150 ships a day.
That's your job, Dionysius. Work with the Cilician pirates.
- That oughta keep him busy. - Saves me finding someplace to sleep.
- Crixus, keep giving me reports on Pompey. - There won't be any surprises.
I still want patrols up to the time we call them to board ship.
- I'll get them together. - Spartacus...
the harbour district in Brundusium has food warehouses...
but not enough to provide for the whole fleet.
- The countryside's filled with cattle. - We've salt to preserve them.
I'll handle it.
Find out how many men we have in camp who were galley slaves or sailors.
- Tigranes Levantus. - Ah!
- My dear general. - Welcome, Tigranes!
No, no. You needn't look for litter bearers to emancipate.
- I rode a horse. - Your gods Isis and Serapis must've been good to us.
The balance of the 50 million sesterces we owe you.
General, l...
I bear a heavy burden of evil tidings.
What is it?
Pompey and his army... has landed in Italy.
At the border of Rhegium three days ago.
We get complete reports on their movements.
But do you also know...
that a Roman fleet carrying Lucullus and his army...
arrives tomorrow at Brundusium?
- Lucullus here? - You have no ships.
We saw them in the harbour.