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.
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.
Is that name familiar to you?
Yes, it does seem to be.
I can't place it.
After he talked to you, what happened then?
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.
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.
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 in all directions 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.
Good-bye, Crassus.
This is no time for a man of honour to withdraw from public affairs!
- Shame, shame! - Sit down.
This sort of heroic public behaviour is nothing new!
I've seen it before-- we all have-- 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, and never will!
I'll take some republican corruption along with some republican freedom...
but I won't take...
the dictatorship of Crassus and no freedom at all!
That's what he's out for...
and that's why he'll be back.
To the mother that bore me...
to the father that taught me...
to the god--
To the blue woods and the purple shadows, I--
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, or what is it?
I want to make love to my wife!
Spartacus, put me down. I'm--
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.
- How? I mean, how do you know? - I know.
A baby in the spring.
- I'm gonna have a son. - But 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.
A baby.
I'm just the same as I ever was, Spartacus.
I won't break.
These slaves have already cost us a thousand million sesterces.
If now they want to relieve us of their unwelcome presence...
in the name of all the gods, let them go!
Impossible! They've already infected half of Italy with this uprising.
If we permit them to escape now...
this condition will spread throughout the entire empire.
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...
and assign two legions...
to intercept and destroy Spartacus at the city of Metapontum!
Ifwe could only have had Batiatus in the other pot!
- Now you're talking! - Varinia, wonderful meal.
A small piece of land with a few goats on it.
The best wine in the world.
For wine you've got to go to Aquitania. The sweetest grapes on earth.
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 wine comes from home, wherever it is.
I agree with you.
Gentlemen.
- Are there reports on Metapontum? - Heralds are crying the news now.
We lost 1 9,000 men, including Commodius and his officers.
Nineteen thousand?
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 either.
And you feasted 1 1 ,000 plebeians in the field of Mars.
It scarcely could've been called a feast.
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.
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 to betray Rome herself?
My dear Crassus, I face no such choice.
You will, sooner than you think.
Good afternoon, Crassus. I've been looking for you all day.
Your new master.
The senate's been in session all day over this business of Spartacus.
We've got eight legions to march against him and no one to lead them.
The minute you offer the generals command...
they start wheezing like winded mules.
I've seen such epidemics before, haven't you?
- How's your health? - Excellent, as you know.
I take it the senate's now offering command of the legions to me.
- You've been expecting it. - I have.
But 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 of Italy...
and the abolition of senatorial authority over the courts.
Dictatorship.
Order.
- Advise me if my terms are acceptable. - I can tell you now.
- They're unacceptable. - Yes, I know.
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 move in and save Rome from the slave army...
by assuming dictatorship.
But that, like everything else, 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.
You've done 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 you be so stiff-necked about it. Politics is a practical profession.
Ifa criminal has what you want, you do business with him.
How far are we from Brundusium?
About 20 miles.
Our army will have to camp here tonight. They're still about 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, my estimate is we can load 1 50 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 of the back country until we board ship.
I'll get them together now.
Spartacus, the harbour district in Brundusium has food warehouses...
but not enough to provide for the whole fleet.
The countryside's filled with cattle.
And we've more than enough 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.
- 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...
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.
I saw them in the harbour.
The Cilician fleet, out of strategic necessity...
has been obliged to withdraw.
- Withdraw? - There are no ships at all?
Cilician pirates can destroy any Roman fleet that ever sailed.
If they run away now, it's not because they're afraid!
You better give me a better reason.
I'm as desolated as you are, General.
Stand up. Up!
On your toes.
- You'll cut the skin. - Why did the Cilicians run away?
They were paid.
And who paid them?
Who?
Crassus.
Crassus won't fight us himself.
The reports say he won't take the command of an army.
Why would he bribe your pirates to keep us from escaping?
I don't know. How can I answer when there is no answer?
I've been betrayed, just as you have!
There is an answer.
There must be an answer to everything.
We're five miles from Brundusium.
Here's Rhegium.
Pompey's march must have brought him to about here.
He's four days away, maybe more.
Lucullus lands at Brundusium tomorrow.
If we engage Lucullus...
Pompey will have enough time to march against our rear.
If we turn west to meet Pompey...
Lucullus will march against our rear.
The only other army in all of Italy is here!
Rome.
Yes, of course!
Crassus is inviting us to march on Rome...
so he can take the field against us.
You mean Crassus wants us to march on Rome?
He's forcing us to. He knows I won't let myself be trapped...
between two armies with my back to the sea.
He knows my only other choice is Rome.
Somewhere on the way, we meet.
If he beats us, he becomes the saviour of Rome...
and there's his final victory over the senate.
General, allow me to redeem myself in your eyes.
For a very small commission...
I can arrange for you, your family and your leaders, of course...
to be smuggled out of Italy and transported to an eastern country...
where men of substance like you are welcome and appreciated.
You can live there like kings for the rest of your lives.
What do you think, General?
Go away.
Go away?
Tell the trumpeters to sound assembly.
Tonight a Roman army lands in the harbour of Brundusium.
Another army is approaching us from the west.
Between them, they hope to trap us here...
against the sea.
The Cilician pirates have betrayed us. We have no ships.
''By order of the senate...
be it known that we have this day elected...
Marcus Licinius Crassus...
first consul of the Republic...
and commander in chief of the armies of Rome.''
Hail Crassus!
Rome will not allow us to escape from Italy.
We have no choice but to march against Rome herself...
and end this war the only way it could have ended:
by freeing every slave in Italy.
I promise you...
a new Rome...
a new Italy and a new empire.
I promise the destruction of the slave army...
and the restoration of order...
throughout all our territories.
I'd rather be here, a free man among brothers...
facing a long march and a hard fight...
than to be the richest citizen of Rome...
fat with food he didn't work for...
and surrounded by slaves.
I promise the living body of Spartacus...
for whatever punishment you may deem fit.
That or his head.
This I vow by the spirits of all my forefathers.
This I have sworn...
in the temple that guards their bones.
Hail Crassus!
We've travelled a long ways together.
We've fought many battles and won great victories.
Now, instead of taking ship for our homes across the sea...
we must fight again.
Maybe there's no peace in this world...
for us or for anyone else. I don't know.
But I do know...
that as long as we live...
we must stay true to ourselves.
I do know that we're brothers, and I know that we're free.
We march tonight!
Hail Crassus!
Greetings to you, Crassus.
Caius. Gentlemen.
Have your dispositions been made?
Each maniple knows its position in line, sir, and exactly what's expected.
Every legion commander has been given his battle orders.
Excellent. All positions will now be changed.
Changed?
Spartacus takes too keen an interest in our plans, I fear.
New battle orders will be issued in a short while.
Spartacus has every reason to believe that he has outdistanced...
the pursuing armies of Pompey and of Lucullus.
However, there are passes through the Apennine Mountains...
unknown to any map.
It may fortify your courage to know...
that Pompey is at this moment encamped some 20 miles to the west of us...
and that the army of Lucullus approaches from the south...
by forced night march.
Sir, allow us to pledge you the most glorious victory of your career.
I'm not after glory!
I'm after Spartacus.
And, gentlemen, I mean to have him.
However, this campaign is not alone to kill Spartacus.
It is to kill the legend of Spartacus.
You may go, gentlemen.
Hail Crassus.
Lentulus Batiatus awaits Your Excellency.
- Who? - The lanista, sir.
Admit him.
Most Blessed Highness, as soon as I received your message...
I hurried into your distinguished presence.
I'm glad you were able to spare the time. Sit down.
How gracious.
I understand-- I'm informed--
that Spartacus once trained under your auspices.
Yes! In fact...
if it isn't too subversive to say so...
I made him what he is today.
You're to be congratulated indeed.
I, too, as it happens, since you're so admirably qualified to give me...
what up to now I've not been able to obtain:
a physical description of Spartacus.
Yes.
But you saw him.
- What? - In the ring.
When?
When you visited my school with those two charming ladies.
What ?
I trust they're both in good health.
They selected him to fight against Draba, the Negro.
- I remember the Negro. - You had good cause to, if I remember--
If I may say so, Your Excellency.
A brilliant dagger thrust. Difficult angle.
- Spartacus was the opponent? - Yes.
What did he look like?
That's a matter of some importance to Your Highness?
Yes, to every man who loves Rome and wishes to see her strong.
We're both Roman patriots, sir.
You're a great one. I, of course, smaller.
But we both believe in Roman fair play.
If you want something from me...
I would be lacking in respect for my own conscience...
if I did not say that I wish something from you.
Name your price.
If-- no--
when you win your victory tomorrow...
presumably the survivors will be auctioned off...
in order to pay for the expenses of this heroic expedition.
Could not the agent for that sale be he...
who shares this tiny moment of history with Your Honour?
I authorize you to be the agent for the sale of all survivors.
In return, you will remain here with us until after the battle...
and aid me in identifying Spartacus.
After the battle?
You misunderstand me. I'm a civilian.
I'm even more ofa civilian than most civilians.
If you wish to remain so...
I should strongly advise you to stay here and be our guest.
Guard!
My dear, all-conquering Marcus Licinius Crassus...
what if it is Spartacus who crosses the battlefield...
looking for you?
In such circumstances, I have no doubt...
you will be helping him.
This fellow remains with us until after the battle.
Make him comfortable. Don't let him feel lonely.
Mommy? Mommy?
When do we go home?
Go to sleep, dear.
No pains yet?
He's a bad child, though. He hits me with his fist.
He wants to see his mother. Can you blame him?
Can you feel it?
No, I don't.
I hope he waits till we get to Rome.
Rome!
They've never beaten us yet.
No.
But no matter how many times we beat them...
they still seem to have another army to send against us.
And another.
Varinia, it just seems like we've started something...
that has no ending!
If it ended tomorrow, it would be worth it.
Varinia, don't make me weak.
You're strong enough to be weak.
I love you more than my life.
Yet, sometimes, even with you here sleeping beside me...
I feel so alone.
I imagine a god for slaves...
and I pray.
What do you pray for?
I pray for a son who'll be born free.
I pray for the same thing.
Take care of my son, Varinia.
If he never knows me...
tell him who I was and what we dreamed of.
Tell him the truth. There will be plenty of others to tell him lies.
I can't live without you, Spartacus!
For you and me there can be no farewells.
As long as one of us lives...
we all live.
I felt it! Did you feel it?
- Yes, I did. - That was so strong. Does it hurt you?
That was so strong.