Rome Must Fall

It was precisely considering these factors that Gaius Claudius Glaber instructed the recruiting officer to recruit soldiers with combat experience as much as possible.

Glaber’s idea was good, but the problem was that several years ago, one of Marius’ subordinates, Quintus Sertorius, initiated a rebellion in Iberia and achieved repeated victories. Later, he joined forces with the remnants of the populares faction and increased his military strength. In order to suppress the rebellion, Rome even violated centuries-old political traditions and allowed the 30-year-old Pompey, who was neither a praetor nor a former consul, to lead the troops into battle. They even reinforced him twice. As a result, there were very few excellent soldiers with combat experience left in Rome.

Glaber had to lower his requirements and recruit some veteran soldiers. These veterans were all former soldiers under Sulla and had marched on Rome with him. After Sulla became dictator, he fulfilled his promise by constructing colonial cities (such as Florence) within Italy and allocating land to his soldiers, ensuring their well-being. However, the problem was that these soldiers had been constantly fighting outside and had forgotten how to farm when their swords turned into plows. Year after year, many of them went bankrupt due to the mismanagement of their farmland. In their destitution, they had to return to Rome to seek a living. But now, ten years had passed since they had threatened Rome as soldiers, the veterans who were not recruited by Pompey were all over 40 years old.

Glaber didn’t despise them; instead, he appointed these veterans as decanus and centurions to help him manage the new recruits.

Within a few days, Glaber completed the recruitment of soldiers. After spending additional days organizing the army, Glaber led the troops into battle without conducting any training.

The distance from Rome to Mount Vesuvius was about 200 kilometers. Even with the Via Latina and Via Annia, it would take four or five days to travel by land. Although traveling by sea would undoubtedly save time, Glaber chose to travel by land because it allowed the new recruits to march and set up camps, utilizing the time for training.

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“I am Pullo, from Egypt, living by the banks of the lower Nile River. I used to own my own land, and it was very fertile! When the flood season was about to end, I would build embankments with mud and keep the remaining water in the fields. Then I would start sowing, and when the harvest season arrived, the fields would be filled with abundant wheat…

“Later, there was turmoil in Egypt. The village chief, who had long coveted my land, falsely accused me of colluding with rebels. Without any investigation, the city lord arrested my entire family and threw us into prison. Later, we were sold to Roman slave traders and locked in the overcrowded and sweltering lower holds of the ship on the way to Italy… My wife… my children… all fell ill and died…”

Standing in the center of the courtyard, wearing tattered clothes, a thin man resembling a skeleton spoke with tears streaming down his face. There were several people sitting around him, each with a solemn expression, listening attentively and empathizing with his words. Some even shed tears.

At this moment, Maximus, who was sitting on the ground in the front row, stood up and passionately exclaimed, “Pullo is just like us, oppressed by the wealthy and powerful, losing our homes, losing our families, and forced to toil for the rich under the threat of punishment. Is this fair, brothers?!”

“Unfair!!!” the people around shouted angrily.

“Yes, it is very unfair,” Maximus spoke solemnly, pausing for a moment before raising his voice again. “Luckily, he has now joined us, joined our ranks composed of countless comrades who have suffered hardships. Here, there is no oppression, no tyranny, only mutual care and support. We stand united like brothers, all for the purpose of resisting the Romans, overthrowing the wealthy, and obtaining the freedom and happiness we desire. Brothers, am I right?!”

“You’re right!!!”

“Welcome to our brotherhood, Pullo!” Maximus wore a sincere expression, giving him a tight embrace before leading him into the crowd, where everyone approached him for hugs.

Although Pullo still had tears in his eyes, his emotions were evidently stirred.

The courtyard buzzed with noise for a while before gradually quieting down.

Maximus looked towards another new addition to the logistics team not too far away, an elderly slave. His face was weathered and estimated to be over 50 years old. So far, most of the recruits in the uprising were young slaves, making an elderly one like him somewhat rare. Naturally curious, Maximus spoke: “Next, please welcome our new brother to come forward and share his story.”

The old man walked to the center of the courtyard. Compared to the previous nervousness of Pullo when he started speaking, the old man appeared calmer. “My name is Vorenus, a Samnite. I became a slave when I was very young. My master, Titus Longus, was a Roman equestrian. He treated me well, like family. Later, he even spent money to grant me freedom and sent me here to manage his farm…”

Upon hearing these words, most of the slaves’ expressions turned sour. They came from various farms in the Vesuvius region, and the hardships they endured on those farms were mostly caused by overseers.

“…I managed the farm well, and my master was pleased. He was even preparing to apply for my Roman citizenship… but Sulla… that damned Sulla!” The old man suddenly raised his voice, his face contorting in anger. “He led his army into Rome, massacring the populares. Someone falsely accused my master of colluding with Lepidus, when all he wanted was my master’s farm in Vesuvius. That tyrant didn’t bother to investigate the truth and executed my master. I was accused of frequently acting as my master’s messenger, passing information to the populares, and was stripped of my freedman status, becoming a slave again. My family… my family was sold off to different places, and I don’t know if they’re still alive or not… It’s been ten years! For these ten years, I have cursed Sulla and the Roman Senate every moment, yearning for revenge!

“When I first heard about you, I wanted to join, but the guards on the farm kept a close watch on me. Being old and feeble, I didn’t dare act recklessly. Today, when you broke into the farm where I was held, I was the first to respond to Commander Spartacus’ call. I swear to Jupiter that while I may not have the ability to fight the Romans, I am willing to do anything else that can help our cause in defeating them!”

As the old man spoke, the slaves’ opinion of him changed. When Maximus shouted, “Great!” they also applauded with enthusiasm (they learned that from Maximus), conveying their goodwill to Vorenus.

“That’s enough for the self-introductions of our new brothers of the logistics team today. Starting tomorrow, a few of you will work with the rest of the group and get familiar with our tasks. Once you’re settled in, our leader, Hamilcar, will assign you specific duties. Understood?” Maximus asked with a friendly expression.

Vorenus, Pullo, and a few others nodded.

“Reius.”

“Yes!” a thin man in his 40s responded.

“You’ll be in charge of their accommodation arrangements.”

“Understood.”

Maximus surveyed the entire courtyard. It was filled with slaves sitting around, clearly more than there were at the beginning. They must have secretly come from other teams, and he was pleased to see it. He asked loudly, “Brothers, what should we do next?”

“Tell stories!!” the slaves cheered loudly.

“No, before I tell stories, we need to learn!” Maximus said seriously. “Yesterday, we learned addition and subtraction within 10. Today, before we move on to new arithmetic, let’s review. Akgo, Cassius, bring the blackboard over.”

“Yes.” Two young slave boys immediately carried a wooden board to the center of the courtyard.

One side of the board was painted black. Maximus took a piece of chalk and said, “Let’s say there are five bags of wheat in the courtyard, and we bring in four more bags from another farm. How many bags of wheat are there in total now?” As he spoke, he wrote “5+4” on the blackboard and asked, “Who can solve this arithmetic problem?”