Rome Must Fall

“The road ahead is narrow, and the wagons cannot pass,” Hamilcar thought for a moment and explained. “Besides, the people in the logistics team are mostly elderly, women, and children. They won’t be able to protect these wagons. It’s already their utmost effort to bring them up the mountain.”

“That’s true. Maximus was able to organize the logistics team and safely bring these provisions up the mountain despite our defeat in battle and being pursued by the Roman army. It was not an easy task. It’s indeed the right decision to let him take charge of the logistics team,” Spartacus praised Maximus, then turned to the other gladiators and said, “Vasilis, you stay here with our brothers and guard our food.”

Vasilis, a Thracian gladiator who had always trusted Spartacus, immediately obeyed the order.

While the other gladiators stayed behind, Spartacus and Hamilcar continued their ascent. After a while, they saw a group of over ten people coming down from above.

Spartacus recognized the leader as gladiator Phaselus at first glance. He had injured his leg while escaping from the gladiator school but recovered after twenty days of rest. He served as a leader of ten in Artorix’s team. When he saw Spartacus, his tired eyes suddenly lit up, and he respectfully called out, “Commander Spartacus!”

Behind him were all newly recruited slave soldiers. Their heads were hanging low, with lifeless expressions, and they didn’t even bother to look up at Spartacus.

Spartacus noticed this and asked, “Where are you all going?”

“Maximus requested someone to guard the food in the wagons below, but no one was willing. Only I——” Phaselus said somewhat helplessly, “Well, since I have a good relationship with Maximus, I couldn’t refuse.”

It seems that Maximus hasn’t considered everything… Spartacus subconsciously glanced at Hamilcar, then said, “You don’t need to go down. I’ve already asked Vasilis and others to guard it.”

Upon hearing this, Phaselus immediately became spirited and turned to the others, saying, “Brothers, we don’t need to go down. Let’s go up and rest.”

The others turned around, relieved, but couldn’t be bothered to respond.

Spartacus furrowed his brow even tighter.

At a bend in the mountain path, Phaselus shouted ahead, “Commander, the road ahead is steeper. Be careful. We were too panicked when we came up earlier and…some of our brothers fell…”

After the rebel army established their base in the small vineyard, Spartacus personally surveyed the surrounding terrain. He had also walked on this mountain and did not feel it was particularly difficult to traverse, but Phaselus’ words shocked him. He then felt a pain in his heart as he silently followed Phaselus and his group along the “steepest” section of the mountain path, arriving at the refuge for the routed rebel soldiers.

This was a plateau at the mountaintop, surrounded by rough and uneven rocks. In the center, there was a deposit of thick, dark brown soil. With ample sunlight, it was no wonder it was developed into a vineyard.

However, the wooden sheds that were blocking the mountain wind had been torn down, and the grape trellises were nowhere to be seen. There were no lush green leaves or heavy clusters of grapes, only densely packed rebel soldiers. They sat crowded on the ground, some leaning on each other and falling asleep from exhaustion, others clutching their wounds and groaning incessantly, and some with a dejected expression, silently shedding tears… Each of them was dispirited and demoralized. When Spartacus entered this place, more than half of the people remained motionless like wooden sculptures, as if the leader of the rebel army did not exist.

Only the three leaders, Crixus, Oenomaus, and Artorix, who were sitting at the edge of the plateau, stood up. And from the dense crowd, Maximus, who was in the innermost part of the plateau, squeezed his way through.

“How many of us are left?” Spartacus first asked the question he was most concerned about.

“Maximus did a rough count for me just now. There are about 1,400 people here, including 170 people from the logistics team,” even Crixus, who was usually full of fighting spirit, couldn’t help but feel dejected. “Among these people, more than 200 are injured, and it may be impossible for them to fight again in the short term…”

Spartacus felt a sense of sorrow in his heart. Before the battle started, the rebel army had over 4,000 people, but after the battle, three-quarters of them were gone. Those who were not on the mountain either died in battle, were captured, or fled elsewhere…

Spartacus shook his head, temporarily pushing aside his grief, and asked with a serious expression, “How many gladiators have been injured or killed?”

“Including Vasilis and the others who stayed halfway up the mountain, there are still 163…” Crixus, the strong-willed Gaul, also showed a sense of sadness. “Boudoville, Nigel, Vibert… they died in the battle against the Romans… I saw it with my own eyes…”

The names Crixus mentioned were all Gaulish gladiators and close friends of his.

Spartacus patted his shoulder firmly to offer comfort.

“Spartacus, the Romans are building a camp at the foot of the mountain, attempting to trap us here. What should we do now?!” Artorix interjected anxiously. They could see the situation below from the plateau.

“Let’s take advantage of the fact that the Romans haven’t finished digging their trenches yet. We should charge down together and launch a surprise attack on them. We can definitely break through their encirclement!” Oenomaus said loudly.

“We have some food, but we don’t have enough water. If we’re surrounded by the Romans for three or four days, we’ll all die of thirst. It’s better to do as Oenomaus suggests. After everyone have rested enough, we’ll go down the mountain and fight the Romans!” Crixus said through clenched teeth.

Artorix, although he didn’t speak, clearly expressed his agreement through his expression.

It seems these three have reached a consensus in advance… Spartacus hesitated for a moment. The Romans building a camp at the foot of the mountain were not without precautions, their regular troops were standing guard nearby. The previous charge of over 4,000 men had failed to break through the enemy line. Now, to lead these 1,000 plus demoralized soldiers to attack down the mountain, this was simply gambling with their lives! …However, if they didn’t do this, and let themselves be surrounded and trapped on the mountain by the Romans, would they just wait for death with their eyes wide open?

Spartacus was in a dilemma. Just as he was about to say, “Let me think again,” he suddenly heard Maximus who had rushed over: “The Romans can’t block us if we can quietly descend the mountain.”

“Quietly descend? How?” Crixus, upon hearing this, became furious. “This mountain is surrounded by cliffs on all sides except this one. There is no place to set foot. Dreaming is the only way you can quietly climb down this mountain! If it weren’t for you leading the logistics team up this mountain, causing the soldiers to follow, we wouldn’t be trapped on this mountain in the first place!”

“Crixus, if Maximus didn’t lead the panicked soldiers up the mountain, we might still be on the run right now. It would be impossible for us to be here discussing how to break through,” Hamilcar immediately defended Maximus.

“At least that way, we would still have a chance to escape. We wouldn’t be waiting here to die like we are now!” Crixus retorted.

“Enough arguing!” Spartacus shouted impatiently, then looked at Maximus with a voice filled with anticipation and tension. He asked, “What do you mean by ‘quietly descending the mountain’? Is there another way down?”

“Of course, there is!” Maximus looked at everyone confidently, and finally, his gaze fell on Crixus. He said in a deep voice, “You were right just now. Except for this side, the mountain is surrounded by cliffs. The distance to the ground is too high, making it indeed difficult to descend. But it’s not impossible! I brought several sturdy ropes. Although they’re not long enough to reach the bottom when combined, there are plenty of grapevines here. Some of the old vines are very strong. By connecting them with the ropes, we can lower ourselves from here to the ground. Moreover——”

Maximus pointed to the eastern cliff and emphasized, “I examined the terrain over there. There are two ridges that reach the ground vertically. Some of the cliffs between the ridges can be used as footholds. We can slide down on the ropes while using the cliffs for support. We should be able to reach the bottom smoothly. And that side is separated by a mountain from the camp the Romans are building. It’s unlikely they would notice our actions.”

Maximus’s words made Spartacus skeptical, but the newfound hope revitalized him. He turned his head and said loudly to the other leaders, “Let’s go, let’s all go and take a look!”