"AARRGHHH!" Thrax shouted, while kicking the table standing innocently at the corner of the tent.
Looking at the current situation, everyone in the place knew the chances for the rebels to win their cause was now almost reaching the point of zero. It would still be hard to say whether they would win the fight, even if Thrax was able to revert to his optimal condition.
Julian approached calmly and grabbed Thrax's shoulders firmly, preventing him from destroying another piece of object.
"I am sorry, Thrax. But there will be no victory in this, My advice is to quickly head up north, I could somehow find a way to slip you all away, or convince them to let you go."
Unexpectedly, instead of Thrax, it was Klea who commented first. "Let you go? With that man, Pompey, present here? No! I don't think he will let you go."
Pompey was the same Roman who had been meddling with Egypt. Klea knew the man had massive ambition and looked for a way to become consul, the head of the 600 magistrates in the senate.
And the successful feat of defeating the rebels was certainly something he wanted to put under his name, in order to smooth his way into achieving that exact goal.
The group quickly realized why Julian's mentor, Marcus Crassus, was willing to fork his own wallet and spend all those coins, and why the legion led by Pompey had returned from the front so quickly. They all saw this slave rebellion, which had terrified all the people of Rome, as a chance to advance their careers.
Thrax's head snapped to Julian and glared at him.
"Do you hear that, Julian? Do you finally see the real face of the people you are defending?!" Everyone could vividly feel the boiling anger behind those words.
Julian was silent, as he now knew that wasn't the time to argue and preach about his ideal again, especially when he also dreamt to achieve said position.
Emery, who watched all of this from the sideline, finally opened his mouth.
"So, what's your plan, Thrax? I will, I mean, We will help you.. Whatever your choice is."
Klea quickly suggested an idea. "Emery, with your spells, you could just sneak inside and kill whoever needs to be killed, right?"
Hearing this, Emery wasn't really happy with the idea. Well, he did, sort of, threaten the Cantiaci and Logress King with the same tactic. But killing people he didn't know…
He was not sure if he could do that.
On the other hand, Julian definitely disagreed with the idea. However, before Klea could spark another brilliant idea of hers, Thrax had finally made his decision.
"No. Assassinating the senate is not what we wanted to achieve when we started the rebellion. If that was my intention, I would have done it myself. No! The objective is to bring fear to the Romans... I have decided. I will lead my men to attack Rome."
His decision instantly made everyone who heard it speechless. It was truly the kind of decision a reckless person like him would make, but one that was inappropriate for the situation.
As expected, Emery and the others vehemently disagree with it, but Thrax - a strong bull-headed he was - didn't want to listen. He claimed he already earned his right from the duel and, therefore, everyone could only to his ramblings with irritation.
At noon, Thrax stood in front of his 40.000 men and spoke out about their current situation and his plan to march onward. Then, he gave them the choice of retreating or joining the glorious yet deadly battle that was to come.
In the end, only less than 10,000 decided not to join the battle, with most of them being forced not to join. Those who were chosen not to join were mostly young and weak slaves. This was because Thrax wanted to leave an amber for their future generation and not let it die in his hands.
These 10.000 slaves composed of women and children would be handed over to Emery and Klea. The two would bring them to the north, where they would escape and be safe from the clutches of Romans, if the rebels failed in their endeavor. With Emery's spells and Klea's enchantment, this should be achievable.
Julian, on the other hand, would return to his legion and hold them back as long as possible, increasing Thrax's chance to be successful in his pursuit.
…
Before the group went their own separate way, Emery took the time to convince him once more.
"Thrax, Do you have to go this far? There is almost no hope of winning. Even if you somehow manage to defeat the Romans and take over the city, by the time the other legions return, you will lose it again. Why don't you focus on their lives?"
Thrax didn't immediately answer Emery's question. He looked at the seemingly endless landscape and said, "Emery…. Even if we all die in the end, we still have to do it. Someone must show the world that what the Romans did was wrong and everyone has the power to stand up for their freedom!"
Emery didn't know what else he had to say and thus, their walk ended. Before leaving, Thrax gave one sentence that bothered him.
"Emery, no matter what, I have chosen my own fate. So, don't you dare come and save me, while my people are dying in battle."
…
The battle went just like the plan, with 30.000 rebels charging at Rome with everything they got. Spartacus was seen at the front of the human sea, going fiercely into the defending Roman legions and tearing them apart like a hot knife slicing through butter.
The legion that defended Rome was blitz-styled drafted legionnaire's recruits, as the Romans' main forces were away fighting wars at their border. Therefore, the rebels were able to defeat them in mere hours.
However, sieging the city was different from fighting in an open field. The rebels were having quite a bit of a hard time defeating the Romans because of the city walls, and it resulted in a lot of time spent.
Then, just when the city was about to fall, Pompey's 6 legions had arrived and their appearance spelled the doom of the rebels.
Faced with attacks from their front and back, the rebels were slowly, but surely forced into a corner. One by one, those who were headstrong were killed and cut down, while the majority was captured. Their fate certainly to become slaves again.
In the end, the only left standing were the gladiators who surrounded Spartacus, making their last stand.
"I am Spartacus!!" shouted Thrax loudly. "Come and take my head if you can!!"
Thrax and his band of gladiators stood tall against veteran Roman legionnaires led by Pompey. The Romans came at them like waves, but they managed to knock everyone down, leaving a patch of land full of corpses in front of them.
Unfortunately, in the end, gladiators were still humans. The exhaustion from the previous battle, as well as the current slaughter, had finally caught up to them. They fell one by one under the Roman blade.
Even though there was no one by his side anymore, Spartacus continued to brandish his weapon and kill the Roman legionnaire like an unrelenting machine. However, even he, who was standing like the war god himself, fell in the end.
---
The legend of Spartacus, a slave who managed to make the world's mightiest empire tremble had become synonymous with the fight for freedom. His legacy echoed from Rome to the world, as the torch of his belief passed on throughout generations.
Many witnessed the death of Spartacus in battle, but his body was never found.