Chapter 10: Marching Along the Way

Chapter 10: Marching Along the Way

Lets go and get the wagon ready, Hamilcar said, then turned and walked towards the temple. Maximus followed closely behind. They arrived at the courtyard behind the temple, where two horses and a donkey were tied up, happily munching on barley brought by the gladiators from the gladiator school.

The two led the horses to the carriage and put on their bridles, connecting them to the yoke

The original Maximus had learned knowledge from his young master since he was a child, and as a slave, he had also done these tasks before, so he quickly got the hang of it. Then he put the donkey in front of the cart.

Hamilcar threw bags of flour out of the cart.

Why are you throwing away such good flour? Maximus couldnt adapt to the gladiators usual food, barley porridge. So when he saw Hamilcar throwing away the flour, he was quite puzzled.

We need to make space to carry those weapons. We can always go and steal flour from farms, but we cant just steal those weapons whenever we want, Hamilcar replied.

Maximus thought it made sense, but he also felt it was a pity. After thinking for a moment, he said, Why dont we give this flour to the priestesses of the temple? It can be considered as our compensation.

Hamilcar didnt say anything, which was taken as affirmation.

But when Maximus faced the red and swollen eyes of the priestesses in the temple, filled with hidden resentment, he felt ashamed and hurriedly finished speaking before turning and running away.

When the two of them drove the wagon and donkey cart to the front of the temple, the leather armor piled on the ground had already been distributed. It was evident that Spartacuss arithmetic skills were not very good, as the obtained weapons and armor were far from enough to equip all the gladiators. Maximus, however, was actually quite relieved about this fact.

The gladiators also disliked the fancy, heavy, and obstructive gladiator helmets, and all switched to leather helmets. At first glance, they looked just like a Capuan city guard unit.

But they disliked the heavy shields and were unwilling to carry them. Over five hundred shields were piled on the ground, forming a small mountain, which made Hamilcar furrow his brow, as the two vehicles could not fit so many things. So he immediately brought this matter to Spartacus attention.

Even though Maximus had never served in the military in his previous life, he could confidently give a negative answer. Therefore, to avoid being bothered, he turned his gaze to the sides of the road.

Campania truly lived up to its reputation as a famous plain in Italy. The wheat fields stretched endlessly. Just a month after the spring equinox, the green wheat shoots were already higher than calves. Under the gentle breeze, layers of wheat waves rose and fell, resembling a vast green ocean. Occasionally, people could be seen weeding and tending the fields within this sea.

Based on the memories of the previous Maximus, the farmers wearing short shirts in the scorching hot weather at noon were probably the owners of the farmland, while those bare-chested, dark-skinned individuals were likely slaves. However, it seemed that the owners rarely bossed them around and often worked in the fields themselves, cooperating seamlessly with the slaves. They even laughed and joked together, creating a harmonious atmosphere.

This made Maximus doubt the knowledge he had about Rome from his past life:

Shouldnt slaves and slave owners be hostile towards each other in a slave society?

Determined to find out the truth, Maximus decided to continue observing carefully.

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Along the Via Annia south of Capua, there were towns like Calatia, Suessula, and Nola. These towns used to be small cities occupied by the Samnites. They used these strongholds to attack the Greek colonial towns along the coast to the west, which attracted the attention of the Romans. The Samnites were eventually defeated and became part of the Roman alliance, but they did not fully submit and occasionally caused trouble.

When Hannibal invaded Italy, many Samnite tribes joined him. During the Roman Social War, they were one of the main forces of rebellion. And over a decade ago, when Sulla led his army to attack Rome, many Samnites actively responded to the recruitment of the populares and fought against Sullas forces outside the walls of Rome. After their defeat, they were all taken prisoner.

Sulla was extremely angry with the Samnites. He believed that as long as the Samnites existed as an independent people, there would be no peace for the Romans. Therefore, he not only massacred nearly ten thousand Samnite prisoners of war but also pursued any important Samnite figures with even the slightest connection to the populares. During his dictatorship, he also enacted a series of measures to strictly govern the Samnite towns, such as prohibiting the construction or repair of city walls without Roman officials and forbidding the establishment of city defense forces.

Ten years later, these Samnite towns in the Campania plain gradually transformed into villages, and some of them had even disappeared. The fierce spirit of the Samnites in the plain had almost been extinguished. Although they clearly recognized that the gladiators marching arrogantly on the road as a band of thieves, they simply gathered together and watched from a distance, without any intention of attacking the caravan trailing behind.

After passing through Nola, according to the memories of the previous inhabitant of his current body, Maximus went to inform Spartacus: They couldnt continue southward anymore. They had to leave the main road and turn west.