- Spartacus leads a daring assault to provide food and shelter for his people. Crassus builds a fearsome army and receives an unexpected visitor.
- Spartacus decides his army now needs a city to pass the winter, and lets escaped local slave Diotimos inspire his war council to choose and plan how to take over well-guarded Sinue (modern Sinuessa). Marcus Crassus completes preparing his legionary army. Eldest son Tiberius hopes his help will be rewarded with second rank, but fears being side-tracked in favor of seasoned young, general Caius Julius Caesar. The aristocrat last needs a rich, ambitious ally to pay his debts and finance his campaign, but loses points with Marcus by cockily playing with his slave-lover, Kore, who unlike the spouse is invited to join the army's train. Posing as a merchant, Spartacus scouts the city and is disgusted by the aedilis (magistrate) and further Roman elite's cruelty to slaves. Spartcus circumvents the strict security measures thanks to easily bribed blacksmith Attius and quickly starts a ruthless attack, which depends on his small party opening the gate from inside.—KGF Vissers
- With the insurgents' numbers growing beyond expectation, Spartacus puts a piece of crucial information to good use and devises an audacious plan to provide food and shelter for his people. And with the help of loyal brothers-in-arms, Crixus and Gannicus, the Rebel General manages to infiltrate the naturally fortified, stone-walled coastal city of Sinuessa en Valle, posing as a wealthy merchant. But in the meantime, ruthless Roman leader Crassus has amassed a formidable army to end the rebellion and enlists the help of an invaluable young ally. Now, every man, woman, and child having ties to the underground anti-slavery movement is facing certain death. Is Spartacus prepared for the winter and Crassus' unstoppable legions?—Nick Riganas
- "Spartacus: War of the Damned" - "Wolves at the Gate" - Feb. 1, 2012
Everyone is regrouping after the recent battles.
Crassus has amassed an army and, thanks to Tiberius, armor and weaponry for said army. Crassus thinks he needs just one more thing to kick Spartacus' ass: Julius Caesar.
Caesar has covered himself in glory fighting battles abroad. One small problem, he's fallen deeply in debt in the process. Crassus brings him in and proposes a deal since Caesar has god-like lineage and no cash and Crassus has no special lineage but oodles of money he says I will pay your bills if you will help me stop the slave rebellion and kill Spartacus. He believes this will bring them both greater glory down the road. Caesar, who's apparently gotten a little freaky abroad since he now he enjoys sex play that involves cutting,is up for this plan.
When he also shows that he's up to get down with Crassus main female slave babe, Crassus discovers them and dismisses her. Crassus' wife then admonishes her. She runs away crying and tells Tiberius. Tiberius then overhears Crassus telling Caesar that his son isn't quite ready for primetime yet as far as battle goes he needs a wolf like Caesar.
Later, Crassus' wife attempts to force her way out onto the road with him. He says he wants to keep her safe and be able to focus on the battle. But the truth is, we discover, that he wants his main female slave with him. It's clear that he actually truly loves her when he goes to her and asks her to come, not orders. She agrees. The next day he tells Tiberius he will ride with Caesar to discern Spartacus's movements but they won't engage. Caesar is miffed that he's been saddled with boy wonder as a sidekick but Crassus tells him to relax and that the rewards at the end of the journey will all be worth it. Crassus then addresses his troops and says it's time to open up a can of whoop-ass on Spartacus.
The man himself is busy opening a few cans of his own.
After chatting with the butcher we met recently about his former home in the south on the coast, Spartacus decides this is where they should set up shop for the winter. It's a walled city on the water so they would have both natural and man made fortification.
But first they need to get inside and take it over, no easy feat with both the branding of slaves and the inability to bring weapons beyond the wall.
Luckily, they can get some long garments and Gannicus knows a blacksmith on the inside. Spartacus, Gannicus, and Crixus pay the coastal city and Gannicus' friend a visit. They get past the wall by dropping the slave master's name and convince the blacksmith to make them weapons but dropping some serious coin on him but neglecting to tell him their plans.
While wandering about they happen upon the stoning of a slave, ordered to quell more unpleasantness among the increasingly disgruntled slaves who have heard of Spartacus. When the stoning begins the slave begins chanting Spartacus' name and says the rebellion will win. It is awful and bloody and only comes to an end when Spartacus himself throws a well-aimed stone at the guy's head.
Later Spartacus' meets the city leader's wife, who proves useful in telling him of their grain stores and Crassus' plans. She then rescues him of an interrogation by the slave master.
Gannicus and Spartacus are dismayed to find their is a curfew when the gate closes but no matter, they convince the blacksmith to aid them and go to work. The blacksmith tricks the guards in front of the gate into the arsenal and locks them in. Meanwhile, Gannicus works on lifting the gate and Spartacus holds back the horde or Roman guards still roaming free.
Gannicus gets the gates open just in time for the rebel slave army, led by Crixus and Agron to swarm in and take the city, in ways blood, violent, and horrific.They slay women and children in an orgy of carnage. The butcher dies but gets the satisfaction of seeing his slave master killed.
Spartacus runs into the wife again who is aghast that he allied with Spartacus. He all but declares "I'm Spartacus, bitch" when explaining who he is. She can't believe the piles of dead friends, family, and loyal citizens including a young girl Spartacus saw earlier in the day. A few of friends are still alive, however.
But when the leader of the city wisely gets it in his head to torch their vast reserves of grain: the heart of the city, it's commerce, and how it feeds its people. Also how Spartacus will feed his. Spartacus gets the man's wife and asks her to talk him out of torching the store in order to save the remaining living. But as she's trying to convince him, Spartacus spears him through the face.
The wife is bereft saying she could have convinced him. Spartacus tells her that he knows it's cold comfort but ones that he loved were also taken from him by the Romans so he knows the full weight of her loss. He then orders her into chains.
He then tells his assembled troops that no more Romans are to be killed and that the city is theirs.
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