Vibias's father thought this was a good opportunity to accumulate political prestige, so he spent a lot of money to campaign for his son. Last year, he finally convinced Lucius Licinius Lucullus, the governor known as "Sulla's Army Inheritor." Lucullus signed an administrative order, making Vibias, who had just turned 30 and had only served for a few years as a legal officer's assistant, the chief administrator of the large city of Capua.
Unlike his father, who was content with being a regular official his entire life, Vibias always kept his eyes on the Roman Senate, even harboring ambitions of becoming a governor to honor his family. Thus, less than a year into his tenure, he seized the opportunity of Capua's city founding day to organize a massive gladiator contest to entertain the Capua citizens and build his own reputation. But who would have thought that just before the celebration, a major mishap occurred—a group of gladiators actually started a rebellion!
In Rome, the Senate would appoint an elder to oversee all gladiator schools, as these activities involved training large numbers of individuals in lethal weaponry, which must be controlled. However, as the system of appointing Roman officials as local town administrators had been implemented for less than ten years, the management system was not yet fully streamlined, leading to unclear responsibilities in this area and resulting in inadequate control over the gladiators in Capua...
In any case, the responsibility would ultimately fall on Vibias. An angry Vibias severely whipped Batiatus, who came to report the news, and decided to swiftly deploy troops to wipe out these audacious lowly slaves to minimize the impact, allowing the city founding day's celebration to proceed smoothly.
However, now the problem was that although Capua had a garrison force, apart from a few dozen city guards, there was no ready army. He could only conduct an emergency military mobilization. By the time the personnel were assembled and the team was organized, it was already late at night. No matter how Vibias urged, the Capua soldiers refused to leave the city at night, forcing Vibias to postpone the deployment until the next day.
The next day, Vibias hurriedly led the troops out of the city, soon receiving an intelligence report that the gladiators were still inside the Flora Temple.
He finally felt somewhat at ease and ordered the troops to slow down their march.
In truth, he was not satisfied with this army composed of Capua people, as they were all panting and their formations were chaotic after only marching for a short distance.
He once served in the military and had some combat experience. Back then, it was when Sulla led his army to land in Italy, and the Civilian Faction hastily assembled an army. Not yet twenty years old, he was forcibly conscripted, and he followed the army for the decisive battle with Sulla outside Rome, resulting in a swift defeat. Vibias fled back home in panic. Due to his family's insignificance in the Roman political arena, he escaped Sulla's purging.
Ah, the memories are unbearable to recall... Vibias sighed in his heart, refocusing his attention on the army he led: although the quality of the soldiers wasn't impressive, at least they were well-equipped and numerous. According to that damned Batiatus, most of those gladiators were unarmed, and should not withstand his full assault... What needed consideration now was how to report this matter to the Roman Senate upon victory, to avoid their reprimand...
The army began deviating from Ania Avenue, entering the oak forest beside the road.
Seeing this, Vibias summoned a staff member and asked, "How far is it to the Flora Temple?"
"After crossing this oak forest, it's about one mile," the staff member replied.
Vibias cautiously said, "Send all the cavalry out to scout. We must confirm that the gladiators are still in the temple and also observe if there's an ambush!" Although his combat experience was limited, he had this bit of common sense.
The few cavalrymen available quickly rode off.
When they galloped back with satisfactory reports for Vibias, the army had exited the oak forest. In the distance, a quaint temple sat amidst an apple orchard. It was early April, and the apple trees were adorned with white or pink blossoms, reflecting the warm sunlight, extraordinarily beautiful.
Evidently, Vibias had no mind for the scenery; his focus was on the temple's entrance: seven or eight strong men in shirts were sitting on the steps, sunbathing and chatting. Upon noticing the army's arrival, they hurriedly stood and entered the temple.
"Form up, prepare to attack!" Vibias excitedly shouted, and the bugle immediately sounded.
Five hundred Capua citizen soldiers, wearing leather helmets, leather armor, holding square shields and long spears, with short swords at their waists, began to jostle as they transformed from a marching column into a tight phalanx while advancing toward the temple, moving very slowly.
During this process, the doors of the Flora Temple swung open, and the gladiators rushed out rapidly...
Vibias's eyes widened instantly: some of these gladiators were wearing equipment similar to the Capua soldiers, while others were clad in flamboyant gladiator attire... well over a hundred people had weapons lethal enough to kill!
Damn Batiatus dared to lie to me!… Vibias was furious, but he did not panic excessively because, from his vantage point on horseback, he could see clearly: the gladiators' formations were chaotic, and behind them, scores were not wearing any armor and wielding only clubs and kitchen knives, a complete motley crew! His troops were double the enemy's numbers and well-equipped, perfectly capable of crushing them!
"Continue advancing steadily!" Vibias ordered coldly, and the bugler beside him blew the bugle rhythmically.
However, the Capua soldiers in the front rows were not as eager as before and became somewhat hesitant.
Originally, Spartacus, Cross, Enomai, and several other renowned gladiators from the Capua Arena donned their usual gladiator gear and stood firmly in the front center of the formation. Many Capua soldiers had seen their matches before and, upon seeing their imposing figures now, recalled the terrifying scenes of them slaughtering enemies in the arena, instantly feeling uneasy, their legs shaking.
This was exactly the effect Spartacus wanted. He immediately shouted, "Brothers, charge!" and strode towards the enemy on the opposite side.
Cross, Enomai, and the other gladiators all roared and charged together; though they were few and disorganized, their momentum was fierce.
"Shield formation!" Vibias's face changed slightly.
In fact, launching a round of javelin throws at this time could have disrupted the gladiators' charge, but since Marius implemented military reforms and started the recruiting system decades ago, citizens of Italian towns no longer trained in Roman tactics like their ancestors did, ready to respond to the Romans' call and fight side by side with them at any time. As a result, Capua citizen soldiers do not possess the relatively advanced military skill of javelin throwing.
However, Vibias felt slightly relieved to see the soldiers raise their shields in time.
But at this moment, the gladiators led by Spartacus, like fierce tigers, had already charged to the Capua citizen soldiers' formation. Before they could thrust their spears, the gladiators slammed their shields into the shield formation.
The Gladiator School provided abundant food after intense training to improve the gladiators' win rates, so they were all sturdy and bigger than the Capua citizen soldiers. The poorly trained Capua citizen soldiers could not match their strength, and despite their teammates' supporting from behind, they were still knocked around. Taking advantage of gaps appearing in the shield formation, the gladiators swiftly and accurately stabbed their short swords into their opponents' bodies, and amidst the screams, many Capua citizen soldiers in the front rows of the formation fell.
The gladiators' terrifying lethality shattered Vibias's pre-planned combat strategy. Positioned in the rear formation, he instinctively shouted continuously, "Hold steady! Hold steady!..."
However, he was panicking, and the Capua citizen soldiers were even more terrified. Facing these killing monsters was already making them uneasy, and now hearing their companions' screams, these well-off Capua people no longer had the courage to fight. They threw down their shields and long spears and turned to flee.
Seeing defeat was inevitable, Vibias hurriedly turned his horse and rushed to escape back to Capua.