Seeing the intimate conversation between Zhang Heng and Lucilla, the other gladiators were envious of him.
After all, she was the most respectable and powerful woman in the entire Roman Empire. Although she hat hit her early thirties, Lucilla’s face and figure were well maintained. Although some gladiators were somewhat hesitant to sell their bodies, no one would be able to resist it if the woman was Lucilla.
However, Zhang Heng was careful while dealing with the beauty in front of him. And the reason was simple. According to history, Lucilla would be involved in the assassination of her brother, Commodus, in a little over a year’s time.
The later generations were puzzled by the assassination. Lucilla was the former emperor’s daughter, the current emperor’s sister, and the only blood relative of Commodus. She had everything that she could ever ask for. The assassination that she led did not bring many benefits to her.
And in terms of planning, there were many flaws. For example, she did not include her husband in her plan. One should know that the latter was a powerful figure in the military, and if he were included in her plan, she would have a way out of whether the plan succeeded or failed. Her husband Pompeo Nuss, however, was kept in the dark from beginning to end. Lucilla chose her cousin Omidius Kuvatratos to work with her.
The latter was a senator, his position in the senate second only to Dior. He also had influences on more than one hundred seats. Technically speaking, he was indeed very influential in the political field. However, the assassination plan that came up by him and Lucilla was not that great.
The two hired Quintianus, Pompo Nuss’ nephew, as the killer. This was also the biggest mistake of the whole plan. This man was an absolute idiot. Before executing the plan, he spoke to Commodus and shouted, “The senate wants you dead…”
As a result, he alarmed the nearby guards, and they caught him red-handed. And he did not manage to survive the cruel interrogation. During the interrogation, he told Commodus that Omidius and Lucilla were the masterminds of this assassination. After that, one of them was executed, and the other, exiled to Capri Island and executed not long after that. This was also the real reason why Zhang Heng did not want to be close to Lucilla.
Not only was this woman a lunatic, but she was also brainless. Getting too close to her would most likely result in him getting dragged into her problem. That being said, after Zhang Heng talked to her for a while, he figured that Lucilla might not be as stupid as how history described her. On the contrary, this woman was actually very smart and somewhat unpredictable. These characteristics suited her identity more.
She was, after all, the daughter of the former emperor, married to the emperor, and a powerful figure in the military in two separate marriages. All this while, she had been staying at the top of power. How could such a woman be stupid?
Zhang Heng could not figure out why she planned that stupid assassination more than a year later. That was why Zhang Heng did not want to have anything to do with this woman.
The dinner lasted until late at night. In addition to the gladiator display, there was singing, dancing, and bard recitations. The thing that happened after that had nothing to do with the gladiators. Considering that the gladiatorial battle would begin tomorrow, all the gladiators returned to where they stayed after visiting the place. They needed to recharge and prepare for tomorrow’s battle.
…
Early the following day, before dawn, Zhang Heng, Bach, and others were awake, and they took a donkey cart to the Amphitheatrum Flavium, where the gladiatorial battle was performed. In the future, the people could only admire the remains of the Amphitheatrum Flavium. Half of the outer ring structure had been destroyed, and only some arch ribs made of bricks and weeds all over the ground inside remained. The tourists that visited this place would imagine the past glory that happened in this building. Right now, Zhang Heng was standing under it, looking up at the complete Amphitheatrum Flavium.
Spectacular! This was everyone’s first impression when they saw this building.
The early morning sun shone on the gold-plated bronze Nero statue. Reflecting the light, it looked like it was shining bright. The bronze statue was located in the center of the square, where it was filled with colorful flags. And behind it was the Amphitheatrum Flavium that looked like a great mountain.
The Flaviam Amphitheater consisted of four floors, with a height of forty to fifty meters. The bottom three floors had huge arcades. Statues of different looks were in the arcades, and each statue was bigger than the statues in Dior’s front hall. Besides, countless shields and ribbons were hung at the arches as if welcoming the heroes that had claimed victory from the war.
Of course, the most attractive thing was the top of the Amphitheatrum Flavium. A bunch of poles was inserted there, at least hundreds of them. These poles were tied with long cables and propped up the giant circle at least one hundred meters above the ground. Tarps made of thin linen cloth were placed on top of this giant circle, creating a huge cover to shade the spectators from the sun.
Considering its size, the roof alone weighed at least twenty to thirty tons. In order to control the height of the roof, the empire had to mobilize a thousand well-trained sailors to do it.
The stones used to build the arena had been transported from the Albraille quarry in the outskirts of Rome. Each piece had an astonishing weight. During that time, the Romans adopted some really extreme methods to build the arches. Unlike the pyramids, the Amphitheatrum Flavium was hollow, and its skeleton was like a bridge, supporting each other. More than two thousand years had passed, and it still magically stood strong.
Interestingly, the Bernabéu Stadium could only accommodate eighty-thousand people, and the Amphitheatrum Flavium that was built two thousand years ago could accommodate ninety-thousand people.
“No wonder they called it the gladiator’s temple,” Bach murmured. “You have to admit that these Romans are quite good at construction,” the Germanic complimented his enemies reluctantly.
It was still early in the morning, and no spectators had entered the arena yet. One could imagine how grand the scene was when this arena was completely filled with people. While fighting under the watchful eyes of ninety-thousand people, the not-so-brave gladiators would feel their calves and stomachs trembling. As long as one claimed the victory, the winner could enjoy the waves of cheering from tens of thousands of excited audience.
Such a sight made the gladiators feel extremely excited just by thinking about it.
In fact, this did not just apply to the two newcomers like Zhang Heng and Bach. Even the veteran gladiators like Habitus were in awe when he saw the Amphitheatrum Flavium. A series of desires flashed through his eyes. Except for Zhang Heng, no gladiator could resist the temptation of fame and fortune.
It had been more than a year since Sethnets retired, and although the gladiator school had pushed out many powerful newcomers during this time, it was still impossible to create a second Sethnets. Not even Sartonilos could recreate Sethnets’s legendary achievements. And now, every gladiator was presented the fair opportunity of becoming the best gladiator in Rome.
