Original subtitles

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Thank you.

This is not exactly the wedding night I've hoped for, husband.

Now that our tribes are joined by marriage, you will have a hundred

wedding nights ahead.

I know I'm safe when I'm with you.

But you're not safe.

I can't spend nowadays peering behind every tree to see if death's face peers

back.

The death faces could soon be Roman.

These new allies of yours, they're nothing but a pack of dogs waiting to

bite you, not help us.

The vermin should be killed, some of the better ones sold as slaves, and the main

snake beheaded, not assisted by our troops.

You never cease to amaze me, dear wife.

The Suavi are merely pieces on the board of the game we play.

And does Rome even play this game?

When was the last time a tax assessor passed this way?

They have more important things to attend to than my small garrison.

The Emperor Nepos would have every Roman do his duty, first and foremost.

And Nepos?

Nepos is no emperor.

He's nothing but a puppet on a paper throne.

Yes, he is the emperor.

Ah, but for how long and by whose bidding, husband?

Nepos is nothing but a boil on the backside of Rome.

You best hold your tongue.

Don't you understand, my husband?

My warrior.

My favorite. No one is listening.

Treason is as treason does.

And if treason succeeds, what then?

What do you mean? My son, Cassius Rissima.

His father had more right to the throne of Rome than Nepos.

Where Simmer is dead, or had you forgotten?

Yes, he's dead, but his son lives.

A son with the blood of emperors in his veins, and until he reaches his

majority, we are his regents.

Wonderful treason, Rubina.

All of you leave us.

Maximus.

We have the makings of an army here.

And with the silver from Argos' mines, we have the means to pay for an even

larger one.

I wonder what dear Argos would say to financing your treason, Urbina.

Leave Argos to me, Asmund.

I usually do.

Then think on it.

That's all I ask.

Think of an empire larger than

you could ever imagine.

To dream on such things is one thing.

To act is another.

Once the knife is drawn, it does not go back to the sheath.

We need not act now.

No need to plan for a glorious future.

A brief future with the executioner's block at the end of it. If you don't

curb your tongue.

Just remember what I said, Maximus.

Just remember.

Oh, don't worry, wife.

I remember everything.

Mother!

Mother, I want him flogged.

No, even better.

I want this little fucking cheater executed.

He beat me in Lan Triculi again.

And I know the game.

So he must have cheated.

You cannot do that, Cassius.

Slaves are expensive and they're difficult to come by. You cannot have

him killed for such an infraction.

Did you cheat?

No, I didn't, Demina.

I won't fare.

Give the boy ten lashes.

Not for cheating, but for upsetting my son.

When I'm the Emperor, I will not eat the shit food in this shit place.

I will go to Ravenna and I will leave this stink hole to the

animals who live here.

You should not allow your mouth to let out so foul ale unless you have some

reason.

A reason?

I am the Cassius Rissoma.

And I will fucking do what I want.

And who are you to order me about?

You are not my father. Drop it, my darling.

Maximus is almost your father, and like your father, he has General's blood in

him. General's blood?

My father did not lose Africa.

He did.

My father.

saved the Empire.

Twice.

You should teach your son better manners and proper speech if you want him to be

seen in public. I have asked you countless times for a grammarian, but to

no avail.

A grammarian?

Surely you jest, woman.

I barely have enough funds to keep my soldiers' swords sharpened, and you want

me to hire a fucking grammarian?

A grammarian.

to fondle your son's tiny prick and coo in his ear like a turtle dove, teaching

him to round his O's and spread his buttocks in the proper Roman way.

Mama says I need a grammarian so I can become

a good orator, as befits an emperor.

An emperor?

You?

An emperor of flowers?

An emperor of tittering boys, an emperor of perfumes and powders.

I see no emperor here or been a prima, no matter whose blood flows in his

veins. I see only a collection of orifices fit for a calamite's pleasure.

Take your simpering flower from my sight before I decide to lop off his

golden petal.

There is a Clearly some madness in your bloodline.

You're a fool for not seizing this opportunity.

Learn your place, widow, and do not speak out of turn.

Now take your poisoned tongue and your orphan from my sight.

to the people and senate of rome i give you the emperor of

daisies may his reign be long and bountiful

an empire of madmen and fools

You'll do.

You'll warm up my bed.

I do not think my wife is coming back tonight.

This way, Dora.

It is cold, husband.

I thought you were never coming to warm me.

You're not warm enough next to the fire.

There are different kinds of cold.

Some only a man can tend to.

What, any man?

A special man.

They say you're going to the Roman garrison again tomorrow.

Yes.

But why?

With my people and yours, we can field an army of warriors against the Amals.

We have no need of the Romans.

No, the pact was made some time ago.

But we defeated them yesterday.

I must keep to my word.

And we defeated a raiding party, not an army.

King Valimar has 10,000 men, and more together with his allies.

No. I must accept the Roman commission for me and for my men.

And for the grant of land on their side of the great river.

Land for all our people.

So we can finally have peace.

We'll raise a family.

But it's so unfair.

What, raising a family?

Too soon for that, my love.

What then?

You silly man.

Life is many things, but fair just isn't one of them.

I will show you life like you have never seen before, my husband.

Let me in, you idiot.

I would have a word with your master.

Dominus is occupied.

You must wait.

I must do nothing, you tell me, and I will have you flogged. Step aside.

Lady of the night.

Won't you join us?

Not now, Rita.

I have urgent business here.

Nothing can be so urgent.

You cannot enjoy a little distraction first.

Not now, my love.

Not now.

Send her in then.

Show her some fun.

You know better than to ask, Argos.

She's seen and touched many cops, but she's never had one in her.

He must die, or he will ruin everything.

He even called my son a simpering turd.

And will you be commanded by a man who should already be dead?

or at the very least a slave in your minds.

Your minds will be empty to finance an unwinnable series of battles that will

see us all under the Amal-Yogor dead.

Killing a Swaby warlord was one thing.

Murdering the ducks of a Roman legion is another.

Gauls and gnaws, freshly delivered.

The only thing they understand is the whip and the man's prick.

Not a word we speak.

Huh?

She's been with me a long time.

She would give her life for me if asked.

Isn't that so, Vita?

Yes, Domina. I will do as you command.

You don't have to kill anyone.

Not yet, anyway.

The Emperor will have him executed for cowardice and treason.

Nepos will not agree.

Maximus was appointed by him.

Nepos? That's all I ever hear.

Nepos is as good as dead.

My friend Orestes will take care of that for us. The Hun ambassador?

The Roman ambassador to the Huns. And the wealthiest landowner in this part of

the Empire.

He learnt a lot from the Huns. Learning from the Huns is not always the best

idea.

The head of their last king still stands on a spike outside the gates of

Constantinople. Attila's son did not get the support my son will have.

From us and from Orestes.

With his mercenaries, we cannot fail.

All plans can fail, Erbina.

And Maximus can fight back.

But he won't. The first act of my son's reign will have him executed.

The stars are aligning for you and I, Argos, and this opportunity will never

cross the skies again.

With the Amals breathing down our necks, there's no time to wait for the Hun

Orestes to do his job.

Maximus rightly fears the Amals.

Their ambassador arrives soon with demands beyond reason.

Even better for us.

He will report that Maximus is weak because the Swayve and his barbarians

will betray him.

But they did not.

But they will.

This is where I work my magic.

The Emperor has banned sacrifice.

After all, he is a Christian.

Even the God of Thorns won't protect the one...

To hell with Maximus.

May he die a horrible death.

But tell me, my witch, what magic have you planned?

If you cannot kill the Swayvee, find his wife and bring her here.

What if one should see us?

Live to tell a tale.

Good. We need someone to live.

Blame the animals.

And the Swayvi princess?

She's mine.

She is the key to the Swayvi committing betrayal.

And the death of the Ducks.

Death to Maximus! Long live the new garrison leader.

Argos.

Varys.

Sitorius.

It does have a nice ring to it.

So tell me, wife of Maximus, mother of Cassius,

and lover of Argos, the man who will be dux and

regent to the emperor of Rome, just when do we go about getting rid of that

husband of yours once and for all?

You and your men.

Move out in the morning.

You leave the rest to me.

We rest, go in after dark.

I want her alive.

Come.

We salute you again, Maximus Urbanus, the esteemed dox of this frontier legion

and the protector of the Empire.

We offer greetings to the Emperor and to all his citizens, and I bring gratitude

from my people.

Our greetings to you, Tyrannus Maldras, Lord of the Swaby and Rugi nations, now

all friends of Rome.

I am glad we have made our agreement, you and I.

We face a common enemy,

Valimar and his verminous horde of Amalgoths.

Vermin, perhaps.

But vermin with sharp teeth, General.

Yes, indeed.

Indeed so.

which is why our accommodation will be so beneficial.

I will use my legion, with all their strength and skill, to defend your

people.

I offer you the protection of Rome.

I and my people will be forever grateful to you and to your Emperor.

But I come to bring more than mere gratitude, General.

I come to accept your commission in your legion as a centurion.

If it is still offered.

Yes.

Indeed it is. With gratitude.

The draft of all your fighting men into my auxiliary troops still stands.

You will teach my men the ways of the Amalgoths in war.

You have fought them in battle and won more than we have.

If war comes with Falamar, the Rugi and Suavi will stand with

us like brothers.

Do you accept your duties and all that comes with them?

For me and all my men, I accept.

Swear to it.

We swear.

And so it shall be.

Now the rugy and swavy nations, united in princely marriage, are considered

friends of Rome.

Not without unification of the prince and his people under a most Christian

God.

Kneel, you pagans, and accept him.

We have more important things to attend to.

You don't have to believe him.

Or in him.

I value your skill in war, not in mumbling prayers.

Oof!

You're charming.

Save all my being for my wife.

I thought all warlords took slaves for pleasure.

I'm not a warlord, General.

And we do not keep slaves.

What a strong-looking warlord he is.

If I were you, I'd purchase him.

He's worth every aureus.

Oh, I doubt Tyrannus is for sale, dear wife.

After all, he's now a Roman, same as you or I.

How sad.

You must forgive my wife,

Tyrannus. She sometimes forgets to have her wine watered.

And so, my dear husband.

If you cannot sell him, or any of the others, where is the benefit to Rome,

other than a few extra soldiers?

I swear my allegiance to Rome.

To stem the tide of the barbarian amels who threaten to burst the levees of

civilization with blood.

I've heard that most of that blood was your people's.

And yet here you are, at our gates, licking your wounds and asking for help.

We offer wrong protection through joined force.

If a man puts a dog outside his gate to protect from other dogs, they are not

joined forces.

My wife is out of her depth in political conversations.

She operates in a world of fantasy.

and bedtime stories with her spoiled child, transported back in time 500

years.

Our alliance remains.

As strong as it leads to be.

As strong as his bond to the Rugi Hall.

Don't pass.

Our village was destroyed.

The Amals, they've burned everything and killed many.

And what of Giza?

She lives.

She was taken.

You must give me half a cohort and I will go after them.

Not addressing your ducks properly and telling him what he must do does not sit

well with me, soldier. Apologies, General, but I have agreed to all your

terms and now I need to rescue my wife from the Amals. We must strike now. We

are not prepared to attack them right now. Well, just give me a hundred men

and I will make do.

I do not make rash decisions based on emotion.

And I certainly don't have them dictated to me.

So then I see your wife spoke truth.

This is not an alliance.

It's no more than a game to you.

I do not throw up the board when my position in the game is unfavorable like

a child.

I plan my next move. But it is my people who've been taken and killed, not yours.

Your people are not out of position, Tyrannus. It is you.

Your wife is off the board, so you want to drag my men off for your personal

agenda. Do not touch your commander.

You are a Roman soldier, no longer a barbarian warlord.

Disperse us on mutiny. Mutiny is treason.

Death its reward.

By the gods.

Harass this man. Take his life before he takes yours.

I will only take the lives of those who have taken my wife and killed my people.

I care about every one of them, my lady. Their lives are as equal as any Roman's.

And if you cannot see that, then you are no ally of ours.

I will go after them without your help.

Stop them!

No!

Stupid fool!

Mark my words, that man will be the death of you.

Your tongue spews poison and insults again.

The Swayvee will die, but after he has been properly sentenced as an example.

I still need his men. You need Argos to fight for you. Not a pack of dogs

without their leader.

And you need my son as emperor to fight off the Amuls.

One treason is enough for today. Speak of it no more.

I will decide. I am the Duxier, and I rule by my merit.

Precisely. You are the one that brought us to this shithole.

You seem to forget your part in it, Robina. Prima, widow of Rissoma. I do

not.

Win a battle against few vandal hordes. That's all you had to do and yet you

failed The

money my family had to

pay to save you from the executioners block and to get you this hellhole of a

command and now your main dog He cuts his chains and

tomorrow you bend over and you spread your arse for Valimar's ambassador.

You disgust me.

I'm ashamed to be your wife.

I will deal with Valimar without your help.

And then I'll send you to a convent and your son to the holy Kazimites to widen

his pocket arse.

Do not despair, my love.

I'm closer than you think.

Greetings again, Ambassador.

I trust your journey was not too arduous.

We Amals are not so soft as to complain about a little

discomfort.

Yes, I have heard you are a hardy folk.

The lands to the east suit your hardy nature.

My King Valimar sends me to see to the fulfillment of conditions for our

neighbors.

My King knows very well the discretion of the wise Dux Maximus.

Does he?

Indeed. When faced with an overwhelming number of vandals in Africa, did he die

a glorious death?

No. He retreated to fight another day.

Unfortunately, Rome's emperor did not see my strategy as wise.

He sent me here as punishment.

King Valimar also knows that you are not as foolish as your predecessor,

the Dux Quintus Aurelius.

He was clubbed to death ignominiously.

after he took up arms against my king and lost.

A brave fool, but a fool nonetheless.

He also knows that you will be wise enough to see the benefits of joining my

king and ridding the land of the verminous Suevi.

I agree they are like cumbersome lice in a barbarian's beard.

my king also knows you will give him a free hand in noricum and beyond

to pannonia at last valimar's asswiper

shows his teeth

What kind of an upside-down world is this that a savage like you can walk in

here looking and smelling like he's wiped himself in his own feces and tell

a Roman ducks how to govern?

And just what does your king offer me in return for Rome's generosity of getting

down on all fours and letting the Amos fuck me?

Your life, for one.

And if you are very lucky, the life of your wife and your stepson.

You are in no position to dictate anything.

Does your shit-eating, whore-fucking excuse for a king

think that a little spouting gimp like you can frighten

the ducks of Rome?

Some frighten more easily than others.

A gift from my King Valimar.

He knows how you Romans like to bury your dead with honors.

Allow me to present to you this garrison's previous ducks,

the late lamented Aurelius Quintus.

His current state of grooming and hygiene seems to be in fashion of your

race.

Armor magic!

A dead man crying.

You're... You bastard, whore, shit-eating king must be a real

sorcerer.

Look closely, you whimpering turd.

Even in death, Aurelius spits on dogs like you.

Look closely.

The duck sweeps for you, calling you.

Calling you to the grave.

Ghosts of Rome return to sweep the dust.

and got shit from our roads back to the swamp from which they come you

hammer turd did you really think that you could threaten me with a dead man's

head did your pig fucker king really think he could

exhibit me maximus antonius

Take the body and dump it outside the city gates.

Go and tell Vita to find my wife.

After my attempted diplomacy, I think I'll need her help soon enough.

What a useless coward.

I asked him to kill one man and he speaks of Roman justice.

He is a danger to our plan, Argos.

He will not win. I promise you. We'll make him bleed in the sand. We will.

He'd better work, my love.

Otherwise it could be our blood spilling in the sand.

Sometimes I think you're mad, Urbina.

As mad as Medusa and her snakes.

And you're a lot more clever.

Mad for you, my love.

But clever only for myself.

You seem hesitant.

Did the barbarian steal your valor when you couldn't kill him?

Perhaps a barbarian can give it back to you.

Bring me the Swaby's whore.

I wonder why you kept it from the others. I didn't know you wanted to

taste female flesh.

Far from it.

Come, Argos.

Take back your valor.

Get back.

On your hands and knees like the dog you are.

Take her, Argos!

That is, if you can.

I fuck her well enough for you.

Was I man enough?

Good enough for any woman.

And the next time, my little barbarian creature, it will be with your husband

watching as he dies.

May I have a word, Domina? It is urgent.

This is not the time, Vita.

Please, Domina. He killed him.

Who killed who?

Speak!

Dominus killed him, and now he's looking for you.

He killed my son, and now he'll kill me. Argos, do something.

No, Domina. The Ambassador.

Dominus killed the Ambassador.

He beat him to death, and now he wants to make peace with you.

Get her ready for travel.

She's a long way to go.

Where are you sending her?

To the same place I'm sending you.

To Valimar. To make peace with him.

I have no standing in the garrison.

But you have standing with me.

And with the new emperor.

And none with Valimar. He'd kill me with that club of his.

Tell him the new emperor will be his friend and ally.

Tell him the Swaby killed his ambassador on the orders of the ducks.

That's... A fox amongst the hens. And how do I placate Valamir and that club

of his?

Tell him anything. Give him anything.

And yet still, the Amals or even the Suavis or Ruggis might spoil our plans.

Those savages will not block my path to Ravenna or to Rome.

Every road will open their legs for us and we will plough through.

What will I be in this empire of yours?

A general.

A senator?

Father to my son?

In my empire, Argos, the world is yours.

You can be anything.

Anything.

Anything.

But first...

I must go kiss the hide of my husband Come

I have missed you, wife, and your good counsel.

Not just a widow or a wife to be divorced, perhaps?

Of course not.

As the bishop said when we married, together until death.

And we may soon meet in death.

Once Valimar discovers his ambassador died at your hand and the Swaby turned

tail on us.

I let my anger...

Get the better of me at the Swayve's betrayal.

I've warned you many times about these wild dogs.

Are you here to gloat about the Swayve?

I am ready for the hordes to judge me for my miscalculation of his character.

You need not put your head on the block just yet, husband.

The Amors will descend on the city soon with nothing to stop them.

The stepson and the wife you so frequently mock have built a wall to

stop them, and soon new legions will be added to that wall.

Is this a bedtime story before I'm sent to an eternal sleep?

Argos is on his way to Orestes with more silver, now that Cassius

is to be emperor.

It would seem that politics may be a child's game after all. Emperor.

So it is to be done.

We will rule through him as regents.

I have underestimated your wiles.

Wife.

No more fighting then.

You'd scream.

Fighting amongst the leading family of Rome is what would weaken this empire

to its knees.

I do not think that our family needs to fall into that trap again.

It is agreed Cassius will be emperor.

Go find my son.

Teach him something of governing for all our great event

I really can have a gladiator games.

As your mother and I have agreed, your every wish will now be fulfilled.

Even if you cannot ever be like my father, you still can be a good friend.

I'm sure that you convinced my mother.

She's rather sheepish about killing slaves, isn't she?

They're clever for your age, even without a grammarian.

Grammarian? I really do not want some old monk smelling of goat cheese

teaching me quotes from dead Romans.

I'd rather see a bit of bloodshed now and then.

And so you shall.

I, Maximus Antonius Albinus, ducks of the glorious Victrix 12th Legion

of the Imperial Army of the West, have, by the power granted me by the

Emperor to defend and root out all evil, sentenced all of you

to die for treason, daring to invade, harass,

and even kill citizens of Rome.

But our God is merciful.

To my dearest son, having heard his holy

call, I've decided to spare some of you what would surely be a

most deserved death.

The one who will not be spared

is the swevy Lord Tyrannus Maldras.

Not only has he betrayed Rome, he dared

try to attack me and assassinate me while a guest in my

house.

For this cowardly act of treason, he has been confined to

the Black Cell.

And on the next occasion of our celebration, he will be publicly

disemboweled and then beheaded as a warning to all of you.

Some of you would think that all of you should die.

as enemies of Rome.

But not me.

I think it's better to die in fair combat than

on the executioner's ox.

Who agrees with me?

If you do not praise me, if you do not respond to my next request,

then I cannot save you.

So, who wants to be free again?

You will fight for your freedom.

Suevi against Amos.

Those who will stand at the end will repeat their performance a few weeks.

Hence, against real gladiators, who wins

will go free.

The ones who will lie dead in the sand.

I wish a great journey into the afterlife.

Begin.

Wise words and even wiser decision to entertain us now and the citizens of

Rome on the day you were elevated to the throne.

Help!

Help!

Those who live, salute me as your savior.

We salute you!

Give them some food and let them rest.

Argos should have seen the way some of them fought.

I will make sure he is there on the day you take the purple.

Today he could not be here as he is on an important embassy for your mother and

me.

Argus Sertorius, a messenger from the Roman garrison,

pleads with the leader and king of all the Amels. May the sun shine on his

majesty and his lands.

He, a servant of the Dux Maximus, begs an audience.

Up, Roman.

I can't talk to you with your arse in the air.

So, you murdered my ambassador.

Are you here to offer your head in exchange?

You're our ambassador, Lord Theobald.

was murdered by his new ally, a suavey named Taranus Meldrus.

The suavey.

Like pricks on my side.

One of these days I'll get around to slaughtering a lot of them.

Until then, I'll have to settle for the few that manage to sneak into my city,

looking for some roguey princess apparently.

Such an action would be blessed even augmented with silver

As well as free passage through the high passes of the Empire

and across the Danube You would have free reign in all these territories

Best by who Just nail God of yours.

I don't need blessings from a Crucified man in a loincloth with crown of thorns

to protect my actions.

Look around you.

Does he wish to avenge himself upon me for taking this home?

Hardly. As for the high passes, I can have them any time I want.

It's simply a matter of spilling enough blood.

Most things are in the end.

These blessings are more useful.

Blessings from the Emperor, Lord King.

That mouse fart of a man, Nepos.

He could rule a room full of eunuchs.

The Emperor Cassius Rissoma, Lord King.

General Rissoma's son.

Rissoma.

A brave man.

And dead.

Dead men are of no use to me.

Their children can be.

You mean... This Cassius Rissima is Emperor?

Must still only be a child.

It's true, he is just a boy, Lord King.

But his blood is that of the imperial line.

It takes more than imperial blood to rule an empire.

And more yet still to keep it.

With your help, he could.

And with the help of others.

Who?

Orestes, for one.

He's a sworn ally of Cassius Rissoma.

The Hun's old ambassador to the Byzantine.

Those frock buffoons.

Yes.

And a kingmaker in his own right.

He can field an army at least as big as yours.

And he is friend to Cassius Rissoma's mother, wife to the Ducks.

It is she who holds the imperial blood through the Nepos family, and she who

ordered me here.

This sounds like a fable, Roman.

A fable where men are betrayed, and others bribed to do yet others' bidding.

Such fables can be dangerous, Roman.

It is no fable, Lord King.

Orestes has been paid many pounds of silver to see that Nepos never sees

another spring.

And the darks Maximus will bow his head for the execution as axe

without a fight.

I find that hard to believe.

As his first edict as emperor, Cassius will declare me

head. of the northern Roman army.

As his second edict, he will order the death of

Maximus.

You seem to have thought of everything.

One word from you, and this whole fable can become

reality.

On the day I become commander, I will give you the Swayve bastard who murdered

your ambassador.

I can also give you the Swayve's wife as a gift now,

so that she might watch as he forfeits his life before you.

You captured her.

We did, Lord King.

You're a sly devil, Argus.

Be sure that your sly ways benefit only me.

Of course, Lord King.

It is the only possibility.

I'll give her to my nephew.

Theodoric. He needs another wife.

Yes, Lord King.

Six weeks, Roman.

And I'll have Nepos dead.

And the fable made real.

Or your guts shall be strewn from here to the Danube.

Do you understand me?

Yes, Lord King.

Then go.

What a shame.

The ducks will have your guts in the dirt just before your head will be

chopped off.

Destiny gives and takes.

She took my wife.

And now she will take my life.

Your execution will be part of the ceremony of my ascension.

The destiny has spoken.

I think I can give you a chance to live.

I want you to be a gladiator.

Already becoming wise beyond your years.

Bread and circuses for the masses.

As befits the Emperor.

Your death could be an honor of a gladiator.

instead of a shameful death of a traitor.

My mother has the best gladiators coming from Ravenna to show their skills.

They will slaughter those who live today.

I will fight for you.

But I will fight first, and if I win, you will free them all.

Swayve and Amal alike.

You will fight the best.

Yes.

And I will win.

You will not.

But if the gods were on your side, I will grant them, and you,

freedom.

I will only fight for you if you agree to free my wife as well.

I do not see her about.

Do we have her?

No.

The Amels do.

I would pay the Amels the ransom they want to get your woman back to you

if you fight.

I will fight.

But I doubt the ducks will agree with your plan.

The former ducks will not have the power to change my decision.

What do you think?

My thoughts are elsewhere.

They're with my wife and the souls of my men.

They took a Roman life and have earned the chains

upon them.

and their deaths.

But if you win,

they will live.

I would redraft an alliance with you with many concessions when you take

power.

An alliance could still benefit both of our people if I live.

if you keep your word.

If you win, I will keep my word.

May your gods be on your side.

And I thought you were insane, Urbina, using my troops to take 200 weight of my

silver to commit treason by murdering the emperor.

200 weight of our silver, husband, to create an emperor.

And with the kind help of Argos, who loaned it to us.

All for a good cause, my general.

The emperor will repay you, I'm sure.

I've never doubted that.

You can have anything you want from us, Argos.

Nepos is deposed and on the run, but not dead yet.

Give it to me.

Give it to me!

Oh, well, he may as well be dead. He's in hiding, shitting on his turgor.

Any word where he is?

I've heard Dalmatia.

Dalmatia?

Go fetch my son.

He should share this good news.

Dalmatia, of all places, with a herd of goats to protect him.

Orestes really is a strong ally, Maxima. Surely you can see that.

With him we have the largest standing army in the north. With him we cannot

fail. The Empire is ours.

Allies purchased can be allies bribed, Urbina.

I prefer loyalty.

Resti's loyalty lies with his best interests, which happen to be the same

as ours and of Cassius.

I have decided to make the Suevi my champion on the day which I know is

coming soon.

He will fight the two.

Mother is bringing them from Ravenna.

But I have sentenced him to be executed in the name of the Emperor.

An Emperor in hiding?

Scared for his life?

Not an Emperor anymore?

What do you say, Mother?

Of course you can have him, my darling. He will die anyway.

The two coming from Ravenna are the best gladiators in the West.

And yes, I will also free anybody who survives the games.

Amo and suevi alike.

Am I really meant to be playing lapdog to your spoiled fairy child?

You don't mean that, Urbina.

Not lapdog.

Maximus. Regent.

With him, we can experience the greatest riches of Rome.

And all for 200 weight of silver?

A fair plan if it succeeds, a poor one if it ends up with our heads rolling in

the streets of Rome, or stuck on spikes outside the gates of Ravenna.

Do you think it would work?

I would not have risked my silver.

if I did not believe in the success and your leadership to achieve it. It will

work, husband.

And it will not be our heads that roll.

All right, wife.

I will continue to support our sweet child for emperor and ourselves as

regents.

I suppose good news should be rewarded.

Go to my paymaster and collect 20 are for your good work.

Thank you, sir.

And since you have more silver than I do, on the coronation day, you will be

made Ducks of the Legion and all your silver repaid.

With interest?

Interest will not be necessary.

I will, however, take payment in kind.

It's about time that she learned to open her legs for a man.

Well,

with a new emperor, I could have a new slave.

She's yours.

Come on, my dear.

Dear citizens and friends, tonight we celebrate the

elevation of Cassius Ricimer to the throne of the Western Empire of Rome.

His late father, the esteemed leader of men and maker of emperors flavius

ricimer has spoken to us from beyond the grave carrying the righteous blessings

of the gods upon his son's elevation the augurs too have foretold good

portents and i am sure the lord jesus christ would also agree that our new

emperor will govern wisely and long

Before young Lord Risimer takes the throne, he has

invited us to a spectacle not allowed for many years, a

gladiator bout.

As a sign of our new emperor's goodness and wisdom,

he has spared this treasonous dog a public execution

and will allow him to die here as a man.

He who dies in the arena in fair fight.

deserves forgiveness.

I have granted it to the Suevi.

I wish a great trip to the afterlife.

If the gods so please.

You will fight the best.

So die well or be free.

and your men will be free.

Have the lapidary attend to his wound.

When you see me two days hence upon the first day

of the Ides of Jupiter, you will

bow to your new emperor.

Cassius Ricimer.

Today is a day befitting the destiny of the son of the late General Ricimer.

A day none of us will soon forget.

Are you ready to accept your duties as prescribed by the people and Senate of

Rome?

Are you ready to defend the Empire against all manner of attack, both from

without and within?

I am.

Before I invest you as the new Emperor of Rome, I ask a single favor.

It is my duty to the Empire.

Your duty?

Yes, sire.

It must be done.

I will do anything to fulfill your duty to the Empire.

Anything.

Make me your son, that I may better serve you.

Adopt me, Cassius.

But you are an old man, Maximus Albanus.

And I am much younger.

How can it be?

Do it.

Do it.

I adopt you.

Has this been recorded?

It has, my lord Dux.

Then I, Maximus Antonius, Albinus, dux

of this victorious legion, and duly adopted son of Cassius Ricimer,

by the will of the army, by the powers granted me by the senators

of Rome here present, and with

the unanimous consent of all those others here upon this happy day,

Make my father Cassius Rysimer Albanus

the Emperor of Rome.

Emperor Cassius I, destroyer of Ammars, protector

of the Empire.

I wish you long life, happiness, and a fruitful reign.

I'd smile on such a pretty corpse.

Take her.

We may need her to bargain with Orestes.

No. No, her.

I guess she didn't like my cock as much as you did. No.

I just took the Emperor's deal.

And he gave me a better offer.

My life.

long faces.

Rome has a new emperor.

Applaud him!

He reigned.

He lived.

But the portents were not with him.

He was surrounded by a traitor's nest.

There was a Judas among them.

And he begged for his life and was saved by me, your new

emperor, Maximus the Good.

Now show me your gratitude.

You should have executed me when you had the chance, Emperor.

The people will not thank you for going back on your word.

Oh, emperors keep their promises.

You are free, and even more.

You will take the position of my ambassador to King Velimar to sue for

peace.

You will leave with an escort of my men in the morning. Take him away.

You will never wear another again.

You're free.

You're free.

Now that I've divorced her, you may fuck her any time you wish.

Thank you, sir.

I think I would prefer for her to dig for the silver that she owes me.

And

who

have we here?

Tyrannus Maldris, chief.

of the Suevi, late of the Roman garrison. A gift from the new emperor.

What?

The new boy emperor?

Already tired of you?

Doesn't say much for your skills at war, now does it, Suevi?

Answer me.

The boy was killed.

So, Maximus had you murder the boy.

The Dux did it by his own hands.

And he sent you here to atone for the other murder.

That of my ambassador.

A crime that must not go unpunished.

I was in the garrison's dungeon accused of treason when that happened.

But it is my word against all.

As I heard it, your ambassador was killed by the very hand of Maximus

himself, who now calls himself the Emperor.

And what of Argos?

T'was he who promoted the boy Cassius.

T'was he who promised me silver.

What excuses do you offer for his deceit?

Speak up, Swervy, for it is you who face my wrath now, not he.

He serves the new emperor now.

And as for me, I offer you no defense, King Valimar.

You sent your skulking warband to slaughter women and children.

You abducted my wife.

Is that who this Ravel is, King?

Cowardly killers of old women and infants?

I raided no swervy.

And as for your wife, she was given to me.

Given?

By Argos.

As a gift.

And a pledge of trust.

Argos?

Someone fetch my nephew's wife.

I'm here, my lord king, and I have heard it all.

The man Argos plotted this scheme with the Dax's wife.

I was captured, and in his presence, before I was brought here and became

Theoderic's wife.

You were my wife.

And I'm in others.

You were my wife!

The king offered me life.

I gave you love.

And sometimes life is stronger than any man's love.

You were my wife.

And now I carry another man's child, Taranis.

Time changes all.

Even love.

Not my love for you, Giza.

That will never change.

Forget about me, Taranis. I beg you.

Never.

Sometimes, death is better than betrayal.

But that is not for me to decide.

And I will not punish one man for another man's deceit.

Go, Swervy, wherever your destiny takes you.

But if you see that snake Argos, leave him alive.

I would like to keep my promise to string his guts from here to the

Danube.