Free Spartacus: Rebellion by Ben Kane

would guarantee him a victory over Spartacus.’
    ‘Strong words.’
    ‘Maybe so, but they’re true.’ Crassus stuck out his jaw belligerently.
    ‘Thus far I have not said so in public, but I agree with you,’ admitted Caesar.
    Encouraged, Crassus continued: ‘The praetors who went before the consuls were no better. Glaber, Varinius and Cossinius were supposed to be high-ranking magistrates. Pah! The legate Furius was another idiot!’
    ‘You could have done better yourself.’
    Crassus paused, eyeing Caesar with suspicion. ‘Eh?’
    ‘As the man whose victory in a desperate battle at the Colline Gate won the day for Sulla, you would have undoubtedly cleared up the whole affair by now.’
    ‘With the gods’ help, perhaps,’ said Crassus modestly. He wasn’t going to admit that such thoughts had occupied his every waking moment. In reality, however, things were not quite so black and white. The mistake made by Glaber of not having enough sentries could have happened to anyone. Who in their right mind could have imagined that seventy-odd gladiators would make a bold night-time attack on three thousand men? If Furius’ account of what had happened to him was to be believed, he too had been cleverly ambushed. So had Cossinius, caught naked as he bathed in a swimming pool. It was Varinius alone who had made repeated poor judgements, the last of which had culminated in his complete defeat by Spartacus at the city of Thurii. Crassus remembered how upon Varinius’ return to Rome, the disgraced praetor had pleaded with him to help. Naturally, he had refused. Varinius had brought his destruction upon his own head, he thought harshly. To have allied himself with such an abject failure would have been tantamount to political suicide. He’d been decent enough to Varinius – hadn’t he offered to lend the praetor’s family money at lower than normal rates after Varinius was dead? ‘But I was not chosen by the Senate,’ he added.
    ‘You did not put yourself forward as a candidate.’
    ‘Why would I ask to lead soldiers against a raggle-taggle of runaway gladiators?’ Crassus couldn’t keep his irritation from showing. ‘Besides, Glaber would suffer the job to no other.’
    ‘That’s true,’ replied Caesar mildly. ‘But now it has become something far more. We’re talking about a full-scale rebellion.’
    ‘Indeed we are! And the two consuls have failed us. Failed the Republic. Can you imagine what they are saying about Rome in Pontus? In Iberia? We must be the laughing stock of the Mediterranean. An army of slaves marches up and down Italy, thrashing every force of troops sent against it? It’s an absolute scandal! Now we are depending on the proconsul of Cisalpine Gaul, to succeed where no one else has been able to. With but two legions, I do not envy Gaius Cassius Longinus. It’s an insurmountable task.’
    ‘Quite so.’
    ‘I therefore intend to gain the support of the majority of the senators in the Curia. When I have done that, I will force the consuls to resign or, more likely, to surrender the command of their legions to me.’
    Despite the magnitude of what he was hearing, Caesar’s eyebrows rose only a fraction. ‘Pompey Magnus will not be pleased if you do that.’ A thin smile traced his lips. ‘But that’s a good thing. He loves power too much as it is.’
    ‘The windbag has his hands full in Iberia anyway. He might have defeated Perperna, but there are plenty of tribes who still fancy a fight with Rome.’
    ‘As always. Assuming that you succeed, what will you do next?’
    ‘I will raise more legions in addition to the four consular ones, before taking the war to Spartacus. Aggressively. If he is still in Italy, so much the better. If he has left it, I will pursue him by land or by sea. I will not rest until he and his rabble have been trampled into the mud, and the stain on the Republic’s honour has been washed away for ever.’ Crassus fixed his eyes on Caesar. ‘Will you join