Those About to Die (2024) s01e04 Episode Script

[woman groans]
[ominous music playing]
[man grunts]
[Titus]
How many dead?
[Porto]
About two hundred.
Fighting still continues in the Subura.
My father's funeral?
Safe to go ahead tomorrow.
- [footsteps approaching]
- [metallic clanking]
[Titus] Senators,
I thought the intention of these games
was to calm the citizens,
not inflame them.
The problem is this new Gold faction.
Things were stable
when we were just the four of us.
What do you expect
from a new faction owned
by a plebeian and a damned Syrian.
It gives the lower orders ideas.
So, what do you counsel?
Simple, end the Gold faction.
[Titus]
Interesting.
[eerie music playing]
Let's put that aside for now.
I have a greater concern
about which I'd welcome your input:
since the time of the kings
only three Romans: Julius Caesar,
Caesar Augustus and Claudius
have been deified,
declared Gods.
My father, the Great Emperor Vespasian,
should too be deified
join them as a God.
[clears throat]
That's a bold request.
The priests and augers tell us
that he has earned his rightful place
among the Immortals.
Just as your four factions
have earned you the exclusive right
to run at Circus Maximus.
[suspenseful music playing]
[snorts]
I bow to the priests
and we'll move in the Senate
to deify the Emperor Vespasian.
[suspenseful music continues]
As will I.
[door opens]
[metallic swishing noise]
How does it look?
[Elia] Gold!
- [crowd chatters]
- [Elia applauds]
Down with those!
[horse whinnies]
By order of Emperor Titus Caesar
Vespasianus,
permission to run in Circus Maximus
is hereby withdrawn from the Gold Faction.
[horse whines]
[Manilius] Let's go!
[dramatic music crescendos]
Fonsoa, wait!
- [marching]
- [metallic clanging]
- Calm down.
- Calm down?
I quit the Blue.
I told Marsus and Antonia
to go fuck themselves.
Better that than you fuck her.
No! No, don't make jokes.
I am the one being fucked
by you.
Atarkatis, why did I listen
to this Roman fool?
Scorpus is the best driver in Rome,
best ever.
Highest paid in history.
And I threw it all away for this
"golden shitshow"?
Scorpus, settle yourself!
Your greatness goes unquestioned.
I can fix this.
[Leto] I believe these are my chariots.
Gavros?
[metallic scraping]
Ah, white!
Take them out immediately.
[Elia] Wait!
- No, no!
- Elia!
[Gavros] Peace! Peace!
You're nothing more than
common thieves!
I paid for those.
So did I.
[Leto footsteps retreating]
Well, I didn't actually pay for them.
But I was thinking about it.
I'm done.
No more Gold faction for Scorpus. I'm out.
Out!
[dramatic music crescendos]
[calm music playing]
[rhythmic bells]
- [gentle choir music]
- [rhythmic banging]
By the Grace and Power of the Gods,
we crown Titus Flavius Vespasianus,
Leader and Emperor of Rome.
[Cala] Who are those women?
The Vestal Virgins,
Guardians of Rome's Eternal Flame.
Untouched, unmarried,
loved only by the city itself.
They have great powers.
A mere look
from one of them can save a condemned man,
a touch can set a slave free.
[emotional music]
[Drusilla] That one, I was her witness.
She's the daughter of my mistress Antonia.
She was only seven,
when the Vestals took her
She cried, begging her parents
not to give her away.
How could a mother do that?
Father, I don't wish to offend you.
But are you mad?
A tax on urine?
It's not a tax on urine,
it is a tax on the sale of urine.
Urine bleaches white
the clothes that we wear.
Do you understand?
Money.
Smell it.
Smell it!
Do you find that smell offensive?
It has no smell.
Precisely.
Money
pays for our legions.
[Vespasian] It helps us supply our
citizens with baths for their health
so they don't rise up
and slit our throats.
Money.
An Emperor,
even a prospective one,
knows that money
does not stink.
It can build your legacy.
[suspenseful music playing]
Brother.
Brother.
[gentle music playing]
Romans!
I, Titus Flavius
Vespasianus, stand before you.
An Emperor,
a General,
and a grieving son.
My father
gave you the Flavian Amphitheatre
to hold the greatest games on Earth.
My legacy:
I shall reconstruct
the Aqueduct Virgo now in ruin.
[music crescendos]
[Titus] Water will flow
for the benefit of every Roman.
And once more,
I will give you the greatest public
baths
- [crowd cheers]
- ever seen by man.
[triumphant music continues]
[gentle music playing]
[Berenice sighs]
- Move everything in.
- Yes, my Queen.
Yes, bring that one and this one.
Yes, this one first, go on, go ahead,
May I have a word, my love?
[Titus] Can it wait?
[Berenice inhales]
Tell me,
who will build these baths
and remake Rome for you?
We'll discuss that later.
You promised you would free my people
after you became Emperor
but I see now
you had no intention of doing so.
You sought such a promise,
I never gave it.
Not in so many words.
My words were precise.
I told you I would do it,
if it was in the interest of Rome.
- A vision has told me otherwise.
- A vision?
My father spoke to me, told me to build
these baths for the glory of Rome.
As such it pleases me
to use your people to that end.
You lied to me.
[footsteps approaching]
As you said,
later.
[footsteps retreating]
The rioting has been quelled.
But there is now fear that the granaries
will be empty again. [inhales]
That the grain was delayed intentionally.
And rumours
that a Flavian
was behind the food shortages.
A Flavian?
That's impossible that was Father,
and certainly not [inhales]
me, and that leaves
[exhales]
You're holding something back.
You have two faults.
Well, only two?
[Porto] Two that matter:
you love your mistress
more than you should
and you trust your brother
more than you ought.
The first
fault, umh
that is my affair.
As for my brother, well,
I love him, true, but I am no fool.
[gentle music starts]
You think him behind the grain delays,
behind the riots?
There are rumours.
[dramatic music plays]
Find out if there's substance to them.
[retreating footsteps]
[suspenseful music playing]
[music crescendos]
[dramatic music crescendos]
[laughs]
We have a problem.
[crowd clamouring]
[Man 1 speaking other language]
[Man 2] Two hundred on Red.
[Man 3] We got 20, I think.
[Man 4 speaking other language]
[Man 4 speaking other language]
[Cala speaks other language]
[Cala] Forty on white.
[Cala speaks other language]
Move!
Shout out your bets! I said move.
[Cala speaks other language]
[Man 1 speaks other language]
[Cala speaks other language]
One hundred on blue.
[Cala speaks other language]
[Cala] Fifty on Blue.
[atmospheric music playing]
[water sloshing]
[gentle music]
[gentle music continues]
[ominous music playing]
Your Highness.
The others convinced my brother
to get rid of the Gold faction.
I thought as much.
- Can you get us reinstated?
- Perhaps.
[tense music playing]
There's something I need you to do first.
[Domitian] Your predecessor,
my doer of dark deeds.
A certain Lucius.
I've had the misfortune of meeting him.
He wasn't as deep in the shadows
as we hoped.
I need you to obscure his tracks.
[Tenax] They blame you for the grain
shortages and the food riots.
[tense music playing]
Not yet
but suspicion is a short step from blame.
[inhales] I'll take care of it.
It'll be my pleasure.
Do what you can to get
our Gold faction reinstated again.
That sounded rather like a command.
You are my client
not my partner.
You serve my interests
in the hope I deign to serve yours.
[menacing music playing]
Forgive me.
I'll do what you ask.
[menacing music continues]
Who was that man with Domitian?
His name is Tenax,
he's from the Subura.
And a criminal.
I need to know more about him.
- [whip beating]
- [drum roll]
- [whip beating]
- [man grunting]
[Lucius' thug] Come for me!
[woman moaning]
[crowd clamouring]
[rhythmic drum beat]
- [throttling sound]
- [woman screams]
[man grunts]
[woman screams]
[rhythmic drum beat]
[ominous music playing]
[man grunts]
Is there anyone else, Lucius?
No
no.
[Lucius] I told you everything. I swear.
[Lucius gasps]
[man cries out]
[drum beat continues]
[drum roll]
[music stops]
[men grunting]
Come on.
He won't break.
Give it to him harder.
[door opens]
[man grunts]
- [Bosa whispers]
- [men grunting]
- [footsteps retreating]
- [door closes]
I'd expect you to be busy
with the Queen of Jews
this time of the night.
Careful now.
The ice you walk on is not so thick.
[Titus] There's a man,
said to have led the recent food riots,
Lucius. Do you know him?
No.
Some says he is of your employ.
[snickers] Some say
Titus beds monkeys and dogs.
- That make it true?
- [Titus snickers]
I do not know him, my Emperor.
Then you will not care
that this Lucius is dead.
[Porto] Beaten first
perhaps for information.
Perhaps for pleasure.
Men seen with Lucius are dead also.
The Harbor Master at Ostia,
all were involved in grain delivery.
As if they were covering their tracks.
[Titus] Brother.
Look me in the eye.
Did you delay the grain delivery
to embarrass me?
You think I would embarrass father?
That I had the mob call for Flavian
blood, just to embarrass you?
- Did you?
- No.
Confine him.
He mustn't leave without my permission.
- But brother
- He shall remain
until I've found the truth. Leave me.
[ominous music playing]
[music crescendos]
Do you believe him?
I cannot yet decide.
The riot would've been
a risk for him also.
[music quickens]
[Porto] There are still
the fleet captains,
but they are at sea.
Once they make landfall.
Bring them before me.
[footsteps retreating]
[melodic music intensifies]
[Hermes] Are you alright?
[Domitian] Barely.
I just came close to death.
Do you think Berenice is advising him?
[breathing fitfully]
Of course.
She knows my ire
towards her and her people.
Killers of how many
five thousand sons of Rome?
Why not have Tenax attend to her?
And incite a lover's vengeance
in my brother?
Not all the Judeans
are happy with the idea
of their Queen spreading
her legs for your brother.
How would you know that?
I have ears at the construction site.
There are rumours
of meetings in secret,
where the possibility of a
Spartacan revolt is being discussed.
One of their elders,
the architect Azariah,
has been heard to call her Titus' whore.
[menacing music]
Well done.
See.
I am more
than an arse and a mouth.
We'll drive the wedge between them,
my brother
and his whore.
Out!
- [men grunt]
- [ominous music]
[door opens]
[door closes]
[bell rings]
I need to speak with my daughter.
Please.
Mother.
[happy chuckle]
- I can not stay long.
- I know, I know.
What do you know
about the daughter, the priestess?
I've never heard of a daughter.
They have a son
They often speak of him.
Julius.
Why?
And Drusilla?
Have you noticed any routines
in her outings?
One time she went out at sundown
with some pantry goods.
Good. Watch her and let me know.
Hm?
Jula!
Go now, go.
[people chattering in background]
[Filo] The charioteer, Scorpus, Consul.
[footsteps approaching]
[Marsus] Ah
Scorpus.
To what do I owe the honour of this visit?
I've decided that our partnership
is too valuable to end.
Scorpus is willing,
for the right price,
yes,
to return triumphantly
to the Blue Faction.
That's generous of you, Scorpus.
But what of Xenon?
We've hired him in your stead
Xenon is
you know, is a good driver.
I admit, but he is
no Scorpus.
He's more loyal than Scorpus.
Perhaps, I owe you an apology.
For?
[sighs]
- For, er
- Fucking his wife?
In a word, yes.
May I speak for the two of us, my love?
Of course, we speak as one.
Always.
We're paying Xenon three times
what we paid you!
We wouldn't hire you back
even if you showed up
with your mouth full of pearls
and an Indian ruby the size of a hen's egg
- falling out of your arse.
- [Marsus scoffs]
[Marsus and Antonia giggle]
Go fuck yourselves.
Fucking Romans!
I'd happily fuck my husband.
- [Marsus grunts]
- [Antonia moans]
Anyone
as long as it's not you.
[Antonia exhales]
[Filo clears his throat]
Right this way.
[Antonia giggles]
You continue to amaze me.
Thank you. [chuckles]
[crowd chatter in background]
[man coughs]
[footsteps]
I warned your father to forbid you
from marrying that man.
[Salena exhales]
Caltonia. [gasps]
[sighs]
I'm so ashamed.
Does your family know?
Since my mother's death,
my uncles have abandoned us.
Father has turned to wine, and
our estates are gone.
[Salena whimpers and inhales]
All I had were those shares
in the Blue faction.
I've spoken to my advocates.
Those shares were stolen by your husband.
[Caltonia] You will leave this place.
Live under my roof.
And together we will enter the courts
and get back what is yours.
You would do that for me?
I love you, child.
- [man coughs]
- We will get them back.
And I will buy them from you
at an exorbitant price.
And then you and I,
we will celebrate our
our partnership.
[Salena sniffs]
[flame soars]
[Tenax] Morning, Lentullus.
I need two chariots by the week's end.
That's impossible.
Nothing's impossible.
What about these?
[Lentillus] Oh.
Well [exhales]
A year ago, I experimented
with the lightest of woods
and shaved the struts,
made them as thin as my finger.
They were fast.
So fast.
But too light to get past
the weight restrictions.
Can they be ready by the end of the week?
Yes. But you'll never
get them past inspection.
Let that be my problem.
Oh, and the golden paint,
give it less shine, more tasteful.
[Lentillus sighs]
[Scorpus] Thank you all for coming.
We do this all together,
just like you Romans yes?
Much more efficient.
[Leto] Yes, well it's no secret we'd all
be fortunate to have you driving for us.
And it's no secret that you're expensive.
That goes without saying.
[Leto] Yes, well
having lost Xenon,
clearly, I'm interested.
- [Leto] What do you need?
- Simple.
If Scorpus is to hold his head
high in the Circus,
he must be paid more than Xenon.
[Torel] A million eight?
No, too rich for my blood.
[exhales]
I'm out.
Good luck to you all.
Come boys.
[door opens]
And I'm out too.
No, wait.
[door closes]
You can't leave me with one bidder.
I can win for you.
I don't want to win.
Of course, you do.
I can't afford to win!
I profit by being smart.
I cut my costs down
and let my competitors thank me
with gold for helping them win.
Good luck.
[Leto scoffs]
[Scorpus] So, here we are.
A million eight.
No, a million nine, because
Xenon is being paid a million eight.
I don't see anyone else bidding here.
- It will add to your dignitas
- [Leto scoffs]
to pay me more than
Marsus is paying Xenon.
Yes well, I have sufficient dignitas,
thank you Scorpus.
[Leto sighs]
Six hundred thousand.
[Scorpus coughs]
[Scorpus clicks tongue, inhales, sighs]
Such an opening offer
hurts my feelings.
Not a opening offer.
It's my final one.
I am Scorpus.
Yes, and I'm paying.
Look, it if will soothe your
feelings, we can always
tell the world it was a million nine.
Good boy.
[Prostitute] Scorpus?
Not now.
But you wanted to celebrate.
[loud knock on door]
[Scorpus sighs]
[Scorpus] Make sure
that he gets some attention.
He just signed with the Whites.
[Scorpus exhales]
[Scorpus moans]
[Scorpus and prostitutes moaning]
[door opens]
- [door closes]
- [Tenax] Oh dear.
[Tenax] I remember it being bigger.
And firmer.
We all get older, I suppose.
No way around it.
Who let you in?
I met with the Aedile Ludi. Good news:
He'll soon be reinstating
our Gold faction.
[Tenax] New rigs ordered,
the lightest the Circus has ever seen.
You'll be flying like the wind, my friend.
Soon
is not now.
I have just signed for the Whites.
You ungrateful bastard. I pulled you
from the clutches of your mother's pimp
For that, I thank you.
You, whose first three wins
were all from my fixes.
Yes, yes,
yes, yes You did a lot but so did I.
- [tense pulsing beat]
- [Tenax exhales]
You're right.
My temper overtook me.
Perhaps, we should go our separate ways.
[Scorpus sighs]
Get some sleep.
You'll need it when you drive
against my Spaniards.
[Scorpus laughs]
- They remind me of you
- [Scorpus snickers]
you know when you were in your prime.
Especially that Andria.
[tense music intensifies]
[Tenax] Yeah, I see a day
when your body is rotting in the spina
of the Circus and he's making
all of Rome forget you ever existed.
[Tenax exhales]
Good luck with the Whites.
[footsteps retreating]
[music fades out]
[Passus] Then we are bringing in
fifty Brigantine midgets,
and pit them against
an equal number of bull-hounds.
I mean, is there any finer way to honour
[Passus] Titus Flavius' ascent?
[Domitian] Dwarfs versus dogs
is that the best you can do?
No, I mean, have you seen the dogs?
Come, come. What else do you have?
[Passus coughs]
Ludus Beastius
has received an interesting number
of red-arsed monkeys,
they're all males
and we could build an encasement,
a forest in the wild, fence not too high.
Because the females should not escape
[Domitian chuckles]
the females shouldn't escape.
[Domitian]
I thought they were all males.
I'm not talking about
monkey females,
I am talking about human females.
Yes, because they would like
to fuck everything that moves.
I don't think that's
to my brother's taste.
Well,
- just hear me out.
- [Domitian chuckles]
There is a grand finale.
An absolute, wonder of nature.
The Gigantic Ghost Lion.
White from head to tail,
paler than the clouds over Vesuvius.
This fierce beast will arise from Hades
and devour them all.
You're a sick man, Passus.
[scoffs] Well
But a white lion, interesting.
I wish to see it myself.
I must escape my own cage first.
Meet me at the Ludus Beastius
at midnight Go.
Go now!
Door.
[door shuts]
I need to urinate.
[footsteps and armour clinking]
[urine trickling]
[footsteps and armour clinking]
- [monkeys screeching]
- [Passus coughs]
Domitian.
I hope you didn't over promise.
Where is it?
[Passus] Over here.
[low growling]
[terrifying roar]
[Domitian laughs and inhales]
- [Lion roars]
- [Domitian] How beautiful you are!
So very beautiful.
- [Lion growls]
- [Domitian] So very deadly.
I know exactly how I'll use you.
You'll be my brother
Titus Flavius.
Emperor of Rome.
Conqueror
of Jerusalem.
I want this beast to be a symbol
of our glorious Titus Flavianus.
A beast with an unquenchable
thirst for blood.
Have your builders reconstruct a replica
of Jerusalem, fit for the Circus.
We shall celebrate
the sacking of that city!
Allow me to ask,
Who will the white lion attack?
Do you have to be so dim?
- [Passus stammers]
- Who do you think lives in Jerusalem?
- Gauls?
- [Passus] Uhuh.
Judeans.
Judeans.
[Carpo] Big cats
even one as fierce as this,
are terrified by the sight
and sounds of the crowd.
Without training, it will freeze.
Would you like to spoil Domitian's vision,
would you like to excite his anger?
No.
[dramatic music playing]
[footsteps and metallic clinking]
[Domitian] Manilius
My Greek boy has seen you
betting at the Circus.
[Domitian]
You think removing your military garb
is sufficient to hide what you do?
Your betting your debts
your skimming from the Praetorian payroll
to pay those debts, has put you at risk.
Mortal risk. But never fear
I have need of your service
for which there will be
a substantial reward.
There's a plot among Judeans
to kill their queen, my brother's consort.
One of the architects, Azariah,
appears to be the leader of this plot.
[dramatic music intensifies]
I need you to arrest
some rebellious Judeans.
[Azariah] What is the meaning of this?
- [women screaming]
- [crowd shouting]
Why are you doing this?
- [dramatic music playing]
- [people shouting]
[women screaming]
- [ominous music]
- [water dripping]
[gate creaks]
[eerie sounds]
[Azariah] What do you want?
Why are we arrested?
[Carpo] I was told for sedition
and plotting to kill your Queen.
[Azariah] What?
- [Azariah] Lies, both of them.
- [Carpo] Doesn't matter to me.
Tomorrow you will die.
All of you
killed by a lion.
[ominous music playing]
This particular lion
will likely not attack.
Unless somebody charges the beast.
That's where you come in.
And why should I throw my life away,
for your convenience?
If you do, I'll ask Passus,
the Master of Games,
to spare,
your women and children.
- [crowd whimpering]
- [ominous music]
- [children crying]
- [dramatic music crescendos]
[drum roll]
[music stops]
[crowd cheering]
[celebratory music]
[Domitian inhales and groans]
By the Gods.
I hate being held prisoner here.
[drum bangs]
Hail Emperor Titus.
[formal music playing]
[crowd cheering]
[music fades]
I so wish I could see
the venom the Roman people have
for the Judeans, up close.
[crowd cheering]
Go.
[dramatic music playing]
[female] She's not our Queen!
- [crowd jeering]
- [dramatic music playing]
[music stops]
[crowd booing]
Already a chink in Titus' armor.
[Domitian giggles]
Come back.
[scoffs]
My brother never ceases to amaze me.
How can he allow Berenice
to sit next to him?
How did he not see this coming?
- [Passus] For the glory of Rome
- Come.
And to honour the conquest of Jerusalem!
What is this?
You said this pageant was to celebrate
your accession to the throne.
[dramatic music playing]
[explosions]
[Passus] As the city burns,
behold the barbaric Judeans,
[gentle atmospheric music playing]
led by Berenice, the Judean queen.
[crowd laughs]
[suspenseful music playing]
[Passus] And now
the barbaric Judeans will face
the unparalleled might of Rome.
It is the very powerful
Titus Flavianus.
Now!
[dramatic music playing]
[lion roaring]
[dramatic music continues]
[lion growling]
- [lion roars]
- [loud bang]
Open the gate!
- [music stops]
- [lion growls]
[lion roars]
[crowd clamouring]
[dramatic music starts]
[chanting music playing]
[lion growling]
[crowd jeering]
[lion roars loudly]
For the sake of my God,
or your Gods, do something!
These are my people.
[Carpo] Do it!
Do it!
Do it!
Do it!
[Azariah yells]
[lion roars]
[Berenice gasps]
- [choral music playing]
- [lion roaring]
[crowd clamouring]
[choral music continues]
End this!
[lion growling and roaring]
End this now!
Do you think he's seen me?
Yes.
He has.
[drum beating dramatically]
This time you've gone too far.
[thump]
[Domitian grunts]
[Domitian grunts]
- Hear me out before killing me.
- A justification for such effrontery?
Yes. Are you too afraid to hear it?
[breathing heavily]
You must speak quickly speak well!
[Domitian gasps]
Or this sword will pierce your heart.
I merely killed two birds
with a single stone for you.
Those who died in the arena were
plotting to kill your Queen
and supplant her.
[inhales] I saved her life
and let the mob vent their hatred
for the Judeans.
I've heard nothing of such a plot.
That is your failing
- not mine.
- [drum roll of suspense]
I can provide witnesses and proof.
See witnesses they can be bought,
and proof it can be crafted.
[dramatic drum playing]
[metallic clinking]
- Well, if you think that of me
- [music stops]
then use your sword.
[Domitian sniffs]
[metallic clang]
If I needed to
I would.
- Why do you provoke him so much?
- [Domitian] I know.
I should have stayed away
from that damn balcony.
But it was just too good of a show
to miss!
[Domitian chuckles]
[footsteps approaching]
[atmospheric music playing]
[music turns ominous]
[Berenice] I blame myself
for allowing you to talk me into
joining you on the Imperial platform.
For what?
To watch a hideous travesty
of myself being torn apart.
I didn't know the plan.
You are Emperor!
You should've known.
The gold of the Emperor's coffers
spent on games you did not approve,
under your very nose.
I've been told those that were killed
were
plotting against you.
Told by whom?
Let me guess,
your viper brother?
He says that he has proof.
He says many things.
But how many are true?
I can't let you leave.
[inhales] If you have me dragged back,
I'll take my own life.
No, you won't.
[Titus sighs]
I beg you.
Please stay.
[suspenseful music starts]
Let me protect you.
Let me prove that to you.
On one condition.
That you let me protect you.
They will never accept me as your consort.
The Romans hate foreign queens.
They'll have to learn to accept you.
Cleopatra
Candace of Kush?
Boudica?
Were they accepted?
To be with a foreign queen
only weakens you in their eyes.
To be strong
you must do the opposite.
You must take a Roman wife.
Of a good and August family
of wealth and power, of long standing.
Put me in the shadows.
[gentle suspenseful music continues]
It is best for you.
And what do you think is best for you?
I am a conquered Queen.
My place is in the shadows.
[emotional music playing]
[box slams shut]
[metal clinking]
You're not as heartless as you pretend.
Don't be so sure.
The children look up to you.
That's because they're children.
They look up to anyone who'll give them a
few scraps of food and an occasional coin,
I did.
[Woman speaking other language]
[speaking other language]
How many languages do you speak?
Not enough.
You use them to great effect.
Really?
You disarm people
get them to do what you want.
That's how you see it?
[gentle music playing]
[Tenax] Good day.
- [Cala] Which you owe to me.
- [Tenax] To some degree.
And to that degree you will pay
me and my daughter more.
- Will I?
- [Cala] Mm-mm.
Aura's salary up by half,
and mine tripled.
[Tenax chuckles]
You overreach.
Fine. We'll leave your rat-infested
insula and find work
at another betting tavern.
[upbeat gentle music]
I'll increase Aura's by a quarter,
and double yours.
Keep bringing in the revenue
like you did today for a month
and we'll talk again.
That's too long, one week.
- Two.
- Agreed.
You'll do well in Rome.
I am not here for that.
It will take a lot more money
to buy Jula's freedom.
And Kwame, a gladiator,
probably impossible.
I will find a way.
[upbeat music continues]
[music fades out]
[ominous music starts playing]
[eerie male voice chanting]
[eerie chanting continues]
[music becomes menacing]
Please.
Please wait.
[Cala inhales anxiously]
I have an entreaty.
As does every other person in Rome.
I beg of you.
My children have been taken from me.
[ominous music continues]
My my son is a gladiator
at the Ludus Magnus,
and my daughter she's a slave
in the house of your parents.
[ominous music continues]
I am told that you have it
in your power to free
those condemned and those held as slaves.
No, not me.
But my matron.
Could you help me?
Would that my mother had had tears
for her daughter, as you do for yours.
I will speak to my matron.
Return on the Ides,
I will give you an answer by then. Now go.
- [male voice chanting]
- [music becomes more menacing]
[low, suspenseful music playing]
[urine trickling]
[ominous music playing]
[high pitched metallic sound]
Quintus!
It's been a while.
Keep your hands where I can see them.
Or I'll sever your spine at the root.
Ursus?
[suspenseful music playing]
- The boy you left to burn.
- [dramatic music crescendos]
[flames soaring]
[loud crash]
It was me who suffered the consequences.
I thought you were dead.
[heavy thud]
[Ursus grunts] Worse
[Ursus breathes heavily]
I was sold as a galley slave.
Endless years in hell!
Luckily, I was drafted into
the Roman army
and fought for them for years.
It was easy to find you.
After all your endless talk
about going to Rome
and working in the famous Circus Maximus.
- [Ursus exhales]
- [lashing]
[Tenax grunts]
[lashing]
[Ursus] You know the punishment
for a slave killing his master
is crucifixion.
But that's too quick for you.
[dramatic crescendo]
[thuds and both grunting]
[thuds and both grunting]
- [suspenseful music playing]
- [metallic swish]
[suspenseful music intensifies]
[Ursus exhales]
[thuds and both grunting]
[metallic swish]
- [thump]
- [Tenax yells]
- [metallic clink]
- [Tenax grunts]
[Ursus yells]
[loud crash]
[water gurgling]
[Tenax gasps]
[suspenseful music]
[dull thud]
- [dull thud]
- [splashing water]
[grunting]
[water gurgling]
[both grunting]
- [thud]
- [grunting]
[dramatic music intensifies]
- [water splashing]
- [both grunting]
[water gurgling]
[loud bang]
[dull thuds]
- [grunting]
- [water trickling]
[Tenax choking]
- [dull thud]
- [grunting]
- [dull thud]
- [grunting]
[gigantic splash]
[Tenax gasps]
[Tenax cries, breathes strenuously]
I'm not going to kill you.
- I'll squeeze all the money out of you.
- [Tenax exhales]
I'll take everything from you.
[Tenax gasps]
[water splashing]
I won't let you get away with this!
- [dramatic music continues]
- [Tenax sighs]
[Tenax yells]
[Tenax groans]
[dramatic music intensifies]
- [thud]
- [dramatic music stops suddenly]