Gladiator
At
the
height
of
its
power
,
the
great
Roman
Empire
stretched
from
the
deserts
of
Africa
to
the
borders
of
northern
England
.
Over
one
quarter
of
the
world
’
s
population
lived
and
died
under
the
rule
of
the
Caesars
.
In
the
winter
of
A
.
D
.
180
,
Emperor
Marcus
Aurelius
’
s
twelve
-
year
war
against
the
people
of
Germania
was
coming
to
an
end
.
There
was
one
last
battle
to
win
.
Then
there
would
be
peace
across
the
Roman
Empire
.
*
*
*
The
man
walked
through
the
sun
-
warmed
Spanish
field
,
his
hand
touching
the
wheat
.
He
looked
past
apple
trees
to
a
farmhouse
.
He
heard
a
child
laughing
somewhere
near
.
A
bird
flew
onto
the
branch
of
a
tree
close
to
him
and
they
looked
at
each
other
.
The
man
smiled
.
Suddenly
,
the
sound
of
shouts
and
horses
frightened
the
bird
and
it
flew
up
into
the
air
.
The
noise
broke
through
the
man
’
s
daydream
and
he
came
back
to
the
real
world
with
a
crash
.
He
was
not
dressed
in
farmer
’
s
clothes
,
as
he
had
imagined
,
but
in
the
proud
armor
of
the
Roman
army
.
The
field
was
burnt
and
muddy
from
battle
,
without
a
green
leaf
on
it
.
Beyond
the
tree
line
ahead
,
somewhere
in
the
forest
,
the
German
armies
were
preparing
to
attack
again
.
The
man
knew
that
behind
him
an
enormous
army
waited
.
The
Roman
army
,
40
,
000
men
,
his
army
.
Maximus
the
farmer
was
Maximus
the
Commanding
General
of
the
Army
of
the
North
for
one
more
battle
.
One
last
battle
,
and
then
he
could
go
home
to
Spain
.
He
turned
his
horse
and
rode
back
to
his
men
.
Thirty
-
year
-
old
Maximus
was
a
great
general
-
a
man
they
could
trust
.
He
moved
among
them
,
checking
that
they
were
ready
for
battle
.
He
looked
back
frequently
to
the
line
of
trees
.
Some
of
his
officers
were
warming
themselves
around
a
fire
,
and
Maximus
joined
them
.
"
Still
nothing
?
"
he
asked
Quintus
,
his
second
-
in
-
command
.
