Гладиатор
A Man for the People
FiveyearsafterhislastfightintheColosseum,webringyouthegreatestgladiatorinRomanhistory!TodayTigrisofFrancereturns!"
ThecrowdlovedasurpriseandtheycheeredinexcitementasTigrisdrovehischariotintothearena.
Hewasalargemanofaboutforty-fiveandhelookeddangerous.Heworesilverarmorandasilvertigerhelmetwithafaceguard.Thebrightsunshoneoffhishelmetasherodearoundthearenawithhisarmheldhigh.Thecrowdshoutedandcheeredevenmoreloudly.
Tigrisstoppedhischariot,gotdown,andwaitedinthecenterofthearena.Hewascarryingaswordandaspearandhelookedfrightening.
Whenthecrowdbecamequieter,Cassiusstartedtospeakagain."AndfromthegreatschoolofAeliusProximo...Caesarispleasedtogiveyou...theSpaniard,Maximus!"
Thereweremorecheersandshoutsfromthecrowd.
Maximusappearedfromhisgate.Hewascarryingonlyashortswordandaroundsilvershield.Hehadnoarmororhelmet.
Amongthecrowdthatdaywereagroupofpeoplewhodidnotusuallygotowatchgladiatorgames.TheyweresoldiersfromtheArmyoftheNorth,withValeriusandCiceroattheircenter.Theyhadcometoseeifitwastruethattheirgeneralwasreallystillalive.Whenhegotcloseenoughforthemtorecognizehim,theywereveryhappy.TheyshoutedtoMaximus,buthecouldnotheartheirvoicesamongsomanyothers.
CommoduswasalsowatchingMaximusclosely."Theylovehimlikeoneoftheirown,"hesaidtoLucilla.
"Thecrowdhasitsfavoriteforatime-thentheyfindsomeonenew.
