Massacre at the House of Batiatus

The Massacre at the House of Batiatus was an uprising that oc

Massacre of The House of Batiatus.

curred during a political party hosted by Quintus Lentulus Batiatus, who was seeking patronage for his campaign for the position of Aedile. After an attack by Spartacus and a rallying call by Crixus, the gladiators rose up and defeated the ludus' guards, as well as several soldiers, and then struck down nearly every Roman in attendance.

The Massacre was orchestrated by Spartacus, Agron, and Duro, with the help of several of Batiatus' slaves like Mira and other gladiators like Hamilcar, Ortius, Pollux, and Rabanus.

Causes

1. Spartacus, suffering from a wound caused by his deceased friend Varro begins to have nightmares about his wife and the man, Aulus, who'd returned his wife to him. After recovering, Spartacus learns the truth of Sura's death through Aulus and thus plans his vengeance against Batiatus.
2. Ashur and Batiatus plot to kill Magistrate Calavius and Solonius after being disrespected by both men for years. Ashur murders Calavius and lures Solonius into a trap. Solonius is then executed in the arena by Spartacus. Batiatus plans to become an Aedile by using the false support he gained from Calavius and Claudius Glaber to campaign for office. He hosts a party at his Villa with his gladiators putting on a show.
3. Crixus, who had secretly been having an affair with Naevia, is forced to stand by as Ashur is gifted with Naevia for helping Batiatus. Losing his temper and attacking Ashur in front of Claudius Glaber- after Ashur had begun to tauntingly touch her- leads to the revealing of their relationship to their Dominus and Lucretia. Naevia is then sent away to the Mines as her punishment, but Crixus promises to fight for Naevia no matter the odds. Crixus' reputation gains assistance from his Gaulish brothers who will fight for him whenever he will fight. Spartacus needs his support.
4. Oenomaus and the slaves are all treated with disrespect by Batiatus and the Soldiers guarding the villa. Although Oenomaus is promised freedom, he is still content with Batiatus leaving the life of a lanista. The ill-treatment the slaves received may have only given them a true cause to unite and work together.

Participants

Roman Side:

• Batiatus Villa Inhabitants
• Quintus Lentulus Batiatus †
• Lucretia Batiatus
• At least 20-30 guards †

Glaber's Elite Guard

• Ilithyia's Men
• Iovis †
• Vesper
• Linus †
• At least 20 guards †
• Roman Party-Goers †
• Sextus †
• Domitia †
• Numerius †
• Aemilia †
• Caecilia † (Offscreen)
• 40 Roman people †
• House Slaves
• Ashur
• Aurelia* (Temporary)
• At least 15 slaves* (Temporary)

Slaves Side:

• House Slaves
• At least 10 slaves
• Mira
• Santos
• Euclid
• Camila
• Aurelia
• Gladiators
• Spartacus' Support
• Agron
• Duro † 
• Hamilcar †
• Crixus' Support
• All the Gauls. At least 20- 30 Gladiators
• Oenomaus* (Eventually joins with Crixus)
• Rabanus
• The Veteran
• Pollux
• Rhaskos
• Leviticus
• Ortius
• Liscus (mentioned only)

Massacre

The start of the massacre by Spartacus.

Initially, the party was coming to a close with the long awaited match between Spartacus and Crixus. It isn't until Crixus realizes that he is weakening that he has been poisoned. After this, Crixus propels Spartacus into the Villa where Spartacus attempts to kill Batiatus only to kill Sextus who had been pushed in the way by Batiatus. Ashur is accidentally pulled down into the Ludus by the dead Magistrate. Spartacus then again tries to kill Batiatus only to be stopped Doctore who swings his whip catching spartacus' arm preventing from moving and allowing batitaus to escape inside the ludus. Crixus then cuts the whip freeing Spartacus who jumps onto the balcony as doctore falls into the sand. 

Crixus inspires the gladiators to rebel.

Crixus then orders the gladiators to Kill Them All, speaking of the guards and roman soldiers in the ludus. Rhaskos leads the charge and the gladiator ram through the defense. The gladiators and soldiers battle with many of the gladiators quickly grabbing the shackle keys to free themselves making an even fight. The soldiers easily fall, giving the gladiators more weapons, but many gladiators are killed, especially by the Roman mercenary Iovis, who then tries to kill Crixus but is struck down when Oenomaus throws his sword, killing him instantly. The battle slows down as one last Roman soldier stabs Duro but is then fell by Agron in the end. Duro dies in his brother's arms to the latter's sadness.

The gladiators kill the soldiers

In the villa, Spartacus cleaves through Batiatus' men with only a single sword and a free hand. Inside, Batiatus attempts to calm the Romans and secure the area with what guards they have left. In the lower levels of the ludus, Mira opens the Villa gates which allows the gladiators to charge inside. The gladiators begin killing the Roman people and soldiers.

Ilithyia sealing the doors.

Elsewhere Ilithyia leaves the villa with three of Glaber's guards, ordering them to lock the villa doors from the outside, leaving her fellow Romans to die including the former magistrate's wife Aemilia.

Batiatus takes a sword and defends himself against one of the gladiators, successfully killing the man after the gladiator kills Domitia. Batiatus then orders for his wife, Numerius and Aurelia to flee as he goes on to fight against the gladiators. Lucretia tells Numerius and Aurelia to conceal themselves as she looks for Batiatus. 

Crixus finds Lucretia, demanding the whereabouts of Naevia as she requests he allow her and Quintus to escape for the information. Distrusting her, he backs her into a pillar as she mention she carries his child but he replies he would rather see it dead than be raised by her as he stabs her in the womb killing the unborn baby and mortally wounding her.

Oenomaus confronts Ashur in the bath house over the death of Barca before tossing him a sword after the latter mentions the dishonor of killing an unarmed man. After a short battle where uninjured Oenomaus easily bests him, Ashur reveals that everything from Barca's death to the party was all his doing as Oenomaus states it is his treachery. However, Ashur responds by stating that everything he's done is because of the mistreatment he received over the years. Oenomaus tells Ashur he got what he deserved and his time is up, agreeing Ashur begs for a gladiator's death as a parting kindness. With his back to Oenomaus who readies to finish him however, Ashur quickly stabs his former teacher in the leg with a strigil and runs away from the enraged Oenomaus. Oenomaus screams Ashur's name as he goes through the ludus and doesn't notice ashur who hid himself under the dead bodies of Roman soldiers and escapes with his life.

Numerius is killed by Aurelia.

Aurelia and Numerius are left alone as she questions if he ordered Varro's death as he (not knowing she is Varro's widow) casually confirms it. After learning about the true cause of Varro's death, Aurelia attacks and kills Numerius with a knife, to avenge her late husband. Spartacus finds her stabbing the dead numerius and consoles as Oenomaus walks in horrified and asks "Is this not enough ?! How many more must die?! Spartacus replies "I would see but one". 

Spartacus kills Batiatus.

In the end, Batiatus is surrounded by all his slaves and remains defiant before Lucretia enters the room and collapses because of her wound from Crixus. Batiatus tries to reach his wounded wife but is confronted by Spartacus who taunts him which leads to a brief scuffle and sharing some words.

Batiatus throws aside his sword and states that Spartacus was nothing without him as he gave him everything and the means to accept his fate. Spartacus replied that is what destroyed him and cuts Batiatus' neck open, killing his former master and letting him fall beside his dying wife.

The gladiators and the slaves finally leave The House of Batiatus forever, and begin their rebellion against Rome.

Results

• All of Batiatus' guards killed.
• All but three, including Vesper, of Glaber's guards killed.
• Ilithyia escapes.

  

  Spartacus, Gladiators and Slaves leaving the Ludus.

• Almost all Roman attendees killed, including Batiatus.
• Minor gladiator casualties (including Hamilcar and Duro).
• Spartacus and Crixus lead the gladiators and slaves away from the ludus to live a free life.
• Lucretia survives and is helped by Ashur who then leaves for a short time.
• Ilithyia plots with Glaber to use the role of Praetor to gain favor with the Roman Republic.
• Beginning of the Third Servile War.

Historical context

Historically, there was said to be another, or at least two other attempts by the rebels to escape Batiatus' ludus, with one of the slaves informing one of the guards, or Batiatus himself. Reasons for this betrayal could come down to a few reasons:

• This slave was perhaps not a slave, but a citizen who had given over his service for coin or glory, such as Varro had, and so would not have supported the rebel cause.
• A slave too loyal to Batiatus.
• This slave feared the resulting bloodshed to end in defeat, and fearing Batiatus himself being killed, they would otherwise all be killed, as is Roman law (in that, if a slave kills his or her master, all of the other slaves that Roman owns would be put to death)

Around 200 gladiators and slaves began the escape, with only around 78-80 surviving.