| Nileus | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
| First appearance | S2E06: Chosen Path | |
| Last appearance | S2E10: Wrath of the Gods | |
| Profession | Assassin | |
| Race | Syrian | |
| Relationships | Glaber (Employer, deceased) Ashur (Leader, deceased) Abrax (Ally, deceased) The Egyptian (Ally, deceased) Danus (Ally, deceased) Fimbria (Ally, deceased) | |
| Status | Deceased (Killed by Rebels) | |
| Actor/Actress | Steven Gray | |
Nileus is a mercenary and member of Ashur's Group. He is a minor antagonist in Vengeance.
Character Outline[]
Nileus is a muscular man who fights with a single gladius. He wears a chainmail helmet and is menacing in appearance with a beast-like gaze.
Combat Prowess[]
Arguably the member of Ashur's mercenaries that appears the least on screen, little is known about Nileus' fighting style and skill. He favors a gladius in battle, and is briefly seen fighting Agron during the parley between the Rebels and Glaber. Even though he bests the German, he is unable to kill him.
Later, during the battle of Vesuvius temple, he briefly engages Crixus (in the background, while Oenomaus is fighting the The Egyptian), but is easily kicked away by the former champion.
Vengeance[]
Nileus is first seen with Ashur and his group when they are freeing The Egyptian from the Capuan prison. Later, at the slaughter of Seppius's house, he is seen pursuing a fleeing slave before brutally stabbing her to death with his gladius.
Although at first hesitant to hire a group of mercenaries, Glaber soon embraces their violent methods. When he decides to punish Ilithyia by crucifying her body slave, Nileus holds down her arm while Abrax nails it in. He is next seen in the Capua Bar & Brothel, while Ashur's group is questioning people in the hopes of determining Gannicus's location. Nileus revels in the opportunity to torture the occupants of the brothel, and is shown in Ashur's flashback holding a man against a beam while Fimbria snaps the mans arm open.
When Glaber leads Ashur's group in a wagon supposedly filled with weapons that is to be exhanged for his wife, Ilithyia, Nileus is among the men to burst from the wagon and attack the first rebel he finds, Agron. He bests the German, parrying his attacks and punching him in the face, but is forced to take cover under the wagon from Mira's arrow fire, after which Spartacus and the rebels escape.
After driving Spartacus and his rebels into hiding, Ashur's group attempts to take the temple. Nileus attacks Crixus and they appear fairly matched, yet Crixus manages to kick him to the ground before escaping. He is next seen when the group springs up to aid Ashur in confronting Glaber and the Roman soldiers. However, when Glaber offers the group 1000 denarii each Nileus is quick to change his allegiance, along with the rest of the group, and decides to follow Glaber alone.
In his last moments. Nileus is charging towards the rebels in the final battle. He is killed off-screen by the Rebels.
Trivia[]
- Nileus is played by stuntman Stephen Grey.
- Stephen Gray, is later seen as a member of the Roman army in War of the Damned, ripping a Rebels arm off during the celebration after the successful retaking of Sinuessa.
- Nileus is the least-showcased among the members of Ashur's Group, in comparison to the Egyptian and the other mercenaries; Nileus' death scene isn't even shown.
- Nileus was possibly killed by one of prominent Rebels.
- A mercenary in Latin was Mercennarius, meaning "hireling".
- The Latin word for an assassin would be Sicarius, which literally means "dagger man".
- Though Syrian, the name Nileus appears to be Greek. This perhaps due to the dominant Hellenistic culture of the Seleucid state in Syria prior to the Roman conquest in 63 BCE.