Gladiator – Fight for Freedom

Title : Gladiator – Fight for Freedom

Author: Simom Scarrow.

Main characters: Marcus, Titus, Amaratis (Livia), Decimus, Pompeius, Spartacus, Gaius Julius Caesar, Portia, Porcino, Brixus, Phyrus, Pelleneus, Spiro, Taurus, Amatus and Ferax.

Description of one of the main characters: Titus is a centurian working for Rome under Pompeius, the Great. He pretends to be the father of Marcus. He borrows a lot of money from Decimus that he couldn’t return it. So Titus is killed by Decimus’s men, and Marcus and his mother, Livia, are taken as slaves. Titus is a kind and fair man. He was centurion of the 17^th century. He fought on Rome’s side and during the slave’s revolt. He once saved Pompeius’s life.

Whom I like and why: I like Phyrus. He is strong and bulky. When Phyrus was a little boy he was sold to an Athenian woman as a household slave. He is originally from Rhodes, not Athens. Phyrus is kind and soft. He hates Ferax as Ferax is a bully. Phyrus likes Marcus and Pelleneus very much.

Whom I dislike and why: I dislike Ferax as he is a bully. Ferax is a huge celt. He is strong. He is the sworn enemy of Marcus. He gets defeated, in front of Gaius Julius Caesar and Caesar’s family, by Marcus. After that he is teased by the class by calling him ‘mouse bait’(he is nicknamed 'mouse bait' as he is spared from death by Marcus).

Setting/theme of the story: A eleven year old boy, named Marcus stays with his father, Titus a centurian who faought under Pompeius in the slave revolt, in a farm. Titus borrows too much money from Decimus, so Decimus's men kill Titus and take Marcus and his mother Livia as slaves. Marcus escapes and his mother gets caught. He travels from Dyrrhacium to Brundicium in a ship named Fairwind. While travelling, a lanista named Porcino buys him as a slave for a hundred and fifty denarii. Marcus is taken to a gladiator school and is trained to be a gadiator. He gets a celt enemy named Ferax. Amatus trains Marcus very well. One day when Gaius Julius Caesar comes with his family to look at the Gladiator school, Ferax and Marcus are in a deadly fight. One of the Caesar’s family members sees it and wants it as a special programme. During the fight in the arena, Marcus defats Ferax. Caesar orders Marcus to fight with wolves. Marcus fights with wolves and while trying to kill them, Caesar’s niece, Portia, falls into the arena. Marcus saves her by killing the wolves. So, Julius Caesar decides to make Marcus as Portia’s body guard. While travelling from the Gladiator’s school to Rome, Brixus, one of the slaves who had escaped from Porcino’s house met Marcus. Brixus had always been Marcus’s favorite. Marcus knew that Brixus had fought in the slave revolt supporting the slaves. While they meet Brixus tells Marcus that Marcus is Spartacus’s son and not Titus’s son. Though Marcus didn't want to believe the news, he knows whatever Brixus said was true. Marcus was born a slave and is a slave.

Part I enjoyed the most: I enjoyed the part when Marcus fights all the men on the Fairwind single handedly to get a loaf of bread.