#celadus

Achillia and Celadus in episode 8

I really hope that he's not the one receiving the sword on the neck in the preview for the next episode.

I can’t wait to see what unfolds in the next few episodes. Alliances shift, allies forming and breaking, murders committed but possibly arranged by other hands.

So after Achillia’s hard won victory against Proculus’s champion she spends the whole episode lingering in a life or death state and we learn a bit more about her past and why she’s so haunted. Reading between the lines of her comatose memories I think Achillia was a spear maiden/warrior of her village and those men she was fighting had burned the village and were carrying off her younger sister. Then in the worst twist of fate her sister breaks free from their grasp only to be recaptured just as Achillia hurls her spear, impaling her sister and the marauder. So tragic, reminded me of Vengeance when Spartacus dodged an axe thrown by a Roman and it hit Mira who was standing behind him. Now the Goddess of Death lives to fight another day.

I also loved that Ashur threw the medicus off the cliff for suggesting amputating Achillia’s hand. I’m gonna guess at least 2-3 more people end up at the bottom of the cliff before the season ends. The Greek medicus was a brilliant replacement, hope he sticks around. I knew Viridia would know Greek and translate for Ashur.

Oh Caesar’s wife Cornelia is a sly one indeed. She humiliates Ashur at every turn and acts like she owns everything she sees, I love her as another antagonist. I actually thought Messia would report back to Ashur about the scheming she overheard between Cornelia and Cossutia but she seems to want to keep to herself. I laughed that no one knows what title to call Cornelia since she’s not the domina of the House but she’s a high status Roman and the slaves can hardly call her by her first name. I do find it odd that she didn’t come to Capua with her own body slave or even any slaves at all. She’s making moves to use Cossutia and Viridia to shore up support for her husband and Crassus against Pompey, but Viridia isn’t the wallflower she was when first introduced and Gabinius isn’t so easily manipulated especially when it comes to his beloved daughter.

As for Viridia she seems to want to be Capua’s first feminist now. She clearly fancies Ashur and might even want to marry him which would spit in the eye of proper Roman customs and probably give her mother a heart attack. Maybe her and Ashur could be the new Capua power couple, twice as ruthless and ambitious as Lucretia and Batiatus. I couldn’t tell whether she was fascinated by Achillia or wanted to f*ck her, I’m still not sure, maybe both. Ashur and Achillia have made her want to shun the patriarchy of Rome and blaze her own path, whatever shape that will take.

The drama continues in the ludus with Tarchon still clamouring to take the title of champion from Achillia and Celadus being the only one to back her up and show genuine concern. I wonder if he’s lost heart to Achillia. Tarchon is still being annoying and full of himself, he gets beaten in the contest for temporary champion by his father but earns the title by default since Celadus is being promoted to Doctore in Korris’s absence. To quote Titus Batiatus “the man claims credit owed his betters.”

Poor Korris thought he was sailing off into the sunset with his toy boy, only for him to be brutally murdered by the brothers Ferox. The way Proculus always has those 3 with him wherever he goes and uses them to threaten and assault his enemies is reminiscent of Batiatus using Barca as his bodyguard/assassin. Also the rivalry with Ashur and Proculus is like Batiatus and Silonius back in the day only with less subterfuge. I do wonder if Ashur actually set Opiter up to be killed. Ashur boasted to Proculus about not needing any alliance with him because Opiter was giving him his ludus, gladiators and villa for free so he could disappear to Cilicia with Korris, which would fuck up his prospects in the games and give Ashur a towering advantage over him. I wonder if the deed of transfer went through and Ashur gets to keep all of Opiter’s gladiators as well as keeping a grieving, vengeful Korris close at hand. That seems a very Lucretia way of getting what you want and Ashur learned from the best.

The political intrigue keeps going with Caesar and his wife trying to manipulate Gabinius to abandon Pompey, Ashur finding an ally in Gabinius through their shared love of Viridia and Cossutia being seduced to side with Caesar and Cornelia.