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Chapter 795: 795

Chapter 795: Amphitheatrum Flavium

Seeing the intimate conversation between Zhang Heng and Lucilla, the other gladiators were envious of him .

After all, she was the most respectable and powerful woman in the entire Roman Empire . Although she hat hit her early thirties, Lucilla’s face and figure were well maintained . Although some gladiators were somewhat hesitant to sell their bodies, no one would be able to resist it if the woman was Lucilla .

However, Zhang Heng was careful while dealing with the beauty in front of him . And the reason was simple . According to history, Lucilla would be involved in the assassination of her brother, Commodus, in a little over a year’s time .

The later generations were puzzled by the assassination . Lucilla was the former emperor’s daughter, the current emperor’s sister, and the only blood relative of Commodus . She had everything that she could ever ask for . The assassination that she led did not bring many benefits to her .

And in terms of planning, there were many flaws . For example, she did not include her husband in her plan . One should know that the latter was a powerful figure in the military, and if he were included in her plan, she would have a way out of whether the plan succeeded or failed . Her husband Pompeo Nuss, however, was kept in the dark from beginning to end . Lucilla chose her cousin Omidius Kuvatratos to work with her .

The latter was a senator, his position in the senate second only to Dior . He also had influences on more than one hundred seats . Technically speaking, he was indeed very influential in the political field . However, the assassination plan that came up by him and Lucilla was not that great .

The two hired Quintianus, Pompo Nuss’ nephew, as the killer . This was also the biggest mistake of the whole plan . This man was an absolute idiot . Before executing the plan, he spoke to Commodus and shouted, “The senate wants you dead…”

As a result, he alarmed the nearby guards, and they caught him red-handed . And he did not manage to survive the cruel interrogation . During the interrogation, he told Commodus that Omidius and Lucilla were the masterminds of this assassination . After that, one of them was executed, and the other, exiled to Capri Island and executed not long after that . This was also the real reason why Zhang Heng did not want to be close to Lucilla .

Not only was this woman a lunatic, but she was also brainless . Getting too close to her would most likely result in him getting dragged into her problem . That being said, after Zhang Heng talked to her for a while, he figured that Lucilla might not be as stupid as how history described her . On the contrary, this woman was actually very smart and somewhat unpredictable . These characteristics suited her identity more .

She was, after all, the daughter of the former emperor, married to the emperor, and a powerful figure in the military in two separate marriages . All this while, she had been staying at the top of power . How could such a woman be stupid?

Zhang Heng could not figure out why she planned that stupid assassination more than a year later . That was why Zhang Heng did not want to have anything to do with this woman .

The dinner lasted until late at night . In addition to the gladiator display, there was singing, dancing, and bard recitations . The thing that happened after that had nothing to do with the gladiators . Considering that the gladiatorial battle would begin tomorrow, all the gladiators returned to where they stayed after visiting the place . They needed to recharge and prepare for tomorrow’s battle .

…

Early the following day, before dawn, Zhang Heng, Bach, and others were awake, and they took a donkey cart to the Amphitheatrum Flavium, where the gladiatorial battle was performed . In the future, the people could only admire the remains of the Amphitheatrum Flavium . Half of the outer ring structure had been destroyed, and only some arch ribs made of bricks and weeds all over the ground inside remained . The tourists that visited this place would imagine the past glory that happened in this building . Right now, Zhang Heng was standing under it, looking up at the complete Amphitheatrum Flavium .

Spectacular! This was everyone’s first impression when they saw this building .

The early morning sun shone on the gold-plated bronze Nero statue . Reflecting the light, it looked like it was shining bright . The bronze statue was located in the center of the square, where it was filled with colorful flags . And behind it was the Amphitheatrum Flavium that looked like a great mountain .

The Flaviam Amphitheater consisted of four floors, with a height of forty to fifty meters . The bottom three floors had huge arcades . Statues of different looks were in the arcades, and each statue was bigger than the statues in Dior’s front hall . Besides, countless shields and ribbons were hung at the arches as if welcoming the heroes that had claimed victory from the war .

Of course, the most attractive thing was the top of the Amphitheatrum Flavium . A bunch of poles was inserted there, at least hundreds of them . These poles were tied with long cables and propped up the giant circle at least one hundred meters above the ground . Tarps made of thin linen cloth were placed on top of this giant circle, creating a huge cover to shade the spectators from the sun .

Considering its size, the roof alone weighed at least twenty to thirty tons . In order to control the height of the roof, the empire had to mobilize a thousand well-trained sailors to do it .

The stones used to build the arena had been transported from the Albraille quarry in the outskirts of Rome . Each piece had an astonishing weight . During that time, the Romans adopted some really extreme methods to build the arches . Unlike the pyramids, the Amphitheatrum Flavium was hollow, and its skeleton was like a bridge, supporting each other . More than two thousand years had passed, and it still magically stood strong .

Interestingly, the Bernabéu Stadium could only accommodate eighty-thousand people, and the Amphitheatrum Flavium that was built two thousand years ago could accommodate ninety-thousand people .

“No wonder they called it the gladiator’s temple,” Bach murmured . “You have to admit that these Romans are quite good at construction,” the Germanic complimented his enemies reluctantly .

It was still early in the morning, and no spectators had entered the arena yet . One could imagine how grand the scene was when this arena was completely filled with people . While fighting under the watchful eyes of ninety-thousand people, the not-so-brave gladiators would feel their calves and stomachs trembling . As long as one claimed the victory, the winner could enjoy the waves of cheering from tens of thousands of excited audience .

Such a sight made the gladiators feel extremely excited just by thinking about it .

In fact, this did not just apply to the two newcomers like Zhang Heng and Bach . Even the veteran gladiators like Habitus were in awe when he saw the Amphitheatrum Flavium . A series of desires flashed through his eyes . Except for Zhang Heng, no gladiator could resist the temptation of fame and fortune .

It had been more than a year since Sethnets retired, and although the gladiator school had pushed out many powerful newcomers during this time, it was still impossible to create a second Sethnets . Not even Sartonilos could recreate Sethnets’s legendary achievements . And now, every gladiator was presented the fair opportunity of becoming the best gladiator in Rome .

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