Gladiator Page #6

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Titus glances quickly to Gallus, whose hand is bandaged

from surgery. They know this cannot be true.

COMMODUS:

Until his promised return I

appointed Quintus Domitian to serve

in his stead. I salute you,

Legionnaires!

QUINTUS:

(raising his sword)

Hail, Caesar!

The Felix Regiment responds, many unsure.

FELIX REGIMENT:

Hail, Caesar!

Commodus strides off and the Felix Regiment slowly

disbands, muttering to one another in confusion.

Titus and Gallus go to Quintus.

TITUS:

Quintus, what is -- ?

QUINTUS:

(firmly)

Don't speak of it. Never speak of

it.

He stalks off. Titus and Gallus, concerned, watch him

follow after Commodus.

INT. MAXIMUS' TENT - DAY

Lucilla stands in Maximus' tent. She looks around. She

gently touches his Lorica Segmentata. Her fingertips move

along the contours of his armor. She tries to retain her

neutral demeanor.

She notes his "ancestors" on the small alter.

EXT. HILLSIDE - NIGHT

Maximus continues to gallop, he is on a different horse.

He leads only two horses now.

EXT. VINEYARD - DAY

Maximus' home in Spain is beautiful beyond measure.

We see verdant farmlands and vineyards and a spacious

house nestled amid gently rolling hills.

Maximus' eight-year-old SON is in a paddock playing with

his pony. He stops, sees something. Over a hill, he can

just glimpse a battle flag, approaching.

He screams with joy and runs toward the flag as he calls:

MAXIMUS' SON

MOTHER! MOTHER! FATHER'S HOME!

Maximus' WIFE emerges from the house, drying her hands on

a cloth and smiles.

Maximus' Son races toward the flag. He can just see the

soldiers beginning to appear over the hill. Not a Roman

Legion at all. Twenty Praetorians canter over the hill.

Maximus' Son stops, confused.

EXT. OLIVE GROVE - DAY

Maximus is galloping up a hill, leading only one horse

now. The horse he is on is exhausted, spent, foam coats

its neck. It can't make it.

The horse collapses and Maximus falls. He immediately

leaps onto the remaining horse and continues riding up the

hill.

EXT. HILLS AROUND VINEYARD - SUNSET

Maximus is racing over the countryside, galloping in a

frenzy. His wound is bleeding profusely, coating the side

of his horse.

He rears the horse to a stop for a moment. Over a hill he

can see thick black smoke rising. He spurs the horse and

gallops over the hill...

EXT. VINEYARD - SUNSET

And his worst nightmares are realized.

His home and his vineyards have been destroyed. The earth

has been scorched and his house is still smoldering. He

rides up to the house and practically falls off the horse.

He pulls himself up and walks past the smoldering debris

of his house, fearing what he knows he will find.

He sees the bodies of servants scattered about in the

ruins. He sees a Praetorian battle flag.

He continues on, his wound bleeding more with every

tortured step. He finally stops. He stares up.

His wife and his son have been crucified and burnt. They

are nothing more than grotesquely twisted, charred shapes.

Maximus instantly collapses to his knees -- he howls out

his torment in a heartrending keen of despair as he coats

his face in the ashes of his dead world. He sinks into

unconsciousness, praying for death.

EXT. VINEYARD - DAY

An unusual jingling sound is heard. Maximus appears to be

dead, his gaping wound beginning to fester.

The source of the jingling becomes clear when we see the

feet of Bedouin brigands, with delicate anklets, shuffling

around him. A hand touches his sandals. Rich sandals.

Another touches his tunic. Good cloth.

Suddenly Maximus groans. The hands stop. He's alive. A

bit of quick language in an unknown tongue.

Then the hands grab Maximus and drag him away.

EXT. SLAVE WAGON TRAIN - DAY

Maximus' eyes slowly open --

Inches away from his face -- a lion roars --

Maximus lurches back.

He looks around to realize he is in a filthy slave wagon.

Three other wagons slowly move over the desert landscape.

Exotic animals are caged in pens or led alongside the

wagons:
lions, panthers, zebras, a giraffe. A dozen

slaves are chained together alongside sacks of spices and

other cargo. Bedouin slave traders jabber in a surreal

babel of foreign tongues.

And someone is looking at him. JUBA, a striking African,

is gazing at him impassively as he chews something. Juba

is also chained.

MAXIMUS:

(weakly)

Am I in Hades?

JUBA:

Yes.

Juba spits what he has been chewing into his hands and

moves to Maximus.

JUBA:

For your wound...

Maximus stares at him.

JUBA:

(nods)

For your wound.

Maximus looks down -- the bloody wound at his side.

Juba carefully places his poultice over the wound --

Maximus hisses in pain -- Juba massages the poultice into

the wound gently as:

JUBA:

If you die in the wagons they feed

you to the lions... The lions are

worth more than we are. I think we

are worth more than the zebras

though. So they don't feed us to

them.

Maximus stares at him. Juba looks down at him with the

barest hint of a smile.

JUBA:

I'm not sure about the giraffe.

EXT. SLAVE MARKET - DAY

The heat of Morocco is unlike anything Maximus has ever

known. Shimmering heat waves undulate over the sand.

The provincial market is bustling like the proverbial

anthill. Slave traders and dealers and merchants move

around, all talking very quickly and very emphatically.

Maximus, Juba and a number of other slaves are on display,

poked and prodded and fondled. Their BEDOUIN SLAVE TRADER

sings out their praises to any passers.

The crowd parts almost magically for the dramatic arrival

of PROXIMO. Proximo is a large man of immense appetites.

He has the ferocious appearance of a true pirate. Two

slaves follow behind him and impotently swat at flies with

switches.

SLAVE TRADER:

Proximo, my old friend, see what I

have for you today -- !

Proximo SLAMS a fist into the Slave Trader's face. The

Slave Trader sails back.

PROXIMO:

Those giraffes you sold me won't

mate! All they do is run around not

mating! YOU SOLD ME EUNUCH

GIRAFFES!!

The Slave Trader pulls himself up, hugely obsequious.

SLAVE TRADER:

I will make it up to you, Master.

It's bargain day for you! Look,

look, look -- I have two lions and a

panther -- hear how they roar for

you! "Bring me home, Proximo!"

Proximo examines the animals.

PROXIMO:

How much for the lot?

SLAVE TRADER:

For you -- 8,000 sesterces.

PROXIMO:

For me -- 6,000 sesterces and I want

to see their balls first. And you

throw in those two slaves.

SLAVE TRADER:

(moves to Maximus)

What about this one? Look at the

arms!

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