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Men of Honor
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Season 3
Number Episode 03
Date Aired February 8, 2013
Writer Brent Fletcher
Director John Fawcett
Guests Adam Gardiner (Mummius)
Previous Wolves at the Gate
Next Decimation

"Men of Honor" is the third episode of Spartacus: War of the Damned. It is the thirty-second episode of the Spartacus series overall.

Plot Outline

Spartacus considers striking a deal with a band of marauders to ensure his people stay supplied and fed. Crassus' son Tiberius makes a bold and fateful decision.

Synopsis

In the aftermath of taking Sinuessa, Spartacus is trying to keep things running smoothly and treat their captives humanely but there are a lot of obstacles and difficulties.

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Spartacus with Gannicus, Saxa and the other Rebels.

The rebels, fueled by hate and vengeance treat the surviving, innocent, Romans with disgust and mercilessly grieve them to the point that they are stealing from them, mocking them, terrorizing them and in one sequence pitting them against one another in battles to the death like the ones in the Arena. Crixus sets up a utterly unjust fight between an unskilled baker and another man for a mere scrap of bread. Even though the baker comes out on top in an upset, when it looks like he might attack Crixus, Naevia slices his hand open. Gannicus, Attius, Sibyl, and Nasir seem alone in the chanting crowd to be disgusted by this pitting of the men against each other. Crixus sees it as payback for what was done to them, but even Gannicus knows this kind of cruelty as revenge is hollow. Also upset by this Attius, the blacksmith wonders why it is the Romans who are the villains, yet the Rebels are no better in their actions when they themselves are committing equally atrocious acts.

When Crixus asks Naevia whether Ulpianus was reaching for the bread or sword she confesses to Crixus that she didn't consider if he was after the bread. When Crixus tells her that the baker didn't seem the kind of man to kill a man while his back is turned she explains that she went to work in a house where an apparently mild-mannered man would repeatedly rape her viciously with tools and then present an innocent face to his family the next day. She confesses this is why she doesn't trust most men, but has even less trust for those who put on a "kind face".

Meanwhile, Spartacus and Donar look into the food supply. Donar informs Spartacus that they are falling low and they only have a few weeks of food left.

Caesar and Tiberius arrive at an Roman encampment to meet one of Tiberius's officers, Mummius. Mummius basically ignores Tiberius in favor of Caesar, walking away with him as they discus old battles, pouting that he is the leader. He tells Caesar to head back to Crassus and tell them they're going to investigate Sinuessa.

Soon, a band of pirates led by one known as Heracleo arrive in the city. He and his men offer a trade of sorts. They

Heracleo S3E03

Heracleo, arriving in Sinuessa en Valle.

also hate the Romans and take the "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" approach. It turns out that the Aedile in Sinuessa had given the pirates his official seal to operate their black market. If Spartacus will give him the seal and a substantial sum of Roman coin they agree to make sure the rebels have supplies. Spartacus and his council are, understandably, wary but come to an agreement with the pirates. Once this is done they have a enjoy celebration of drink, having been brought by Heracleo in recognition of his taking the Roman city.

Spartacus frees Laeta, hoping she will help tend to the surviving citizens by calming and feeding them as Spartacus promises equal share of rations for the captives. He offers to let her stay in her old villa, now taken over as Spartacus' headquarters, but she objects saying she wants to stay in her deceased husband's old stables so as not to arouse suspicion from her people.

During the celebration, one of the pirates, Castus flirts with Nasir and Agron becomes jealous. This results in a fight between Agron and Castus. Donar attempts to stop the fight but Agron persists and before he can do anything further he is ordered against it by Spartacus.

Agron leaves angered but later reconciles with Nasir as they reaffirm their love for one another and spend the rest of the night intimately in each other's arms.

Saxa notes that a young woman, Sibyl of the city has taken a shine to Gannicus. It turns out she was a slave and he killed her master, Laurus and wants to thank him. Saxa thinks this means she wants to thank

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Sibyl, comforted by Gannicus.

him...physically, and tarts her up for a three way. But Gannicus, shows some real character and tells the girl she is too young and should not keep company with men like him so instead he lies with Saxa alone.

The next morning they set off to meet the pirates on the beach for the trade. It doesn't feel quite right though when Heracleo says they don't have all the supplies with them because they need to sail in to port to offload them.

The pirates meeting with Spartacus on the beach is spotted by Tiberius and his soldiers. He tells the general to get his men ready to attack. Sabinus points out that his father said to do recon only, not to engage. Tiberius retorts that his father respects a fighter and he aims to be one.

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Battle outside Sinuessa.

As negotiations between the pirates and rebels appear to fall through, Heracleo offers to part ways before a spear goes through one rebel. Gannicus announces they've been betrayed, Spartacus grabs Heracleo who quickly states this wasn't his hand. The groups then see the romans led by Tiberius advance on the party on the beach and everyone springs into action. The rebels and pirates united despite the recent tension and begin to successfully fight off the Romans. Heracleo saves Spartacus from being killed after he is knocked to the ground by a Roman. Just as the Rebels believe they have the upper hand, a large contingent of Roman soldiers makes its way towards the battle. Seeing that they are outnumbered, Heracleo sends up a signal and, suddenly, from his ships come barreling firebombs, destroying the horde of Roman soldiers who promptly retreat. Tiberius is injured seriously by Totus but manages to kill the rebel before he is taken from the field by Sabinus. This victory ignites the rebels and pirates to agree to their pact.

Meanwhile, back in the city, Naevia has heard some of the captives are on the run and believes that Attius the blacksmith is helping them. She goes to his shop and, without evidence or provocation, attacks him which results into a vicious brawl. He shows skill in the fight and disarms her but Naevia ends up beating his face in with

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Naevia and Nemetes.

one of his hammer-type tools. She reveals this rage to be sprung by him just being Roman and compares him to others that mistreated her.

When questioned as to why an attack by the Romans had occurred, Naevia uses this as an opportunity to blame Attius and as a justification for his death. While Crixus and Agron agree to this both Spartacus and Gannicus express uncertainty with Gannicus especially showing suspicion towards what happened.

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Ulpianus getting bread from Laeta.

Under one of the stables where Laeta is staying is a secret trap door. There she is hiding and abetting in the escape of some her fellow citizens, including Ulpianus, his wife and others.

Characters in Order of Appearance

  1. Spartacus
  2. Crixus
  3. Gannicus
  4. Agron
  5. Naevia
  6. Nasir
  7. Saxa
  8. Donar
  9. Lugo
  10. Nemetes
  11. Tiberius
  12. Caesar
  13. Laeta
  14. Sibyl
  15. Attius
  16. Totus
  17. Sanus
  18. Heracleo
  19. Castus
  20. Mummius

Historical Context

Crassus sent Marcus Mummius, one of his Tribunes to scout out and track Spartacus' movements with two combined Legions, and was given strict orders to not engage in open battle with the rebels. Instead, Mummius became confident that his forces could defeat the rebels in open combat, and engaged them in battle near the city of Ariminum, leading to Spartacus' only victory against Crassus. Mummius and his forces were forced to flee from battle, leaving much of their equipment behind as a spoil of war.

It is unknown exactly when or where the rebels first contacted the Cilician Pirates. While Heracleo is known as a historical leader of the pirates, it is unknown if he was the Pirate leader who negotiated deals with Spartacus himself. It is more likely that an envoy was sent to negotiate instead, as many rebels in Spartacus ranks had no doubt been kidnapped and enslaved by the pirates to begin with.

Quotes

Preview

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Spartacus War of the Damned Episode 3 Preview

Preview of the episode

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