Episode 4 of the Starz alternate history drama series Spartacus: House of Ashur finally presents a fantastic opportunity for the protagonist to have his house participate in the gladiator fight at the Ludi Apollinares. But before that, he has to take a number of measures, like pushing Korris some more to gain favors from Opiter, as first seen in the previous episode, while also preparing for a special visit at his house. House of Ashur episode 4 also features a change in dynamics inside the ludus at the house of Ashur, which might have more significant consequences later on in the season.
Spoiler Alert
Is Achillia perceived any differently now?
At the end of the previous episode, Achillia had been branded with the seal of the House of Ashur to make her an official gladiator of the ludus. Ashur had seemingly done this only to prove in front of his other warriors that Achillia is very much a part of the house now and that they must all stand by her in victory and in defeat. But the manner in which she is perceived by the others hardly changes, as the other gladiators still consider the woman unworthy and keep her away from their brotherly bond. Since the house has been preparing for a situation where Achillia will have to fight the Ferox Brothers sometime soon, she is now made to face three gladiators during the training sessions. Achillia, who had been struggling long to take down even one opponent, now naturally cannot deal with three fighters at the same time, and keeps losing in the training sessions.
Achillia still faces humiliation, even at the hands of Ashur himself, who relieves himself close to the spot where she lies after losing in a training fight, as he is used to doing to any of his other gladiators. As Korris is still away from the ludus because of the injuries he sustained in the attack on him at the end of the previous episode, Celadus continues to play the role of the Doctore at the ludus, and he was already seen noticing and looking at Achillia a bit more than usual. Now, he decides to support the woman a bit more directly, as he joins her while she eats all by herself during the training break and also then gives her some very important advice. Celadus is quick in pointing out that she will have a really tough time facing the Ferox Brothers, who are extremely fierce and well-choreographed in all their attacks.
However, the gladiators Achillia has been facing at the ludus do not possess the same skill as the Ferox Brothers, and although defeating them will surely not prepare her for the real battle, it will at least give her a much-needed morale boost. Celadus then goes even further in helping her by devising a strategy for her to follow. Since the fighters all have similar styles and forms, Celadus tells Achillia to defeat his son, Tarchon, first, which will then automatically help her bring the two others down. As the training resumes, Achillia follows this strategy and uses all her might to momentarily take down the two others so that she can concentrate on stopping Tarchon first. The strategy turns out to be an effective one, and as soon as Tarchon is defeated, the two others also fall.
A gladiator always takes a defeat as almost the end of the world, be it in an actual fight or in the training arena, as they are shamed and ridiculed by their mates for the loss. Tarchon’s situation is even worse, as he has just been bested by Achillia, whom he and most others consider a mere woman with no strength or intelligence to be a gladiator. He also figures out that his father had helped her massively, and had even made the strategy for her to defeat him in front of everyone, which is a matter of great shame. Tarchon confronts Celadus, but the latter sticks to his point, saying that as the doctor of the ludus, he does not care about personal relations and biases. He is supposed to treat all the gladiators equally, and so he had chosen to help Achillia boost her confidence and morale. He also advises his son to stop seeing her as just a woman, and instead as a fellow warrior, and Tarchon ultimately seems convinced to be even harsher against Achillia. Whether this is actually the case or if he has changed his stance towards her for the better will be seen in the next episode, along with the effect this might have on the other warriors at the ludus.
What does Opiter want with Korris?
Cossutia visits Opiter’s house early in House of Ashur episode 4 to get pleasured by one of his slaves, when Opiter talks about the recent attack in the market, possibly carried out by the Cilician pirates, as is believed by most. Cossutia obviously does not delve into the matter much, and states that she did not know who Fides was, even though it was she herself who had killed the mercenary. She just mentions how Korris is rumored to have been injured recently, after learning from Opiter that he has been trying to poach the Doctor of the House of Ashur to come and join his ludus. Her intention is to stop Opiter from making any more contact with anyone from the House of Ashur, as she absolutely hates them, but Opiter grows concerned about Korris’ health and soon goes to visit him.
At Ashur’s house, Opiter is allowed to bathe with Korris, and this is when he first makes a romantic move on the older man, revealing that he actually has romantic and sexual interest in him and genuinely wants to pursue him. Thus, Opiter really did have the intention of bringing Korris close to his heart by hiring him as the doctor of his ludus. Surprisingly, Korris also gives in to his approach, and it is he who initiates the first kiss between the two. It is not entirely clear as of now whether Korris does this only to further try and convince Opiter to let the House of Ashur participate in the gladiator games, or whether there is genuine interest from his side as well. But since he does not exactly share the details with Ashur in the episode, it can be expected that Korris will engage in a romantic relationship with Opiter out of genuine interest or some other personal reason, either openly or secretly.
How is Ashur humiliated at the market?
As part of the preparations for an upcoming feast at his house, which is discussed later in the article, Ashur visits the market with his vilica and mistress, Hilara, when he happens to come across the warriors of the House of Opiter in one corner of the market. Unable to control his wish to take a chance and try to have his house represented in the upcoming gladiator fights, he approaches the group and puts on his usual charm. Among those present are Capua, the Doctor of the House of Opiter, and the Ferox Brothers, who are amused at the fact that Ashur claims that his house is ready to challenge and face them once again, despite suffering such a shameful loss the last time out. They refuse to take the protagonist seriously, even when he claims that there is a new and fierce warrior among his gladiators, who can surely face and defeat the brothers. The Ferox Brothers now start throwing rotten vegetables and other food at Ashur, and everyone there soon follows suit. When Ashur returns home, totally covered in food and humiliated terribly, he expresses his anger at the gladiators at his ludus, urging them to use this experience as motivation to train stronger and defeat the House of Opiter in the arena when the time comes.
Why are Cossutia and Viridia in danger?
During her meeting with Opiter, Cossutia expresses her displeasure at having to wear the same old inferior clothes repeatedly despite having the financial power to buy any new fancy garment because of the sheer lack of supply of new clothes in the city. This is directly due to the Cilician pirates that have been attacking the merchant ships and blocking them from coming into the city. Opiter now reveals that a fresh new batch of fine Egyptian clothes has just arrived and is being sold at a specific shop in the market. Cossutia is absolutely thrilled to have gotten this information, and she convinces her daughter, Viridia, to step out with her and visit the shop so that they can finally buy new clothes for themselves. Despite Viridia still being heartbroken about the death of her beloved husband, she eventually agrees to accompany her mother.
On the way to the market, some of Cossutia’s friends join them as well, and they talk to Viridia about her finally appearing in a public event at the upcoming Ludi Apollinares. This is news to Viridia, though, as the decision of her attending the event had been taken by her parents without her consent. As she tries to fight back, Cossutia finds some way to convince her, or at least push the matter aside for the time being, and the women immediately start talking about a recently widowed man of distinguished family and fortune being the ideal suitor for Viridia. She is even more unimpressed by such a discussion and finds a way to quickly make it to the shop that they are headed to.
But as they reach the shop and start looking at the fine clothes, a sudden attack is launched on them by a group of assailants. Horatia, the wife of the aedile, is immediately killed, and the attackers then target Cossutia and Viridia, intending to abduct at least one of them. The men are revealed to be Cilician pirates, at least by the clothes they wear and the seal that they bear, and their conversation makes it evident that they have been paid by someone to cause harm to the family members of Gabinius, the senator. The exact reason behind the attack remains a mystery as of now, but there is definitely a political angle to it. Gabinius has been keeping an eye on the potential civil war that is about to break out in Rome, and especially on the growing tensions between Crassus and Pompey. This attack now might have something to do with this political turmoil and the choices that a higher power wants Gabinius to make.
Why does Ashur jump in to protect Viridia?
Luckily for the helpless mother and daughter, who are absolutely taken by surprise and cornered by the assailants, Ashur and Korris had been close by, and they fatefully walk into the alley where the struggle is taking place. By now, Viridia has already been picked up by one of the pirates, and since Cossutia is of no use to them anymore, she has been ordered to be killed. Ashur quickly jumps in to protect Viridia, while Korris takes the responsibility of safeguarding Cossutia. The reasons for the protagonist to act this way are manifold, as he obviously wants to gain the favor of the noble families in the city in order to take the honor of his family even higher. Moreover, it is the wife and the daughter of the most influential senator in the region whose lives are at stake in this situation, and so it is very apt for him to try and save them.
However, there is clearly more to his action than just the desire to gain glory for his house, as he has some genuine interest in pursuing Viridia. The first time that Ashur had met Viridia was back in the 2nd episode, when he had visited Gabinius’ house after being invited, and he had been smitten from that very point, especially because of Viridia’s high praises for him. Now, Ashur does everything to protect the young woman, and this has an effect on Viridia as well, as she immediately tears a piece of cloth from her dress to craft a makeshift bandage for him. Although the tiny bandage is obviously of no use in the literal sense, it does have emotional effects on both of them. Meanwhile, Korris saves Cossutia from certain death and possibly makes her feel guilty for having tried to have him killed earlier.
As Ashur takes the women home, he is greeted and thanked by Gabinius, who wants to shower gifts and blessings on him. Ashur keeps stating that there is no need for any such show of appreciation, suggesting that Viridia’s company was enough to make him commit the acts of heroism. But ultimately, Gabinius grants Ashur the award that he had been searching for so desperately from multiple sources. Gabinius allows the House of Ashur to take part in the upcoming Ludi Apollinares, meaning that Ashur finally gets the chance to make amends for his past losses and gain glory for his family once more. He rushes home to share the exciting news with his warriors, and he also now chooses Achillia to be his champion.
Who visits Ashur in the end?
At the very beginning of the episode, Ashur receives a message from his dear friend and patron, Crassus, who also happens to be the richest man in Rome. In the message, Crassus has announced his intention to visit Ashur’s house very soon, essentially asking him to make arrangements to host him. Ashur begins with the preparations very happily, as he feels honored to have Crassus visit his home, and it is while shopping for supplies for this very occasion that he comes across the gladiators of House Opiter and ultimately gets humiliated in public. Some time later, he receives another message from the patron, this time announcing something less exciting, as Crassus is apparently sending all his baggage first, which he has asked Ashur to collect from the port personally. This is a strange request, because a guest usually never sends their baggage first, and that too asking the host to collect it personally, which is generally the job of the servants.
Nonetheless, Ashur and Korris personally receive the baggage at the port and are told that the sender had asked him to collect the money from the recipient, meaning that the protagonist has to pay for the bags out of his own pocket. He still goes through with the request, despite not having enough money with him at the time, only because he does not want to disappoint Crassus. Luckily enough, it is while returning from this business that he and Korris run into Cossutia and Viridia being attacked, and so in turn he gets granted entry into the gladiator tournament.
At the very end of Spartacus: House of Ashur episode 4, Ashur receives news of the arrival of his guest, and he excitedly waits for Crassus to reach his house. However, as the convoy arrives, it turns out to be Gaius Julius Caesar who steps out, and not Crassus, which is a surprise for the protagonist. But as the episode ends right here, we don’t yet know whether Ashur is happy to see Caesar or disappointed, but his reaction and the time that Caesar spends at his house will surely go on to pave the way for the future episodes of the series.
