This week’s episode 5 of the Starz alternate history drama series, Spartacus: House of Ashur, finally takes us to the intense action of the Ludi Apollinares, the annual gladiator fight event that the protagonist, Ashur, had been eyeing for quite some time. It is a joyous occasion for Ashur, as his house has finally been allowed to participate in the competition after his heroic act of saving Senator Gabinius’ wife and daughter’s lives. However, he also has to deal with the new guest at his house, Gaius Julius Caesar, who soon strays far from guest-like behavior, as the dominus realizes that he has foes on multiple fronts, in episode 5.
Spoiler Alert
Who had ordered the attack on Cossutia and Viridia?
Spartacus: House of Ashur episode 5 begins with Julius Caesar and his wife, Cornelia, making Ashur’s house their own home, a bit too forcefully. Caesar has his men enter the house and redecorate it as per his and Cornelia’s wishes, taking no consent or opinion from Ashur. Although the house Ashur has been living in is unofficially his own, its real owner happens to be his patron, Crassus, who had only let the protagonist stay at the place as a reward for having saved his life from Spartacus. Since Caesar is also a close friend and confidante of Crassus, and he and his wife are visiting Capua on behalf of Crassus, they immediately take control of the house, putting objects and rules in place that only favor them. Caesar takes over running the house for as long as he is in the city because he is higher in authority than Ashur, who does not technically have any pedigree of his own.
To make this even more apparent, Julius Caesar rechristens the building the House of Caesar later in the episode, publicly stating that it is to be called so as long as he and his wife are in Capua. They evidently take possession of the house instead of behaving like courteous guests who enjoy the hospitality of their hosts, unlike what Ashur had been prepared for. Even worse situations pan out for the protagonist later on in the episode, when Caesar finally gets rid of any pretense of being a respectful man and reveals his intention to outright humiliate and disgrace Ashur. In an effort to do so and basically exert his dominance over the host, he has Cornelia infiltrate Ashur’s bedroom and make love with his other slave, Messia. When Ashur objects to this arrangement, Caesar strikes him physically, landing numerous blows and kicks to teach him his place, as he states, for the simple crime of having spoken up against the wishes of the royal lady.
Caesar then goes on to force himself upon Hilara, knowing very well that she is extremely close to and possibly even loved by Ashur. The fact that Julius Caesar is now in total control over the house and also the situation is clear from his revelation that it was he who had ordered the Cilician pirates to attack Viridia and Cossutia at the market, specifically telling them to abduct the young woman and spare her mother after making some serious threats. This had been part of a very elaborate plan that Caesar and Crassus had made in an effort to gain the support of Senator Gabinius, who is a known supporter and friend of Pompey, Crassus’ main enemy in the ongoing political turmoil. Caesar had paid the pirates, or perhaps paid his own men to dress like the Cilicians, to attack the wife and daughter of Gabinius, with a strong belief that Ashur would jump in to save them and thus grow closer to Gabinius. As seemed likely in the previous episode, it is now confirmed that Caesar had indeed taken the help of Opiter as well, who had indirectly pushed Cossutia and Viridia to visit the market on that day to look at the fine Egyptian clothes that had just arrived.
It now seems like the plan to have Ashur fetch the baggage of Crassus (as the protagonist then believed that it was Crassus who was visiting him) from the port in the previous episode had been part of this greater scheme. Having asked him to visit the port to receive the baggage, Caesar had seemingly ensured that Ashur would be passing through the market when the attack on the women would take place. It is possible that he and Crassus had a backup plan in mind in case this one failed—they would have asked Ashur, Crassus’ representative in Capua, to go save or help the kidnapped Viridia. The main intention was to make Gabinius feel thankful towards Ashur, and now that this has been ascertained, Caesar goes ahead with the next part of his plan, which is to visit the senator’s house and have an important meeting with him.
In this meeting, Caesar reminds the senator how his favored Pompey had done absolutely nothing against the Cilician pirates, even after they had made the preposterous attack against his wife and daughter. Gabinius agrees that his dear friend is so invested in the shifting powers in Rome that he cannot think about any other matter at present. This is when Ashur speaks up and suggests that Gabinius do something himself to change Pompey’s neglectful attitude towards him. Pompey would surely take Gabinius more seriously if he realized that the senator could easily change his allegiance and favor Crassus from here on. Therefore, in order to prove or show to the world that Gabinius is now growing closer to the camp of Crassus, meaning that he is starting to feel against Pompey, the senator decides to let Julius Caesar be a part of the Ludi Apollinares event, which is technically paid for and hosted by him. This had indeed been Caesar’s plan the whole time, and it now comes to fruition perfectly.
Why does Tarchon extend support to Achillia?
Back at Ashur’s ludus, Korris returns to the position of Doctore, as he has finally recovered from his injuries, and it is also deemed crucial for him to resume training the gladiators, since the Ludi Apollinares is drawing closer. Achillia had already been chosen as the champion of the house in the previous episode, and now some other warriors, including the father and son, Celadus and Tarchon, are selected to fight in the competition as well. Korris does not let Achillia rest easy, as he continues to prepare her for the battle against the Ferox Brothers, training her to fight three opponents at the same time. She continues to be ignored and looked down upon by the rest of the warriors, except for Celadus, who had already shown some support to her in the previous episode.
Now, there is a second warrior who extends support to her, as Tarchon suddenly walks up to her during the lunch break and places a piece of bread on her table, symbolizing his wish for her to triumph over her opponents in the Ludi Apollinares so that she can bring pride and glory to the House of Ashur. In this rare moment of unity, most of the other warriors follow Tarchon’s action by placing pieces of bread on Achillia’s table and essentially showing their support towards her. It initially seems like Tarchon chooses to change his stance and help out Achillia because he wants to support the whole ludus and sets aside his male ego for the sake of the pride and glory of the house that he serves.
However, Tarchon soon reveals that he has a different plan in mind, and it is precisely for this that he has publicly shown his support for Achillia. Tarchon tells his friends that he genuinely wants Achillia to win her battle in the competition and prove herself to be a strong gladiator, only so that he can rush out and kill her in public, establishing himself as the more worthy gladiator and champion of the House of Ashur by besting the erstwhile champion. This is surely going to have serious repercussions in the next episode, as Achillia starts an affair with Celadus later in this episode. Not only do they make passionate love the night before the competition, but they also exhibit clear signs of genuinely caring for each other soon afterwards. It seems like Celadus is on the verge of losing either his son or his lover, and this will play out in the next episode of the show.
What is the public reaction to Achillia getting announced?
Before the Ludi Apollinares, a gala dinner is customarily held every year, and it usually takes place at the house of the senator himself. But with Julius Caesar in town this time, and Gabinius trying to grow a strong political bond with him, he lets Caesar host it at his house (technically Ashur’s house) when he asks to do so. Thus, the house of Ashur is decorated and prepped for the fancy party where esteemed guests arrive, with Caesar and Cornelia generally being treated as the lord and lady of the house. At this party, the gladiators of each of the three contending houses, that of Opiter, Proculus, and Ashur, are officially introduced in public, and the champion of the host house is also called to be introduced. This is because Gabinius had earlier decided to promote Ashur’s champion to the position of primus of the event, meaning the most important warrior of all.
Therefore, people expect the strongest warrior among all the gladiators to be the primus, and they are absolutely shocked to see Achillia, a woman, being given the position. In a society where no woman has ever set foot on the sands of the gladiator arena till now, Achillia is understandably booed and ridiculed, as most question whether all of this is a jest. The Ferox Brothers leave no chance to absolutely mock and verbally abuse the warrior, as they are too confident that they will surely win the face-off in the Ludi Apollinares. Korris has to walk onto the scene and demand that Proculus ensure his warriors are removed from the place before things turn ugly, and it is only then that the three brothers stop their abuse against Achillia and walk away, promising to settle the matter in the arena.
Inside the private chambers of the house, Gabinius expresses his anger and frustration at Ashur for having kept the identity of his champion a secret till now and basically for choosing a woman as his best warrior. Gabinius fears public wrath and humiliation, as he is the one who ended up making a woman gladiator the primus of this year’s Ludi Apollinares, which the crowd will absolutely hate. Naturally, he demands answers from Ashur and then decides to end all professional arrangements between them after the event. This is when Ashur states that although his patron, Crassus, wants to use him as a tool to create political pressure against his rivals, the protagonist is ready to try and bring peace between Crassus and Pompey. Such peace would not only benefit Ashur personally but would also help Gabinius as well, which is why the two men consider the possibility of working towards the same cause together.
Are Korris and Opiter having an affair now?
Korris and Opiter were seen discussing romantic possibilities in the previous episode, and the latter is now very surprised at the announcement of Achillia being the champion of the house that Korris trains. He feels the decision to make a woman the champion of the house is a direct act of disrespect towards the Doctore of the house, for it is sure to result in defeat at the competition. Opiter sneakily meets his beloved Korris privately and confronts him about the matter, once again reminding him that the position of Doctore at his house is still open for him. The two then continue to engage in intimate acts, and despite stating that he should go away and return to the party, Korris simply stands enjoying the situation, making it obvious that he too is attracted to Opiter, and it is not just a one-way feeling.
Unfortunately for them, though, Proculus happens to see them together and sneakily moves away, surely planning to put this information to use later on. For now, Proculus does not say anything to Ashur, despite having a heated argument with the protagonist, who confronts him for having orchestrated an attack on Korris earlier. Proculus denies having played any part in the attack, stating that his hatred for Ashur and his house is such that he himself would have attacked his Doctore if he wanted to, instead of hiring others to do the task for him.
What happens at the Ludi Apollinares?
The day of the Ludi Apollinares finally arrives at the end of episode 5, with the event beginning with a fight between the warriors of the houses of Ashur and Proculus. Celadus and Tarchon had been selected to battle it out in this round against Harbelex and Boriatis, the gladiators belonging to the rival ludus. After a fierce fight between the two sides, the father and son ultimately triumph over the opponents, who are instantly killed, as the very rule of the competition is that the last fighter standing in each round will be the winner. It is finally Achillia’s time to perform, but she once again has to face jeers and humiliation from the crowd who have gathered to watch the event, as they all believe that she will be no match for any male fighter and will definitely die very quickly.
Achillia remains confident that she will be able to excel in the fight that she has been preparing for for the last several weeks. However, in an unexpected twist, it is announced that she is to fight Ammonius, a regular gladiator, instead of the Ferox Brothers. Both Gabinius and his wife, Cossutia, had called for such a change in the roster, as they both felt that Achillia would be no match for the three brothers by herself. While fighting a single opponent instead of three is easier in the situation, Achillia also has to be extra careful of the gigantic size of Ammonius, who can easily overpower her. She makes use of her agility to make some solid moves but is ultimately cornered by her opponent, and it seems like he will kill her very soon.
However, Achillia seems to draw inspiration from her past, from some scarring incident that we still do not know of, in order to pull herself together and keep up the fight till the very end. She uses her last bit of energy to make a crucial move just as Ammonius tries to end her life and manages to heroically push her sword into the posterior of the opponent gladiator, triumphing in her very first battle in the gladiator arena. People absolutely love what they have seen, and the arena breaks out in cheers, supporting Achillia, who had been hated and ridiculed until now. She definitely brings pride and glory to the House of Ashur but is seen fainting and falling to the ground at the end of the episode, suggesting that she is not completely healthy after the long and arduous battle. It will be interesting to watch what happens to Achillia next, and especially if Tarchon will try to execute his plan of killing her to become the champion of the house in the next episode of Spartacus: House of Ashur.
