Gladiator

 
men, saying who must be
chained together. They were all
 
put
 
in teams of two—and it soon 
became clear that the
 
method was to chain a “Red to a
“Yellow.” Each good

fighter was with

a certain loser. 
Haken was chained to the
 
crying Greek secretary. Maximus—
a “loser” because he had refused to fight
 
Haken—was chained to
Juba. 
30 

---

Maximus turned to look at the closed door. From the other
side they could hear the shouts of the crowd. Suddenly, Maximus
bent down and picked up a little sand from the ground, then let
it fall through his fingers. Juba watched him but did not
understand. When Maximus stood up again, he looked different.
He was ready for battle. 
Outside, the crowds were cheering and shouting. There was
the sound of drums. Everyone stood anxiously waiting. 
Suddenly, the doors to the arena crashed open and sunlight
poured in. For a few seconds the men were blinded by it. There
were trained gladiators already in the arena, waiting, their swords
and spears ready for killing. 
The new gladiators ran out, some to immediate death. Side by
side, their chain loose between them, Maximus and Juba ran out
into the arena. 
It was not a fair fight. The new men had only one small sword
and no armor; the experienced gladiators had much better
equipment. 
Maximus and Juba fought together. Juba was surprised to see
that his partner—marked with the yellow of cowards—was
fighting bravely. All the anger and pain inside Maximus had come 
out, and he was better than any man in the arena. He knew this
was not his day to die, not like this. 
Together they killed the first pair of gladiators. Others came to 
fight them and, for a second, Juba lost his sword as he attacked. 
Maximus pulled him clear of the other man’s sword and then
struck the attacker hard. His sword point came out the man’s
back. He and Juba worked together as a team. They were strong
and fast, and many of the attacking gladiators were killed by them. 
Haken fought with great power. The Greek was soon killed,
and Haken cut off the man’s hand so it was easier for him to
move about in the arena. 
Proximo watched everything closely. 
31 

---

The crowd quickly realized that Juba and Maximus were a
strong fighting pair and began to cheer them. 
Soon all the attackers were on the ground. Juba and Maximus 
looked around, and then at each other. But then, as they began to 
relax, one of the gladiators tried to get to his feet. They ran
forward together and pulled their chain tightly around his neck. 
The fighting had ended. The crowd were on their feet,
cheering. Maximus looked at the many bodies around him, and
then at the excited faces of the crowd. It made him sick that
people were entertained by the sight of men killing other men.
He walked toward the entrance and threw his sword into the
crowd. It only made them cheer louder. 
Proximo was pleased with the day’s work. He had lost a lot of 
money but he had found a new fighter.