Titus returns to his house.
Inside the villa, Batiatus, Lucretia and Gaia are celebrating with more wine and sex when Batiatus' father, Titus, arrives unexpectedly and stumbles in on the three's activities. Calling Batiatus to him, he admonishes his son for the state he has allowed the ludus to fall into. He reveals his knowledge of Batiatus' clashes with Tullius from Solonius, and says it is the reason for his swift return. Titus goes about setting things right. When Batiatus describes his success in the business, his securing of Gannicus in the primus, his father laughs at him.
Meanwhile, Ashur and Dagan are offered food from Barca, who mockingly treats them like brothers. The food has piss in it, and the two Syrians are laughed at by the other gladiators. Despite having received the mark, they are not considered to be part of the brotherhood. Moments later, Titus comes to greet his gladiators, and greets some of them warmly, especially Oenomaus. In contrast, he receives Lucretia and Gaia coldly. Melitta also proves to be a friend of his amongst his slaves. Titus is well-admired.
The next morning, Oenomaus, now Doctore, struggles to keep order amongst the gladiators who are not used to taking orders from him. When he commands Barca to fight Crixus, his order is only obeyed when Titus, watching from above, tells Barca to do so. Barca fights with a spear; unaccustomed to it, Crixus is beaten again and again. Once alone, Gannicus advises him to remove the spear from the wielder so that the wielder is left with only one weapon.
Titus takes Baitatus into town where he meets with Tullius and Vettius in an attempt to create better business relations and correct the errors of his son. There, Tullius accuses Batiatus for the attack on Vettius days before during Varus' arrival, but Batiatus denies it. The meeting goes according to Titus' wishes, and Gannicus is removed from the primus. Peace is made with Tullius and he decides to fight the gladiators in a small arena. Tullius picks the fighters and their opponents: Gnaeus and Barca, Auctus and Crixus.
Lucretia and Gaia are relaxing in the villa when Varus and a friend of his, Cossutius, arrive unannounced. Cossutius, having heard of the pleasures that took place within from Varus, wishes to see them for himself. Lucretia tries to explain that Gannicus' performance for Varus had been a special occasion, but Varus threatens to remove them from the primus if she does not do as he wishes. Reluctantly, Lucretia agrees and offers her two slaves, Naevia and Diona, both virgins, to be paired with a gladiator of Cossutius' choosing. The Roman picks Rhaskos and Diona. Dirty from the fights in the ludus, Rhaskos is to represent all that is grotesque in life; Diona is clean and untouched to represent beauty. Cossutius decides to have Diona as well at the same time as Rhaskos. Once he is finished. he and Varus immediately leave the ludus. Diona emerges from the room, visibly bruised and distraught.
Ashur and Dagan, tired of having their food soiled, steal and cook Auctus and Barca's pigeons. This incites a fight amongst the gladiators that Oenomaus is unable to stop. Titus and Batiatus return to find the ludus in mayhem. Titus puts it to rest as he declares that the ludus has fallen and that the gods' favor has been removed. For this, they will not fight in the primus.
The next day, Crixus, Auctus, Gnaeus, and Barca arrive in town to fight. Gannicus, who has been the only one to treat Crixus as an equal, bids him farewell. Before his fight, Oenomaus advises Crixus to fight with honor and, if need be, to die the same. Seeing it as a battle between his fathers' achievements and his own (for Auctus was trained by Titus, Crixus by Batiatus), Batiatus encourages Crixus to win.
Auctus moves in for the kill.
Barca and Gnaeus fight first. They are evenly matched but Barca eventually gains the upper hand. He poises to kill, his sword at Gnaeus' throat, but Varus decides that the man should live, reminded of all that Batiatus has done for him.
Titus then announces the battle between Crixus and Auctus. The latter wields a spear, which Crixus is still inexperienced against. Auctus is clearly the more talented of the pair, and is a graceful fighter. He draws blood early with a slash to Crixus' stomach and another to his shoulder. Crixus remains steadily on the defensive, only rarely able to strike through Auctus' repeated spear thrusts. When Auctus finally launches into a deathly strike, knocking Crixus' helmet to the floor, Crixus moves his shield into place and the spear pierces through, stopping only inches from his face. Auctus is unable to move it, and Crixus slashes with his sword, breaking the spear and leaving the other man with only his shortsword. He manages to rid Crixus of both his helmet and, momentarily, his sword. Fighting now as equals, Crixus gains the upper hand. As Auctus moves to strike, Crixus forces his sword into the man's stomach and out his back. With his dying breath, Auctus says that Barca had taught him well.
Titus is surprised at the result, not believing his son to be able to train a worthy gladiator. When they return to the ludus, Crixus recites the sacramentum gladiatorum and receives the mark. He is welcomed into the brotherhood by Gannicus and the other gladiators, and receives no respite from Barca who was Auctus' lover.
Later, Titus admits to Batiatus that perhaps he had underestimated him and his hand on the ludus as a recruit could beat one of what he considered to be his best gladiators. Batiatus, who wishes to have the ludus again under his control alone, states that Titus will be missed when he leaves. However, Titus says that he has no intention of leaving as the arena stirred up longings long dormant in him; he decides to stay until his dying breath. Batiatus begins to plot.
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