I am Spartacus!

4. Cumae

Roma, Lazio

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A period of tense calm settled on the area, with raids and skirmishes a regular occurrence. Varinius wished to avoid outright conflict at this point, as he had an inferior force made up of the remnants of Cossinius' and Glaber's armies and whomever he had managed to recruit en route. He had also sent one of his most trusted officers back to Rome to ask the Senate for more men and supplies and to explain the situation. Meanwhile, Spartacus and his men had problems of their own. The ever-swelling ranks meant that there were more men than weapons, so they resorted to making fire-hardened spears. This would at least give the men some weaponry with which to defend themselves. Their other concern was for filling the hungry bellies of an army on the move. By lighting campfires and torches and posting corpses as sentries, they were able, under the cover of darkness, to secretly melt into the countryside to search out rations of their own. Upon discovering the abandonment of Spartacus' camp, Varinius became very suspicious of their actions and pulled his troops out of the area, retreating to the coastal town of Cumae thirty miles northwest of Vesuvius. Here, he planned to replenish his forces and wait on reinforcements. The Slave Revolt was finally starting to raise serious concerns in Rome.