overconfident and try for an early win.
Ha, ha, ha!
Look at
you being all
cautious!
Where’s
this
CHAMPION
I’ve heard
about?
Think
about what
you’re doing,
Brutus!
Once you’ve
served your
purpose, the
Romans will
drop you
like a stone!
Brutus predictably went for the kill, slashing and
bashing away at Julius’s shield, but Julius held his
ground.
From behind his shield, as powerful blows rained
down on him, Julius tried to reason with his errant
brother.
I know what
you’re like!
K
L
A
N
G
!
Such a
GRUMP!
You must
have done
something
to upset
them!
“I’m not YOU, Brother!” cried Brutus as he twirled
in the air, showing off his new sword skills. “I’VE
been promised a huge villa in the hills of Rome when
I thrash you!”
Julius pushed out with his shield, causing Brutus to
stumble.
“They promised me MY FREEDOM!” he cried.
“And look where that got me!”
Brutus paused for a second, taking in what his
brother had just said, but he immediately put it out of
his mind.
I’m not
listening!
Julius let out a big sigh. “Well, I tried my best,” he
said.
Brutus hung back, confused. “What do you mean,
you tried your best?”
“No, Brutus! They will chew you up and spit you
out! Come with us. Help win our freedom and the
freedom of ALL these barbarian Britons! You know
I’m right!”
D
o
n
’t
sa
y
I
d
id
n
’t
w
a
rn
y
o
u
!
K
L
O
N
K
!
In the royal box, Hadrian was livid with fury. This
was NOT the outcome he’d been promised!
Julius didn’t give him time to think. He leaped into
a somersault, landed behind his bewildered brother,
and smacked him across the back of the head,
knocking him out cold.
S
e
iz
e
h
im
!
S
E
IZ
E
T
H
E
T
R
A
IT
O
R
O
U
S
Z
E
B
R
A
!
Hadrian’s guards grabbed Julius as the emperor
raged in his box. “SEIZE THE OTHER BEASTS,
TOO! DON’T LET ANY OF THEM ESCAPE!”
As Julius was being dragged away, one of Hadrian’s
soldiers approached the royal box. “Caesar, the other
animals are nowhere to be seen!”
“NOWHERE?” cried Hadrian. “That’s ridiculous.
Where were all my guards?”
“Er . . .” The soldier coughed nervously. “Watching
your gladiators, sir.”
G
A
H
!
G
e
t
o
u
t
o
f
m
y
s
ig
h
t
!
Yes, Caesar!
Hail, Caesar!
“WAIT! SOLDIER!” cried the emperor. “BRING
ME MY SNAKES AND A WINE SACK! I will show
these BEASTS that I will NOT BE TRIFLED
WITH! Bring the zebra with you!”
There you
are, my
pretties!
He carefully picked up one of the snakes by the
back of its neck, then gestured to one of the soldiers.
“Open the bag and make the zebra stand in it!”
At the bottom of the fort was a wide, fast-running,
twisting river. “You are trouble, Zebra,” muttered
Hadrian, “and there’s only one way we Romans deal
with troublemakers.”
Two soldiers ran up to the emperor and presented
him with a large sack, a wooden box, and a pair of
big leather gloves.
Hadrian put on the gloves and opened the box.
Keep still,
Zebra!
ACK!
Julius tried to stay calm as the snakes wriggled
around his hooves. “The people of Rome WON’T be
happy when they discover what you’ve done with
“HEY! What are you up to, YOU WEIRDO?” cried
Julius.
The two legionnaires wrestled poor Julius, his
arms still tied behind his back, into the sack. Hadrian
smiled as he dropped a squirming snake into the sack.
The second snake was a little harder to get hold
of, but Hadrian deftly grabbed it and released it into
the sack.
me!” he bluffed. “You have a fight on your hands
here, and you’ll have one at home, too!”
“Oh, get over yourself!” snapped Hadrian. “You’re
not that important. Champion gladiators come and
go like the wind.” He gestured to the soldiers. “Sew
this windbag up!”
The soldiers pulled the sack over Julius’s head and
quickly stitched it up.
“NOW THROW HIM IN THE RIVER, AND
LET’S GET OUT OF HERE.”
H
e
y
!
D
o
y
o
u
m
in
d
n
o
t
s
it
t
in
g
o
n
m
e
?
S
o
r
r
y
!
P
le
a
s
e
d
o
n
’t
b
it
e
m
e
!
Hiss!
Julius tried not to panic. Although, to be fair, there
was plenty to panic about. He was stuck in a sack
with two venomous snakes, and they’d just been
thrown into the river. He’d been in scrapes before,
but this one was . . . well, scrapier.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
HE AIN’T HEAVY . . .
Omigosh!
I am
SUCH a
big fan!
“R-really . . . ?” stammered Julius.
“Tell him, Annie. Tell him I’m a big fan!”
“He’s a big fan! In fact, we’re BOTH big fans!
Although Tybalt here has seen more of your fights in
Rome than I have.”
Julius decided that he would try to reason with the
snakes. “Now, listen, guys, we’re in a bit of a tight
situation here, so let’s try to not get too bitey, OK?”
“Er, excuse me,” said the other snake. “Are you by
any chance JULIUS Zebra?”
“Um . . . why, yes, I am, actually,” replied Julius.
“It’s AMAZING to see you so close up!” gushed
Tybalt. “You’re normally so tiny and far away!”
“Oh, well,” said Julius, getting all bashful, “I do
hope I’m not a disappointment.” He brushed his
mane with his hoof.
“Sorry to be embarrassing,” said Annie, “but can
we have your hoofprint?”
Before Julius could answer, their sack suddenly
jolted hard, and Julius and the snakes were thrown
from one end to the other.
Gasp!
I still can’t believe I
shared a sack with
JULIUS ZEBRA!
The
greatest day
of my life!
And with a great thud, they landed on very hard
ground.
Outside the bag, Julius could hear a frantic voice.
“PLEASE BE ALIVE! PLEASE BE ALIVE! I’VE
BEEN SUCH AN IDIOT!”
With a great rrrip, the top of the sack was pulled
open, and Julius and the two snakes flopped onto the
grass.
Julius looked up to see his brother, Brutus. “Yes,
you HAVE been an idiot,” he said.
“YOU’RE ALIVE!” screamed Brutus. “The
snakes didn’t kill you!”
“Big fans of mine, apparently!” said Julius.
OMIGOSH! Mom!
I miss her SO much!
She must
be SO
worried!
Brutus gave Julius a big hug. “I’m so sorry, Julius.
Once I saw what they were going to do to you, I
knew those Romans were RASCALS, just like you
said!”
Julius let out a great big sigh. “So you didn’t figure
that out after spending time with that jerk Victorius?”
“OOH, no,” said Brutus. “He was AWESOME!
We promised to keep in touch and everything. He
HATED you, though. You really made him mad by
beating him in front of thousands of people.”
“He deserved it, the weasel,” said Julius.
“I can’t believe how much you’ve changed, Julius!”
said Brutus. “Mom would be SO proud of you!”
W
e
’v
e
co
m
e
to
re
sc
u
e
y
o
u
!
Woo-hoo!
“AMAZING!” cried Julius. “Where did you get the
chariot?”
“These guys lent it to me!” said Lucia.
Suddenly, something caught Brutus’s eye. On the
horizon he spotted a chariot coming over the hill.
“Hey, Julius, am I crazy, or is that a giraffe on the
back of that chariot?”
“RUFUS!” cried Julius. “And wait, that’s Lucia
holding the reins!”
Julius dashed out and waved frantically at the
chariot. “LUCIA! WE’RE HERE!”
Gasp!
They want you to
lead them against the
Romans, Julius!
“LEAD THEM?” Julius balked. “I didn’t say I’d
LEAD them! I thought we’d just work together!”
A great chorus of swords thumping against
wooden shields reverberated across the valley.
“Try telling THEM that!” Lucia chuckled.
“Pericles, Berta, and Douglas followed us all the
way up to the wall, gathering warriors as they went!”
Are you
ready to
RUMBLE?
Another chariot raced over, this one carrying
Cornelius, Milus, Felix, and Pliny.
“Sounds like you’ve made a name for yourself
HERE, too, Zebra!” Pliny laughed.
Lay down your
arms, Zebra,
and I will spare you
and your friends!
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
BROTHERS IN ARMS
Julius and the army of Britons approached the Roman
fort.
“How many of us are there?” asked Julius.
“About two thousand,” replied Lucia.
“EXCELLENT! There’s only a hundred of them.
This will be easy.”
Hadrian stood on the fort battlements.
Come on! We’ve got
them on the RUN!
“They’re running away like big chickens!” cried
Brutus as every last Roman soldier ran for his life.
“Victory is OURS!” yelled Julius.
“Did someone say something?” Julius asked
Brutus. “I couldn’t quite hear over the ROAR of my
ENORMOUS ARMY.” He thrust his hoof in the air
and the horde of Britons charged against the fort.
The wooden gates crashed open like rotten
firewood as the barbarians poured into the courtyard.
HOORAY!
In the distance, Julius spotted Hadrian and
Septimus speeding off in the emperor’s golden chariot.
Julius plopped to the ground, exhausted. “They’ll
be back, and in greater numbers,” he wheezed.
We can
FINALLY
go home.
“Aye,” rasped a familiar voice. “And we’ll be waiting
for them.”
“DOUGLAS!” cried Julius, leaping up. He grabbed
his former opponent by the hoof. “Thank you for
trusting me!”
“You’ve given us hope, Zebra. Let’s see if we can’t
kick these cockroaches out FOREVER!”
Julius turned to his friends. “And we’re FREE!
We’re ACTUALLY FREE!”
Take on the
Roman Empire
it IS!
“But what about the other animal gladiators?” said
Brutus.
“What do you mean?” asked Julius.
“Hadrian is training DOZENS of captured animals
from all around the empire. Maybe we should set
them free, too.”
Julius looked at his brother. “What, you mean we
should take on ROME ITSELF?”
“Maybe.” Brutus grinned. “Or you could go back
to that stinky lake and drink the stinky water. It’s up
to YOU!”
EPILOGUE
At Ludus Magnus, Rome’s biggest gladiator school
and home to the city’s gladiator champions, the past
few months had seen many changes — most not
welcome to the veteran fighters.
Julius Zebra’s success had prompted Hadrian to
demand MORE bestial gladiators, of all shapes and
sizes. The more animal gladiators on show, the
happier his citizens were, and the happier his citizens
were, the happier Hadrian was, too.
Except that not all t
he animals captured and put up
for training were happy to become gladiators.
In fact, one particular recruit was proving to be
extremely difficult to handle.
“It’s no good, Victorius,” said the bumbling
Or
you will
feel the
sharp end
of my
HOOF!
dungeon master. “No matter what I do, I can’t
keep her quiet!”
Victorius threw down his scroll. “DO I HAVE TO
DO EVERYTHING MYSELF?” He stormed
down to the school arena, where his disobedient
pupil was chained to a training pole.
“By Jupiter’s beard, Zebra, what will it take for you
to BEHAVE yourself?”
“You will free me from these chains and take me to
my SONS,” demanded the zebra.
TO BE CONTINUED . . .
Hello, readers! Julius has asked me
and Felix to help explain the strange
page numbers used throughout this book.
Instead of page numbers like 1, 2, and 3,
you’ll find I, V, X, and various other
letters, which are Roman numerals — just
like the Romans used for counting!
Even an idiot
like me can
understand
them. Hooray!
Here are the seven letters that
represent all the Roman numerals.
Thankfully, you won’t
find the last two.
This book is big
enough as it is!
ROMAN NUMERALS
I = 1
V = 5
X = 10
L = 50
C = 100
D = 500
M = 1000
WAIT! We’re not finished!
You don’t ALWAYS add
Roman numerals!
Oh?
Sometimes you
subtract. For instance,
3 is written as III,
but 4 is not IIII.
But hold on,
how do you
write 4,
then?
My brain hurts!
Mostly, you simply add
Roman numerals together
to make different numbers:
Battle With the Britons! Page 9
