Chapter 17: Supply Team Captain
"Me!" two young slave boys immediately shouted excitedly.
"You two have answered the most questions in the past, so let's give this opportunity to others today," Maximus said, looking around.
"Quite a few people want to answer the questions!" Spartacus, watching from outside the courtyard gate, whispered in surprise.
"That's because Maximus set a rule: as long as you study seriously and can correctly answer his questions, you get extra meat or an extra cup of wine for the next day's dinner, so these guys are quite diligent in learning what Maximus teaches," Hamilcar quietly explained beside him.
"Your Supply Team shouldn't use your position to give yourselves extra meals," Spartacus reminded with a mock sternness.
"We have no choice," Hamilcar immediately lamented. "The supplies we're getting are increasing, and the people you assigned to us are okay for work, but most are illiterate and don't know arithmetic. Maximus and I have to check the supplies late into the night every day. Maximus said to me, 'Our team isn't that big yet, and we're already this busy. When we have thousands of people in the future, we might work ourselves to death...' So he suggested using our spare time in the evening to teach everyone arithmetic and literacy. That way, when they learn it, we won't be so busy.'
I agreed with his idea, but implementing it has not been easy. Many people are unwilling to exert effort to learn, so Maximus came up with the idea of using food as an incentive. He even added storytelling, and devised simple symbols to represent numbers. So the brothers are eager to gather around the fire and study seriously after dinner. You see, they've even attracted brothers from other teams..."
"Why have the new brothers share their experiences in public?" Spartacus asked curiously.
"As you know, these slaves joining our team come from all over: Little Asia, Northern Greece, Iberia, Greece, Egypt, Nubia, Gaul, Germanic lands, Italy, Illyria..." Hamilcar counted them on his fingers: "Different customs, personalities, languages—it's unavoidable that conflicts will arise when they're all together. Here, with fewer people, it's manageable, but I've heard there are frequent fights in other teams, which must be a headache for you and Cross?"