Melitta was the personal body slave of Lucretia, wife of Quintus Batiatus. She was married to Oenamaus, who was one of Batiatus' finest gladiators, and the two became good friends with Batiatus' champion, Gannicus. Unknown to Oenamaus, Melitta and Gannicus had developed strong feelings towards eac hother, but they never acted on them, until one night when Melitta and Gannicus were ordered to have sex for the pleasure of one of Lucretia's wealthy guests. From then on, Gannicus would be easily distracted during his performances in games and in sparring matches. Oenamaus would constantly reprimand Gannicus for his distractions, but he never suspected it was due to his feelings for Melitta.Gannicus tried to bury his feelings with excessive drinking and whoring, but eventually decided he could no longer share a roof with Melitta, so he purposefully lost a match against the newly recruited Crixus so that he would be sold on to Batiatus' rival, Tullius, and never have to look upon Melitta again. The night before Gannicus was to be sold, Melitta visited Gannicus in his cell with an amphora of honeyed wine. Oenamaus was out gathering herbs to treat Batiatus' father's illness, and Melitta took the opportunity to spend one last night with Gannicus, but she started choking as the honeyed wine was tainted with poison.Melitta died in Gannicus' arms, and Lucretia, who knew of their affair, covered the incident by ordering the slaves to leave Melitta's body in the villa while Gannicus stayed in the ludus, avoiding any suspicion.The honeyed wine was actually poisoned by Lucretia, who used it to kill her father-in-law, but she blamed it on Batiatus' rival, Tullius. When Batiatus headed out to avenge his father's death, Oenamaus and Gannicus joined him. They brutally stabbed Tullius and buried him beneath the newly built arena of Capua.Batiatus, who inadvertently discovered the turth about Gannicus' love for Melitta, told him never to reveal the truth to Oenamaus, as he did not want his gladiators turning against each other. Gannicus eventually earned his freedom by winning the opening games at the arena. He left the ludus, telling Oenamaus that Melitta loved him above all others, and they parted as friends. Show less «