Dagan was an Assyrian who was sold into slavery along with his friend Ashur. The pair were bought by the lanista Batiatus to train as gladiators in his Ludus. Only Ashur could understand the language of the Romans, so during their training, Dagan was completely dependant on Ashur's interpretation.The two Assyrians were both treated poorly by the veteran gladiators. Batiatus decided to use them as henchmen during his attack against a rival lanista as they had not earned his mark, and would not be identifiable if they failed. They succeeded, however, and Batiatus had them branded with his mark even though they had not passed the test.Despite not passing the true test of a gladiator, Dagan proved that he was actually skilled in combat in the arena, while Ashur always came second. Ashur started to become jealous of Dagan's success, and once tricked him into spending a night with a Roman nobleman. In time, Dagan started to pick up the language of the Romans, and told Ashur he would no longer need his interpretation. Friendship turned to bitter rivalry between the two Assyrians, and during an examination of the gladiators' skills, Ashur pulled a trick on Dagan and struck him in the eye, causing him to become permanently blinded on his right side.All gladiators who failed the test were to be sent to the mines, but Batiatus lifted the sentence, allowing Dagan to take part int he opening games of the newly built arena in Capua. During these games, Dagan was overcome with rage and he attacked Ashur, but with his injury he was no match for his former friend, and Ashur killed him. Show less «