Iulia, having not had time to get all the way up the stairs, saw them dragging the gladiator away. She covered her mouth with both hands so that she might not throw up, suddenly convinced this was all her fault.
She sprinted up the remaining flights of stairs to find a crowd had already gathered in the forum. She sighed in relief at the man's sentence. Twenty lashes wasn't so bad. She'd been given fifty once, and she'd not been out of commission for more than a day afterwards. A strong man like Aiden shouldn't have a problem bearing twenty.
Aeli stood near the front of the gathered crowd, her eyes shining as she saw that the man had not been killed. Iulia walked up beside her sister, whispering quietly in Latin (the only language that Aeli actually understood) and said softly, "One chance." Aeli snubbed her, because she wouldn't do a plan that her baby sister had come up with.
"Okay, fine. I'll do it myself. And when father takes me to the basement over it, I hope you come to watch my punishment and know that it's your fault." The basement was where he privately disciplined his children, him or the butler. Usually just belts. for bigger offenses floggings, a brand. and... If Iulia interfered again... She'd probably be burned to death in front of all her younger siblings, if not in front of the whole town. Still, if one slave would be freed in exchange for her life... The activists would have a martyr. A symbol. And that would be the most noble cause she could sacrifice herself for. 
For the moment she would watch and wait, and as soon as the guards went to escort Aiden back to the cells, she'd confuse them and give him another chance to escape.