Augustus Road

"The greatest honor of a woman is not to be commented on by men, whether it is praise or criticism...." - Pericles

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In the flickering firelight, the attendant with a great name held the hilt of the sword with both hands, sweat dripping down the tip of his nose, and slowly moved the tip of the sword to Laelias' chest.

"Hit me, I'm already a person who can't be saved - I just don't want to die in this endless, disgusting desert. My head longs to return to Rome, even if it's exposed to the sun, even if the Republic has perished. Hurry up!" At the end, Laelius shouted, and the attendant named "Scipio" shouted and stabbed the blade into Laelius' chest. Then several attendants surrounded him at the same time, holding down the violently shaking one-eyed general, and two more helped the attendant hold the hilt of the sword, slowly and steadily sinking down, and soon Laelius was completely motionless and quiet forever.

In the middle of the night, waves of horse hooves sounded in front of the Temple of Mother Earth, and Paluma's cavalry quickly chased after him. He selected a thousand people from all the cavalry, but carried three thousand war horses and five hundred camels carrying water bags and food. In short, since his adoptive father asked him to chase Laelius, he would execute the order to the end at all costs.

When Paluma arrived in front of the temple, the Getulians had already fled upon hearing the news. The remaining cavalrymen were out in the desert under the moonlight, chasing the remnants of the enemy like hunting moles. Soon, a group of followers came out with the head of Laelias.

Under the moonlight and pine torches, Paluma got off the horse. He limped and took the one-eyed head. After the inspection, he asked the followers to bring the box and respectfully put the head of Laelias in it. Then he gave a lot of money to these followers, "Directly burn your general's body and put the ashes in a pottery urn. I will ask my father to grant him his wish to return to his homeland."

Under the rising sun of the next day, Paluma's cavalry formed a long black line, carrying the head of Laelias. There were also thousands of captives, who slowly left the city of Zama along the river. In the distance, the extremely desolate singing of shepherds came from somewhere unknown.

By the time the whole army arrived at Vaga, Lepidus had been stationed there for quite a while. He needed to deal with a mountain of official duties: arranging provincial affairs in Africa and Numidia, exchanging letters with Leo and Ebro, spying on intelligence in Rome and the Greek war zone, etc.

In the two glass vessels in front of his writing table, the heads of Labinus and Laelius were soaked with fine wine and medicine. The ten legions they brought had been destroyed along with their lives. It is estimated that in the future, there will be no excessive resistance in the march into Spain. Because the main force of the Pompeian party was destroyed, Lepidus's eyes are now more on the two kingdoms of Getulia and Mauritania.

"Little dove, father has a request for you."

After hearing this, Paluma immediately knelt down and supported Lepidus' chair legs, indicating that he would be at your disposal.

Li Bi Da also stroked his adopted son's hair affectionately, "Listen, little pigeon, if your father needs you to go to Mauritania to serve as a permanent barrier, will you agree?"

"Does that mean that your father wants to exterminate the country of Mauritania?" Paluma asked hurriedly.

"That's right. Little King Juba and Selene are in my hands. I can place this mother and son in a city in Numidia in the future, such as Dio and Tara, as a quarter-territorial monarch, which can be regarded as the continuation of the royal bloodline and make it my vassal state. I will add territory to Hitis, and I have imprisoned that rubbish Mago. I will confiscate all his army, property and territory. This is the situation in Numidia. I will continue to protect the trade and financial rights of the cities controlled by the knights. However, Getulia and Mauritania's help to Labienus this time just gives me an excuse to attack and destroy them. Listen, little pigeon, I will select and form a capable expeditionary force soon. You and Hitis will jointly command it, with about 4,000 people. I will equip you with sufficient weapons and resources, and I will take all the main forces to Spain. "

After saying that, Lepidus fixed his eyes on the pair of glassware and put down the hook pen and ink box in his hand, "In the future, you and Hitis will be the barrier guarding Africa and Spain. In addition, this time I will attack Spain, I will completely eliminate the power of the Pompeian party in Iberia. In other words, there will be three more vessels here soon. "

All the people present were silent, but everyone knew that the high priest was referring to the Pompeii brothers and Sextus Pompeii's father-in-law, the fleet commander Libo. The only one who was pardoned was the enemy's engineering director Marcius, because the high priest did not like to kill people with "craftsmanship".

At this time, the figure of Lenshat appeared at the gate. She stared at the two heads on the table, and then burst into tears to the high priest who stood up to greet her. "Please be at ease, respected woman. I have beheaded the traitor who killed your husband." Lepidar held her shoulders and comforted her.

"Can I take a closer look?" Lenshat pulled her woolen shawl.

Although he was a little uneasy, Lepidus still approved her request and made a "please feel free" gesture. Lenchart trembled and walked forward. When he got close, he suddenly grabbed the vessel containing Labinus' head. Hitis next to him was quick-witted and grabbed the vessel as well, which stopped Lenchart from throwing it down.

"What are you doing, noble woman?" Lepidus turned around and asked Lenchart, who was still entangled with Hitis, in a harsh voice.

"Let me go, damned Sitius; you have no right to treat me like this, Lepidus! My husband died tragically at the hands of these people, but you are also responsible for his death. If you want to ask what can eliminate the resentment in my heart, it is to give me these two heads, especially Labienus's, and then I will trample and kick his head like a ball." It seems that Lenchart has lost his mind, howling continuously, and rushed forward to smash the vessel where Laelius's head was.

Libida stepped forward and pulled her away. "Please stop this behavior. I will immediately place these heads in the altar. Remember that these two people are my opponents. Their heads are also trophies of the army, not tools for you to vent your anger." After saying that, he shouted to his followers without waiting for Renshat to refute anything, "Send this crazy woman who insulted the remains of the soldiers who died on the battlefield back to Rome. Oh, and return her husband's private property to her. This is what she deserves." (To be continued...)