Augustus Road

"We have no victory over them until the king's tent falls." - Saladin at the Battle of Hattin.

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After nightfall, in the Nicomedia Palace, there was a small, quiet restaurant filled with luxurious murals and potted plants. The hostess Adiana was in a very good mood, and Euaget's seat was next to her. Lepidus was on the other side of her. When the servants kept bringing out fine wines and delicacies, dining with her husband and children, Adiana couldn't help but feel like she was crying with joy. She had grown up in the palace of Sinop since she was a child, and had never There is no family affection or trust at all. Until this moment, she can say, "This is my man, and this is my and his child. Eubotia, no, the territory and authority of the Pontus Empire are finally over." Rebuilt by my hands."

Over there, Spencer was wearing an elegant robe, sitting sideways and respectfully on the small couch. Only after obtaining the permission of the hostess would he take the dinner plate sent by the slave.

While the wine was in full swing, Lepidus suddenly put down his glass and suggested to everyone, "To be honest, I have long been tired of the Latin banquet model. There are always musicians and waiters coming and going, and it is full of meaningless noise and gossip. So, my dear Calabia, I have a novelty from Siris, which I specially made and brought here from the previous city of Rome. You are the first one to check it out. My dear Calabia, Are you interested?"

Queen Eubotia smiled like a flower, folded her butterfly sleeves and said, "Maybe you can take it out. The banquet can end here anyway, because there are not many guests, and we can use Siris's novel toys to dissipate the long night. ”

Lepidus snapped his fingers, and Matthias behind him immediately held a small enamel box, "No, the dining table in the middle is not big enough. Get a bigger one." As soon as Lepidus finished speaking, several waiters came He quickly brought another large side table over, "Yes, now I also want to invite the respectable Spencers to join this game. We each use small couches and sit in four directions around this side table. Certainly."

These words made the palace teacher flattered again. After sitting down as arranged by the high priest, Matthias opened the box and rolled out more than a hundred crystal-clear ivory cubes. Adiana took one out, but saw that there was a pattern engraved on the front...

"Hey, there are still dice. Isn't this gambling?" When she picked up the dice again, she looked a little less interested.

"No, mother, we can each bet on some luck. Anyway, as long as father can be happy, it will be fine." Over there, Uajit reminded him empathetically.

"What's the name of this gadget?" Adiana asked, leaning her neck towards her.

"Montanus. Montanus!" Lepidus replied seriously.

"Isn't that a sparrow? What a vulgar name." Adiana muttered under her breath.

"It's definitely not as simple as Latin Gaming or Sparrow. That one is simply no fun at all, but this one is different!" Lepidah introduced in a deep voice, and then he raised one of the ivory cubes, "This is for four people. Game, I now occupy the position of the Lord God, so just call me 'Jupiter'. If I win, all three of you need to give me gambling money; and Adiana is sitting in the 'Juno position', and Uaegi The special seat is 'Apollo'. And the position where Spencer is sitting is 'Neptune'. If any of the three of you wins, I will also pay double the bet."

"But how should this be done?"

With this question. Lepidus skillfully built a row of "Montanus" in front of him like a double-layered wall. The speed was so fast that both Adiana, her son and Spencer were stunned. "There are one hundred and thirty-six in total." Montanus, the four of us surrounded him in a balanced manner, similar to the Roman legion's winter camp." So the other three could only suppress their doubts for the time being and get busy with their hands. .

After finally making the base, Lepidus separated several Montanus between them and held them up with his fingers. "Look carefully, there are four types of Montanus cards. One is 'Arrow'." , one is a 'helmet', the other is a 'shot put', and each has four copies at the same time, from one to nine, among which the first one of the arrows is made into the shape of a 'peacock', to please the Queen Zhu. No; the last type of card is quite special. There are seven categories, called 'centurion cards', including 'Macedonian Royal Camp Commander', 'Roman Centurion', 'Celtic Chief', and 'Germanic Chief'. , 'Egyptian Pharaoh' and 'Persian Governor'. Immediately after the game started, I rolled the dice, and then everyone took turns to grab Montanus in order, and lined up in front of them. When the twelfth card came, I will jump the cards, and you will each take one in order. In the end, I will have fourteen Montanus, and all three of you will have thirteen. Then I will play the cards, and then there will be three modes, and you can continue. To capture other Montanus, or to capture other players' Montanus, is to 'line up', 'start', or 'rest'."

"Then how can we win in the end?"

"It's very simple." Li Bida crossed his hands and placed them on his chin, "I will explain below that there are many ways to win..."

Adiana and Euaget were both extremely smart people, and they quickly understood the rules of victory set by the high priest. Only Spenser looked a little pale and was still struggling to catch up with Lepidus.

"Of course, there are a series of terms here that I need to clarify - if you are one Montanus away from winning, you shout poi; if you have already won, you shout gia; in addition, , if you touch Montanus and win, you can shout dio!" Lepidus continued to say seriously, while Adiana next to her was really practicing "poi, poi" .

At this point, the high priest looked at the court teacher and smiled enigmatically, "I will ask Matthias to count the points behind me. The one with the highest score in the end is the real Jupiter. He has the right to judge the one with the lowest score." , make any punishment."

The slaves around also laughed softly. They thought this game was really interesting, but in their minds, the so-called "punishment" should be some small money or some ridiculous clown-like behavior, just like Saturnalia.

Only Spencer recalled the scene at the stream this afternoon. His back felt a little cold, and his fingers touching Montanus were also trembling.

"Dear friends, you can also come up and stand behind any of the gods engaged in the Montanus War to watch the battle, but you must not speak." Lepidus waved his hands, and the slaves gathered around him.

In the first game, after touching a Montanus, Adiana looked at it carefully, and then shouted "dio!" After saying that, she spread out all the Montanus and said, "Do I have one to play?" Team 'The Macedonian Battalion', and then it was all 'shot put', and I was dio."

"Very good, dear Adiana, your score is very high. This is called 'mixed color'." It was really difficult for the high priest to forcefully say this "mixed color" in Latin. (~^~)