Augustus Road

During the truce period on this market day, neither side actually relaxed. Brutus was still doing his best to consolidate the city's defenses and care for the wounded; while Lepidus inspected the entire army, rewarded them for their merits, and asked for the laying of new forts. Siege positions and build new siege engines.

One day, Lepidus personally put on his cloak and, under the protection of his followers, inspected the siege position. As a result, he saw Brutus standing on the tower on the other side of the trench. The two looked at each other, and then Lepidus pulled him. Reins, making a gesture of wishing to discuss, and seeing this scene, Brutus also asked the soldiers who were controlling the ballistas and falling rocks around him not to move or shoot.

In this way, Lepidus rode his horse and slowly came to the city wall. He saw that there were people on the city wall, and they were talking about it, "Brutus, your legion suffered heavy casualties, and all the commanders who could rely on it were killed in the battle. How can you still Do you expect those who can only write poetry, such as Horace and Virgil, to fight for you? Athens was destroyed many years ago. Now I hope you can calm down and put aside your party and ideological prejudices for the time being. There is no need to add innocent people. sacrificed."

"There is no need to say this. When my uncle was still alone in danger and went to the city of Masseria, I didn't understand him. Isn't there no danger in doing so? Shouldn't a philosopher think about the dangers in various places? Can I protect myself under such circumstances and conditions? But now my heart is very pure. I am the only one left holding Cato's banner and career high. I can't give up, I can only fall, even if it means losing it. I don’t have any regrets about my life,” Brutus said resolutely, holding on to the battlement.

"I will sell all the people in this city, whether they are civilians or nobles, whether they are craftsmen or scholars, into slavery, crucify all the soldiers, and raze all the buildings and walls to the ground. From now on, in There will be no city of Athens in this land and sea. Even so, are you going to fight to the end?" Lepidus threatened in a stern tone, waving his arms.

At this time, a centurion beside Brutus roared. He was about to fire the ballista at Lepidus, but Brutus grabbed him. Then Lepidus turned the horse's head and said, "You are still the same as your stubborn uncle." After saying that, he immediately jumped over the ditch. . He rushed to his position easily.

Then, Lepidus' siege position became more and more consolidated day by day, and soldiers on duty went to the surrounding areas to harvest wheat every day. The fleet also blocked the port of Piraeus. Now Brutus's situation was "dead ground" "——The city of Athens is not that big, and the grain supplies inside are not enough to support several legions. However, it is already impossible to break through. The entire Aegean Sea to Crete, almost all islands and seas are Lepidus' ships were patrolling.

Deaths from starvation soon began to appear on the streets. Many centurions and military tribunes found Brutus, who was sitting on a chair in the council hall of the Acropolis, who had nothing to do, and asked him to make a decision as soon as possible: the storehouses in the city were almost exhausted, whether to collect food from the citizens or to Implement a breakout as soon as possible.

"I think the former is more appropriate. If the war needs to continue, we have to do this." A young tribune said directly to Brutus, "There is no hope of breaking out, otherwise we can only We will starve to death here, or wait for the enemy to capture us and sell us all into slavery or be crucified.”

Brutus held his head in distress and asked in a hoarse voice, "Confiscating food from the common people? That means that the most cruel scene is about to be staged. By then, the entire Athens arena and streets will be filled with people dying of hunger."

The surrounding generals were silent, which seemed to agree with Brutus's guess. It seemed that the tragedy of Masseria City was about to happen again, because the letter sent by Lepidus made it very clear. "Your uncle was killed by the angry citizens of Masseria instead of committing suicide. The reason I concealed it was for Cato's reputation. But if you had your own way in Athens, I believe you would have met the same fate. , until then, I will not cover anything for you, you will just wait for your body to be dragged through the streets by the surviving citizens and soldiers, and then hung on the top of the Acropolis, where wild dogs and crows will eat it. That's good. I know the mentality of a reputation man like you. Yes, Marcus Brutus, you are not a philosopher or a politician at all, but just a reputation man. For the sake of ridiculous honor, you can abandon it. My wife, my relatives, can trap anyone's life and interests, just to make you feel better. But I will never let you succeed this time. You will die miserably and despicably, and your name will be in Athens. Become an eternal disgrace."

Brutus felt frightened, the kind of frightened feeling that the end was coming but he could not cope with it calmly. If only he had listened to Cassio and the Parthian prince, even if he died on the battlefield or on the ocean, That was much more honorable than now. He retired all the generals and officers, saying that he would soon give a solution. Then he took out Lepidus' letter board, read it twice, and then put it into action. He walked into the brazier and watched it crackling into flames. Then he sighed, hit his forehead with his fist, buried it deeply, and thought wildly.

So when Lepidus' messenger came here, Brutus was still looking at the embers, doing nothing, "Eurabella, it's you." Although he had heard the news before, Brutus saw the bald man opposite him. I still have unspeakable feelings.

"Give up, Brutus, there is no need to resist any longer. If we continue to fight to the death, the whole people and the city will be in a very tragic situation." Ulabella shouted sharply, stretched out her hands, and her whole body seemed to have malaria.

Brutus looked at him strangely, then he stood up and said to the clerks and officers around him, "How strange it is, a once ardent republican youth, after experiencing intimidation and suffering, changed his ways and became a fervent believer in monarchy. I don't know what happened to you, Eulabella, but the hearts of the people in Rome and the Republic have completely changed in the past two years. Everyone has abandoned the ideas of their ancestors and become a prostitute in the dust, like a prostitute in red and gorgeous clothes, chasing money and wealth, enduring the pain of slavery, but still willing to do it. The echo of glory is fading from the Capitoline Hill, but the flattering shouts of the Colosseum and the theater are rising day by day."

"What's wrong, because the times have changed! I want to bear witness, but you have been hiding, Brutus!" At this time, Eulabella shouted. (~^~)