Augustus Road

"Now the elephants were squeezed into a narrow space, and they inflicted as much damage on their friendly troops as on their enemies." - Arrian describing Alexander the Great's Battle of Hydasbes

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"We must ensure that the manor under our name gets your manure at the best price - okay, let him go." Then, with an expression that seemed to be about the same, Karabis put the board back on the table, and then everyone One by one, they held up their gold rings and stamped their marks on them.

"By the way, we are not the only business groups in Rome." Another free citizen, who always looked melancholy, reminded, "How to ensure that other business groups will not go to Etrunia to cause trouble? Just rely on Caesar and Clara Su?"

"Isn't this why I am willing to recruit troops? Today I spent five to six hundred drachmas here to invite you. Why?" Calabis clenched his hands into fists and said to everyone, "My first You will be responsible for the supplies of the Fourth Brigade and the Tenth Brigade, and each of you will contribute 100,000 Seths for me to manage in the army."

The faces of these guys immediately showed expressions of pain, but the calculation was temporary. Soon they took off their gold rings one by one and pressed them around the terms on the wooden board.

"Oh, look who's here, my friend, Demetrius!" Suddenly, Calabis raised his glass and cheered towards the door.

Pompey's chief confidential slave, Demetrius, the fellow prisoner who met Calabis and Poti in Asia Minor, had beautiful curly hair, a handsome face and big shy eyes, and was wearing a white silk coat. , escorted by several followers, walked in. Calabis moved him to the opposite side of him, greeted him warmly, and introduced to everyone present: "This is General Pompey's chief slave, Demetrius of Galilee. We will develop in the East soon. , but cannot do without his help.”

As soon as they saw the handsome Demetrius, the male and female slaves who were cheering for him all danced with bare feet and surrounded him. Demetrius's face, surrounded by pearls and emeralds, was even stained with a hint of shyness. red.

"You look more and more like your master, the general Gnaeus Pompey, and your emotions are all hidden behind your cute face." Calabis joked with a smile and toasted his friend with a glass of wine, "I was able to Stand firm, thanks to the two hundred drachmas of silver that Demetrius gave me.”

After hearing Calabis's words, everyone exclaimed in a flattering tone.

"I should complain about my respect for you, shouldn't I? I have stayed in Rome for such a long time, and apart from the last time you met me by chance in front of the apartment of Hebrida's family, this is the second time." Demi Tellius bit his thin lips, frowned and took a sip of the diluted wine, "Maybe if you delay it for a few more days, Karabis, I will leave here and go to the East."

"How are Pompey's wars in the east going?"

Demetrius touched his sleeves, avoiding the dripping wine from the table, and said, "It's going well. The master is no longer interested in Mithridates. The king of Pontus has become a defeated dog who is hiding everywhere. Fleeing around with his daughter and concubine, the master not only occupied Minor Asia, but now also conquered Mesopotamia, and his final destination was the red city of Petra."

"Then your life is pretty good now, right? I heard that you won Pompey's trust and took care of his secrets in an orderly manner. You must have received a lot of rewards." Calabis' tone was slightly flattering.

"Well, there are only three villas with columned cloisters in Athens, Sardis and Sinope." Demetrius smiled casually, "But you, Calabis, and Poti, according to me As far as I know, they have become a very wealthy family in this city of Rome.”

"That's it." Calabis took a sip of undiluted wine, and then said word by word: "Thanks to your help, my dear friend, Demetrius, just like you helped me back then. Like Luculas."

Hearing this, Demetrius's expression immediately became unnatural, and then his body trembled violently, and he heard the sound of the servants around him falling down with their throats covered. Several female slaves were holding freshly cut penises in their hands. The bloody daggers in their throats were placed on Demetrius' neck and shoulders, and blood soon seeped everywhere on his clean clothes.

The Jew trembled. Calabis held the wine glass and looked at him coldly. Then he raised his fingers. The other stunned business partners seemed to understand something and hurriedly put on the rings, shrank their bodies, and started to follow the rules one by one. Mu Jiang squeezed out the door of the tavern.

Then, Duo Mujiang closed the door and blocked it.

"I really didn't expect, Demetrius, that you would dare to come to the banquet after receiving my invitation. But this is also very similar to your style - treating others as fools." Calabis stood up, He gently placed the wine jar on the counter, then filled it, poured a full glass, and placed it in front of Demetrius, "But it doesn't matter. I already know that you are planning to go to the east and conquer the city of Rome. The news of Catiline was reported to your master, so I also have a group of people waiting there at the inn and the city gate. You should feel lucky that you are facing me now, not them. "

"Calabis, we don't have to be like this..."

"Oh, no, no, no." Carapis shook his finger and interrupted Demetrius' words, "Don't forget, I saved your life when you were in the Seventh Legion of Asia Minor. I originally came to Rome to make a living with your friendship. My ideal was very humble, living comfortably with Boti and the little pigeon. But - Langis, you actually hired me, didn't you?"

"Don't say such unfounded words - ah!" Demetrius was answered by Carapis's slap, which hit him directly on the left side of his face. The Jew screamed in panic, with a crying sound, and his eyes and mouth were swollen together.

"Let me reveal the answer. Oh, I use a little reverse deduction. You were present when Longis assassinated Galba. Then, you instigated me to appear in court to help Cicero identify Catiline. After I refused, you went to Catiline and betrayed me. That's probably it. Longis died of poison. In this city, you are probably the only one who could have concocted it, because Timotheus is not good at herbal medicine. Then, when I sent Boti and the little pigeon to Apillon, I only told Valentina and her mother in this city." At this point, Carabis slapped the Jew in the face again, "and the only one who recognized Valentina and betrayed my woman's whereabouts to Catiline was It could be you!"

"Fortunately, Longis was not a completely unconscious tool. He first sneaked into Catiline's team and got the amber plate with private signatures of Roman dignitaries in favor of land reform. This is exactly what your master Pompey needs. Pompey and Cicero both want this thing to overthrow their political enemies, but Longis hid the amber plate for his own safety, hoping to leave a way out - of course, you did not force Longis, you induced him to assassinate Galba, telling him that by doing so, he could put the blame on Catiline, leading to chaos in the Roman political situation, and even the outbreak of unrest and civil war - your master Pompey can lead the army back to Rome to seize power openly. "

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