Augustus Road

"Fortune fears the brave, but bullies the cowards." - Medea

The audience responded with the warmest applause to the announcer's explanation, and then the sword fighting slaves in the venue were divided into two groups according to different training schools. One group held fake eagle flags and pretended to be Catiline's rebels; One group was led by a big man with a silver-plated faceplate, who played the role of the Calabis side in countering the rebellion. The two sides started a desperate fight with swords on the sand field...

In the Senate, Caesar was speaking loudly in front of the half-moon podium: "Mithridates, the most dangerous and cunning enemy of Rome, we spent more than twenty years to defeat Sulla, Fabria, and Lucius. Ras, and now Pompey, have fought against him, and every time we get good news from afar that the threat of Mithridates has been eliminated. It has been like this for twenty years, which is numbing and ridiculous. But this bastard king of Pontus is still living well in the mountains and forests of the Caucasus, and from time to time he looks at the territory and people of the Republic with vicious revenge. Don't forget that he once killed people in Asia Minor. He killed 80,000 Roman immigrants. If he had not died, peace would not have come, the immigrant trade would have stopped moving forward, and the Republic’s interests in Asia Minor and Syria would have been mired in quagmire. Why can’t we show the courage to face war at this moment? Come? Since Thrace and Bosporus are facing the danger of war, when citizens are asked to join the legion, some senators always say, oh, there is no our legion there to shirk the emergency - then I Let me tell you, the way to solve the problem is to have our legion there from now on!"

In front of the altar of the Roman Temple of War, Calabis stood there, and several priests were trimming his hair. In fact, Calabis had intentionally grown his hair longer, although it could not reach the waist of the chiefs of Alpine Gaul. His flowing hair is as long as his shoulders, but he has to do something for the priest! After finishing the work, Calabis kicked the broken hair on the floor with his toes, then changed into a cloak with lavender stripes, and put on the gold ring that the patron gave him that had been prepared, which marked his He has become a standard knight in Rome.

Then, several priests in black clothes and masks ran out, surrounded him and the others, jumping and shouting loudly, pretending to go through the ceremony. A young Gallic chief who couldn't bear to be bored looked at Calabis and asked: "How much did you spend on Cestius to wear this gold ring and cloak? I spent half a million, which was just an additional bribe." "

"I only spent fifty thousand." When Calabis saw the recorder next to him registering his name on the list, he replied calmly. When he saw the surprised expression on the Gauls' face, he added Said: "The priests here are very grateful to me. It was me who took back the sacred vessel of this temple, Marius' eagle flag."

"Oh, do you know how many knights there are in Rome now? I want to know what level they are at now." The chief continued to ask.

"There are thirteen thousand knights in all of Rome." After finishing speaking, Calabis wiped the broken hair on his head with a towel, said hello to the priests, and walked out of the temple covered with a cloak - five million Slaves, I came out; I also came out of 200,000 ** people; now I am one in 13,000, but the core of Roman power is still gathered in the Temple of Concord, the six hundred Guys in purple-edged robes, but that circle has an iron-like fence erected. Without strong connections, huge wealth and glory, it is difficult to squeeze in.

As for the knights, their role is more similar to the professional bureaucrats of the Republic. They are responsible for all aspects of taxation, engineering, agriculture, commerce, and military service, and are the lubricant of the country. But even so, the consul Cicero kept complaining, "When those greedy, blond barbarian chiefs, shaved their beards and hair, kept asking how much the seats of senators and knights cost, Rome Being corrupted by these savages."

Calabis was too lazy to care whether Cicero was pointing at him or not. He had already asked Opric's gladiators to wear silver-plated visors in the largest Colosseum in Rome to please the audience and gain fame. As for Etrunia, Crassus got what he wanted and used the fire brigade to defeat all competitors who bought mines and workshops. After the counter-rebellion army robbed the land, they could no longer stay. Metra's The army returned to Picenum, and the Thirteenth Legion, which had just been upgraded and merged from the two city legions (although it lacked citizen soldiers, it recruited a new batch of auxiliary troops and used the local ironworks workshop in Fesule to strengthen its equipment) , is heading south to the Tarinton area and the port of Brindisi, preparing to choose an auspicious day to sail to the province of Macedonia.

He would leave the city of Rome at any time and go on another expedition.

When his cloak fluttered slightly in front of the temple, Cames came up to him and kissed his ring. "Dear friend, Cames, what do you think of my proposal?" Karabis asked.

"Yes, you have to know that even His Excellency Julius is encouraging me to leave the high priest's residence and find a new world. Maybe being a low-level clerk is really not enough to support my family." Cames rubbed his hands and said. .

"That's right, go to Etrunia and work for me for three years, and you can also wear the knight's golden ring in this temple." Calabis hugged Kaimes' shoulders affectionately, "Remember , don’t ask about other things, just plant wheat, because Ptolemy in Egypt, Spain and Lusitania are already very mature. If you need funds for water mills and Gallic harvesters, I am in Fesule. In the temple, there is a reserve fund that Crassus and I paid for together, which is enough for you to use - Crassus also controls the iron ore and smelting guilds in that place, and you don't have to worry about preferential treatment of farm tools and livestock. ”

"Now the farm needs a lot of slaves, a lot of them."

Calabis held the opponent's shoulders, "You draw up a plan for this kind of thing and let it go. I believe you - of course, you have to do something well. Of course Crassus doesn't like losses. Remember my advice, Camus, Wheat cultivation is everything, don’t be afraid of investing human and financial resources.”

Kaimes nodded repeatedly, and then thought of a topic, "My wife also asked me to ask, why has your lady not attended the women's gatherings for so many days in a row? You can leave little Leo to the nurse, Rome." Women are generally not willing to breastfeed their children." Hearing this, Calabis nodded his cheek in embarrassment and said, "It's not just about little Leo - well, yes, my woman is pregnant again. "

It is actually not that uncommon in this day and age for women to develop dark knots during lactation.

At this time, a girl in a long skirt ran over in the street, her little face flushed with exhaustion. She was actually Zeno from the Temple of the Goddess. She has grown up now, she is seventeen or eighteen years old, like A strong and tall kapok tree, she rushed to Calabis, then stopped in a panic, looking very hard but unable to speak, and finally said, "Li Xilia, I hope to return something to you." ( To be continued)