Augustus Road

The clever Karapis abruptly retracted his action, and Kelly did not intend to pursue it further. He pointed to the niche next to Lukulas's table, and asked Karapis to use this fine silk cloth to wipe the small statues and offerings on it.

"Your name is Karapis, right?" Lukulas asked while half lying on the couch, holding a file in his hand and chewing figs.

Karapis nodded, holding the rag, and stood respectfully with his head down, not daring to make any extra movements.

"Kelly, register Carapis as soon as possible, and - give him clean clothes now, he is too dirty - Carapis, you have to adapt, and wash away the rudeness and filth you have been stained with in the camp team from your body and mind as soon as possible. You must know that you are not only a slave serving me, but also a slave serving the niche, which contains the statues of Apollo, the clan god of my family, and the gods of my ancestors. Defilement of them will bring disaster to me. You must remember my words, my son, Carapis." After Luculas finished speaking all this in one breath, he yawned to express his sleepiness.

Carapis, who was listening over there, was shocked. Yes, he clearly heard Luculas calling him "my son" just now.

The shock was fleeting. I seem to remember that the masters of Rome would call young slaves "sons". Really, it scared my father to death.

Soon, Luculas fell asleep on the couch. Amidst the faint snoring, his slaves were still quietly busying around. Carabis received a brand new thin tunic, and Kelly shaved off his long hair and beard. "Carabis, I have to admit that you really look a bit like an aristocrat. If you don't do stupid things, you can fool a few girls who don't know the world." Kelly commented after tidying up Carabis.

Then he cleaned up the niche, and Carabis replaced the candle on the niche with a new one, so that the flame would not be extinguished for a long time. He and several personal slaves lay on the ground of the tent, covered with a blanket and went to sleep.

As a result, the next day, when Luculas got up, he asked Carapis to take the sacrifice to the Temple of Diana at the foot of Mount Sopheni to offer sacrifices. "The great goddess of hunting appeared in my dream again last night, because my clan god Apollo is her brother. She said to me in the dream, Luculas, the son of light, I will bless you to win the next decisive battle, but you must come and get the token yourself."

The Temple of Diana here cannot be compared with the miraculous building in Miletus. It is located on a cliff and is very small. In addition, Mithridates has been committed to burning the gods of Diana, and the priests have long fled in the war. The altar on the steps of the temple wall is full of dead leaves, and it looks desolate and desolate.

"Very good, my son Carabis, you look much better than yesterday, so that you can match my identity as the master." Luculas was obviously very satisfied with Carabis's change. Carabis cleaned the altar with his hands and feet and put some sacrifices on it. Luculas stepped forward and piously smeared his face with dye, then lit incense, and surrounded by several military priests, raised his hands and murmured blessings.

Below the cliff temple, there were soldiers and officers from the Seven Legions standing. They witnessed the commander's priests praying to God with their own eyes, and also judged whether the commander had been blessed by God and whether there would be some external manifestations, such as flying birds, clouds, whirlwinds, etc. These things were very important to the morale of a large army on the expedition. Soldiers were more willing to believe from the bottom of their hearts that God chose to stand on their side.

Diana, the patron saint of hunting and virgins, the mother goddess of harvest and reproduction, is well-known in the entire Asia Minor wilderness. Many barbarians and Persians believe in her. As for the Romans, they pursue "when in Rome, do as the Romans do". Once they conquer this place, they will also readily move this god back to Rome to worship it. Therefore, Rome's "polytheism" is actually a process of accepting the beliefs and cultures of other conquered nations.

Soon, the army began to stir, because many of them saw a beautiful cow walking on the grassland at the source of the Euphrates River. It was covered with holy sunshine and walked towards the temple as if it was led by an invisible rope. It slowly passed through the ranks of Roman soldiers, as if all the soldiers could see her. The soldiers pointed at the cow and exclaimed: "Look at her butt!"

On the cow's plump butt, there was a torch-shaped brand. "This is the exclusive sacrifice of the goddess Diana. Usually they are freely grazed in this grassland. My God, the goddess Diana really guided her here!" The priests around the smiling Lukulas whispered to each other - the cow seemed to have a spirit, and walked to the rock on the cliff, lowered her beautiful head, and did not move.

The 5,000 soldiers of the Seventh Legion below all watched quietly, holding their breath.

A priest walked forward and used the knife in his hand to stab the cow's neck neatly. The cow mooed and fell down, blood splashed out. Lukulas' head and body were covered with blood. He turned around and shouted to all the soldiers with his neck raised: "This is the oracle for us to conquer the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, conquer Armenia, and even Mesopotamia. Diana bless our army!"

In the lower room, Uterus first stretched out his arms and shouted: "Long live Diana! Long live the invincible Luculus!" Then came Murilla, Secterius, Apis and even Hybrida. The entire Seventh Legion was boiling, and the soldiers shouted slogans and fell into a state of fanaticism.

"The 11th Legion has already gone to Tegresetta as the vanguard. The rest of the brothers, don't fall behind!" Luculus continued to incite and shout.

"This is a clumsy trick to deceive the rough and inferior people. Hum-Hey, Carapis, is it you?" Over the altar, Adiana, wearing a loose silk robe, came over. The folds of the clothes brought by the wind outlined her slender curves. Next to her was Demetrius holding an umbrella. She came to watch the fun, but when she saw Carapis, who was dressed in new clothes and looked quite dignified, she couldn't help but be slightly surprised.

Carabis stepped forward, saluted in a dignified manner, and said, "Dear Princess, this is the priest ceremony of the army commander. It is better for the enemy to stay away for the time being. The army has its own rules."

Adiana was so angry that her eyebrows were raised, and she shouted, "Wearing a new dress is amazing? A pottery pot is still a pottery pot, Jew, when you go back, I will reward you with the latest and most expensive silk clothes to wear, and surpass this guy Carabis!"

"I'm sorry, Princess, I am now the commander's niche slave, and the Jew is your personal slave. We are not Barbie dolls for showing off." After saying this, Carabis turned his back and ignored him.

"What Barbie doll? And how dare you turn your back to me, to such a noble me!?" On the hillside, Adiana's angry voice was getting louder and louder.