Augustus Road

"Could the dead come alive and come to you for food?" - King Demetrius of Macedonia, who did not care about the lives of his soldiers at all and drove them to attack the city.

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In the camps of the three legions, a total of 20,000 soldiers, more than 100 ballistae, thousands of pack horses and war horses, more than 2,000 tents, tens of thousands of wooden fences, and tens of thousands of military slaves were all gone. Not a single chicken feather was left behind. They walked cleanly, neatly and quickly. Only a few tent poles like the short masts of fishing boats were left, and they were still standing lonely trees in the open space in the middle of the filled trench circle. Then the loneliness flew around. of grass.

Dumitius, brother-in-law of Cato the Younger, stared blankly at this scene. The sword-wielding guard next to him reminded him, "The mud beside the Flaminia Avenue is full of ruts from the packhorses, and they have become It’s very hard, indicating that these three legions have gone very far north.”

Another guard asked cautiously, "Do you want to pursue another thirty Roman miles? Let's see?"

Dumitius shook his head and said that since we have gone far, we have made a mistake. With just us, we can bring back 20,000 fully armed marching soldiers? They must have believed the lies told by Caesar and his minions. The most important thing now is to return to Rome and let Pompey urgently mobilize and recruit troops. "Maybe the war will break out soon, maybe it will happen tomorrow."

In fact, Dumijus still lacked fighting experience. Lepidus' deployment was to have the Tenth Army and the Twelfth Army go hand in hand, walking in the front, while he and the Thirteenth Army served as the rearguard. The three legions marched in an inverted triangle. As a result, after walking more than thirty miles, Lepidus asked the command of the first two legions to be entrusted to Cecydelius for unification, and then led the thirteen legions from the main road. Fork in the road. Around the majestic Sutra Peak. Turning into the mountainous and densely forested Etrunia region.

There is the "nest" that Le Bida has been secretly operating for many years. Especially the city of Fesule.

Fesule, many years ago, was a gathering place for Catiline's party members, the main members of which were retired veterans of Sulla. Later, Catiline's rebellion was jointly suppressed by the consuls Cicero and Neruda, and the city with 5,000 inhabitants was also massacred. Later, Lepidus gradually penetrated the power as Crassus's agent. Now that Crassus died in the East, he inherited the farms, politics and mines here. A large number of knights were installed and many local senators were bribed, because this kind of Romanized city was actually an autonomous replica of the republican system of government - there was a "presbytery" in the city. There was also the Curia Assembly of citizens, whose political power was limited to self-government. Only outstanding local figures could enter the city of Rome to hold national-level public offices, but everyone had citizenship and voting rights, although they were not as good as the votes of standard Roman citizens. "Valuable" can also influence the political situation of Rome to a certain extent. For example, when Cicero was campaigning, he wrote to his brother and local friends more than once, telling them to "pay attention to the autonomous cities, those who are rich and wealthy" active citizens and enlist their support.”

Now, Fesulay has been revived, the moats and irrigation canals have been revived, and the large and small farms are also rapidly revitalizing due to the extensive use of slaves plundered from Gaul. Lepidus has reminded the acting knight Kaimes more than once: " Don't be greedy for cheap and mistreat slaves. Give them clean and spacious dormitories, as well as drinking water and sufficient food. When there are remaining luxuries, such as cheaper wine and meat, try to distribute them to them as much as possible. It is more cost-effective than funding the unemployed street gangsters in Rome. It is necessary to allow slaves to organize their own families and do a good job in selecting them. Those who can read and write should be placed at the top to take on financial and management work, so that everyone can worry less; they are physically stronger. Those who are strong need to be put to their best use.”

After agriculture was revived, Etrunia's economic status also rose rapidly. At least in terms of crops, it gradually began to compete with Egypt. Moreover, because of the short distance of road transportation, it also had a price advantage - at least While nobles ate bread baked by grinding fine Nile wheat flour, wealthy knights and free slaves had a special liking for Etrunia's output.

In addition, because the training towns dotted around the iron mines not only provide a large number of cheap iron farm tools, but can also be transformed into military functions at any time, producing sophisticated weapons, shields and armors, this area is undoubtedly connected to Alpine Gaul. It is a priceless treasure between Rome and the city, so Lepidus wants to lead a legion of troops over as soon as possible. He will not really stupidly send all the troops to the north of the Rubicon River. Hitting a wedge is his favorite .

In the city of Fesule, the capital of Etrunia, three hundred elders immediately held a short, intense and effective discussion after hearing that Caesar's Thirteenth Legion was rolling in under the lion's flag - those who advocated loyalty to the Republicans The characters were all locked into prisons by veterans. Then they selected twelve envoys to open the city gate, holding up olive branches and flower pots, and welcomed more than 6,000 soldiers in.

"I only need to bring a chief brigade to garrison the city, and the rest of the brigade will all go out in the form of a hundred men to control the rural communes of Etrunia. If my calculations are correct, in about half a month, the troops from Rome will The recruitment officials will come here, and what we have to do is to take the villagers with them and give them sticks to eat!" Lepidah ordered all his subordinates in the city hall.

At the same time, in the city of Rome, Pompey, who heard that the three legions had fled, finally felt the urgency of the situation. He summoned all his followers, plus Cato and others, to the Juilliard Hall, "Because I am now Dick. Push more, so national affairs can be decided without calling a meeting of senators to vote. Cato, the first question I want to ask you is about the three tribunes of Curio!"

"Because of your indecision and vanity, they all successfully left the city of Rome and went to Caesar. In addition, their speeches at the people's assembly directly caused us to be unable to recruit soldiers in the city unless we sent ten thousand to twenty thousand soldiers. The slaves liberated and organized an army." Facing Pompey's question, Cato said angrily.

At this time, Pompeo also became a little uneasy. He reiterated that he asked the participants to keep all this secret from the outside world, "Because I will be able to find a solution to the problem immediately. Gebinus immediately went north to Etrunia." to recruit troops, while Marcellus headed south to recruit men from Naples and Campania.”

"You'd better move faster, my Dictator, otherwise Caesar will easily enter the city of Rome and make the Republic suffer the humiliation of being sacked by Gaul for three hundred years, and you hang it on the gate, The wreath, which symbolizes the status of the dictator, will become Caesar's private property. Maybe he will bet on it with his subordinates with ten silver dinar coins!" Little Cato pointed at him and said directly.