Augustus Road

The priests spoke first, and they were horrified. They said that in the past three days, there had been countless unfavorable signs in the sky and on the ground throughout the city of Rome. It rained blood in a certain wheat field, and thunder and lightning destroyed several temples. A priest swore that he also discovered that the mule pulling the cart in a certain shop was actually pregnant!

"Nonsense, get out of here with your unreliable things." Pompey shouted angrily. Just before he took office as Dictado, these guys were still there advocating some auspicious birds. And clouds.

At this time, the senators began to become uneasy. Some of them asked Pompey to send more men to recruit 10,000 retired veterans from Capua and Campania in the south to guard the city of Rome; others promised , they are willing to give one-third or even half of their family wealth to Pompey's recruiting officers, and go to all Italy, as well as surrounding Sicily and Sardinia, to recruit any able-bodied men to quickly expand the army.

"The city of Rome you mentioned seems to be saved." Pompey's reply completely made them despair, "Don't forget that many Eastern veterans in Campania had their houses invested by Crassus and Lepidus. , Their land was obtained by Caesar's legislation, our recruiting officer is there, and the number of people recruited so far is less than 1,000. They have all abandoned their military honor and betrayed me! "

Paulus, Cruz, and Sulpicius of the Senate were trembling with anger at Pompey's remarks. Among them, Cruz shouted in a sarcastic tone, "Great Pompey, you have He said that as long as you stamp your feet, your legions will emerge from the ground all over Italy, so please stand up and stamp your feet for us now!"

But more senators are disappointed and miserable. Their properties and villas are all in the city, and the situation is now clear. Pompeo originally wanted to abandon the city of Rome. Then there are only two roads ahead, one is to stay in the city. Accept the looting and extortion of Caesar's army entering the city; one is to take the assets and start a miserable escape career with Pompey.

The crowd soon burst into tears, and many people shouted that Pompey had deceived everyone. At this time, there was a rolling thunder outside. Pompey turned back angrily and shouted, "Enough! Is now the time for complete despair? Unless all my legions are annihilated, it is time for everyone to give up. As long as all of you follow me, sooner or later you will be here They came back under the escort of my army. It doesn't matter if you leave the city of Rome. You can even give up Italy if necessary. Your freedom and dignity do not come from those villas and money, but from your heart, as long as you can continue to encourage. If you have the courage to fight for it, then freedom and dignity will be with you every moment.”

then. Pompey announced that the established course would remain unchanged, and Gebinus and Domitius continued to resist Caesar, while Marcellus and I went to command the legions at Capua and ensure the shipping of the port of Brindisi. In addition, Cato the Younger immediately went to Sicily, Sulpicius crossed the sea to Sardinia, and Cicero and Aetius went to Cilicia, along with Scipio, to supervise Deximus and the others. Legions in Syria come back as soon as possible.

After speaking, Pompeo apologized to everyone, but still emphasized that if he really wanted to keep his homeland, then continue to follow him, and then he left the hall without looking back, accompanied by his followers.

It is said that Pompey left the city of Rome late at night, and at the Temple of Saturn, while his legions were trying to take away the money in the treasury, they met with Aetius, a friend of Cicero who came to protect the national assets. There was a fierce conflict, and in the end Aetius protected the holy library.

In the morning, when the pale Cicero, together with many other nobles, fled out of Rome with their families in their cars, he saw Aetius in front of the steps of the Temple of Saturn. He deliberately stopped and asked his friend, "Would you like to go to Silesia with me? In about three days, we can go east from Brindisi."

Aetius shook his head. He said that he would organize slaves immediately and continue to protect the holy treasury. Whether it was Pompey or Caesar, they were both silverfish in the country. He would fight to the death to defend the country's property from being plundered.

At this time, Lepidus' vanguard troops were already less than fifty Roman miles away from the city of Rome along the Via Cassia. Judging from the progress of the legions marching five Roman miles per day with their equipment, it would be noon tomorrow at the latest. He would be able to storm the city of Rome.

Lepidus' rearguard cavalry moved faster and faster, gradually surpassing the infantry brigades, and reached the front of the queue. The winter sun shone on the armor and weapons of each soldier, "Blow the bugle, and why will the general Are you going to cover up the legion's flag?" Lepidus asked the flag officer next to him loudly. The other party replied that this was a military order from His Excellency Caesar. Since this war is not against a foreign country, it is better to cover up all the eagle flags. "Then It's a regular army, our auxiliary army doesn't need this." After saying that, Li Bida asked to unfurl the lion flag. Amidst the brisk bugle sound, the soldiers of the Thirteenth Army rushed to speed up their pace.

Around the same time, Cato the Younger fell ill on a mule cart, and then was dragged out of Rome with the desperate efforts of the asylum seekers and slaves. The wheels were running on the Appian Way. The surrounding noise and the sound of the wheels made him even more depressed. From a military perspective, what else could he say except accusing Pompey of being careless and making a big mistake? But politically, he was much clearer than Pompey. That is, Rome, a city that Pompey didn't like, was the foundation of the Republicans. Their ancestors had been arguing and competing here for hundreds of years. This was the vitality of the entire country. Although it was dirty and rude, the fireworks from the temple altars in the alleys, the endless stream of pedestrians on the streets, and even the brothels full of diseases and assassinations, it was these corners that constituted Rome - never before was it like now, that is, Cato the Younger was so attached to the lower class people he had looked down on the most. When other senators who had fled were worried that their beautiful houses would be burned and robbed by these people, they only Cato once said to the slaves, "If we lose Rome and its people, what's the point of us fleeing to various remote provinces? Recruiting soldiers, recruiting barbarians who are not Roman citizens at all, giving them weapons, granting them citizenship, and then there will be bloody fights between citizens. Then who can answer me, what is the essential difference between Caesar hiring Gallic cavalry and us hiring Numidian cavalry? If we all become warlords, then the republic will really become an abstract meaning." As he spoke, Cato felt extremely regretful. He sobbed, covered his face with his sleeves, and lay on the swaying mule cart. The evening sun was very warm.