Augustus Road

"When the young man walked along the street, he put his hands in his cloak, never looked left or right, but just stared at the road humbly." - Xenophon

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After hearing this, although Sulpicius was still unwilling to admit the change of the situation, his confidence was obviously shaken. Lepidus naturally had no intention of forcing him to say anything, but politely said goodbye to him and said that he would soon recruit a new legion in Sardinia, and the military situation was really busy. As for you, I will arrange people to send you off the island immediately.

"Of course, it is completely your freedom to return to Rome or go to Brindisi to join Pompey." This seemingly generous remark fully expressed Lepidus' contempt for the former consul.

A few days later, in the new city of Laconia, after the sacrifice was completed, Lepidus and his officers stood on the altar. A grand military parade was being held on the circular parade ground below. Thousands of young people in Laconia were full of indignation and high spirits. They anointed themselves in the gymnasium beside the square, and then put on short shirts, showing their toned muscles and skin color. They crowded in the aisle of the parade ground to watch the old General Lepidus's adopted grandson and the army before the expedition. The next to appear were the chief battalions of the two legions. They imitated the Roman Sali priests and choreographed a set of marching dances with ornate swords and shields. After hitting the shields with swords to make drum-like sounds, they sang in unison, stepped briskly and leaped forward, performing various assassination moves. Fortunately, many of the 15th Legion were dark-skinned Nubians, who received dance music training. The progress was extremely rapid.

Next came the Gallic cavalry. They did not show the superb single-horse combat skills like the Matians, but their armor was distinct. They crossed the altar in a strict formation. Then, the dark-skinned archers formed a horizontal line and shot arrows with whistles like a rainstorm on the shooting range, begging the gods to protect the entire city. The lively atmosphere lasted until midnight, and Lepidus took out a full thirty talents and invited all the soldiers and young people to hold a sumptuous public banquet in front of the temple. Then, Lepidus promised, "I will copy the prosperity of Rome to this new city. From now on, there will be no interruption of grand sword fights and chariot races for seven days, and there will be unlimited supply of free wine, bread and dried fruits. I want to copy Laconia into a real small capital."...

This kind of extravagance is very effective. That is, the reputation of the "Lepidus family" has been revived and revitalized in Sardinia, just like the prosperity of the Pompey family in central Italy. In a short period of time, more than 3,000 young people from the new city, plus 700 experienced veterans, were registered on the conscription list. Soon Caesar's number was also sent. This time, he was more conscientious and gave Lepidus a regular legion number, which filled the gap of the "Sixth Legion of Gaul Province". It turned out that this number was actually the First Legion of the Spanish Province sent by Pompey.

Afterwards, Lepidus recruited auxiliary troops from the poor freed slaves and the people, distributed the weapons sent by Etruria to them, and strengthened the strength of the Sixth Legion. Then, in terms of personnel, he appointed Angondinus as the commander of the legion, and appointed Bagulus as the chief centurion. As for Paulus, he served as Lepidus's deputy general and the financial officer of Sardinia together with Petrenius.

Just as they were ready to land in Liguria and then cross the Alps to attack Masseria, Lepidus received a letter from Portia, "I know that if Pompey went north in this war and Caesar fled to the depths of Gaul, if it was Portia and the children who lived in the city under the iron hoof of the enemy army - I'm sorry, I lost my reason and the ability to speak politely in grief, but I still learned that my father did not go to Sicily to take up his post, but went to Masseria alone. I inquired from many sources and found that the commander who was immediately responsible for attacking this city was you, so Many words are difficult to say, and it is not difficult to guess with your intelligence, but I still want to express that I don’t want the robe that my father sent back to his residence in Rome to become his legacy. My Brutus also encountered a mutiny in Syria, and his life and death are still uncertain. What can I do? What can a woman do? Every day I sit at my desk, listening to the weeping of my mother and sisters, and constantly telling myself to uphold the strong qualities of Roman women. I dare not even cry. My mind is now in a mess..."

Did Cato go to Masseria?

Although the information was clear, I still felt bad when I suddenly received this letter from Portia, but Caesar's urging became more and more urgent. Relying on Lepidus's judgment of the current situation, Pompey would definitely not hold on to Brindisi for too long. He only had one legion, facing Caesar's five or six legions. In addition, Curio's troops were also actively advancing towards Sicily. If Pompey hesitated, he would be surrounded and killed.

Surrendering without a fight is not Pompey's style. Since he could give up Rome, it would be no big deal for him to give up Brindisi. In addition, it is said that Byblos is training the navy with all his strength in the port of Dickhaqiang. It seems that Pompey will launch a counterattack in Greece in the future, or he will go directly to Africa and actively move closer to Spain.