Augustus Road

Then, Lepidus put on a blue woolen cloak and a gilded helmet with colorful feathers. Surrounded by many retinues and generals, he walked to the high platform outside the tower, where ballistas were originally deployed. The stick thrower is used to control the city walls and docks of the entire Brindisi port. It just overlooks the square below and the camps outside the city. At this moment, under it, Lepidus saw the walls stretching along the entire city. The wooden towers, camps, fences, and passages set up by the soldiers were filled with smoke like flowing clouds. Patrol cavalry were everywhere walking around. Javelins and shields were arranged on wooden fences and weapon racks. Like rows of neat shrubs, the ships moored on the bay are like high walls on the water. All the centurions of the four legions he has now, exactly 240 people, stand on the high ground. Below the tower, not only these people, but all the remaining veterans and elite soldiers, a total of about a thousand people, were ready to listen to Lepidus' speech, "Where on earth are the former cavalry commanders taking us? "

Facing everyone, Lepidus' first words as he held his hands on the battlements were, "Isn't Caesar merciful enough!?"

"Brutus, Cassius and other ugly people, couldn't Caesar just raise his finger and kill them before? Let me list these very convincing things. Brutus and Cassius was captured by Caesar on the sea off Ephesus, and he forgave them; Spinzel had previously been burdened with a debt of 40 million sesterces and could not breathe, and his political career was about to end. "Caesar generously paid off all his debts," said the little boy, so that the bastard could continue to live in the synagogue like a human being; Casca, he was. Not only did he do nothing as governor of the province, he also plundered the people wantonly. After leaving office, he was prosecuted three times. Each time, Caesar used various forces to help him get out of the quagmire; Aetius, who had previously gone on an expedition in Crassus At that time, he publicly issued a curse, which caused Crassus to be buried in the desert, and many legion soldiers died in their hometown. This kind of person, this kind of person with sinister intentions to attack the country and the army, can continue to talk nonsense and do whatever he wants in the gathering place of the senators. Isn't it because of the forgiveness of His Excellency Caesar? Many of the murderers will use such rhetoric to deceive ignorant people, saying that Caesar is a king and a tyrant. But can such words deceive us? We are all with Caesar. After many years of fighting, Caesar shared meals and accommodations with us on the battlefield, lived together in tents, and marched and slept together in the wild. He never called any of us "soldiers," but called us "friends" and "comrades." During the civil war, he never killed anyone at will because of personal grudges or hostile relationships. When he knew that some soldiers in the legion were in poor financial circumstances, he would pay for them himself or mobilize wealthy people to help them. Soldiers, ask yourself, haven't you all been favored by him?" After speaking, Li Bida waved his hands, "I am a soldier like everyone else. The philosophy of a soldier is very simple, don't be ungrateful, and have a beginning and an end. I remember that when we were on the Rubicon River, the legionnaires around Caesar collectively swore that in order to wash away the shame of the commander, they were willing to follow Caesar to the ends of the earth. But what I want to say now is that Caesar has long been turned into a cold corpse. , became the victim of an extremely despicable assassination, and fell in the synagogue. He was unprepared before his death, because the people who killed him were all man-eating beasts that he regarded as his friends and children. "Speaking of this, in front of everyone! In front of everyone, Lepidus tore open the buttons of his cloak, grabbed his chest, and shouted angrily, "I really want to cut open the chests of these man-eating beasts to see what's going on in their hearts." Long!"

"Kill all the beasts and avenge the death of the dictator. No matter whether we chase you to the ends of the world, we must fulfill the promise we made on the Rubicon River!" Polo, the chief centurion of the Thirteenth Legion, was the first Take the lead in shouting, and then everyone should follow this slogan, rolling up like a furious wave.

"Perhaps at this time, the Senate is afraid of us and will send a legal officer to come and make all kinds of empty promises and ask us to stop. But soldiers, please avoid this ridiculous and humble obstruction! Before the murderer gets We will never stop until the due and severe punishment is meted out. On the contrary, once the murderers are brought to justice, we will immediately lay down our weapons again and return to our respective settlements peacefully. "This was Lepidah's request, so the next day. At that time, the flag officers of the four legions held high the logos of their respective legions. The first column walked on the embankment outside Brindisi. Behind them, there was an endless marching team - under the banner Elite soldiers, cavalry, large groups of infantry, ballistae, baggage vehicles, military slaves... Their destination was only one, and that was the city of Rome.

Several lightly-armed scout cavalry were galloping on the periphery. The instructions given by Lepidus to these people were, "Tell the towns along the way to give up resistance and provide food and supplies for our army. In addition, the command officer quickly detoured to the gates of Mutina and told My ward, Caesar, told him to wait for the arrival of my main army before launching an attack on Antony."

After arranging all this, Lepidus, who was holding the reins, had a smile on his lips again.

Everything is covered.

Halfway through the journey, Marulas sat in the car and swayed along the street until he saw several scouts rushing under the shadow of the poplar trees on the roadside. They all wore thyme petals, which was the sign that Lepidus' subordinates liked to post for themselves. He hurriedly asked a cavalryman to stop and asked him what happened in Brindisi.

"The former cavalry commander, Mr. Lepidus, decided to use the power of the legion to avenge the deceased Mr. Caesar and urge the Senate to issue a resolution to deal with the murderer as soon as possible." The cavalryman answered expressionlessly, obviously knowing all these contents in advance.

"But the Senate has reached a resolution at the initiative of Mr. Cicero and is about to issue a decree to deal with the murderer. This time, I was sent here in the hope that you would stop and wait for the public opinion of the Temple of Concordia." Marulas said anxiously.

"We can't wait any longer." The cavalryman said briefly, whipped up his horse whip, and threw Marulas to the side of the road, leaving him with a mouth full of dust and a blank look on his face.

"Let's go back first. It seems that Lepidus is furious. If I go to see him, I'm afraid I will suffer the same fate as Aquila and be killed." Marulas didn't think much about it and ordered a turn. Later, he thought that returning to Rome was not an option, so he simply took off his robe and fled to the manor villa in Lucania to hide, and never asked about politics again. (To be continued...)