Rome Must Fall

The Roman captives were put in shackles originally prepared for pirates. The pirates fixed them to the ends of the ship's beams and sailed in the waters around Italy, showing off their power.

The senators closed their eyes and pretended to be deaf and dumb. Even though the incumbent consul, Antonius II, died in battle, they did not take fierce revenge on the pirates who humiliated Rome.

This greatly encouraged the arrogance of the pirates.

In the second year after Pompey stepped down as consul (68 BC), the pirates invaded the port of Ostia, not only looting a large amount of supplies in the port, but also burning the flagship of the Roman consul in the dock.

The port of Ostia is located at the mouth of the Tiber River, only 45 miles away from Rome. All supplies shipped from the sea to Rome had to be unloaded at this port. The pirates set a fire in the port, burning countless grains shipped from overseas provinces to fill the stomachs of Roman citizens, which immediately caused famine in Rome.

The hungry Roman people rushed into the square angrily, strongly demanding that the Senate take action and appoint a commander-not a paper tiger like Antony II, but someone who can really solve the problem.

Who is the ideal candidate in the hearts of the people? ... Catullus and Hortensius knew it very well, but that man was already full of glory at a young age. If he continued to control the military power, it might threaten the security of the Republic. Therefore, the conservative senators continued to turn a deaf ear and tried every means to delay the matter.

However, Pompey's move to eliminate Sulla's ban and restore the power of the tribunes when he was consul was rewarded at this time.

The newly appointed tribune Aulus Gabinius proposed a bill at the Citizens' Assembly: to give the Roman hero Pompey full power to fight pirates.

Since the chief senator Catullus strongly called for not appointing "a de facto imperial king (Pompey)", Caesar was one of the few senators in the Senate who publicly expressed support for this bill. He also went to the square to help the tribunes wave the flag and shout, and told the people with his own personal experience: how serious the threat of pirates to the Roman people is!

Caesar's resolute and strong support for Pompey made the senators realize that this radical and flamboyant newcomer to the Senate had been on Pompey's side.

In early 67 BC (the eighth year of the establishment of Nix), Roman citizens gathered again in the form of a tribal meeting and enthusiastically passed this bill.

Pompey had unprecedented military power, with 500 ships and 120,000 people; if necessary, he could recruit more people.

His command range included the entire Mediterranean, all the islands, and extended 150 miles inland...

The military resources of Rome had never been so concentrated in the hands of one person, which was a sign of hopelessness in eradicating pirates. Even Pompey's supporters were somewhat pessimistic about this. They felt that it would take at least three years for Pompey to achieve this goal.

But after Pompey aimed at the pirates, he had a clear strategic plan after a long period of careful consideration: he divided the entire Mediterranean into thirteen regions, arranged a fleet in each region, and attacked and expelled any pirate ships found in the region; at the same time, he sent troops to wait near the pirates' bases on land, and when the pirates were defeated in the naval battle and fled back to their nests, he launched an attack on land and wiped them out...

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In early August, the sun was as hot as a flame, baking the earth mercilessly.

Roman warships patrolled back and forth on the Adriatic Sea. Once they found a pirate ship, they would pounce on it from all directions like a pack of wolves until all the people on board were killed.

Even if the pirates noticed the danger in time and luckily escaped to the east coast, the narrow east coast belonged to the Roman province of Illyria. The governor had already received Pompey's order to let the provincial army patrol the coast in different areas. The pirates who escaped to the shore still could not escape the pursuit of the Romans.

However, the Ardi tribesmen living on the other side of the Dina Mountains obviously did not know the bloody storm on the sea and the shore. There was a huge mine in the low hills on the eastern foot of the mountains, filled with the smell of dust and ore. Thousands of slaves were silently digging iron ore in the dust and fog...

They were naked, their skin became rough and dark due to long-term labor, their hands were full of calluses, their nails were full of dust and stone chips, and they were disheveled like savages. They held simple iron tools and dug ore with hoes. Every swing seemed extremely heavy...

Teams of Ardi tribe warriors wore single clothes, held spears and light shields, and patrolled the entire mine with expressionless faces. Their eyes were as sharp as eagles. Any slaves who tried to be lazy and resisted would be severely punished. The slaves did not dare to slack off in front of them. Even if they were tired, they could only work hard.

The whole mine was filled with a depressing atmosphere, with only the heavy breathing of the slaves and the knocking of tools echoing...

Not far from the mine pit were small hills made of iron ore. The dark brown iron ore was coated with a light, textured golden light under the sunlight.

The slaves loaded the iron ore onto carts and transported them one by one to the Kupa River three miles away, where there was a dock built by the Aldi people, with more than 20 ships moored.

At this moment, a group of Aldi people were directing the slaves to load the ore into wooden baskets and then carry them one by one to the boats...

"How long will it take to finish loading?" Elder Themispoulos of Ardei, who was standing on the dock watching all this, couldn't help but ask.

"Don't worry, we will definitely be able to finish loading before the sun goes down, and it won't delay our departure tomorrow." Kalsipempas said calmly.

At this time, shouts came from a distance: "Father! Father!..."

The familiar voice made Kalsipempas raise his eyes and saw a group of people walking hurriedly from the south. The leader was his eldest son Kobulun Bodus.

Kalsipempas felt a thump in his heart, and hurriedly stepped forward to greet him, asking, "Why are you here? Did something happen in the village?"

"Everything is safe at home, it's just that -" Koblen Bodus lowered his voice and replied: "Father, your men at sea came to the stronghold to look for you. They also brought some pirates from other ships. They were very I was anxious to see you, and I was worried that if they waited too long near the stockade, it would affect the safety of the stockade, so I brought them over quickly. "

Calsipempas looked behind his son, and the panting people he glanced at were either his pirate men or friends he met at sea...

Finally, his eyes fell on one person: "Onoma Baitis, you are so anxious to find me, is there something big happening at sea?"

"Boss, what you warned us before has come true!" Onomabatis said with lingering fear: "The Romans really sent a huge fleet to the Adriatic Sea to encircle and suppress us. Their warships were deployed They filled the entire sea area, and there were Roman troops on the shore to cooperate with them in fighting. I heard that many pirate ships were sunk by them, and many pirates were captured by them...

Fortunately, we listened to your warning before and didn't dare to stay away from our place of residence during this period. We also sent people around to inquire about the situation. As soon as we found out that the situation was not good, we hurriedly hid on the island.

But I didn’t expect that the damn Romans already knew our hiding place and actually used warships to transport soldiers to land on the island to attack. I quickly led my brothers to swim to escape from the island, and after landing ashore, I ran as fast as I could into the mountains.

Unexpectedly, the Romans ambush a cavalry force on the shore, and our team was scattered. Some... some brothers were killed by the Romans or captured—"

"How many brothers have we lost?!" Kalsipempas's face changed drastically and he asked anxiously.

"About...forty-five people..." Onomabaitis lowered his head and responded in a heavy tone.

Calsipponpaston felt a pain in his heart. During his time as a pirate, he had accumulated a total of three ships and about 150 men, but he suddenly lost one-third of his men.

Although most of his pirate men are not members of his own tribe, they are also his compatriots. They have lived and died together on the sea and shared hardships for so many years, and the friendship they have formed is deeper than that of real brothers. Therefore, at first glance, it sounds like The news of their accident immediately plunged him into grief.

"...We fled into the mountains, but we didn't expect the Romans to want to pursue us, so we led them around the mountains for two days and made them suffer some pain before they retreated..."

Onomabaitis continued: "Our residence on the island was occupied by the Romans, and our ships were also taken away by them. After discussion, we decided to come to you.

On the way to your tribe, we met several groups of pirate brothers who escaped from the siege of the Roman army, and they were also willing to follow us to find you——"

"Brother Kalsi Pampas, do you still know me?!" A burly young man behind Onomabatis stepped forward and said excitedly.

"Of course I recognize you, Agatachus, a warrior from Epirus in the south." Charles Pampas looked at him and said seriously: "We once worked together to intercept several Roman merchant ships. We even drank together! Also drinking together was your helmsman###...bosun###..."

Chalcypampas named the other pirate leaders who had followed Agatacus, and they all breathed a sigh of relief: Since Chalcypampas still remembered this friendship, he should not reject them. outside the door.

"Chief Chalsipempas, we all heard what Onomabaitis said. You had judged a few months ago that the Romans would launch a large-scale encirclement and suppression of us, and you reminded your men many times... Agatacus looked respectful, with hope in his eyes: "We are here mainly to ask you, a wise man, for advice. What should we do next?"