Augustus Road

"A wise general will subordinate his brothers to his brothers and his friends to his friends." ——Ossanvid

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"Your Excellency, do you still remember me? You declared me a free man in the Lycdanian military camp." Calabis climbed up from the trench, saluted Apis, and asked.

"That time, five hundred slaves were liberated. Yes, your name is Calabis. I remember the names of all the soldiers and military slaves in the camp." Apis raised his chin slightly and leaned on his cane, "No. The 9th and 10th Brigades of the Thirteenth Legion are under my supervision, and you are no exception."

"It's an honor to continue serving under you, but shouldn't you be in Silesia, or in General Pompey's legions?"

Apis smiled, "His Excellency Gnaeus Pompey is about to complete his work, so now he only trusts those who flatter him. I was first driven to Bithynia, and then a slave of Pompey came to inspect, Complaining that I didn't treat him with 'proper courtesy', which is why I'm here now, I heard that the slave, at the next stop, said that some of the veterans were criminals and villains, and he was dismissed immediately. Sixteen hundred people, many of them went to join Mithridates in Pontus."

"Is that slave a Jew named Demetrius?" Karabis asked.

"It's all the same to me. He's just a slave. It's completely different from you who serve in the legion. Pompey will be dragged down by him sooner or later." After Apis finished speaking, he nodded his chin again, said goodbye to Calabis, and then knocked With a walking stick, I went to inspect other places.

Calabis, who stayed where he was, looked at Apis's back and smiled secretly. It seemed that sending Demetrius back to Pompey had more advantages than disadvantages.

After the establishment of the camp, because Neruda, the governor of the Macedonian province, had not yet taken up his new post, the actual command of the legion belonged to the deputy commander Petheneus, and Claudius still held the position of deputy general, which gave Calabis some confidence. , after all, under the leadership of superiors like this man and Apis, the lives and safety of soldiers have an extra layer of protection. At the following banquet in the camp, the legion’s lieutenants, military tribunes, and senior centurions were all eligible to participate. Calabis, as the dignified “temporary envoy of the legion,” was responsible for the Etrunian people’s support for the legion. "Supervision and coordination duties" also accompany the last seat.

On the table, there were some simple military meals, roasted meat, bean soup, fish pieces, and thick cups clashing back and forth. Claudius deliberately stayed next to Calabis and explained tactfully the last time he told Cicero and Little Cato was helpless in providing evidence. He and his sister were grateful to Calabis for his generous gift, and after the war, they strongly invited Calabis to become neighbors of his and his sister's new villa.

"My wife and I will settle in Apilon. With my status, I don't want to go to the right and wrong place on the Palatine Hill." Calabis took a sip of beer and refused readily. He knew in his heart that if he and With a guy like Claudius as a neighbor, Bodie would definitely be "drugged".

Claudius smiled and expressed great regret, and then Calabis suddenly asked him, "Isn't Cicero your neighbor?"

"Yes, his wife is also a kind, young and beautiful noble woman named Lenchart." Claudius's topics were always targeted, and he always cared about his friend's wife. Karabis said nothing, then frowned and asked, "I heard that you are getting married soon, and the other party is a woman from the Conegalis family."

The future civilian tribune made an obscene gesture, indicating that he had already "captured" the bride-to-be, then took a sip of wine and smacked his lips, "Her dowry is very generous, a total of 120,000 dinars. "At this time, General Petheneus banged the barbecue spit to indicate that he had military information to announce:

The vanguard cavalry of Pontus had collected a considerable number of ships. They took advantage of Malcha and advanced thousands of miles without warning. They broke through the Scythia Gate (today's Perekop Isthmus between the Crimean Peninsula and the Ukrainian mainland). Many barbarians attacked Mitte. Radati sent an envoy to express his submission, and the army of Pontus was strong again. It was also heard that they had hired many deserters from Pompey and were training a new and powerful legion. The Kingdom of Bosporus was in danger, Malcha openly told The Roman Senate said, "If a strong reinforcement is not sent before winter, I will completely abandon the city of Ponticabion, flee to Cape Khersones (today's Sevastopol area), and escape by boat. Throw the kingdom and the barbarian army completely to my father and make him once again a nightmare for Rome."

"Immediately, about half of the Thirteenth Legion must abandon the winter camp and go directly to Ponticabion." This is the determination of the top commander of the Legion. The next question is who should be sent, and who this time No one wants to go, including Karabis himself. Everyone knows that the province of Macedonia is separated from the Bosporus by the entire Uxen Sea. It is no different from a kite that is out of line, and can be swallowed up by inexplicable strong winds at any time. What's even worse is that although his Tenth Group has added many veterans, its combat coordination is still not up to par, at least that's what Pop thinks.

In an instant, the whole dinner table was noisy, and everyone was very excited. Various reasons came out, including insufficient supplies and insufficient training of soldiers. Those people in the Senate gave me an eagle flag and threw us to the corner of the world. Whoever is willing to bear the shame of losing the eagle flag can do this thankless task of taking the credit from Pompey.

Petnaeus sat down and shouted that since everyone refused to go, let's roll the dice!

The dice kept rolling under the candlelight, and everyone stared with wide eyes and held their breath.

In the narrow bay of Helispont, a warship of the Thirteenth Legion was caught by the headwind, the sail was twisted up, and it fell to the shore and ran aground. Many local villagers came to watch cordially. A group of people on the side of the ship were anxious, and they stretched out their hands one by one and shouted. Among them was Karabis, who was "hit" by the dice. He and Pope's Tenth Battalion were on this ship.

But then Karabis actually saw that on the shore street across the strait, in the cold wind of late autumn, a group of guys wearing dark gray tattered legion sweatshirts, with long beards and messy hair, many of them didn't even have shoes, and they rushed over barefoot with ropes. Only the neat queue and movements could show that they were once soldiers of the legion.

"From the Seventh Legion," Karabis, who held the side of the ship, looked at the tattoos on the arms of these people infatuatedly and said.

An old man with white hair, who was hidden by the shadow of the ship, shouted to the people on the deck and bargained. If they were asked to pull the boat out of the predicament, each person would have to pay at least five sestes, or even one drachma.

"Arminius!" Carapis recognized this old man at a glance, the old man who could never die on the battlefield.