Augustus Road

"He generally has a moderate diet, is hardworking, but is a little too obsessed with women." - Appian's evaluation of Mithridates VI

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When he and the others walked through the main hall, he saw a miserable and messy scene, just like when he first came through and entered the Palace of Calabi, there were poisoned and swollen corpses everywhere, eunuchs, women, servants and slaves, and then in the dim light, he saw Adiana kneeling in front of a huge corpse lying in a pool of blood, mourning, Biduita standing silently on the side, and Achilles left to explain the handover of defense with the "Eighth Legion Vanguard".

It seems that no soldiers have come to plunder the core area of ​​the palace for the time being. When they learned that King Pontus had committed suicide, they all dispersed. Carapis walked into the small oval bedroom and took out some gorgeous and majestic clothes from the closet, as well as some jewelry that had been spared, and precious ointments and other things. He walked to Adiana and helped her up. "Listen, Adiana, you have to be strong now. I have put the fake body on the boat and sent it to Pompey's residence. This will delay him for a while. But the time you have to mourn your father is still limited. You said before that you don't want your father's body to be put on a mule cart and sent back to Rome. Now I will help you do this. - You, go and move the wood and furniture piled at the entrance of the palace. "

The princess tightened her grip on Carapis's hand, "Do you mean to burn my father's body on the spot?"

"Yes, according to the request of the Romans, I was supposed to send Mithridates' body or head back to Rome - so, I can only help you to this point." Carapis said seriously, knowing that he was also taking a huge risk, "Adiana, it's up to you to decide whether to agree to this matter, but it must be done as soon as possible, there is not much time."

Adiana looked at her father who had passed away with her red and swollen eyes, then looked at Carapis, and finally gritted her teeth and nodded at him. Carapis brought an armchair and helped the mourning Adiana sit on it. Then he covered his hair and mouth with his cloak, leaving only a pair of eyes exposed. He walked to the garden at the portico and dug two shallow pits with the tools he brought, one for Mithridates and the other for Marcea. The soldiers and centurions who came with him put furniture, branches, wooden boards and other things in the shallow pits to make a simple funeral pile.

Then, Carapis took out all the letters in the bookcase, looked at them, walked to Adiana, half-knelt down and placed the letters next to her armchair, and said: "These things are of no significance to the looters, but I think they are different for you. Keep them well and don't let them fall into the hands of Pompeii's group of hangers-on."

At this time, Biduita stepped forward and handed Mithridates' sword "Autolycus" and Monime's small crown to Adiana, "Princess , this is the last gift your father gave me. Now you hold it. Menander and Stratonice are still alive. You can use it to avenge the royal family, or you can kill it and live in seclusion. This sword is worth at least four hundred talents, which is enough for you, the princess, to spend the rest of your life. "

Adiana took the heavy sword and looked at Carapis, who was busy with sweat on his face and covered with a cloak, helping his father and half-brother to apply ointment on their bodies and change into clean clothes. She said nothing. Carapis's subordinates lifted the bodies of the two with the removed door panels. Carapis and Biduita picked some flowers and cinnamon branches from the garden and put them on top. Then his black eyes stared at Adiana, as if waiting for her to express her opinion. Adiana pursed her lips, hugged "Autolycus" to her chest, and nodded to the amphorae.

The corpse on the cremation pit, along with the wooden boards and furniture, was burning. The remains of her father gradually turned into a shrinking black shadow in the flames, and thick smoke rose up. Adiana sat on the armchair and slowly pulled out the sword of Autolycus. It was as cold as water, reflecting the orange flames and her chestnut eyes.

After the cremation ceremony, Carapis and others picked up the remaining bones and ashes, poured them into two bronze sealed vessels, and then carefully placed them in a box. Then they took off the cloak covering their faces, blinked and sighed for air. Adiana held "Autolycus" in both hands and walked to Carapis, "Amphora, can I use you again? This Autolycus is my reward."

Carapis pushed the sword back, "I made an agreement with you in advance that even after your father's death, you will still be the princess of Pontus who has turned everyone upside down. I haven't forgotten this agreement - but I need it now I want an envoy to return to Rome. As for me, I will stay here temporarily. I just don't know if the damn Claudius is really dead. "After saying that, Carapis pressed a piece of amber writing board on the pillar, wet the charcoal ink pen with his teeth, and wrote on it one by one...

But when they walked to the dock with boxes, letters and other things, ready to spend money to hire more sailors and ships to return to the Acropolis, they saw a group of ships sailing in the distant ocean. "Is it our legion's successor troops coming from Philipulon?" Pope was so scared that he hurriedly took off the helmet and armor used by the general.

"No, no, the sail is not the emblem of the Thirteenth Legion, the opponent's flagship uses a purple sail!" Carapis asked in surprise, "What kind of fleet is this?"

Bituita next to him said in a deep voice: "It's Macmillan, the Purple Sail Pirate. He was originally based in Crete, but was later expelled to the Uxen Sea by Pompey. But it's really impressive that this guy can escape from Pompey's hands." Amazing!”

"I had previously persuaded my father to spend a lot of money to hire them to fight Pompey, but I didn't expect that Macmillan would come after my father died." Adiana's face was solemn, and she didn't know whether the prospect was sad or happy.

But when the purple-sail pirate ships were lined up peacefully on the sea in front of the dock, the guy who came to negotiate in a small boat was enough to make everyone present take a breath - it was Claudius, with a dull and charming look. With a smile, a bronzed muscular man with a Scythian beard next to him, grinning with big teeth, hugged Claudius tightly, who had a somewhat stiff body.

Before Claudius and the bronze muscular man's boat docked, a soldier who had served in the Seventh Legion quietly said to Calabis: "Oh my God, this is exactly the arrangement of the goddess of fate - Claudius was in Silesia before. When he was young, he was kidnapped by pirates. Later, he wrote to his brother-in-law Luculas, asking him to pay twenty talents to ransom him, but the pirates said he was only worth two talents, but Luculas even paid two talents. He also refused to come out."

"How did Claudius redeem himself later..." At this point, Calabis figured it out for himself. When his patron beat Claudius in public in Lycodania, Claudius hugged his brother-in-law's arms. **, there is no need to explain the reason for begging, the real scene is right in front of you.

Seeing that Calabis was silent, the soldier thought he couldn't understand, so he frankly revealed the answer: "I heard that Claudius relied on the virginity of the Moon Gongmen." (To be continued.)