Augustus Road

"In my opinion, they are scum, flies, mosquitoes, bed bugs and lice, and no decent person would want to meet them in the Roman Forum." - Plautus on pimps and madams in "Weevil" evaluation

——————————————————————————

Several heavily armed soldiers walked in. Triali seemed to have won a victory and said triumphantly: "This special envoy named Karabis, don't you still understand the situation you are in now? Holding the eagle flag Come and blackmail me, don’t you think I haven’t killed any business rivals in Rome?”

"The opponent you can kill is really stupid enough. You probably thought I stuffed the eagle flag in the box, right?" Karabis untied the rope and took out the eagle flag of the Eighth Legion from the box. The plaster model then fell to the ground, shattering with a crisp sound, which also made Triali blink his eyes in place, not knowing what to say, "Perhaps, I can send out the legion to cross the Cimmerian Strait. Report this to Pompey, who, as we all know, has the power of four hundred furlongs along the coast, and you pheasants will obediently hand over the eagle."

"Do you know the Claudius family from Sabine City?" Calabis shook the box and threw it at his feet. "There is a young man named Bablius inside. Now Mithridates' sword , and the eagle flag of your legion are all in his hands. You must be curious about where he is now. I can tell you that before a market day, he took a pirate ship to Macedonia, and then took the road to Macedonia. The city of Rome is waiting for my instructions. Even Pethenius doesn't know his whereabouts. As for Pompey's imperiummaius, my God, you still believe in such an illusion. Can he use this power in Rome? We are called the Pheasant Legion. Do you also think that the Thirteenth Legion, which was specially formed under the authorization of the Senate and the Assembly of Citizens when Pompey was about to achieve full success, had no one behind the scenes who could compete with Pompey? He's just an agent. Commander, don't be stupid anymore. What's the benefit of following Pompey? He may seem to gain fame and fortune in this war, but the old men in purple robes in the Senate will not let him go. The pirates and When Mithridates was not finished, he still had some value, but when he returned to Rome, he was the target of public criticism. But you are different. As long as the Eagle Banner of the Eighth Legion returns to your hands, your future will be bright. If you are ambitious, have a rich family fortune, and have a clean life experience - you will soon become a branch official of a wealthy province, and you can also run for consulship, and then become a governor, earn hundreds of millions of property, have villas all over the valleys and lakes, and eat well. The prospect of eating the highest quality lamb and caviar is exciting just thinking about it, isn’t it?”

Triali swallowed, then looked up at Karabis and said slowly: "Can we talk about the details?"

Calabis sat down abruptly, took the wine jar and glass in front of Triali, poured a glass for himself, and poured another glass for the frustrated commander of the Eighth Army, "It's very simple, the Eighth Army will be here immediately. Cross the Cimmerian Strait, but not to ask for the Eagle Flag, but to dig trenches and confront our Thirteenth Army."

"Sorry, I don't quite understand what you mean." Triali's mind didn't work well enough when he heard Karabis's weird request.

"Actually, there is a very stupid and smart guy next to Pompey. But you don't need to ask about his name. He will think that I am making a fuss about imperiummaius, so he must be trying to suppress Pompey's surname. Zi, once again acted on his own initiative behind his back, limiting this matter to a private area, so imperiummaius will not appear in this ocean for the time being, but this just gives us a time lag, a time lag for independent action - here During this period, the Eighth Army marched into Ponticabion in the name of annihilating the remaining parties of Pontus, and the Thirteenth Army will block you on the island, because it is now the jurisdiction of the Governor of Macedonia. "

"Then what......"

Calabis, who smiled, then made an inflated gesture, "You still need to ask? The two legions of Rome were in conflict over the scope of operations. Once a lawsuit over swords and ditches started, the city of Rome would soon know the news. , all kinds of people will come to Xiaoya one after another, things will get bigger and bigger, Pompeo's situation will become more and more transparent, he will overdraw his credit and interests in this war to settle the situation, he In the past, he liked to snatch the merits of others, such as Spain, Italy and Xiaoya. Now it is the turn of those who hate him to take revenge - as for me, you are welcome, I bring happiness to the Eighth Army, It was Mercury who brought disaster to Pompey - don't be stunned, let's drink as much as the Muses (nine cups), Your Excellency Commander." After saying this, Calabis took the cup. After finishing the wine, he stood up and said goodbye to Triali, "By the way, the conditions around the city of Pontica Biang are very difficult now. We have set up wooden fences and deer villages everywhere. The roads have been dug up, the villages have been cleaned, and the fields have been destroyed." If it is burned out, I am afraid that your legion will have great difficulties in supplying it. You should negotiate with Pompey to deal with this matter. The longer the processing time, the better. In addition, the Eagle Flag is a centurion named Hebrida. In the hands of the commander, as long as you play your part well, he will return this thing to you after the incident, but you have to pay him ten thousand drachmas, so be it." Calabis pushed the soldiers away. To the side, he walked out of Tri Ali's tent.

He left the garrison of Triari at a lightning speed and stopped the carriage at a secluded cape. There he and the drivers set up a stove, hung the eye-catching red scarf and cloak on the branches of the elm tree, and began to eat and wait. He was waiting for people coming from the sea until a rowing boat with a small purple sail came on the water the next day...

Half a market day later, in the golden sunshine, a few swallows were combing their feathers with their mouths in the shade of the trees in front of the terrace. Adiana was lazy. Adiana woke up lazily, and then a eunuch knelt at the entrance of her bedroom and said very respectfully: "Your Excellency, the slaves who went to the city market to purchase today are back."

Adiana hurriedly got out of bed, sat in front of the dressing table, put the enamel gold pendant around her neck, and put on the golden beetle armband on her wrist, and asked softly: "Did you buy the turbot from Lake Luklin that I want to eat?"

"Yes, it just appeared in the market today in the name of seasonal welcome." The eunuch smiled and replied. The ivory comb in the princess's hand moved, and then she combed her proud long hair more seriously in front of the mirror. After combing, she took out a small piece of papyrus, wrote a few characters on it, and rolled it up carefully. The eunuch came forward to take it, "Hand this thing over and do it properly."

After the eunuch left, the princess sighed, then leaned on the table for a while, and raised her face again, "It's time to fight again." (To be continued.)