Augustus Road

"Qualitatively speaking, hope is a commodity that requires a high price." - Thucydides++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

It turned out that Claudius, who was forcing himself to be calm, was riding slowly on horseback, pretending to be nonchalant, and slipped through the gaps among the surrounding gladiators. He also deliberately highlighted the symbol of the tribune's status. , those red boots, as long as he works hard and sees the opportunity correctly, he can escape completely with his riding skills, just like he did in the Kingdom of Bosporus.

Triari was so proud that he pointed at Claudius from under his horse and shouted, "Look, the tribune's boots are so beautiful. Maybe we can peel them off right away and exchange them for five sestes." ”

All the gladiators laughed and waved various weapons in their hands, which made Claudius flustered, but he ignored Triali's provocation. Maybe he was scaring himself and did not have the guts to kill a man who was endowed with sanctity in the street. The powerful tribune, this guy is only of the same rank as himself, and he is a knight with no origin at all.

At the moment when the two of them crossed paths, a gladiator from Thracian beside Triari suddenly threw a javelin with a lasso. Claudius leaned over to dodge, but the end of the javelin had a pull ring. , the gladiator pulled his hand back, and the jagged tip of the javelin flashed back quickly, straining Claudius's arm, "Kill him, kill him!" All the gladiators roared in terror, and ended It formed a ring of iron walls and blocked Claudius tightly. Various weapons rained down on him. Fortunately, Claudius's retinues were all carefully recruited desperadoes. They pulled Claudius, who was seriously injured and looked like a bloody gourd, from his horse and dragged him desperately outside the circle of people.

At this moment, the Claudius party who were aware of the situation nearby, numbering hundreds of them, rushed out from the alley behind the Temple of the Goddess of Bellow, and followed Claudius in breaking out towards the temple, "Teleari. Today. You'd better kill me, or I will kill you tomorrow!" Even so, when Claudius was lying on the shoulder cart carried by everyone, he still stretched out his bleeding arm and chased after him! Everyone in She's Triali threatened.

As a result, at the intersection of the Temple of Bellow and the Tiber River, Ignatius led a second wave of gladiators and launched a second fatal attack on Claudius. The men and teams carrying the carriages Killed and dispersed, Claudius was dragged aimlessly along a dirt road by a few loyal accomplices. Finally they found a rough tavern on the side of the road, and Claudius could no longer hang his head. But still under the bumpy inertia, he kept trying to lift himself up. The dazzling sunlight reappeared, swaying back and forth, constantly impacting his distracted mind. His legs no longer obeyed, and there were two streaks of blood in front of him. It's extending.

With a puff of dust and a muffled sound, the accomplices placed Claudius on the floor of the front porch of the tavern. Bedbugs began to crawl around his body in panic, looking for a place to escape. "Kill everyone and surround them!" Gladiators were shouting everywhere outside. Triari and Ignatius issued this death order. Claudius only had a pitiful number of subordinates, and soon Under the stormy attack, one by one fell into a pool of blood.

About half an hour later, when Lepidah and his men arrived here, all Tri Ali had slipped away. Lepidah walked tremblingly through the muddy depressions after the rain, where the smell of blood mixed with the smell of blood, and walked to the abandoned In the tavern, the doorposts and railings were covered with scars from swords and axes. Claudius's followers could almost be said to have been chopped into pieces. But when Lepidus stepped through this flesh and blood purgatory and walked into the front porch, he fell to the ground. Claudius was still alive in the dirty dust, because the enemy saw that he had been stabbed in the vital part and intended to make him bleed to death.

After hearing the news, Mo Xiu touched Claudius's whole body and shook his head at Lepidus. Then Du Zhiguan knelt down and took Claudius's outstretched hand. The other party swallowed a few mouthfuls of blood foam with difficulty. Because his internal organs were punctured, his speech was extremely difficult, "What a sad joke, I didn't expect to die here...The enemy is Pompey, he is afraid of me, unless I die, the consul in the coming year will inevitably Belongs to me, right..."

"Yes, since I could help you become a tribune back then, I will definitely help you become a consul. Pompey is afraid that we will join forces, so he can only use this despicable trick."

"I'm going to die, and the war is about to break out. Promise me to take good care of my sister." After Claudius said this, he began to lose his breath and started to sob intermittently in the dark. "I'm very sad." Afraid of the dark, sister, please come quickly, sister, please come quickly, your brother is still afraid of the dark, please come quickly..."

Gradually his voice stopped, and Lepidus stood up slowly, "Change the body of the tribune into a clean robe, put it on a stretcher, and drive it through the entire city of Rome, straight up to the Palatine Hill, yes, up to the Palatine Hill!"

Everyone did as required. They collected cassia twigs, woven them into a stretcher, wrapped Claudius's cold body in white cloth, and placed it on it. At this time, thousands of Claudius party members who heard the bad news came from all directions. The troops, tens of thousands of whom came with the legionnaires who came for reinforcements, let out an earth-shattering cry of mourning, "Today a tribune in Rome was killed!" All the people shouted this slogan, "And the person who killed him is still trying to get away with it."

When Claudia's body was carried to the front of his house, Claudia and Fulvia tore off their clothes in front of everyone, exposing their chests and cawing like crows. The elder sister, in particular, crawled forward and tore off her brother's shroud again in front of the onlookers. Blood flowed from her eyes as she counted the wounds on her brother's body one by one. Then Fulvia held up a piece of lead sheet, pulled out her hairpin, and carved on it with her hair disheveled. Every time she scratched, she called out the name of a god to curse the murderer.

"Stop doing this in vain!" Suddenly, Lepidus shouted, pointing at everyone and said, "Since someone is plotting to murder Claudius in the hope of achieving his ulterior motives, then now everyone doesn't need to have unrealistic fantasies anymore. The war has already broken out. Those who offended and hurt the body of the tribune today are all remnants of the Capua gladiatorial school. What should we do next!"

"Go with peace of mind. If anyone dares to defend the one who killed my husband, I swear to the goddess of vengeance that I will nail his head and hands to the bronze pillars of the Grand Forum in the future!" Fulvia shook her bare chest, raised her hands, and shouted to the sky.

On the Palatine Hill, tens of thousands of Claudius's party members armed with various weapons came down from all over the hill. They lit torches and swept through the streets of Rome, searching for the murder participants hiding in taverns and brothels. If they encountered resistance, they would burn all the places. Countless mobs joined the frenzy, walking, burning, and killing along the way, and finally they rushed to the Grand Forum.

"This place has long been a den of murderers. Burn it all down until the Temple of Concord!" (To be continued...)