Augustus Road

But the stop was only temporary, just because Lepidus needed to stop and collect intelligence from all parties. 》After a while, Sabo summarized the situation of all parties and submitted it. Although Caesar's legion set out three days earlier, the area he went to was the richest in Greece, so he didn't encounter any battles, but there were a lot of things like petitions, so he just entered the city of Delphi.

On the contrary, Scipio was hesitant at the right bank of the Ariacmone River. He obviously heard the ending of Labinus' army, and began to regret that if he had not entangled with Lepidus's detachment before, he would have cooperated with Labinus to defeat Caesar's main force. Otherwise, he would not be in a dilemma today. So Scipio sighed and began to intensify his instructions to the tax farmers to frantically collect a large amount of additional taxes in the occupied areas, and then began to focus on which coastal port was convenient for transporting the legion to Asia Minor.

In short, no one thought that Scipio would still hold on to the Aliacomon River. "Northern Greece is full of curved cliffs and excellent seaports. We don't need to bite poor Scipio, and we can't stop him. Let him go, and we will continue to march towards Thessalonica." After Lepidus quickly understood the situation, he led all the personnel again, ignoring Scipio, and marched quickly towards the tip of Europe along the seashore extending northeast of Pella.

Suddenly, Scipio's three legions, including the natural barrier of the river, were completely useless. Either he continued to hold on and wait for Caesar's attack; or he hurried back to his division before Lepidus crossed the Heliston Strait. Before entering and leaving Asia Minor. Go to Ephesus to meet with other teams. Decide whether to stay or go.

While Scipio was still flustered, Lepidus' army had advanced one hundred Roman miles, and then met with the Thracian King Curtis on a small river somewhere in the north of Thessalonica, which was also the traditional border between the Thracian Kingdom and the Macedonian Province.

Curtis had begged for this meeting a long time ago, because he knew that the life and property of Prince Sarada, the only heir to the kingdom, was in the hands of this cavalry commander.

Both sides brought a hundred cavalrymen, as well as the scepters, fascines, and flags that symbolized their status, and faced each other across the river. Then Lepidus and Curtis each took a small boat out. To be honest, it is difficult to tell that Curtis is a barbarian based on his appearance. He wore a Greek robe, a Mycenaean-style golden crown, a lion-like nose, and a thick beard. He always claimed to be a descendant of the "successors" of Alexander the Great. He had legal dominance over the entire Greek world, of course after the rise of the Roman Republic. This gradually became a secret dream in the hearts of successive Thracian kings. Curtis originally hoped to expand the territory of his kingdom by providing a vassal army to "the Great Pompey", but he almost put the heir to the throne in trouble.

"From now on, the Kingdom of Thrace declares its allegiance to Decatur Caesar of the Republic, and provides 2,000 infantry and 15,000 bushels of wheat to follow the cavalry commander Lepidus to the expedition to Asia Minor. In addition, King Curtis must swear before the gods that he will not support any enemy of Caesar, whether from land or sea, and will not send any troops across the border of the Free Macedonian Province. As a sign of sincerity for peace, General Lepidus is willing to return Prince Sarada." This is the peace condition proposed by the Roman side. Curtis looked at his own son standing on the bow of the other side, licked his lips, and raised the scepter very readily to express his approval of this content.

At this point, the Kingdom of Thrace officially announced that it would withdraw from Pompey's camp. At this moment, Lepidus's front army had been reinforced by many vassal armies such as Boeotia, Thrace, and Macedonia, and the total number of people had reached about 60,000. Then the army arrived at the destination designated by Lepidus, which he had said before, "a place that can control the key point between Europe and Asia and can be used as a springboard to capture Asia Minor", Byzantium.

Byzantium is a simple place name. As early as 500 years ago, the ancient Greeks discovered its unique geographical advantages. The land facing Europe is very fertile and particularly suitable for growing various crops; and the north overlooks the Propontis Sea, now known as the Sea of ​​Marmara. This pocket-shaped sea area is controlled by two narrow "gates", namely the Heliston Strait and the Bosporus Strait. As long as a small number of ships, a large number of enemy troops can be kept out of the area. In addition, the Propontis Sea itself is a natural fishing ground with a huge output, which can provide the city with a large amount of inexhaustible meat. Opposite this sea area, on the east coast, is the legendary ancient city of Troy, located on Mount Ida. When the Mycenaeans invaded this city, Achilles and Ajax, the two bravest warriors, anchored their ships at one end and the other end of the strait respectively.

But when the ancient Greeks were building the city, they made a ridiculous mistake. They actually went to the east coast of the Propontis Sea to build a castle called Chalcidon, and they didn't know that the Taurus Cape on the west coast was a seaport that didn't need shelter at all. Even large merchant ships could unload and land here without the support of barges, but could directly dock at the dock. This sea area would not be damaged by any storms and rain all year round.

Of course, the ancient Greeks didn't know that, but Lepidus knew that before time travel, he loved traveling and had been to the city of Istanbul. He also knew that the name of this city in the Roman Empire was Constantinople, but it is impossible to have it now. This name, but just Byzantium, the Roman Republic also lacked due attention to this location and was only content to grant freedom to the city, because they had just conquered Asia Minor and the East not long ago, and they were still used to transporting troops directly by sea. It was an important place for garrisoning, so this area was even placed under the jurisdiction of the province of Cyprus. Cato the Younger took the trouble to take a boat from Rhodes to Byzantium to resolve disputes in the city-state. Now, the Roman cavalry commander Lepidus' 60,000 troops came and wanted to build a new fortress at this place, and Lepidus had a very good reason. He said this to Caesar:

"This location has been a must-win between the Eastern and Western empires since ancient times. Whether it was the ancient Trojan War, King Darius of Persia building a huge pontoon bridge here, or Alexander the Great's Eastern Expedition, Helis must be controlled. Pang Strait, and this place called Byzantium, and I decided to build a castle here, and occupy several important islands in the Propentis Sea, and then expanded the fortress point to Asia on the other side of the shore to station cavalry and fleets. In this way, the Republic can resist the Thracian Kingdom in the north, advance into Asia Minor in the east, and control two vast oceans at the same time." (To be continued...)