Augustus Road

"If the defenders are well-trained and well prepared, it will be increasingly difficult for the attackers to defeat them." - A battlefield witness from the Hundred Years' War between England and France

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Curio was very confident in seizing the city of Utica. He had already sent spies to sneak into the city. After hearing about the outcome of the battle outside the city, many people from the Chamber of Commerce and the Presbyterian Church began to quietly contact him, especially the leader of the Chamber of Commerce, Gal. Ba, this respected old man, encouraged everyone to give up useless resistance and prepare to drive away Pompey's party and surrender the city at the right time.

But on the other hand, Curio did not dare to take it lightly, because he knew that Pompey and the King of Juba might appear at any time, so he sent the token officer to ask Marcus and Maximus from the old camp to lead some oars. He went ashore and connected the old camp of Cornelius with the camp previously captured from Turas. Because there were wheat fields, meadows and salt ponds around, the products were rich. He planned to build a huge position that could be attacked. Utica, even if Pompey and the king of Juba came, could retreat enough to hold it until Caesar's main force arrived.

"Send the good news to Your Excellency the Dictator. Even though I am not the Governor of Sicily now, I still ask Ebro, the remaining treasurer, to recruit another legion of new soldiers and some cavalry for me to send across the sea. In this way, the war in Africa will end in my hands early. . "At the same time that Curio was operating at high speed, it was in Kilta City, the capital of the Kingdom of Numidia. The King of Juba, who was sitting on the throne and wearing a lion's head crown, was discussing with Pompey about sending more reinforcements.

For this negotiation, Pompeo came to the palace in Kilta alone. With almost no troops, except for a small number of retinues, his two direct legions stayed at the border of the Massasia Trench, because Pompey was Pompey, and his reputation in Africa and the East had been well known thirty years ago. "In Africa, even if you are a lion, you must learn to obey the judgment of the Romans!" This was the famous saying of Pompey when he was young.

Now before the eyes of the King of Juba, the favorite of the Romans. Although the "Alexander the Great" produced by the Tiber River is still strong, it is indeed old. And the King of Juba also knew from Spain and other places that Pompey had lost most of his legions during the Roman civil war. In other words, he was almost at the end of his rope.

There were three chairs in the main hall of the palace. Pompeo stood there and suddenly felt that King Juba did not trust him very much, but was wary.

It’s because of the inexplicable meaning of these three chairs.

Numidia is a vassal state of Rome, so it stands to reason that when a figure like Pompey comes to the palace, his status is equal to that of the king. Therefore, the king of Juba cannot sit on the throne to receive him, and has to put up two extra Ivory armchair. The two sat down and discussed. But the King of Juba made three moves, and then the young man became powerful. The king, who wore his hair in a Greek braid, slowly sat down on the chair on the left, then humbly made an invitation gesture to the standing Pompey, and quickly talked to the queen standing next to him. ——Selene, the former princess of Mauritania, chatting quickly in dialect.

Pompey soon understood. Today was not the time to put on airs, because the most trusted Jewish slave beside him was Demetrius. He is familiar with the local dialect and customs, because when he was young, he had dealt with ivory traders in Mauritania on the coast of Galilee. Demetrius quietly and quickly stretched out a small pottery fragment from his cuff. Pompey's eyes glanced at it, and there was only the Greek word "right" scrawled on it.

Then, Demetrius quickly took back the small pottery piece without anyone seeing it. Pompey looked around, then held the edge of his robe with his hand, and sat down on the chair on the right easily.

The chair in the middle was vacant, "Let the gods who witness friendship sit here!" Pompey said politely.

When the King of Juba saw this scene and heard this, he laughed happily. He told Queen Selene in Greek that he could ask the kitchen at the back to serve wine and delicacies, and he was willing to entertain her wholeheartedly. King of Rome. Selene led a large group of slaves, saluted everyone, and headed towards the side corridor to the garden outside the palace.

There, Queen Selene saw her son, who was lying on the window of the garden wall with great interest, watching everything in the inner hall with several slave playmates. After seeing his mother, the child used Asked in extremely fluent Greek, "Is that the great Pompey? He disappointed me a little. Legend has it that he looks like a lion, but I think he is just an old man."

"That's a shrewd old lion. Although this kind of lion's blood has weakened, it can still defeat its young opponents with cunning and ferocity. Listen, go back after watching this. This scene is far from as simple as you think, kid. "After Selene finished speaking, she clapped her hands twice. At this moment, many people with swords and bows suddenly appeared in the bushes and secret doors of the garden. The queen hit them twice. After making the gesture, the group of people nodded and quickly dissipated into the darkness.

Little Juba immediately covered his mouth in horror and slowly retreated to his room. Selene also smiled twice, and then walked towards the kitchen with her entourage.

If Pompey had just sat on the middle chair, then the King of Juba might have murderous intentions. He was a self-centered guy who had always been committed to the dream of the Great Numidian Kingdom. In fact, whether it was Caesar or Pompeo, Be it Pei, they must ensure the independent status of their kingdom. The King of Juba even attempted to annex the emirates of Mauritania, Getullia and Cyprus. The current civil war between the Romans happened to be the best time, so he Three chairs were set out, which was a hint to Pompey that no one in the middle was allowed to sit. Numidia and Rome were separated on the left and right, and they were on equal footing.

"Oh, my friend, I think what you are asking for is a bit heavy for our country. I have deployed free military forces on both fronts of your Excellency. I have sent troops to Leptis and Zeta. Ten thousand cavalry, I also have three or four thousand volunteers in Utica." At the banquet, the King of Juba cunningly expressed that he was beyond his capabilities.

Demetrius replaced his master and spoke to the other party in clear and fluent Greek, "No, Dictado Pompey hopes that your majesty will use all the strength of the country to dispatch 40,000 to 60,000 horses as soon as possible to Utica and Caesar's army battles!"

"What a joke! Behind the city of Kirta, the Getulians and Mauritanians are eyeing my territory. If I send out so many troops, who will guard the border and the palace?" King Juba was very happy. To express negation.

At this time, Pompey turned sideways and whispered a few words to Demetrius, and then the Jews officially announced to the King of Juba: "As long as your Majesty agrees to our request, we can guarantee that Caesarden will be annihilated before the end of spring." All the troops in Africa, in addition, we will give you the former site of Carthage, that is, the Yunonia area, free of charge, and also give you the power to conquer all hostile tribes in the west. "