ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 770 The Disaster of Latin Civilians

"Most of the laborers were slaves and Latins, some of the sailors were Etruscans, and some were Campanians..."

Davos was slightly surprised: "There are no Romans?"

"There are Roman merchants and some residents, but due to the short time, no one has been found among the laborers and sailors at the port..." Midorades defended.

Hearing this, a glimmer of hope arose in Davos's heart, because according to the information collected previously, there were many people living in poverty in Rome, and some were even sold into slavery. The conflicts between them and the nobles were relatively small. outstanding.

But then he thought about it: Ostia is a small city and there are not many Roman citizens. Or maybe Rome has invaded Volscian and Herniki for more than a year and gained a lot of land, allowing Rome to Commoners have a new place to go...

Thinking of this, Davos asked again: "Where are those slaves? Who are they?"

"There are our allies, the Volsci, as well as the Helnicians, Masi, Equi, Etruscans... They are basically aliens who were captured after Rome defeated them, so they welcome us very much. coming, and willing to stretch the fiber for our warships, because we promised to give them freedom." Midolades said a little excitedly.

Davos nodded, and then his attention was attracted by the noisy sound ahead: it was an open space illuminated by torches, and there were thousands of densely packed people gathered in the center of the open space under the guard of soldiers. March is still early spring, and the weather is cooler, but half of these people are still wearing thin and simple linen clothes, and some people are even naked. The clothed and undressed people are gathered in two piles, which looks very strange. It was clear, but they looked at the heavily armed soldiers around them uneasily from time to time.

Martius led the guards into the open space first, and their gorgeous attire and neat and powerful steps immediately attracted their attention.

"King Davos of Dionia has arrived!" Martius called out loudly, and the messenger immediately repeated it loudly in Latin.

Suddenly, there was quite a commotion in the crowd in the open space.

However, the guards quickly lined up on both sides, and then two tall and strong guards walked into the open space holding the kingdom's flag and the golden scepter high.Then I saw an imposing middle-aged man wearing a golden helmet and golden armor, with colorful feathers flying on his head, walked in slowly, surrounded by a group of Dionian officials in gorgeous Burton.

The noise in the open space suddenly disappeared. People hunched uneasily, retreated unconsciously, but secretly glanced at them with somewhat curious eyes. But when Davos's eyes came into contact with them, they were stunned again. He lowered his head like a frightened rabbit.

"I am King Davos of Dionia!" After Davos introduced himself in a simple sentence, he then said loudly: "For more than ten years, the Romans have been continuously attacking surrounding races and forces. , plundering land, killing people, and forcibly turning captives into slaves, extremely greedy and bloody! The Volscians and Herniki people were worried about being annihilated by Rome, so they allied with our Dionia one after another. (Davos had already formed an alliance with the Herniki before leading his army north).

We sent envoys to negotiate with Rome, hoping that it would stop its invasion of Volscian and Hernici and return the land it occupied.Unexpectedly, the Romans not only refused to listen to the advice, but also accelerated their invasion of the territories of these two races. Now the Hernicians have been surrounded by the Romans in the city of Philentirum and may be destroyed at any time, while the Volscians The warriors had been scattered in the previous invasions against Rome and were unable to prevent the next Roman invasion.

In order to fear that we, Dionia, would stop its invasion, Rome even encouraged its ally Carthage to tear up the peace agreement that it had observed with Dionia for many years and brazenly declare war on Dionia!So - I led the Dionia army here to fulfill the covenant, protect Dionia's allies Wolsey and Herniki, and punish those who dare to violate the majesty of Dionia and provoke war. Rome and its allies must be completely defeated! "

The reason why Davos patiently said these words to a group of low-status civilians and slaves was to show all the forces and races in the Latium region and even the surrounding areas why the Dionian army came here. , and the purpose of coming here.

As soon as several messengers spoke his words in Latin, they heard someone shouting with a heavy burden: "Kill the Romans! Save Herniki (Wolsey)! We want freedom!..."

Davos looked up and saw that the group of people without clothes were excited, some even shed tears, and there was a greater commotion in the entire open space.

Martius immediately put his hand on the dagger, took a step forward, and shouted: "Quiet!" The guards immediately roared in unison.

People were silent again.

Davos looked around them and said sincerely: "The only enemies of Dionia are the Romans and the Roman city-states who assist the Romans in fighting us. Anyone who remains neutral in this war or even provides help to Dionia The city-states and people of Dionia will be regarded as friends and gain the friendship of Dionia! You-" Daves pointed at the slaves: "You will be released in a few days. In order to ensure that you can be safe. Return to your families, we will provide you with some food rations, and if you can provide help to the army during your stay in Ostia, you will also receive some salary rewards."

Davos's words made the slaves smile. Some even saluted Davos using the etiquette of their own people to express their gratitude, and Davos immediately ignored the humble return salute.

His friendly behavior not only won the favor of the slaves, but also relieved the tension of the laborers.

At this time, Davos said loudly again with a serious expression: "Before coming to Latium, I thought that only the Romans were destroying the peace in this area. But after I came, I discovered that there was an equally terrifying demon. To make the people of this land suffer as if they are living in hell, that is——"

Davos saw that the workers' attention was drawn to him, and he said loudly and loudly: "Nobles! Nobles of Rome! Nobles of Latin city-states! They are like ferocious wolves, completely ignoring the friendship of their compatriots, They use power and money to shamelessly rob people of their own city-state's land, and then force the people who have lost their land to become their slaves, endlessly creating wealth for them like cattle and sheep, and finally die of exhaustion in the fields, not even willing to bury their bones. ! And those people who did not want to become slaves and serve the superior nobles were forced to flee the city-state, but they were wandering around, living a hard life, unable to support their wives and children..."

Davos spoke in a heavy tone, and after listening to the voice transmitter's emotional translation, the workers were evoked memories of their own tragic experiences, and some even sobbed softly.

Seeing this scene, Davos took advantage of the situation and said to a messenger: "What is your name? Where are you from? What do you do for a living now?"

The young messenger immediately replied: My name is Adrius. I was originally a citizen of Gabii in the Latium region. More than ten years ago, the Gauls invaded the Latin region and not only occupied Rome, but also The city of Gabi, not far from Rome, was captured.When the Gauls were repulsed, we returned to our homeland, only to find that our good land on the banks of the Anno River, a tributary of the Tiber River, had been occupied by nobles, because the village had been destroyed by the Gauls and the city hall had been destroyed. So there was no evidence that the field belonged to my family, and the nobleman bribed the judge... Not only did we lose the case, but my father was also falsely accused and given a cane... My father, dragging his still weak body, took his mother, My brother and I left Gabi angrily..." When he said this, his eyes were already a little red.

"Oh my God, you are just like me. My land was usurped after the war!"

"I'm not. I borrowed money from a rich man for medical treatment because my wife was sick. I thought I would be able to pay off the debt by waiting for the autumn harvest and selling the grain. But I didn't expect that he said that the money could only be used to pay off the interest. In the end, my fields were also destroyed. He was forcibly snatched away by the rich man!"

"What you borrowed was usury! Damn the nobles! Damn the rich! The Senate of the city-state will only speak for these rich people, so there is no way for us to survive!"

……

The experiences narrated by this black-haired, dark-eyed Latin speaker soon struck a chord with the previously silent Latin workers.

After reading the intelligence collected from the Latium region in detail, Davos learned that the fierce conflicts between nobles and civilians occurred not only in Rome, but also in other Latin city-states. The situation was even more serious. The nobles were greedy and plundered. , civilians are burdened with extremely heavy debts and have difficulty making a living.After all, Rome can obtain more land and slaves through the expansion of force, which can give civilians a chance to breathe, while other city-states not only do not have this condition, but because they rebelled against Rome and were defeated by Rome, they were taken away by Rome instead. Some land was acquired, which made their arable land tense, and land competition and mergers became more intense, which is exactly what Davers wanted to see.

"How did you live after that?" A worker couldn't help but asked loudly out of curiosity.

So Adrius pointed to his feet and continued: "Father also worked here, but at that time the Ostia port was not as busy as it is now. The money my father earned was not enough for our family to live on. He took the risk to bring We went south to Naples—"

"Oh, that's the Campania region occupied by the Greeks, but their maritime trade is indeed much more prosperous than here!" someone exclaimed.

"But not long after, my father's old injury relapsed and he could hardly walk. Through the introduction of a kind person, we helped my father to the city of Pompeii, not far from Naples, and asked for help from the priest of the Temple of Hades in the city. The kind man The old priest not only cured my father for free, but also allowed our family to live in the temple for a period of time and provided food for free. He also told us that there was a kingdom of Dionia not far south of Pompeii. Enona is a city where there are not only a lot of job opportunities, but as long as you are willing to become a citizen of Dionia, you can apply to the city hall and it will be easily passed. As long as you abide by the law and work diligently in that city After working for a few years, you can successfully become a citizen of Dionia and get land..."

　Thanks to Sniper No. 11 and Sub-World Haha for the reward!Your support is my motivation to write! !
　　
　
(End of this chapter)