Augustus Road

"There is no clear divide between the city and the countryside in Rome. When I was a child, I would often take off my robe and run to the fields of the suburban estate to work. My hands and feet were covered with sweat and mud, so I would take off my clothes and bathe in the rivers, the Tiber River and the Rubicon River. So we Romans are rich in good soldiers, because all of us have played the role of farmers. You know, farmers can produce the best soldiers."

"Rather than watching dramas, I prefer to fight with all kinds of beasts in the Colosseum with swords and hunting forks. This is what the Roman nobles love to do most. Before I was 20 years old, I fought with wolves and leopards, and then I felt mature. "I started reading Greek philosophy and debate books only after I had read them. "

"The Romans and you Greeks have a common hobby, which is to go to the Grand Circuit and watch the golden eggs (Greeks use golden dolphins) falling continuously. This can make our blood boil. For me and all the citizens of Rome who participate in noble politics, the path of political career is like racing. You must make your opponents' cars and people die, so that you can continue to enter the inner circle, circle by circle, and finally win the supreme crown. "

Luculus talked endlessly, and Tyranion nodded thoughtfully. This scholar seems to be writing a book about the characteristics of the two nations recently.

"Why is that masked man jumping around? This is much uglier than the farce in our hometown Saturnalia. These masked men should hold swords and spears and fight here. That's more interesting!" Thucterius shouted behind him.

At this time, two legion token officers rode their horses to the exit of the theater, then dismounted and ran all the way. After finding Luculas, they handed him a wooden board with confidential text. Luculas glanced at it, stood up hurriedly with a happy face, and said a few words quickly to the officers behind him. Those officers also stood up as if they were relieved. Luculas then wrapped his robe tightly and waved politely to the rest of the audience to apologize, saying that he had important things to deal with urgently, and everyone could stay here and continue to enjoy this wonderful drama.

"Please trouble the two Excellencies Nessa and Adiana to return to the camp with our commander." A token officer found the princess and sister of Pontus and asked with a military salute.

In the tent of the commander-in-chief of Lukulas, which was located on the outskirts of the city, stood three people of different heights. The middle one seemed to be the leader, and the two behind him were thin and tall, but all three were covered with brown cloaks, with their hands and feet invisible. They wore fish scale armor, pointed Persian helmets, and visors covering their faces, revealing only a pair of eye sockets, coldly reflecting the light of steel.

Seeing Lukulas coming, the leader bowed respectfully, and then handed a scroll and a box to Kelly, who then placed them on Lukulas's desk.

"This is your brother, the envoy of Malcha, the governor of Bosporus." Lukulas, who was sitting on a chair reading the file, directly stated the identities of the three people to Adiana.

"It turns out that they are the bastards born to my royal brother and the daughter of that lowly shepherd when he was a teenager, Malcha!" Nessa pretended to be surprised and showed the noble surname of his bloodline. It turns out that when Mithridates was being chased by his mother, he had an affair with the daughter of a nomadic chieftain. This woman gave birth to a son for him, but he could never usurp his status. This son, named Marca, was always a concubine. Even though Mithridates poisoned all his other sons, Marca still did not inherit the power of the Kingdom of Pontus. However, in the previous war between Rome and Pontus, he was entrusted by his father to cross the Black Sea to the Bosporus Kingdom, where he became the local governor and collected various barbarians for Pontus. Now he has become a powerful prince.

This Bosporus Kingdom is not the Bosporus Strait that we are familiar with now. It is actually located on the north bank of the Black Sea, near the Crimean Peninsula today, where the barbaric steppe horse-riding people live.

Adiana was more careful and asked, "What did my brother write in the diplomatic letter?"

"He seemed to know that you were all still alive, so he was willing to submit to Rome and me, accept my command, and provide me with servants and cavalry." Luculas put down the file and answered.

"The condition is that my aunt and I go to the Bosporus, right?" Adiana said this, her voice trembling a little.

"Yes." Luculas answered briefly, "These three are the messengers who welcome you and your aunt." Then he opened the small box, and inside was a magnificent little statue of Apollo, which was a peace gift from Marca to him, "My lady, what do you think?"

Adiana calmed down, sneered twice, and said, "I am very grateful that you can still consult my opinion out of courtesy, but I believe that in this situation, I have no choice."

"What, just these three people? Marca is simply insulting the identity of the Pontic royal family." Nessa on the side shouted angrily at the three messengers.

After hearing what Adiana said, Luculas felt a little uneasy. Just as he was hesitating, the officer in charge of military supplies came up and told the commander-in-chief that all the food and supplies were ready, and asked whether he could give the order to advance into the Armenian mountains.

Speaking of this, the officers and soldiers in the entire camp showed complicated expressions. People like Murilla were all experienced generals. They were very familiar with the psychology and needs of the soldiers, so they all persuaded Luculas to give up the idea of ​​continuing to send troops this winter. "Luculas, you have already obtained the peak honor of your life. You occupied the entire Kingdom of Pontus, defeated the King of Kings, and obtained the richest cities such as Amisus, Sinop, and Tegresetta. In this looting of Tegresetta, each soldier was given at least 800 drachmas of property. The more they were given, the less willing they were to throw away money in vain and continue the hard battle. They needed to squander and have fun in the winter camp, so that in the next spring, they would be willing to become the mules of the legion again."

"The legion is likely to mutiny!" This was Murilla's last and most serious warning.

"Mutiny..." This topic, Adiana seems to have mentioned it. Luculas has always been very kind to his subordinates, but this kindness is a condescending attitude. He seems to care little about the soldiers' inner thoughts. "But you can't give up. Wait until next spring, when we recover and the enemy recovers, the war will become more difficult and lasting."

At this time, Apis, Uterus and all the other military tribunes slowly walked into the tent, looking at Luculas who was speaking impassionedly, and seemed to be hesitant.

"Gentlemen, you are gathered here, there must be something important." In the end, Luculas couldn't help asking first.

Uterus looked reluctant, but Apis spoke quickly: "Commander-in-chief, we are here with the joint request of the soldiers to discuss the matter of stopping the war with you."

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