Valerius naturally couldn't comprehend the significance of the vice praetor position, but rely hearing the phrase ‘greater power than a magistrate of Ro’ had already left him incredulous. Just two days prior, he had been a lowly slave, but now he had swiftly ascended to the status of an interdiate-ranking official, causing envy among the plebeians of Ro. This unexpected windfall bewildered and frightened him, “Your…Majesty, I…I…have never held an official position before, so I am worried…worried that I won't do a good job…”
Davos comforted him by saying, “There is no need for you to worry, as no one is born with the ability to accomplish things imdiately. Therefore, I will assign soone to assist you, but you naturally must work hard.”
Valerius repeatedly nods.
“Can you read and write?” Asked Davos.
Valerius shook his head, feeling embarrassed.
“It doesn't matter.” Davos continued encouraging him by saying, “Many slaves in Theonia didn't have the opportunity to beco literate before getting liberated. But later, they seized the ti and opportunity to study harder, allowing them to beco proficient in writing and pass the assessnt of the kingdom and beco officials. So I believe you can also do it! Once you have enough knowledge and understand the laws of Theonia and earn more contributions, you might even get elected into the Theonian Senate!”
‘Beco a senator?!’ Valerius suddenly experienced shortness of breath, as it was sothing he had never dread of before. When he departed, he felt like he was on cloud nine, with his entire body floating absentmindedly.
Seeing Valerius' state, Henipolis started worrying and said, “Your Majesty, can he even do the job properly?”
“I do not expect him to do well in his position as the vice praetor of Ro. However, his re presence serves as an example to all Roman plebeians, demonstrating that they can obtain all the rights they were denied by the Roman Senate, even at the cost of their lives, in Theonia!”
Davos smiled faintly, then said, “Moreover, you shouldn't underestimate people from humble backgrounds! Once you open the gates to them and give them opportunities, their determination to change their fate will burst out with unimaginable force!”
Henipolis said thoughtfully, “Then I would pay attention to his performance and hope he won't disappoint Your Majesty's expectation of him!”
At this mont, Davos rubbed his stomach and said, “It's ti for dinner, and I am already a bit hungry.”
Henipolis hurriedly asked the servants to prepare dinner.
After sitting by the table, Davos noticed one person was missing, “Where's Croto?”
“Oh, Your Majesty,” Martius replied beside him, “His Highness the Prince went down to the Roman Forum and dined with the soldiers of the Second Legions. I have already ordered the guards who fought alongside him to accompany him.”
Hearing that surprised Davos. Then he smiled happily and said, “It seems this child has begun to adapt to the battlefield.”
After Davos took a bite of bread and drank a liquor mixed with water, a guard hurriedly ca inside and said, “Your Majesty, the scouts have reported that less than ten thousand Roman soldiers are rushing towards Ro from the southeast.”
Upon hearing that, Davos remained calm and said, after thinking montarily, “The southeast…we had just repulsed the Latin city-states' reinforcents in the afternoon, so the army that appears now can only be the vanguard of the army the Roman dictator Camillus led. For them to arrive here from Hernici, they shouldn't have an easy ti coming as they had to traverse a distance of around a hundred kilotres, just over a day. Inform the legates to stay on the walls and wait for the enemy's morale to run out before swallowing them!”
Davos then took a big bite of his bread after giving the order.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Mons Capitolinus, one of the seven hills of Ro, held great significance to the Romans as their sacred land. At its summit stood the revered Temple of Jupiter, the patron deity of Ro, alongside the Temple of Juno, the queen of the gods, and the Temple of Janus, a god of war in Roman mythology. The Temple of Janus, also known as the two-faced god, had two gates – one in the front and one at the rear – traditionally kept open during tis of war and closed during tis of peace. However, it remained open after the reign of the second king of Ro, Numa.
Mons Capitolinus, the highest among the seven hills of Ro, was only over fifty tres high but had cliffs on three sides, while the remaining side boasted a gentle slope and roads for ascending the hill. Due to its limited summit area, no one chose to reside there during the early days of Ro's establishnt. However, a few individuals, including the Manlia family, later decided to make it their ho. It was not until the execution of Marcus Manlius Capitolinus for his attempted dictatorship that the Roman Senate issued a decree forbidding any further habitation on Mons Capitolinus, resulting in the relocation of the Manlia house.
When the Celts invaded more than a decade ago, the Roman senators retreated to Mons Capitolinus with so of the citizens and stayed there for more than half a year. Since the city of Ro hadn't yet fallen completely, it had inspired the defeated Romans to rise and fight. Eventually, Camillus managed to lead the army to chase out the Celts, which made Mons Capitolinus more sacred in the hearts of the Romans.
Currently, the Romans had greater confidence to hold out until the return of Camillus and his army while facing the Theonians’ attack than before. But the senators felt the situation had turned unfavourable with the continuous arrival of battle reports and the Theonians' fierce and unusual way of besieging a city that overwheld the defenders. So with their experience of living for almost a hundred years, these Roman nobles secretly began preparing their clans, relatives and friends for the Senate’s decision to retreat to Mons Capitolinus, allowing them to be the first to flee towards the hill with their families and supplies.
As a result, Mons Capitolinus, bustling only during festivals and ceremonies, suddenly beca crowded and noisy. Only after the high priest Iulus prayed earnestly to Jupiter and Juno for forgiveness were the people allowed them to enter the temple for refuge. Thus, the temple’s courtyard beca overcrowded with frightened people, and even the usually off-limit great hall beca a temporary residence and eting place for the senators.
When Ambustus and the older Scipio walked into the hall, the senators, who were in a tense discussion, imdiately focused on them.
Potitus imdiately asked, “Have you counted the number of people who managed to climb the hill?”
“A total of five thousand four hundred and sixty-two,” replied Ambustus.
“This is several tis more than back then!” exclaid Senator Lucretius.
Everyone knew what he ant by back then, so many of them suddenly beca lancholic.
Soone hurriedly asked, “Do we have enough food?”
“It would be enough to last for a month.” Ambustus paused and then continued, “I have also sent n to collect all the food and assign special personnel to guard it.”
The so-called collection was to compel the people on the hill to surrender their food supplies, which they would redistribute equally on a daily basis. Surprisingly, the senators did not voice any objections upon hearing this proposal since it had been only a decade since the invasion by the Celts, and many of the senators had personally fought to defend Capitolinus, making them well familiar with such asures.
“How many soldiers could still fight?” Maluginensis asked.
“There are only six hundred and fifty n. I have already rearranged them to form six centuriae,” the older Scipio replied depressedly.
“Only six hundred and fifty!” Soone exclaid, but he imdiately shut his mouth after realising his voice was too loud, fearing he would disturb the gods in the temple.
“We would have more than eight hundred if we included the patrol team, which was double the number of soldiers than back then. So there is no need to worry since we can hold on until Camillus leads back his army and chase out the enemy!” Potitus comforted everyone.
Maluginensis then said, “Scipio, we had just discussed and decided to leave the defence of Mons Capitolinus to you.”
“?” Scipio was a little surprised. After all, so senators had accused him when he fled to the hill, saying his fear of life had led to the city of Ro getting breached so quickly.
“You have already experienced this as you fought tenaciously against the Celts on this hill a decade ago with the other warriors for over half a year. And since you had fought against the Theonians, you should have already gained so understanding of them. So who else can take on this important responsibility besides you?!”
After saying that, Maluginensis glanced at the crowd. He then increased his tone before saying, “The responsibility for the fall of Ro has nothing to do with you. Not to ntion that you had already handed over the command to us after the battle began… Alas! We never expect the Theonians’ ability in sieging a city to be so powerful!”
“That is mainly because our young and middle-aged citizens aren't here!” Apuleius said aloud, trying to place the responsibility for the fall of Ro on Camillus.
And this ti, no one spoke out to defend Camillus as even Potitus chose to remain silent since the fall of Ro made the senators to be more or less dissatisfied with Camillus because if the Roman dictator hadn't proposed to ‘focus on conquering Hernici first’, how could Ro suffer such a disaster?!
Obviously, the senators had forgotten that they had strongly supported Camillus' proposal, thinking they would get many benefits from this military action.
Now that the city-state was at stake, the older Scipio no longer declined and accepted the appointnt. But after fighting head-on with the Theonian army, he began expressing his concern about the subsequent battle, “Fellow senators, I had kept observing the Theonian army's movents in the city since reaching here and saw that they didn't arbitrarily kill the people left on the foot of the hill, or raped…the won, nor have they seized our properties, nor burned buildings, or even clashed and fought with each other over spoils and won.
Then what are they doing?! They drove the people in the Roman Forum back to their hos and began clearing the streets, setting up tents and patrolling the walls… The Theonian army behaves completely differently than the Celts did a decade ago! Although you have great hopes for Camillus, who is leading back the army, I hope you also prepare for the worst… that is, Camillus may not be able to recapture Ro quickly!”
Reviews
All reviews (0)