Chapter 17: The Head of Catiline (Part 2)

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At this moment, Calabis took a deep breath of the air on the battlefield. His wounds had been bandaged and were no longer serious. He only saw soldiers walking around everywhere, and some were peeling off the flesh of the dead in silence. Relics, some cried loudly in front of the corpse, probably that person was his relative or friend, but this time they were on different camps, fighting each other desperately. There was also a short soldier sitting on a rebel corpse. He kept killing and humiliating the corpse with a sword, gouging out his eyes, cutting off his ears and genitals. Karabis stepped forward, kicked the guy and took away the sword. , the little man started to curse: "This corpse was my enemy when he was alive. He ruined my family. Now it's his misfortune. He joined the loser's side. I insult his corpse. Why not!"

When Petheneus and Claudius, with their own soldiers, arrived at the place where the bodies of Catiline and Manius were laid, Oplik was standing among the corpses, holding Marius' eagle flag, " You have finally recaptured the Eagle Flag. This is your achievement, and you are gratified." Petheneus and Claudius were overjoyed and came up to hug Calabis and the others. It was not surprising. He was the hero of the legion. For their meritorious deeds, Pethenius would be appointed as governor of Macedonia, while Claudius would be appointed as tribune for a five-year term after returning to the city.

"Which warrior killed Lucius Catiline?" Petnaeus asked this question out of caution.

Just when others were about to push Calabis out of the queue, Calabis suddenly pushed out an ordinary soldier and said, "This is this warrior, he is from the tenth battalion, Your Excellency General." Petnaeus nodded and A very thick gold chain was hung on the breastplate of the lucky ghost. "This is a symbol of your glory, child. From now on, you will enjoy four rations and the treatment of a centurion. Follow me to Macedonia in the future. I will Find a good job for you."

The soldier who was rewarded for nothing had an expression of joy and surprise on his face amidst the cheers of the crowd, just like in a dream. Tagus, Milu and others, with admiration, looked at Karabis who gave up military honors because of his "love and consideration for his subordinates". Although they knew about it, they stopped talking. Karabis also pretended to be very humble. He smiled brightly and cheered at the soldier.

"Everyone knows that Catiline, even if he died, was still a hero for Roman civilians and nobles. The person who killed him would definitely be hated, which would be very detrimental to his future development. If he were an ordinary soldier, he would be rewarded It's fine, but I won't accept this hot merit for four rations, because I want to go further!" Karabis thought in his heart while cheering and applauding.

Later, Petheneus, Claudius and other generals walked to Catiline's body and paid their respects respectfully. Several soldiers carried his body away on a stretcher. "In this war, all Romans are losers." Petnaeus said sadly.

"But not for careerists." Calabis thought to himself, then took the eagle flag from Oplik and handed it to the attendant next to Petnaeus.

"Calabis, your name is Calabis, right? You are prosperous - because after capturing the eagle flag, you will immediately obtain the noble name of Cornelius. After a few more years of service, you can officially obtain citizenship. "Petnaeus laughed and patted Calabis on the chest, "They all say that the Sibyl witch predicted that a man named Cornelius would succeed Sulla and Cinna and become the king of Rome. Is that you?"

Everyone present took the deputy commander's words as a joke, laughed, and then left one by one. Claudius stayed quietly, looked around, approached Calabis, and said, "Have you heard? While we were fighting hard here, the city of Fesule was already captured by an auxiliary army. "

"Those soldiers are very fast. We have to go south to take over the city of Fesule and Etrunia within two days. Otherwise, we will all suffer big losses in this war." Karabis said.

"In what name? They are friendly forces after all."

"It's not that difficult. Get Neruda's order to change defenses. Your distinguished Lord Claudius, you have to act quickly on this matter. As long as you get the documents for the change of defenses, I will take care of everything else in Etrunia. After returning to Rome, you will be able to own a top-notch mansion on the Palatine Hill.”

Claudius laughed and said: "It's a pity that you are the retainer of my most hated brother-in-law, otherwise we would definitely become the best partners."

"It doesn't matter, I am a person who knows how to advance and retreat." Just after Claudius left with satisfaction, Calabis' leg, which was standing there, was suddenly grabbed by a bloody hand! Calabis, no, the scale-master who is temporarily named Calabis Cornelius, alerted himself, raised his foot and was about to trample and kill the owner of the bloody hand, but he saw that it was a boy of seventeen or eighteen years old. , cried out in panic: "Please, don't kill me, I'm not a rebel."

Several people dragged the young man out of the pile of dead people. He was covered in blood and was so frightened that he was covered in chaff. Karabis patted him from head to toe and confirmed that the blood on his body was the blood of others, "You are not Rebels, who are they?”

"Habaluca, a Phoenician accountant. I originally crossed the sea to the Roman city to collect debts from Catiline on behalf of my master, but they dragged me here all the way. Oh my God, Isma, the God of Wealth, bless me, I finally escaped." The young man took a sip of the heated fruit wine and was speechless.

"Where is your master?" asked Calabis kindly.

"My master is from the Lepidus family of Sardinia."

Carabis looked the little guy up and down in surprise, and then said: "After returning to the army, I will send you back to Sardinia. You follow me now, and I will hire you as an attendant of the legionary weigher. I will give you one dinar a day. How about it?"

As a result, Carabis was shocked. The young man half-knelt and supported his thigh with his bloody hands, crying, "One dinar, one dinar a day. I know that the pink quail I sacrificed to Ismaus before leaving worked. How much wealth I will get! Your Excellency, you must know that I went from Sardinia to Rome to collect debts, and the extra allowance for a day was only two asses." Carabis was a little amused and said that since you know how to keep accounts, just follow me. It's not good for your master to be so stingy with you.

Unexpectedly, the young Habaluka shook his head firmly, saying that the master's family was struggling to make a living. They had previously auctioned off all the wheat in the farm in advance to collect 20 talents and lent them to Catiline, hoping that he would turn things around after becoming consul. Now they had lost all their money. The creditors would definitely come to the farm soon and take away all the harvested wheat. It was hard to say whether the family and the master could survive this winter.

"Is the Lepidus family really so destitute? Wasn't old Lepidus the consul before?" Carabis asked curiously.