Chapter 18: Summons (Part 1)
"Pompey's failure was that his army did not lack a mind or a goal. On the contrary, Caesar was his army, and his army was Caesar." - British Colonel Dodge commented on the war for hegemony between Pompey and Caesar
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Habaruca changed his clothes, took the money box and account books from Calabis very diligently, and followed everyone talking about this and that. The theme was that the Lepidus family in Sardinia was now in dire straits. Back then, Su After the death of Ra, Sulla's subordinate Lepidus tried to seize power and established himself as the "Dictator" emperor. However, he was attacked by the Senate. Pompey was the commander-in-chief of the army.
At that time, the plan of Lepidus the Elder and his ally Brutus the Elder was as follows. Brutus the Elder stood firm in northern Italy and blocked Pompey's attack, while Lepidus the Elder led the main force to take advantage of the weakness and march south to the city of Rome, forcing the Senate to appoint him as second term. Archons, even Dictado. But as soon as the war started, Brutus surrendered to Pompey because he was not strong-willed and feared that he would become a sinner of the republic, which led to the bankruptcy of Lepidus' plan.
But the old Brutus who surrendered did not get a good death. Pompey's troops took him to a remote village and executed him secretly. Afterwards, Pompeo was widely criticized and had to come up with some ambiguous statements to cover up his lies.
Seeing that the situation was not good, old Lepidus also fled to Sardinia, his base, and declared that his family and Pompey were sworn in. However, the light-mouthed cannon was of no use. Soon after, old Lepidus regretted it and passed away. , the entire family was in ruins this time, and even the heirs disappeared in the war in Xiaoya. This was something that happened more than twenty years ago, but this Habaruka is a family treasure.
Calabis's heart was moving rapidly, and then he asked Habaruka, "Old Lepidus died so quickly, was it because he was frustrated in politics and was afraid of Pompey's revenge?" Habaruka did not take Calabis seriously. To outsiders, he directly broke the news, "In fact, he discovered the love letter between his wife and outsiders and died of anger."
This family is really in trouble. Calabis then asked: "Then who is your current master?"
"Oh, before the old master died, he abandoned his unfaithful wife and left home. By the way, he also hated the heir, Box, and deprived him of his property inheritance rights. As a result, Box was demoted to a knight status and immigrated. Little Asia was struggling for a living, and suffered a massacre by Mithridates, and his life or death was uncertain. However, the inheritance rights of the old master's property were just an empty shell. I calculated that there were less than fifty talents left. Now because of Julia, oh, she is the daughter of Box and the granddaughter of the old master, she invested randomly and lent all her family property to Catiline. I hope that after he is elected, he will issue a decree to let our family take over Sardinia. Asia Island’s business of transporting wheat to Rome, now - it’s a waste!” Habaruka pouted with a helpless expression on his face.
After hearing all this, Calabis nodded and asked Habaruka to live in a tent with him and wait for Claudius' order to change defenses.
It is said that Metra, Neruda, Claudius and Petnaeus discussed in secret for a long time that night. Neruda first shed a lot of tears over Catiline's body, condemning the injustice of fate. and Cruel, and then after some calculations with a few people, they sent an order to the auxiliary brigade that occupied the city of Fesule in the air, telling them to withdraw from Fesule within two days. The entire Etrunia region, It was occupied by the troops of Neruda and Metra, and the spoils were properly divided in proportion.
The next day, Claudius came to Calabis with great joy and said that everything was done.
As a result, Calabis calmly invited him into the tent and asked: "Your army just needs to divide the looted things. If it doesn't work, set up a Vesuvian military market on the spot to sell them. I can help contact him." Buyers. But you must not touch the real estate of Etrunia and Fesule—the mines, villas, farms, and workshops.”
Claudius suddenly felt insulted, not because he couldn't accept Calabis's proposal, but because the new citizen's tone was arrogant, and he couldn't help but said angrily: "You are the scale official?" , is also qualified to discuss post-war Etrunia matters!”
"No, I'm not here to discuss with you. I'm here to deliver a message for Crassus. These are the original words of the Senate Censor. The march plans you told Neruda before are the original words of the high priest Caesar. Words." Calabis flicked the dust off his body and respectfully handed Claudius a glass of wine.
Claudius was stunned for a moment, and then his expression changed quickly. After showing a handsome smile, he took the wine from Calabis's hand and asked: "The army's affairs are easy to deal with, but according to the regulations, those obtained after the war The property must be auctioned publicly, and there will be supervisors from the city of Rome, how to deal with it then. "
"Let's just say Fesulai suffered from a plague because of the war." Karabis reminded.
Three days later, the entire army entered the Etruscan city of Fesule. Before the war, it was a colonial city with 5,000 people, mainly veterans. But now, the auxiliary brigade that had captured the place beforehand, although only a few hundred soldiers, was able to show its full power of looting. Except for villas, city walls, houses and temples, which could not be taken away, all other things that could be taken away were left without a single one, and all the women and children in the city were killed. When the two sides changed guards, when Carabis led the team, he saw with his own eyes that several soldiers of the auxiliary brigade, holding whips and leading several leopards snatched from the arena, walked away.
Next, the soldiers removed all the wooden boards and window frames on the houses in the city, set up a funeral pyre in the square, threw all the bodies of the dead on it, burned for a day and a night, and then dug a pit to bury the ashes to prevent the spread of the plague.
The military market was soon established. The soldiers mainly sold the captives in Pistonia, the clothes and rings stripped from the dead bodies, and the confiscated baggage. In short, except for Catiline's body and Marius's eagle flag, they sold everything they could. The military market was set up with tents of various colors, and the soldiers, vendors, military slaves, and prostitutes carried small bags, chickens, ducks, and goats, and shuttled back and forth. It was extremely lively.
On the streets outside Etruria, a merchant group drove ox carts and mule carts, carrying coins and goods, ready to grab a good position and buy Etruria's property at a cheap price. But when they arrived at the border, they saw strict wooden towers and long wooden fences, and fully armed and murderous soldiers stood in the passage.