Chapter 15 The Last Supper (Part 1)

"I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me." - Jesus

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After the killing, Caesar's soldiers threw all the bodies piled on the mountain into the trench at the bottom of the mountain, then poured kerosene on them and burned them, and then covered them with soil to bury them. As for the baggage and property left on the top of the mountain by Sulpicius and other senators, Lepidus ordered the soldiers to divide them up.

Of course, this was not Lepidus's own decision, but an implied order from Caesar. This dictator, like Pompey and Crassus, was deeply constrained and persecuted by the Senate since his rise. He hated this institution as much as the other two, but Crassus tried to control the country with money and Pompey tried to control the country with merits, and get rid of the haze of "geron politics" and "collective republic". Caesar was different. He hoped to kill these people in the war through appropriate killings. This excuse was the most appropriate in ancient times.

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So, when Caesar's token officer rushed over, Lepidus learned that this gentleman had entered the surrendered city of Thapsus and went to extort compensation from the local elders. It seemed that he had completely entrusted the task of continuing the sweep to himself. "The main targets to be killed are the former consul Afranius, the elder Crus, the King of Numidia, King Juba, and Pompey's father-in-law Scipio." Lepidus then ordered the entire army to rest in Ruspina, and then ordered Itasus's Ligurian Legion to cooperate with the Pontic Legion and continue to advance towards Zama under the unified command of Antony. There are still eight legions of Pompey's followers there. In addition, Scipio and King Juba also crossed Mount Jemal. Escape there-they can only go to Zama.

But on the way, Scipio and King Juba still led more than a thousand defeated soldiers and rushed to Utica one step ahead, forcing the city to open the gates and pay fifty talents of money to come out, otherwise they would massacre the whole city. Utica was in a state of imminent danger, and the Council of Elders and the Chamber of Commerce held an emergency meeting in the City Hall to decide whether to adopt a policy of resistance against Scipio. The discussion at the meeting was extremely intense. Some elders advocated using the "Julius Law" passed by Caesar's uncle, first pretending to be compliant with Scipio, asking the Chamber of Commerce to raise some money to quickly send these people away, and then donating to Caesar and submitting an application to the city of Rome to obtain citizenship - in this way, Caesar would not take retaliatory measures against Utica.

As the other elders nodded to this "wise" plan, the silver-haired president Galba angrily leaned on his cane and rejected the plan: "Friends, whether in politics or business, it is not worthwhile to take speculative measures for the sake of immediate benefits, and it will bring us complete disaster. Caesar certainly knows. Utica has always been the base camp of Pompey's party here. He originally had a strong disgust and hostility towards us. Now we are undoubtedly playing tricks on him. If Pompey's army had not been completely defeated, Caesar might have had conditions to negotiate because of the importance of our city, but in the current situation, Caesar can destroy our city at any time. Therefore, now is not the time to waver, but to make a final decision." After saying this, Galba knocked on the marble floor of the hall with his cane and said - immediately send all the nobles, Pompey's wife and slaves to the Acropolis to defend against Scipio and stand on Caesar's side.

"What about the citizens?" an elder asked cautiously.

"Accept the arrangement of the gods." Galba said helplessly.

In Utica, many armed slaves carrying weapons rushed to Pompey's previous residence. They claimed to have received orders from the municipal elders' council and asked Pompey's wife Cornelia to follow them to the Acropolis, because there were chaotic soldiers committing tyrannical acts outside. This was for the sake of her safety.

Demetrius peeked out of the yard with panic and sadness through the window lattice, and said to Cornelia, who was crying with her back against a chair, "Mrs. Madam, the current situation is very clear. If the master had won, the defeated soldiers would not have come to the direction of Utica. If nothing unexpected happened, the master should have completely failed."

Cornelia was completely at a loss. She could only continue to cry. She didn't know what to do in such a situation. Would her husband win or lose, live or die? What unknown ocean could she, a weak woman, take the ship to? Then, Cornelia saw the sword hanging on the wall, and she was filled with impulse and grief. She jumped off the chair and rushed over there, ready to draw the sword and kill herself. But Demetrius rushed over and took the sword away with his bare hands. Blood flowed from the Jew's palms. Then he half-knelt down, hugged the mistress's skirt and said, "Don't do this. Please have mercy on the master's request before leaving and continue the master's family. Like this, like this!" After that, the Jew climbed to the cabinet beside the column and pulled out an exquisite box. At this time, the shouting and banging of the armed slaves of Utica outside became more and more intense.

There was an atmosphere of despair in the courtyard. Some Pompeian slaves had already begun to take out poison and commit suicide. Demetrius opened the enamel plate of the box and took out a dazzling little crown from inside. Na Na said to himself, "This is probably debt repayment. In just ten years, will the master have to pay back everything he has won from Mithridates and Tuna?" After saying that, he held up the box and handed it into Cornelia's hands, and said, "Mistress, as soon as we go in, you must hug this tightly. You are a noble person, and those slaves are not Dare to invade your body! If anything goes wrong, just shout that you are the wife of the great Pompey. If your personal safety is not guaranteed, Caesar will not forgive the city. "

At this moment, the door was broken open, and many slaves wearing leather armor and holding daggers and daggers rushed in. Then they saw Cornelia and Demetrius standing at the door of the inner hall, and they were rude. The ground shouted to come up, pull and push, "Don't do this, don't do this!" Cornelia shouted in Greek, and then in Latin, but many armed slaves did not accept this at all. When they saw Cornelia's hands After finding the small box in the box, he decided that the contents inside were priceless, so the leader brandished his dagger and rushed towards Cornelia.

After a scream, Demetrius pierced the leader's chest with the sword in his hand, and time froze instantly.

Just a few seconds later, several slaves swarmed up and pressed the still absent-minded Jew against the wall. The daggers and daggers stabbed Demetrius's body continuously, and blood spattered on Cornelia's body and On her clothes, she shouted, "You must not do this to the great Pompey, you must not do this to the great Pompey!"

Finally, the mood of the armed slave calmed down, but Demetrius also tilted his head, covered in blood, and slowly sat down leaning against the wall. His eyes before his death were still staring at the mistress, with I felt a little relieved, probably thinking that the mistress would not be violated now.

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