"For the safety of Rome, it is always right to be cautious! Most of the citizens of Rome were sent to attack the Helnikians, and we only had 3,000 young citizens stationed in the city of Rome, which really seemed a bit empty! Ambrosis took over the conversation, raised his concerns, and offered to propose: "I propose that the citizens over 50 years old be mobilized at once, and at the same time the civilians and freedmen of the Aventine neighborhood should also be armed (referring to the famous slums of Rome at this time) to defend the city of Rome until Camillus returns with a large army!" When the meeting was over, I immediately went to Cassius, the chief of the city guard, and together I could finish the matter. ”

Although many of the senators were skeptical that Dionyas would attack Rome immediately, they agreed to the proposal for security reasons, and some even suggested that they should immediately send people to contact the surrounding Latin states and ask them to send citizens to help defend the city.

But there were others who objected: most of the citizens of the Latin Confederates had followed Camillus to attack the Helnikians, and where there were still surplus soldiers to aid us, I am afraid that when they learned of the Dionians' invasion of Latin, they would ask us for help.

Eventually, the proposal fell through.

At this time, Abinius sighed: "According to the previous battle report, it has been some time since Camillus led his army to storm the city of Philentirum, and it is at the most critical moment, if he is allowed to withdraw now, the previous efforts may be in vain." ”

Many people sighed when they heard this, seeing that the Helnihians were about to be wiped out, and that land would belong to Rome, and how willing they would be to give it up when they were about to succeed.

Apleius, the enemy of Camillus, took the opportunity to stand up and complained: "Elders and newcomers, Camillus, as the dictator of Rome, led an unprecedented army of 70,000 and consumed a huge amount of food every day, but he has not yet conquered the city of Ferentirum, completely wiped out the power of the Helnikians, and put Rome in such a dangerous situation, he must be responsible for this!" We ought not to let him withdraw with his army, but urge him to take the city of Philentirum within these two days, and then return to Rome quickly, so that we may not waste the supplies we have provided for the army. If Camillus can't do that, we should consider whether to punish him after defeating the Dionians. ”

Apleius's words moved the hearts of some of the senators.

This made Portitus very angry, because if Apulius's proposal was approved, it would mean that his proposal to "let Camillus return as soon as possible" would probably be shelved by the Senate, so he angrily accused Apleius: "You are putting the city of Rome in a dangerous situation!" ”

Despite Portitus' high esteem, Apleius finally seized an opportunity to accuse Camillus, and he retorted loudly: "According to Ambustus's method, we will be able to organize a garrison of nearly 10,000 people tomorrow, with such a sufficient force to defend the city, I have never heard of any force that can storm a city in one day, let alone the city of Rome, which can accommodate more than 100,000 people, we must be confident that we can hold on until Camillus returns with his army!"

Moreover, this is just your guess, my lord, there is a greater probability that the Dionians will not attack the city of Rome immediately, after all, it is a great risk, and we have to throw away the great opportunity to destroy the Helnikians and obtain new colonies for the sake of this small possibility, I do not think this is a smart move, and it will not do us Rome any good.

It is precisely because the army of Dionya has invaded Latium that other races that hate Rome will inevitably jump out against us again, and we can only concentrate on our great enemy, Dionia, if we first destroy the Helnihivians and seriously weaken the power of the Worsey! ”

Apleius's words were reasonable, and Portitus was speechless for a while.

At this time, Marugineensis, who was also sitting in an ivory chair in the front row of the venue, spoke: "Apleius is right, urging Camillus to destroy the Helnikians as soon as possible will help us fight the Dionians!" ”

Originally, many of the senators were very moved by Apuleius's suggestion, and the support of Marugineensh made them make up their minds. This is because Marugisiansis is also a very old senator, he is about the same age as Portitus, and he has served as consul several times (less than Portitus), just because when the Celts attacked the city of Rome, he did not stay and stick to the Capitoline Hill, but retreated early, which became a stain on his political career, so after the rebuilding of Rome, he appeared relatively low-key in the Senate, but this does not mean that his influence is small, after all, his full name is Publius. Cornelius. Marugenensius, who was the most important representative of the Roman magnate Cominellius clan in the Senate.

Despite the opposition of the senators such as Portitus and Ambrosis, the Senate finally approved Apleeus's proposal: urging Camillus to take the city of Philentirum within three days, and then quickly lead his army back to the aid of Rome.

Portitus looked at Apleius with a smug face, and he knew that Apleius seemed to be thinking about Rome, but in fact he was taking revenge. For no matter whether or not Camillus captures the city of Philentirum within the allotted time, he will not have good fruit to eat, because even if he completes his mission and Rome is attacked, the people will resent him as a dictator for not being able to protect Rome, and he will probably be accused in the citizens' assembly after the war. And if he returned to the rescue in time despite the orders of the Senate, he would offend the senators who were eager for Rome to expand and win more benefits.

Damn Apulius! "Now that we have made our decision," said Portitus, "we should immediately send a messenger to inform Camillus, and at the same time let him know of the coming attack of the Dionian army, so that he can intensify his preparations for battle and take the city of Ferentirum as soon as possible." ”

Portitus said this, but he did not think so in his heart, and with his knowledge of Camillus, who feared that Rome had been attacked, Camillus would probably refuse to attack the city of Ferentirum again, and immediately lead his army back. After all, Camillus was a dictator, and during his tenure he was in power to the supreme and could veto the decisions of the Senate and do things exactly as he wanted. In fact, Camillus could have chosen a senator from the Senate as his agent during his expedition, and had the right to decide all the affairs of the city, but it was a pity that Camillus, who was modest and cautious and did not like to take power, gave up this right, which led to today's predicament.

But Apleius was clearly aware of Portitus' intentions, and he responded directly: "Let's not forget, Camillus is a dictator, and during his tenure, we can only adopt proposals for him, and if he does not listen, we can do nothing about him...... Therefore, I suggested that the Senate should appoint a special messenger to the camp of Philentirum, and inform Camillus of the proposal we had adopted, and wait until the siege was over, and then tell him about the invasion of the Dionians. For this reason, we should seal off the gates of Rome and forbid anyone to go out......"

"You're crazy! You are flouting the laws of Rome! You are provoking the dictator of Rome! Cough...... cough ......" Portitus was so angry that he coughed continuously, and his body was a little unsteady on his crutches.

The patriarch next to him hurriedly supported him.

Maruginesis seemed to be concerned and persuaded: "Old friend Portitus, don't get too excited. Apleius also did this so that Camillus could concentrate on his task and not be distracted. He also thought about the overall interests of Rome and did not hesitate to risk being punished by Camillus. ”

"yes, yes! I think Apleius's proposal makes sense! ...... "With the endorsement of Marugineensis, many senators have expressed their support for Apleius, and the reason why they dare to be so bold is self-evident: although Camillus was wise and resolute in dealing with his enemies militarily, he was gentle and amiable to the Roman people and even to the senators of the Senate, and during his three dictatorships, he spent most of his time on foreign wars, and handed over the power to stabilize the country to the Senate, and did not overdo it, and did not punish any of the senators, Even Apleius, the great sinner who slandered his reputation and caused him to flee Rome, was also unharmed, and stayed in the Senate all the time, so that these senators could not be feared.

Seeing that even a veteran senator like Lucritius was in favor of Apulius' new proposal, Portitus calmed down, sat back in his seat, closed his eyes, and was out of sight and out of mind.

Sure enough, the last messenger chosen by the senators was Milusius, the prefect of the city guard, and his full name was Milusius. Cornelius. Scipio, who belonged to the same clan as the old senator Marugineensis, gives an idea of who he would listen to.

When Portitus learned of this result, he only snorted coldly.

After a brief silence at the end of the election, Ambustus took the opportunity to request a mobilization for war in Rome, which was agreed, and Apleius also left the meeting to inform the prefect of the city guard, Milucius, to carry out the decision of the Senate.

The other senators continued to sit in the hall and even began to contact the house slaves to bring them dinner, apparently preparing to continue the discussion into the evening, after all, whether the Dioonians had landed? Was there a battle with Paulus's army? Do you really want to capture Ostia? …… These need to be determined, so they are waiting for news to continue to come back from the West Coast.