"Come and see, the ruins of the years that have swallowed everything, Rome, this is her grave, so sad." - The 18th-century English poet Po Bo, in front of the ruins of the city of Rome.

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Cicero, who was obviously also a little annoyed, waved his hand, and several servants immediately put the crying Julia away, then shook off his shirt and shouted to Curio: "You should take care of your girlfriend!" Cicero's words are very vicious, because the streets and alleys of Rome are crazy about the intimacy between Curio and Antony, and some people say that when the two meet in private, Antony will wear bright women's clothes to please Curio.

At this moment, the surrounding people were also excited, they did not want the newly crowned father of the country to be hurt by these few "golden youths" who did not know what to do, so they shouted and surrounded them, Milu and other centurions blew their whistles, led the recruits, formed a shield wall, and pushed the people out, hoping to restore order.

"Enough, Anthony, today I am magnanimous, I will not hold you accountable for your actions today, but you will still be punished accordingly, the Roman army will refuse your service for three years, obviously this time is the same, you should learn from your good friend Claudius, although you are known as the 'Three Dances of the Banquet' together, but when you return from this expedition, he will become a civilian tribune, and you will go to find a position as a military tribune in three years!" Cicero threw down these words and prepared to leave.

"Then I also tell you, Cicero, in order to verify the prophecy of the witch Sybil. I will inherit the name of my stepfather, Gaunerius, and I will become the third king of Rome. Then my tyrannical rage will be the first to burn you to death. "Anthony who was framed. Protesting at Cicero's back.

As if remembering something, Cicero turned and raised his finger and said, "The name of Cornelius?" Yes, yes, I am going to bestow this name on the hero of the battle who regained the banner of the Marian Eagle, no matter what his status, even if he is a slave, Anthony, you will compete with him for the throne full of thorns and garbage, we Romans abandon this kind of thing. His tone was extremely contemptuous for Anthony. It's like watching a five-year-old lose a game of ball.

Marco over there. Anthony was furious, and a scale-bearer with the appearance of an Oriental here listened to the conversation between the two sides very carefully, "This time, do I have to get a name or something?" Later, it was a bit aristocratic. ”

On the colonel's field, after the military forces of the two city regiments held a ceremony to be removed, they swore to march. The flag bearer walked at the front of the line with a grape cane and a battalion flag, but to the disease of all the soldiers, the commander was also the second consul Neruda. From the beginning of the army, he fell ill, and according to his own words, he ate too much seafood and suffered from gout. He lay on a stretcher carried by the soldiers on all sides, and walked in the middle of the ranks, so that all the officers and soldiers could see his pain.

Others don't understand. Calabis is a clear heart, and Cicero is also a fox. He and Neruda had already reached an agreement: Cicero would not pursue Neruda's previous close relationship with Catiline, and arranged for him to retire from the consulship. went to the rich province of Macedonia to become the governor (governor-general); Correspondingly, when Neruda was commanding the army, he had to implement the word "drag" and try to drag it until Pompey triumphed.

Therefore, the actual command of the march of the Second City Corps is now the adjutant general Claudius, of course, the ordinary soldiers do not know about the deal between Cicero and Neruda, and the rumors all go around saying this, "Neruda deliberately feigned illness and was unwilling to fight because of his previous intimacy with the enemy Catiline." ”

As soon as he heard this trend, Calabis's heart brightened even more - this rumor was not spread by the "professional" Claudius, so it is strange!

On the squeaky bronze ox cart, Calabis and several colleagues sat on it, surrounded by the smoke and dust stirred up by the footsteps of the soldiers recruited by the 4th and 10th Brigades of the Second Legion, choking him to cough, Milou and Tagus and other centurions raised their canes and stood on the side of the queue, while the military musicians blew trumpets and made rhythmic music to restrain the soldiers' steps, "Tell you to raise your left foot and follow the beat!" Tagus struck one of the recruits on the ankle with his cane, and the recruit jumped twice in a hurry, finally in tune with the sound of the trumpet. As a result, his leap confused his pace back and forth, and he only heard the whipping of his cane.

Behind the ox cart was the "Vesua Advance Army" that followed the carabis, with a large number of vendors, prostitutes, artisans, and flocks of poultry and goats in order

"Oh, you're the one, in Xiaoya, yes, yes, yes, and brought me food, Calabis, and now you're my brother-in-law's protégé, aren't you?" In the tent, Claudius saw Calabis who had come to visit him, and pretended to be trying to remember, and then smiled and showed that he had come to his senses.

Hu Cong gently placed two fine bags on Claudius's table, Claudius lowered his eyes, opened and closed the rope buckle of the bag, and there were at least five thousand Cestricks worth of gold in it, and after shaking it twice, he put it under the table, and then the man next to Calabis held up a pair of beautifully carved armor with gilded lions carved on it, which looked no less than fifteen thousand Cestris.

"What are you doing, Calabis?" Claudius asked, smiling and crossing her fingers.

In the evening, Claudius walked into the camp of the commander Neruda, who was eating seafood on the chair, hurriedly hid the plate in the dark, and then crossed his legs and continued to hum, "I have come to apply to you for the layout of the marching route, General." Claudius said with a smile, her gaze unnecessary.

"Track, just keep tracking Catiline's troops." -- The "wild man" Neruda on the recliner said weakly.

"But just now, a faithful weighing officer reported to me the dynamics of the army, and the soldiers and centurions were full of unstable emotions, and they needed your clear and clear instructions. For Catiline's army, which had been in the mountains of Etrunia and Po Gaul, was leading us by the nose and preemptively recruiting troops and food everywhere in the name of the consuls, and his ranks were growing larger and larger. ”

Neruda said unpleasantly: "Young Claudius, you must know how poorly equipped the two legions we brought with us, and many soldiers only have swords, not even shields and javelins, so what can they do to fight Catiline." ”

Claudius stepped forward and gestured on the sand table at the table: "General, don't forget, we also have reinforcements from the three regular corps of General Metra from Gaul, they are well equipped and morale, and they are now stationed in the Tunpikenum area. Catiline, however he traveled, had only three paths to choose from - first, through the Leno valley to Bologna; Second, cross the Fijumalbo Pass and go to Gaul; Third, Zuihou went from the Arno Valley to the Gulf of Liguria (present-day Genoa). ”

"Go on." Neruda reluctantly replied that although he wanted to continue to pretend to be sick, the complaints of the officers and soldiers were enough to make him afraid.

"Now the first two roads have to pass through Pikenum, and Catiline does not dare to confront General Metra in any way. Therefore, I judged that his next route was to go to Liguria, which was a good place for him to obtain supplies, which was dense in manpower and abundant in products. (To be continued......)