"There is only one way for the conquered to live, and that is not to hope that you have a way to live." - Virgil

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The master of ceremonies and the announcer stood on a movable revolving platform and shouted to the audience, "The Brass Shield Army is about to be destroyed, for the gallant and fearless cavalry commander Lybidaeus has come with the most elite cavalry, all barbarian cavalry from the distant seas and highlands, who know no idea what death is, only the tireless killing and trampling!" ”

It turned out that this gladiatorial battle happened to be a re-enactment of the battle of the Amasya River Valley, an extremely realistic re-enactment, those sword fighting slaves on horseback, mercilessly lined up, and trampled to death the previous wounded who were lying on the sand and had not yet lost their breath, and then they held spears and long swords, broken limbs, heads and internal organs were scattered everywhere, and the sword fighting slaves who were unwilling to die on the side of the "Bronze Shield Army" were still supporting each other, scarred and fighting to the death with the other side that besieged them, Until the sound of the entire Colosseum slowly fell silent.

"Die, die, die!" The spectators in the stands, whether civilians in linen jackets, knights in the front row in cloaks, senators in robes, priests in sheepskin cloaks, and virgins in Ionian skirts, shouted curses and demanded the death penalty of the remnants of the defeated "Brass Shield".

So there was another hearty shout, and dozens of scarred "Bronze Shield Army" sword fighting slaves were cut their throats in public. Fall to the ground and breathe. Subsequently. The sword slaves on the victorious side raised their blood-stained weapons one after another. Greeting Caesar and the spectators, the announcer exclaimed excitedly, "See no, see no, in the great battle of the Amasya Valley, our invincible legions, and the invincible cavalry commanders, used cavalry to achieve great victories." Let's pay tribute to Lypidaus together! So all the spectators fell into a state of madness, and after shouting, they began to ask Caesar to show them the next great victory.

At this time, many slaves began to enter the field to drag away the terrifying corpses, wash the blood-stained sand field, just this performance, there were 300 sword fighting slaves, and nearly 100 war horses died on the spot, the corpses were stacked layer by layer, shocking. Soon there was a scream on the battlefield, when the body of the sword slave was pulled away. The mask on his face fell, and someone on the victorious side who was still saluting the audience recognized the deceased as his own brother, so the cold body of his younger brother looked up to the sky and mourned, and then coldly stabbed his short sword into his chest, and he also died of anger.

The whole scene fell silent, and then the announcer exaggeratedly raised his hand and said to the audience, "What a brave sword slave this is, go back and tell your child how he values love and righteousness, and does not hesitate to sacrifice his own life!" ”

The audience applauded again, and Leo, who was in the corner seat, untied his belt, took the small money bag from it, took out some silver coins, and gave them to the servant beside him, saying, "Give it to the boss of these two brothers, and ask him to erect a tombstone for these two brothers, and place it in front of the gladiator school, and tell this tragic story forever, and remind others." ”

But Turinus and the others on the side were completely immersed, Leo shook his head, he still clearly remembered that when Turinus and him this morning, when they were pulled by his classmates to watch the gladiatorial competition, they were still full of reluctance, because most of the Greek teachers they came into contact with were critical of this barbaric custom unique to the Romans, but now Turinus was not like this at all, and the teacher's admonition had long been forgotten, after all, he had the blood of a standard Roman in his body, and he pierced people's bodies for those swords, The landscape spurted blood spurted and soared, cheering for the tragic and heroic death.

"Coming soon is a grand recreation of the Battle of Thapsus, with a thousand infantry and cavalry, and sixteen elephants! We are fighting at night, and the lamp ointment is provided by the benevolent merchant Vidali, whose workshop is located on Marsh Street next to the Colonel's field, and we welcome your support! ”

Then, the neighing of the elephant behind the iron gate alone raised the emotions of the already tired audience, but Caesar got up from his seat, waved to the audience, and began to leave, because his personal servant came to report that the Teatro Pompey was also going to go there, because a grand play was going on there, and it was also about the scene of the decisive battle between him and Pompey, which was rehearsed and financed by the knight Aberlius, so Caesar had to go down to watch it himself in order to win the support of the knights.

When Caesar walked to the front of the Collegium, he looked up and saw the bust of Pompey, and immediately felt a great irony, he did not expect that the building he had created was now playing out the drama of his failure and death.

When Hu Cong entered the theater one step ahead and carried the stick, the knights in the first fourteen rows stood up collectively and said respectful words to His Excellency the Dictator. And on the stage, a farce-like drama is being played, the Roman drama is from Greece, but it is very different from Greece, its set is more bells and whistles, but the content is extremely vulgar, more influenced by the Dionysian festival, and the use of actresses on stage, showing all kinds of obscene movements, in the dance to show the Dionysian possession of the madness, until exhaustion and fall to the ground. Now the repertoire of the knight of Aberlius is also "kill and sell", the overall flattery is the key, with the purpose of obscenity, all kinds of actors and actresses with dildos, or bare-chested and breast-barred walking around the stage, performing hard, showing how Pompey, Cato and other Republicans died ridiculously, and the audience also responded with rude applause, Caesar only then realized that Brutus was also sitting in the seat next to him, watching this so-called comedy, and actually shed tears.

"Son, a play is always a play, and if I praise Abelius after I have finished the performance, then no one will repeat this scene in history, but the great Pompey lives on in the heart of the Roman Republic, and lives on as immortal as his statue - he died a heroic death, which is my evaluation as an enemy." Caesar spoke of relief.

Brutus just smiled, then he wiped away his tears, applauded with the crowd again, and said to Caesar, "No, I'm just watching the end of an era, and I can't help but blend into that feeling, you have advised me before, when performing, don't be too deep in the role, let alone that cheap sense of principle and justice, now I understand, so I am determined to say goodbye to my old self, and start to wear a mask and be a man." ”

"If that's the case, I'm relieved, kid." Caesar said reassuringly.

He just didn't know that the first person to be deceived by the new Brutus was he Julius. Caesar. (To be continued......)