"The laborers were mostly slaves and Latins, some of the sailors were Etruscans, and some were Campanians......"

Davers was slightly surprised: "There are no Romans? ”

"There were Roman merchants and some inhabitants, but because of the short period of time, the laborers and sailors in the port have not yet found any ......," Midorides defended.

Hearing this, a glimmer of hope rose in Davers's heart, because according to the information collected before, there were not many people living in poverty in Rome, and some even sold themselves into slavery, and the contradiction between them and the nobles was more prominent.

But he thought about it: Ostia was a small city, and there were not many Roman citizens, or maybe Rome had invaded Wolsey and attacked Helniki for more than a year, gaining a lot of land and giving Roman civilians a new place to go......

Thinking of this, Davers asked again, "What about the slaves?" Who are they? ”

"There are our allies, the Wolsi, but also the Helnikians, the Masi, the Eque, the Etruscans...... Most of them were foreign captives after the defeat of the Romans, so they welcomed us and were willing to pull the fiber for our warships, because we promised them freedom. Midorades said with some excitement.

Davers nodded, and then his attention was drawn to the cacophony of voices ahead: it was a clearing illuminated by torches, densely packed with thousands of hedgehogs gathered in the middle of the clearing, guarded by soldiers. March was still early spring, and the weather was cooler, but half of them were still wearing thin and rudimentary linen clothes, and some were even naked, and the clothed and unclothed people were gathered in two piles, which seemed to be distinct, but they all looked uneasily at the heavily armed soldiers around them from time to time.

Martius led his guards into the clearing, their ornate attire and neat and powerful steps immediately attracting their attention.

"King Davers of Dionya has arrived!" Maltius called the name aloud, and the subsequent speakers immediately repeated it aloud in Latin.

Suddenly, there was quite a commotion in the open space.

But the guards quickly lined up on both sides, and then two tall and strong guards walked into the clearing, holding aloft the kingdom banner and the golden scepter. After that, I saw a middle-aged man wearing a golden helmet and armor, with colorful feathers flying on his head, and a lofty spirit, surrounded by a group of Ionian officials in gorgeous Boton, walked in unhurriedly.

The noise in the clearing suddenly disappeared, and the people bent uneasily, unconsciously retreating, but secretly glancing at them with some curiosity, but when Davers's eyes met them, they hurriedly lowered their heads like frightened rabbits.

"I am King Davers of Dionia!" After introducing himself in a simple sentence, Davers then said loudly: "For more than ten years, the Romans have been constantly attacking the surrounding races and forces, plundering land, killing people, and forcibly turning captives into slaves, extremely greedy and bloody!" It was precisely because the Wolsi and the Helnianians feared that they would be wiped out by the Romans, so they allied with us Dioonia one after another (Davers had already allied with the Helnikians before leading his army north).

We sent emissaries to negotiate with Rome in the hope that it would stop its invasion of Wolsey and Helnicki and return the lands it occupied. Now the Helnikians have been surrounded by the Romans in the city of Filentirum, which may be destroyed at any time, and the warriors of Wolsey have been scattered in the previous invasion against the Romans, and are powerless to stop the next invasion of the Romans.

Fearing that we, Dionia, would stop its aggression, Rome even instigated its ally Carthage to tear up the peace agreement with Dionya that it had been abiding by for many years, and brazenly declare war on Dionia! So—I have come here with the Dionian army to fulfill the covenant, to protect the Dionian allies Wolsey and Herniki, and to punish Rome and its allies for daring to violate the majesty of Dionya and provoke war, and to defeat them once and for all! ”

The reason why Davers said this patiently to a group of lowly civilians and slaves was to show all the forces and races in the Radium region, and indeed the surrounding area, why the Dionian army had come here, and for what purpose.

No sooner had than the messengers uttered his words in Latin when they heard someone in the room shouting with a burden: "Kill the Romans!" Save Herniki (Wolsey)! We want to be free! ……”

Davers looked up and saw that the unclothed people were excited, and some even shed tears, and there was an even greater commotion in the whole clearing.

Martíus immediately pressed his dagger in his hand, took a step forward, and shouted: "Quiet! The guards immediately let out a uniform roar.

The people were silent again.

Davers looked around at them and said sincerely: "The enemies of Dionya are only the Romans and the Roman city-states that assist the Romans in their war against us, and any city-state and populace that remains neutral in this war or even helps Dionya will be regarded as a friend by Dionya and gain the friendship of the Dionians!" You-" Davers pointed to the slaves, "you will be released in a few days, and in order to ensure that you can return safely to your families, we will provide you with some rations, and if you can help the army during your stay in Ostia, you will also receive some remuneration rewards." ”

Davers's words made the slaves smile, and some even saluted Davers with their own etiquette to express their gratitude, and Davers immediately returned the salute in spite of the lowly salute.

His amicable behavior not only won the favor of the slaves, but also made the laborers less nervous.

At this time, Davers said loudly again with a serious expression: "Before coming to Latinum, I thought that only the Romans were destroying the peace of this area, but after I came, I found that there is an equally terrible demon that is making the people of this land suffer as if they are living in hell, and that is——"

Seeing that the attention of the laborers was drawn to him, Davers said in a loud voice, word by word: "Nobles! The nobility of Rome! The nobility of the Latin city-states! They are like ferocious wolves, completely ignoring the friendship of their compatriots, shamelessly robbing the land of the people of their city-state with power and money, and then forcing the people who lost their land to become their slaves, creating wealth for them endlessly like cattle and sheep, and finally dying of exhaustion in the fields, and even the bones are reluctant to bury them! And those who did not want to be slaves to serve the high nobility were forced to flee from the city-state, but they were wandering and living in hardship, unable to support their wives and children......"

Davos spoke in a heavy tone, and after listening to the emotional translation of the transmitter, the laborers were reminded of their own tragic experience, and some even sobbed quietly.

Seeing this, Davers took advantage of the situation and said to a voice bearer, "What's your name?" Where did it come from? What do you live on now? ”

The young speaker immediately replied: "My name is Adrius, and I was originally a citizen of the city of Gabii in the region of Latim, and more than ten years ago the Gauls invaded Latin and not only occupied Rome, but also conquered the city of Gabii, not far from Rome. When the Gauls were repulsed, we returned home, only to find that my family's fine land on the banks of the Ano, a tributary of the Tiber, had been seized by the nobles, because the village had been destroyed by the Gauls and the town hall had been destroyed, so there was no proof that the land belonged to my family, and the nobles had bought off the judges...... Not only did we lose the case, but my father was falsely accused and given a cane...... My father dragged his unhealthy body and left Gabi angrily with my mother, me, and younger brother......" When he said this, his eyes were already a little red.

"Oh my God, you're just like me, I'm also in the land that was forcibly occupied after the war!"

"I'm not. I borrowed money from a rich man for treatment because my wife was sick, and I thought that when I sold the grain in the autumn harvest, I would be able to pay off the debt, but I didn't expect that he said that the money could only pay off the interest, and in the end my land was forcibly robbed by the rich man! ”

"You're borrowing from usury! Damn nobles! Damn rich! The senate of the city-state will only help these rich people to speak, where is our way of life! ”

……

The story of the black-haired, black-eyed Latin voice soon resonated with the previously silent Latino laborers.

After reading the information gathered from the Latin region, Davos learned that the fierce conflict between the nobles and the commoners was not only in Rome, but also in other Latin city-states, and even more serious, with the aristocracy being insatiable and taking by force, and the commoners being heavily indebted and unable to survive. After all, Rome could get more land and slaves through the expansion of force, which could give the commoners a chance to breathe, while the other city-states not only did not have this condition, but also because they rebelled against Rome and were defeated by Rome, they were instead taken away some land by Rome, which made their arable land tight, and the land competition and annexation were more intense, which was exactly what Davers wanted to see.

"How did you live after that?" A laborer couldn't help but ask out loud curiously.

So Adrius pointed to his feet and continued: "My father used to work here, too, but at that time the port of Ostia was not as busy as it is now, and my father did not earn enough money for our family to live, so he took us to Naples in the south—"

"Oh, that's Campania occupied by the Greeks, but their maritime trade is much more prosperous than here!" Someone exclaimed.

"But not long after, my father's old wound recurred, and he could barely walk, and through the introduction of a kind person, we helped my father to Pompeii, not far from Naples, and asked for help from the priest of the temple of Hades in the city, and the kind old priest not only cured my father for free, but also allowed our family to live in the temple for a while, and provided free food, and he also told us that not far south of Pompeii is a city in the kingdom of Dionia, Enona, where there are not only many job opportunities, And as long as you are willing to become a Dionian citizen, you can apply to the town hall, and it is easy to get approved, as long as you obey the law and work diligently in that city for a few years, you can successfully become a Dionian citizen and get a share of the land......"