At the same time, the ballistae of the Dionian legions were concentrated in the southwestern corner of Rome, two hundred meters from the city, and fired stone projectiles at the section of the wall that protruded outwards like a dog's ear.

Dozens of stone bullets bombarded the city wall at the same time, and the sound was terrifying, causing a burst of exclamations from the defenders of the city.

Round after round of stone bombardment, the broken wall bricks and stone chips continued to fall down, which also made the defenders of the city feel uneasy.

It was not only the ballistas that attacked the city of Rome, but also the bows of the belly. The huge iron arrows shot from this bow, which resembled an infinite number of magnifications, were not aimed at the city walls, but fell into the slums behind the walls, causing panic among the Roman people.

But soon the people of the slums found that the arrows and arrows stuck in the ground and stuck in the houses were tied to several papyrus scrolls, and the brave people stepped forward to untie the selax scrolls curiously.

Scipio the Great, the prefect of the city guard, had one in the hands of the soldiers, and he unfolded it cautiously, and the paper was full of words in Latin: My name is Valx, my fellow citizens of Rome, and I have lived on the hill of Raventing since childhood. Eight years ago, because a scoundrel drove his sheep, gnawed the wheat seedlings of my rented field, and provoked them with words, so that I was angry and injured them, and as a result, the court sentenced me to a large fine, and I could not afford to pay, and finally I was forced to buy a slave to pay off this high debt, and I later learned that this man was Kabrus. Claudius. Sabinus's diners, that's why I lost this lawsuit that I shouldn't have lost, and became a slave!

All your fellow citizens who live in Rome and have no land like me, all your compatriots who own a small piece of land but come from a commoner background, are you like me, living in a state of anxiety every day, very worried that the nobles who own a lot of land and many slaves will seek to seize their insignificant share of land and turn themselves into their slaves, just because they are rich enough and want more! We have fought against the greed of the nobles many times, and we want to gain a little right to protect ourselves, so we have abandoned the city many times, trying to make the greedy nobles realize the importance of our commoners! But to this day, these greedy Roman aristocrats still wield all the power of the city-state, and we are their cattle and sheep that could be slaughtered at any moment! Fellow citizens, are you willing?!

Luckily, Diana blessed, and now the Dionians are here! Although Dioonia is a country with a king, its citizens have a lot of power, they own their own land, the law protects it from being plundered, they can hold public office as long as they are able, no matter what they are born in, what race they are, and they can even eventually become senators, even ordinary citizens can report officials who violate the law and discipline, so that they can be punished by the law......

The King of Dioonia promised me that he would make Rome as beautiful as Dionia! Fellow citizens, if you don't want to become slaves, join the Dionian army and overthrow the rule of these greedy and ugly Roman nobles! ”

After reading this, a chill rose in Scipio's heart, his hands and feet were cold, and he hurriedly ordered: "Hurry! Send someone to collect all these papyrus, and no one is allowed to keep them! ”

When the city guards sent by Scipio the Great arrived at the ghetto, they saw a number of civilians gathered in piles on the side of the street, surrounded by a few literate civilians, listening to them read the papyrus scrolls taken from the iron arrows, and talking from ear to ear.

"I know this Valquez, who used to live in front of my house, a very good man, and when he became a slave, he gave some of his family's belongings to everyone...... Alas......"

"This Claudius family is really very bad! It's always been harsh on us civilians! Last month, it was this Kabulus. Claudius. Sabinus's youngest son, who had just become a squadron leader, had injured my neighbor for a trivial matter, and now he can't get off the ground! ”

"It's not just the Claudius family, which of these great families in Rome is not bad! According to me, the Dioyans are coming, and it is better to kill them all! ”

"Do you think what this letter says is true, that it is really so good to be a citizen of Dionia?"

……

While the civilians were talking about what the sand scrolls were telling, the city guards who had executed the governor's orders rushed in and forcibly confiscated the sand scrolls, which naturally led to a conflict.

Fortunately, the senators, led by Ambustus, who had received the news, arrived in time to appease the enraged civilians on the spot and criticize the city guards who almost caused the incident.

At the same time, Ambustus took the papyrus and exclaimed: "Citizens, this is a conspiracy of the Dionians, who want to divide us through this, so that we cannot defend the city together!" More than ten years ago, we had a conflict because of internal quarrels, and some of the people abandoned Rome and fled to protect their love, which caused Jupit's anger and made the Gauls give us the most painful punishment!

After rebuilding Rome, we have vowed on the Capitoline Hill that we will never repeat our mistakes again! Therefore, do not be fooled by the rhetoric of the enemy, and do not allow the tragedy of the destruction of Rome to be repeated! ……”

Ambustus's words quickly extinguished the anger of the Roman populace, who were gathering over the city.

But at this time, someone shouted: "Yes, the civilians who fled to the United States finally moved back to Rome, but have the promises made by the Senate fulfilled back then?!" We are still in high debt, we cannot rent public land, we cannot hold important positions in the city-state, and we hope that one of the two consuls elected each year must be a commoner, and the Senate simply ignores it! ”

Ambustus looked intently, and the person who spoke was really the tribune Gaius. Julius. Brutus, who had not yet explained this, the roar of the people sounded again: "The tribune is right, the Senate is always perfunctory to us, just wants us to sell our lives, and does not want to give us any rights at all!" ”

"This is the Rome of the aristocracy and the rich, not our Rome! What does it have to do with us when such Rome is destroyed! ”

"Whenever we are promised the same rights as the nobles, we will take up arms against the Dionians!"

……

The protests of the people poured like a tidal wave towards the patriarchs, causing them to feel panicked. In normal times, they have many ways to deal with such protests, but now that the army is besieging the city, if they are not careful, I am afraid that the enemy's attack will not start yet, and they will be in chaos first. So Ambustus hurriedly said: "The Senate will discuss their request at once, and ask them to calm down and wait for an answer." ”

With the consent of the people, the senators were able to return to the senate and urgently convene a meeting.

However, whether it was the cancellation of debts or the sharing of public land with the commoners, the interests of the senators and nobles were seriously involved, not to mention the taboo of the nobles to let the commoners hold important positions in the city-state, and even consuls, so although the debate in the senate was fierce, no conclusion was reached.

………………………………………

At this time, Scipio the Great, who had been busy with the defense of the city of Rome, received another urgent report: the Dionian warship appeared on the Tiber.

Although he had already considered the possibility of an enemy ship invading the Tiber after learning of the fall of Ostia, he was still very nervous when he heard the news.

He immediately rushed to the southwest corner of the city wall, stood at the head of the city, and looked south, only to see the three-tiered oared warships lined up in long dragons, pulled by slaves and laborers, and rowed with all the strength of the sailors, along the Tiber River, and the most advanced warships had approached the river port......

These very small warships in the vast sea are unusually huge on the Tiber River, which is only about 100 meters wide, and the hull of more than 50 meters across the river reaches half the width of the river, which makes many Roman soldiers in the city who have not seen three-layer oared warships feel very nervous.

What made Scipio the Great even more nervous was that he saw many Ionian soldiers boarding the ships from the river port, and then the ships sailed to the other side to dock, and the Dionian soldiers landed on the opposite bank......

The Dionians wanted to attack Rome from the north through the vertebral bridge! Scipio the Great was thrilled and immediately ordered: "Go and inform Cassius, strengthen the defense of the vertebral bridge, and beware of the attack of the Dionians!" ”

After the herald left, Scipio the Great was still a little uneasy, and sent an additional 700 Roman soldiers to the bridge, most of whom were citizens over 50 years old.

Scipio the Great was worried about the north side of the city of Rome, when another soldier came to report that outside the western walls of Rome, a group of Roman slaves and Latin laborers had appeared, and they were under the protection of the Dionian soldiers, shouting to the soldiers at the head of the city.

The content of the shouts of these slaves and laborers is similar to what was written on the papyrus scrolls, except that the words of these people are more convincing based on their own experiences, and they are aimed not only at Roman civilians, but also at slaves. Due to the lack of troops in the city, the Roman Senate had to make the city-state's slaves serve as soldiers and promised them freedom after the war. Now the civilians and slave soldiers on the western walls were a little distracted, and their state even infected the people in the city, and the Senate's delay in making a decision also angered them, and they rallied and ran to the Senate to protest, even declaring that if the Senate did not give them a clear answer, they would go and open the gates to meet the Dionians.

The urgent notice sent by Scipio the Great, the prefect of the city guard, and the pressure of the people outside the gate made the senators panic like ants on a hot pot.