And Tapirus calmly faced the most powerful people in Rome at this moment, and said in a loud voice: "Respected Roman senators, King Davos of the Kingdom of Dioonia has asked me to bring you his sincere greetings. Before I left, he told me repeatedly, 'Although he has never been to Rome, he knows that Rome is a great city-state, and he has a deep respect for Rome!' ……”

Tapirus's words did not seem to be false, and they were surprised by everyone's expectations, and they were also moved, after all, they had also heard some rumors about Davers, the king of Dionia, and they also felt honored to be praised by him.

"His Majesty Davos also hopes that this visit of mine will not affect his good opinion of Rome, and this precious peace between Rome and Dionia!" Tapirus's next words suddenly changed the hearts of the Roman senators, and they heard him say loudly: "Wolsey has formed an alliance with our Dionia, and Dionya wants Rome to stop its aggression on Wolsey's territory, return the captured territory, and the two sides will cease fighting!" ”

As soon as Tapirus finished speaking, there was an uproar in the venue.

A man stood up in the crowd and asked angrily, "What if Rome doesn't stop fighting?!" ”

Tapyrus replied confidently: "Then Dioonia will fulfill his covenant with Wolsey and send troops to stop the continuation of this war!" ”

The whole venue suddenly exploded, and controversy erupted.

The man before asked angrily: "You Dionya is far away in southern Italy, what qualifications do you have to interfere in the affairs of our Rome?!" ”

Tapyrus calmly replied: "Dioonia has no intention of interfering with Rome, we are only fulfilling our obligations as allies. ”

"Do you Dionyas know that it was the Wolsey who first invaded our allies, and we fought back in anger, and the Wolsy should naturally be punished!" Another shouted loudly.

"You Rome act according to the covenant, and so do we." Tapyrus replied unhurriedly.

"Dionians, don't think that you occupy the south of Italy and think that if you are strong, you can run to Rome to show off your might! If you dare to send an army to this land, our Roman warriors will make you taste the true pain of war! Another man shouted angrily, and some of the elders echoed it.

Tapyrus replied tepidly: "Dionya has no intention of showing off his strength, but he is not afraid of any strong enemy, as evidenced by the forces we have defeated in the past. ”

When the commotion in the Senate tended to spread, Paulus, who was sitting in the front row, stood up and shouted: "Messenger of Dionia, please go back to the hotel first, and then inform you when we have discussed and made a decision." ”

Tapyrus nodded in agreement, and at the same time he reminded: "I hope you can make a decision as soon as possible, any delay will cause more casualties among the Wolsey and your Roman soldiers, which is neither your expectation, nor what our Majesty wants to see!" ”

Tapirus seemed to have a threat to Rome in his seemingly well-intentioned words, which caused a lot of scolding from the senators, but he resolutely walked out of the hall with his head held high.

Paulus walked to the center of the hall and said loudly, "Fathers and newcomers, please be quiet! Please be quiet! …… What do you guys say about the Dionians' demand that we stop the offensive against Wolsey? ”

The man who had shouted at Tapyrus many times before preemptively said: "Then you don't need to ask, of course you don't need to pay attention!" After many bloody battles, our citizens finally won this opportunity to beat the Wolsey, how could they easily let go of the Wolsey because of a word from the Dionians! ”

"Pentius, it's easy to say that. Dioonia had had very little diplomatic contact with Rome before, and you probably didn't know much about it. Although this kingdom has only been established for more than ten years, it has already occupied the entire southern part of Italy, and even the mighty Samonians have been defeated by it and have to become its allies, and even the Carthaginians are afraid of it and take the initiative to renew the agreement with it.

Although we are now out of the embarrassment after the defeat of the Celtics, our strength has been restored, and we are even stronger than before. But compared to Dionia, like a goat facing a bull, the difference in strength is too great, if Dionia is allowed to meddle in the affairs of this region, it will be a big trouble for Rome! A person at the back of the room stood up and said seriously. The man who said this was Pheius. Ambustus, a respected senator, was known for his strong patriotic fervor.

"Of course, I don't know as much about Dionyas as you nobles, but I will not back down because I am afraid of Dionia's power! Do not forget that the Roman populace needed more land to lift them out of poverty, to ease the conflict with us, and if we stopped the war against the Wolsi and returned to the occupied lands. Then our previous promise to the civilians to 'allocate land from the newly occupied town of Wolsey' will not be fulfilled! Unless you, the nobles, agree to take out a large amount of the communal land in the city-state and distribute it to them, you will see—" Pantius. Comirius looked around coldly and said loudly, "The anger of the civilians will erupt again!" ”

The noise in the venue was suddenly much quieter, and Febius. Ambustus looked a little unpleasant.

At this time, Paulus said, "Hey, Pantius, don't get excited. The people who sit in this room, whether they are nobles or commoners, love Rome no less than you, especially the venerable Ambustus. Not to mention that in the battle of Cremeli nearly a hundred years ago, almost all 306 members of his family died to resist the attack of thousands of Uighurs on Rome! Ten years ago, after the defeat of the Arrian War, the Celtic army invaded Rome and the whole city panicked, Ambustus decided to go to the Celtic camp on the north bank of the Tiber River to convince the Celtic king Brennus, and although he ultimately failed, his courage was still admired by the people! It's not lost to your brave action of risking your venture into Capitoline Hill, surrounded by the Celts, to retrieve the dictatorial appointment of Camillus......"

At this point in Paulus's words, Ambustus's face brightened, and the other senators began to respond and began to criticize Pantius for being unreasonable to his elders.

Although Pantius stopped talking, his face still retained a little unconvinced.

Paulus didn't really care about the mood of his fellow military officer, and he set his eyes on the front row of the room, where sat an old man with gray hair, shriveled skin, and a rickety figure, so sitting on a white ivory chair could still free up a lot of free space.

But the senators of the Senate did not despise him because of this, but looked at him with the same respect as Paulus, who had served as the Roman consul many times. Valerius. Portitus.

"Uncle, what do you think of the unreasonable demands made by the Dionians?" Paulus asked respectfully. He and the old man were not immediate relatives, but they both belonged to the Valerius clan and were from the same Portitus family, so it was natural to call him "uncle".

Portitus opened his cloudy eyes and said slowly: "We don't need to refuse Dionia's request immediately, after all, such an important matter cannot be decided in a short time, we can negotiate with the Dioonians slowly......"

Paulus's eyes lit up, and he understood what this uncle meant, that is-drag!

"No, never give hope to the Dionians! In order to avoid trouble in the future, we should simply reject them! An old man next to Portitus loudly objected.

He is Publius. Cornelius. Maruguineensis, the Roman senator whose prestige was not inferior to that of Portitus, had always played against Portitus in the Senate, but this time the senators were afraid of Dionia's might and did not take his advice.

Finally, Ambustus took Portitus' words and made a concrete suggestion: "We should send messengers to inform Camillus and Frius at once, that they should deal with the affairs of the Tuskulonians as soon as possible, and then lead the troops to Saturnicum without returning to the city, and hurry to Saturnicum to assist Licinius and Quintus in attacking Wolsey and taking as much land as possible in a short time!" ……”

As he said this, Pantius glanced at him, and Paulus nodded.

"Also, be sure to contact Carthage as soon as possible to see what they have to say about Dionia's sudden incursion into the Latium region?!" Portitus also reminded.

"I'm afraid we should also remind our colonies and allies to prepare in advance...... Pantius said.

……

Eventually, the Roman Senate made a decision.

They sent an envoy to inform Tapirus, who pretended to be sincere, and said: "The Senate is already considering an armistice, but since there are four military officers on an expedition, without their consent, according to the legal procedures of Rome, it is impossible to make a final decision, so I ask you to wait a little longer......"

Tapirus did not have a deep understanding of the Roman political system, and judging from the political system of the Kingdom of Dioonia and the surrounding Greek city-states, the absence of so many generals in the city did seem to have a great influence on the achievement of the Senate's decision, especially since they were still the parties involved, so he said with embarrassment: "My king is waiting for my return, and I hope that the Roman Senate will give me a final answer as soon as possible!" I could have waited, but the King of Dionya had no patience to wait! ”

He thought that he had dealt with it properly, but he did not know the great power of the Roman Senate, which was not only the highest administrative body in Rome, but also exercised the highest supervision over the life of the whole country, and that the consuls were only the executors of any decision of the Senate, not to mention that there were no consuls now, but military and political officials who were more military and had less power.