"Brothers, if the city of Rome on earth were so beautiful, how glorious the holy city of Jerusalem in heaven would be! If the dignitaries of the world could be so sought after by those who love vanity, what great praise, glory and peace will be attained by those saints who are devoted to meditating on the truth! ”

The biography of the African missionary Forgentius, who was probably the last man in many centuries to be able to so firmly defy the glitz and splendor of Rome. Because after that, the city of Rome will no longer have such glitz and glamour to be despised.

The Roman emperors, who had risen to the top of power by force, abandoned the Eternal City for a variety of reasons. Rome was no longer suitable for the successive emperors, so they left.

But Rome, which has lost its ability to be a political center, is still a city that can be visited and worshipped, because of culture, because of religion.

The Colosseum, the only place where the barbaric faith of Rome could be most directly expressed, because the moderate Christian Church did not allow such cruel and bloody activities to be carried out so widely, and although the old popular protests never ceased, the Emperor's order was the supreme law. So the beast show gradually became less commonplace.

But the beast fight did not stop there, knowing that this bloody show was no longer just a real show that drove the Roman commoners crazy, and where to sit and watch this beast show was related to the position that the nobles of the Senate thought they should have. Whether it is the rising tide or the increasingly lonely nobles, they all yearn to have a seat for their own family in the huge Colosseum.

In the Colosseum, the annual animal fighting show is held as scheduled, and people who used to have a monthly or even daily animal show cherish the hobby that once a month. It hadn't been long since they entered, and it was already crowded, but most of them were on the top floor of the Colosseum, where there were no seats, and they were reserved for women and civilians, and the sight was not good. But it doesn't matter, because it won't stop them from loving fighting beasts.

Flavis. Arecio was not so anxious and desperate, and he lay lazily on a soft blanket made of animal fur, dressed in a purple silk robe imported from the Far East. Don't underestimate this dress, it is a symbol of the wealth held by a nobleman, and it is a manifestation of the prosperity of this nobleman and the family behind him.

Of course he had his place, and unlike the other declining nobles, he had plenty of space to lie down and a cloth covering from the sun, while the declining nobles had nothing more than the cold stone under their butts. Arecio would not talk and get acquainted with nobles who were about to lose their honorable names. He has everything that those people would be jealous of, looks, wealth, and women!

"Your Excellency Arecio!" Arecio heard the trembling call, and the voice came out very carefully. He slowly opened his eyes, and saw a nobleman in a robe and a laurel wreath on his head, the laurel wreath woven from the branches of the laurel tree was not worth mentioning compared to the pure gold laurel crown on Arecio's head.

The nobleman stood there at a loss, he hadn't made any mistakes, but from his nervous expression, there was a hint of suspicion for some reason. Although Arecio was lazy, his sharp eyes were a weapon of great pride, for his eyes could easily tell from the way a person was dressed in what kind of social status that person was in.

"Oh my God, my God!"

It was not easy to muster up the courage to raise his head to look at the look, but he never thought to meet him. The nobleman quickly lowered his head, his face pale, his lips trembled and closed one by one, and his voice sounded even more like that of a stuttering patient: "Honor, honorable Lord Arecio, I, I ......"

"This gentleman." Arecio smiled, but unceremoniously interrupted his rambling speech, not because he was so arrogant, but through his piercing eyes, he made a general analysis of the status and identity of the nobleman in front of him, nay, at his feet: that is, a poor ghost who has fallen into the void of a noble title, is not worth dealing with at all. It was only because of the etiquette of the nobles that he had to pretend to be a mask and smile, looked at the middle-aged nobleman with a pleasant face and said, "Excuse me, Your Excellency is looking for me, is there anything wrong?" ”

"Ah, ah, yes, yes, there's a very important thing I want to ask you......" The nobleman was still stuttering like this, and Arecio, who didn't have much patience, was even more disgusted with this guy.

"Then wait until I'm done watching the show, now, there's nothing more important to me than this hard-won game, you say yes, honored guest!" Arecio tried to soften his tone, and although he smiled, his hand that was weakly resting on his body reached out and waved towards the nobleman, signaling to leave.

The nobleman didn't understand the meaning, well, it didn't matter, because now the guards behind him who were in charge of guarding Arecio understood, and they came forward and very rudely lifted the nobleman's left and right arms, not understanding what the nobleman was going to say, and the strong soldier had dragged him down.

"For God's sake, it's finally quiet!" Arecio let out a long sigh as a deafening cheer rang out from the crowd in the audience. Finally, the annual Beast Show begins!

"Okay! Citizens of Rome, and the nobles of the Senate! It is a great honour to be here with you at this auspicious time, in the Colosseum, which has stood for hundreds of years, to watch an exciting show! ”

On the rostrum, a big-bellied, but incomparably loud host, he was wearing a white robe, wearing a laurel wreath, standing on a stone platform, which belonged to him, and at this moment, the entire Colosseum thousands of spectators stopped cheering, and thousands of pairs of eyes gathered on him from all directions.

He straightened his fat belly and held his head high, like a rooster. Such a loud sound echoed throughout the Colosseum.

But his aura still depends on the face of the noble, and when he said this, he had to lean forward slightly, and cast his gaze on a huge platform in the middle of the audience not far away, where many richly dressed people gathered, and they seemed to be surrounded by green leaves around two dignitaries sitting in it.

One is an elderly woman, the other is a young man, yes, that boy is the current Roman emperor Valentinian III, and that woman is the most powerful person in the Western Roman Empire, the regent: Platicia!