"Citizens of Rome, the enemies of the Republic are just outside the door, raise your noble fingers and draw a charge on the list of conscriptions, Rome needs you, the Republic needs you, it's time to fulfill our sacred duty, to defend Rome, to defend our homeland! Expelled Antony, he is no longer a Roman, no longer a Roman citizen, he is just a traitor who has taken refuge in Egypt, to Macedonian descent! ”

In the Roman Civic Forum in early summer, a consul with curly blond hair stood on a high platform in the middle of the square, reading aloud the latest official document issued by the Senate in standard Latin. Although many of the senators of the Senate did not see the contents of the official document at all. But they still have their names on it. In fact it didn't matter anymore, Octavian drafted the manifesto, and it worked very well. At this moment, tens of thousands of young and middle-aged Romans were crowded in the spacious civic square, scrambling to put their own handprints on the conscription list. In an instant, the scene of the Romans uniting against foreign enemies was repeated. The image of what seems to have been lost for a hundred years, only when Hannibal threatened the Roman capital, is repeated.

Octavian stood on the balcony of the administrative residence next to the Civic Square, looking at the crowd in the square, and a satisfied smile rose into the corners of his mouth. After so many months, he finally found the best way to defeat Anthony, not by the legions, but by the power of the people. Just as he took command of the Parthian legion from Rome from Antony. Being good at what you have is sometimes far more effective than being brutal.

……

"Octavia! Where are you going? ”

In the empty, silent mansion of Gaius, the emaciated Octavia stood like a dead branch swaying in the wind, beside the fountain in the courtyard, gloomy. She looked at the white plaster statue in front of her. My heart was filled with bitterness and sorrow. It was given to her by Saxus, and that year, she was just a **** little girl, entrusted by the family task, to marry someone she didn't like. And now, even if she is a mother, she still can't get rid of the fate of being used by others. What made her even more uncomfortable was that this person turned out to be her own brother.

Atia asked anxiously, and she hurried out of the room. Then I saw my daughter Octavia lying on the edge of the pool crying bitterly.

"Oh, Mom, I don't know who my real relatives are now. Everyone is taking advantage of me, everyone is staring at my every word and deed, including Turinus! ”

Octavia turned, tears in her eyes. Even in early summer, her hands and feet were cold. The helpless look in her eyes was like when she was forced to marry Sektus. For a moment, Atia felt a pang of distress, but she was helpless. She knew Octavia was heartbroken, but at the same time she understood Octavian's distress.

"Octavia, how can I comfort you? It's just that you have to know that Turinus doesn't love you and doesn't protect you, he has no other way. At least for now, aren't you also married to Anthony? This is a reassuring result. ”

Atiya squatted down calmly, stroking Octavia's long brown hair with her gentle palm. The early summer sun fell on the two of them, and for a moment, time seemed to go back to ten years ago, and Octavia seemed to be the little girl who was still snuggled up to her mother, enjoying the warmest care and care. And Octavian was always watching from the sidelines, obsessed with such a picture. Ten years later, however, Rome had been turned upside down, and the Mediterranean world was full of conquests, killings, and intrigue.

"But what if Anthony says yes? I'm really going to marry that man who's seventeen years older than me! I don't want to leave Rome, Tretus still needs my care, he's only six years old! Besides, if I marry and go to Alexandria, and the Egyptian palace is so big and full of Cleopatras, how will I deal with that scheming woman when the time comes? Everyone said she was the snake of the Nile. Didn't Turinus think about any of this? Am I just a shield against sharp arrows to him? Just a utility? I'm his sister! Since he was a child, I have cared for him like this. ”

Octavia said sadly. Her words pierced Atiya's heart deeply. The elderly woman knew that Octavia had been the hardest injured in the family. She was like a poor kitten, always hiding in the corner and crying secretly after being taken advantage of. But he couldn't fight against fate. At the time, he was actually in love with Aduneus, but no one could have imagined that the slave-turned-gladiator would eventually grow into a dominant Roman giant.

……

"Bunodius, judging by your sailing experience, what kind of wind is blowing on the sea right now?"

"Southeasterly wind."

"In other words, if we take advantage of this wind, we can make the fleet reach Duga (Carthage) faster?"

At Octavian's beckoning, towns and inhabitants across the Italian peninsula were enthusiastic and vowed to fight Antony. On the coast of North Africa, where the climate was relatively dry and hot, Appis discussed with his men the course of the North African campaign. Agrippa had been defeated and fled from the town with the remnants of his legions, heading inland into the desert. At this moment, Appis had two options in front of him, either to lead his troops to pursue Agrippa and wipe out the last resistance in Africa in the heart of the desert. Or, take advantage of the situation and capture other North African towns. Apis eventually chose to capture the town rather than pursue Agrippa. Because of this rare wind direction, the fleet can reach the Afrian triangle at a faster speed. It was here that the Republic of Carthage chose to build their homeland. And if you go deep into the desert to pursue Agrippa, the information is not clear, and it will consume a lot of time, manpower and material resources, because the supply of food, grass and water is difficult to maintain in the inland areas of the desert.

After determining the strategic arrangement, Apis ordered Maximus to march from the coastline with the Tenth Army to Dugga by land. He and Crassus Jr. took the reorganized Seventh and Eighth Legions by sea and went to Duga. Everyone was full of confidence, and they saw that the general they followed gradually developed from the weakest of the three forces to the most powerful one. Moreover, the generals and soldiers who fought with Apis over the years, if they had not died in battle, had made a fortune. Even the soldiers of the lowest-ranking Germanic auxiliary legions were given land, cattle and sheep.