"Citizens, come and see the devil of the East, Mark Anthony's face! I have warned you more than once before that this man has lost the most basic dignity and moral bottom line of being a Roman. Look at what he's been doing lately. The great Roman general Apis led a powerful army to the east to fend off the Parthian attack on the Republic. This was originally a time for the Romans to fight against a strong enemy, but Antony not only did not help, but sent troops to attack the granary behind Apis, some towns in Syria, and almost killed Apis on the edge of the desert, which was the life of 50,000 Roman soldiers, who set foot on the arid and barren land in order to resist the invasion of the Parthians, and yet, Antony wanted to kill them! Look at what a terrible demon this is! If Rome fell into the hands of this man, it would be the darkest day in the history of the Republic! ”

When news of Appis's war in the East, Cicero took advantage of the issue to encourage more people to denounce Antony. However, denunciation alone is not enough. Appis' aim was to reap more affordable benefits, using popular anger to raise the bargaining chips of the war – money.

The first joint-stock company in Rome was born in this context, but it was not for trade and commerce, but for war......

This huge joint-stock company uses a real-name registration system, and civilians can invest in the war, and the shareholder register records the name of every commoner or nobleman who invested in the war, as well as the amount of money they invested. In the future, if the war is won, the proceeds of the war will be discounted and distributed proportionately to the shareholders who participated in the investment. Of course, the largest shareholder of this huge state-level company must be Appis, and only Apis can command the direction of this army.

This novel way gives the populace a deeper experience of war, because your wallet will be closely linked to the war ahead, and the more victorious the Roman legions will be, the greater the benefits you will get. The participation of the whole people made the entire Roman world want Antony to die immediately, so that all the property of the great general will be divided among the investors......

Taking advantage of the psychology of the people, the sense of pride, the effects of the Parthian War, and the desire for money, Apis completely pushed Antony into the quagmire this time...... The situation at the moment is almost embattled for Anthony.

And this method of raising funds for the war also surprised the Roman nobles! The people will vigorously support the external expansion of the legion, and, because it is a war against the public enemy of the country, Apis does not have to pay interest to the people, that is, it is equivalent to borrowing your money, when you win the war, you will pay it back when you have the ability, and if you do not defeat the opponent, you don't have to give a penny. This hooligan-like way of borrowing money was outrageous to the nobles, but they had to admire the Roman general's ability to raise money......

As a result, while Appis was supervising the battle at the front, in the rear, there was a steady stream of funds, and if there were paper money in this era, Tertila could really be described as counting the money until cramps......

With sufficient funds, Appis recruited four more legions on Italian soil, which were transported by the fleet to Syria, and at this point, the legions confronting Antony became eight heavy infantry legions and six auxiliary legions. The sheer number of them was beyond Anthony's expectations. Moreover, the food, grass and materials needed by the huge army were directly transported from Egypt, Antony fought to Damascus, and could no longer fight, but at this moment, he was facing a possible counterattack by Apis at any time, as Mark Antony, who once dominated the east coast of the sea, he seemed to see himself come to the end of his life.

However, he will not throw in the towel......

However, his subordinates had quietly changed their minds, and in the days of the confrontation with Appis, many legionnaires took advantage of the night to flee to Appis's camp and surrender to the Roman legion commander who had already won half of the world. And Apis also gave these soldiers good treatment, and their temporary lovers in Asia Minor could not be taken care of, but when they returned to Rome, they could have a small fortune and settle down in the city of Rome, not to mention, many of whom had a home in Rome in the first place. However, he was taken to Alexandria by Antony and did not return to Rome for a long time.

At this time, another "remarkable" event occurred in Antony's army, and a whole brigade under his command, more than a thousand people, mutinied. After they smashed and looted the camp, they said that they would take refuge in Appis on the other side. This is the first time that someone within the Legion has publicly spoken out that he wants to betray himself. Anthony certainly won't let it go. He ordered all the more than 1,500 soldiers who had caused trouble to be tied up and brutally punished by the lottery, and the soldiers who had been drawn to death were to be stripped of their clothes and beaten to death by their companions......

Under the brutal suppression, the legion was temporarily stabilized, and Antony, who was blushing, walked into the camp tent and asked the adjutant Domitius beside him breathlessly to see if he had heard anything from the mouths of these traitors......

"General, the strong are strong, the weak are always weak, this is the eternal truth, we are now in a weak position, many people will take refuge in Apis, this is not difficult to understand. But more crucially, some soldiers thought we were doing something wrong in the Parthian War. ”

Domitius came over and said.

"Something wrong? How is it wrong? Marching and fighting, this is the general's business, not the soldier's concern! ”

Anthony's temper soon returned.

"But the soldiers were talking that we should fight the Parthians first, and then fight the Appis. Apis fought against the Parthians for the glory of Rome, while we hid in the rear and did nothing, even interfering with Apis's war against foreign lands. This is the voice of many soldiers. ”

Domitius said sincerely.

…………

The atmosphere calmed down, and Anthony seemed to suddenly understand that he had never considered things from the perspective of an ordinary soldier. He never obeyed the will of the people and the opinions of the majority of the soldiers, but insisted on doing whatever he wanted, and as a result, he fell into the trap that Apis had carefully prepared for himself again and again......

But now that the thing has been done, there is no turning back, do you want to tell the soldiers in public that you have done something wrong and need to repent? Obviously, that is impossible, the prestige of the commander-in-chief will be discredited, and in the future everyone will accuse their commander-in-chief of all sorts of excuses and refuse to carry out orders. An army that is unwilling to carry out orders is a terrible army, and it is better not to form it, Anthony knows the truth very well.