There are always lows and highs in life. In early winter, Apis returned triumphantly with the Roman army that had conquered Parthia. He brought back to Rome not only countless trophies and riches, but also Sulena and 10,000 Roman soldiers who had been captured at the Battle of Calle. After more than 20 years of enslavement in a foreign land, their faces have long since grown old, and their bodies and spirits have been severely damaged, at this moment, standing on Roman soil again, these veterans of the Crassus era are undoubtedly very excited. Some even knelt down and kissed the dirt under their feet.

The ornate and generous Arc de Triomphe, built ahead of time, runs through the city center on both sides of Via Flamini and is packed with celebratory crowds, a great moment, a moment of trans-epochal significance. It was a belated and gorgeous triumphal ceremony, and everything was already arranged.

Appis rode in a pure gold carriage and came slowly to the sound of the revelry of the common people. Feeling all this belated, Appis closed his eyes, and his mood could not be calmed for a long time. The past years flickered in front of me like a movie film, starting from a gladiator, to a legionnaire, to a wealthy businessman, one of the three giants, step by step to the pinnacle of life. How much cruelty and cruelty there is, how much bitterness and helplessness of reality. In the midst of this, how many people died in the struggle, Caesar, Pompey, Octavian, Antony, Lepida, Rabinus, Crassus the Younger, Cicero, Cato the Younger, Cleopatra...... All of these famous figures in Roman history were not spared in the end. You may feel sorry, but this is the reality and struggle, the history of struggle full of blood and tears......

"Great, wise, resolute, courageous and wise, Apis, who conquered Germania and Parthia, was the pride of Rome......"

"Here the Senate resolves to confer the ...... on Appis the first citizen of Rome"

The golden chariot came to a halt in front of the Senate in the center of Rome, and Appis slowly stepped out of the carriage. Afterwards, several representatives of the Senate came to the stage to welcome the heroes of Rome home.

In front of this ornate building, Appis could no longer hear what the "fathers" in Toga's robes were reading in front of him, but he could only feel the shouts of the mountains behind him. The fanatical cries of the people seemed to have conquered not only Parthia, but also the hearts of millions of Roman people.

This unfinished business of Caesar was accomplished by himself. What else can stop yourself from becoming the first master of Rome?

In the envious and surprised eyes of everyone, Saoris, the most respected senator of the Senate, gave Appis a crown of olive branches. All this has been prepared for a long time, including the lines of several veterans on the stage, which have been prepared in advance. The gorgeous performance, the actors are the senators of the Senate and Appis on the stage, and the audience is tens of thousands of Roman commoners, knights, and nobles in the audience.

……

"It's all over, Appis, you have become the master of Rome, although you have not been crowned emperor, but everyone in the Senate knows that the first citizen is in fact the emperor, the senator. Brother, I really never dreamed that at the beginning, we were still in Graeus's gladiator academy, fighting for survival. Today, the entire Roman world has been turned upside down. The whole city, the whole Rome, the whole empire, cheered for us. And I never imagined that I would one day have my own villa in Rome, with my own slaves and servants. It all came out of nowhere. ”

After the ceremony, Klein and Apis went to the most familiar Palatine Hill, overlooking the city of Rome at sunset. talked about the past and the future with emotion. Because of Appis's power, Klein has become the senator of the Senate, and like those veteran officers who were arranged by Appis, Klein has the power to actually speak out. That is, Apis's absolute supporter in the Senate.

"Yes, I didn't think of it. The day will come so soon...... Such a tragic ......"

Looking at the afterglow of the setting sun, Appis sighed.

"What are you going to do next? Solving social contradictions? Or continue to develop the economy? Trade? We have won, but there is still a lot of work to be done. The widening gap between the rich and the poor, the entire empire, in fact, is a war machine, without which many people will not be able to get a chance to turn over, and the wealth of society will unconsciously gather to a small number of people, which is an eternal problem. ”

Klein sighed, because he himself got up like this. If it weren't for Apis, if it wasn't for the civil war, Crane knew that he might still be a gladiator who fought for his life to support himself. In the past ten years by Appis's side, I have learned too much.

"I don't have the time or energy to think about it right now. Brother, in fact, I can't solve these problems completely either. ”

Appis was eager to tell Crane that he was not a saint and that these political problems would not be solved until later generations, let alone in the infancy of civilization. In this era, ancient Rome was unprecedented, and it was impossible to learn from history, so it could only rely on its own practice and exploration. In practice, there will be bumps and bumps, which will also evolve into many unstable factors in later empires.

"Crane, my brother, I intend to build an arena, the largest arena ever built in Rome. It will rise from this land as the tallest and grandest building in all of Rome. We plundered a great deal of wealth from Ctesiphon, the capital of Parthia, which will be used to support the construction of this sprawling and ornate structure. The Pantheon is nearing completion, and in a few years, these two buildings will become the pride and symbol of Rome. ”

Looking at the dense buildings in the center of the city of Rome, Apis said excitedly. Historically, Octavian once said that he inherited a Roman city made of mud and tiles, and he gave it to the world a Roman city made of marble. Now, Octavian has long since died, and this mission seems to have been left to him in the dark.

The Grand Theater of Pompeii was renovated, the Julius Hall was maintained, the Hippodrome was renovated, and a large city bath was built under his own name. At this moment, Apis finally realized and understood why the kings of history liked to build many magnificent buildings after they unified the world. The first is the increase in wealth, which inflates people's desires. The second is that I want to leave something for future generations. All the plans took shape in Appis's mind, as if in front of him was a city of Rome with endless prosperity and many ornate buildings.

In fact, a month later, from the port of Ostis to the docks of the Tiber in Rome, countless ships were packed with ships transporting building materials from all over the Mediterranean. Artisans, artists, and architects from Greece, Africa, Egypt, Cyprus, and other places have gathered, and dock workers and construction workers have been running to and from the docks and construction sites every day, with a noisy and dusty sky......