"Roar, Roar, Roar, ......Roar, Roar, Roar, Roar, T

The roar of a wild beast came from the sand of the arena, on which stood two bloodthirsty and ferocious adult hippos, almost twenty times the weight of humans, and the two gladiators who fought with them were already exhausted, their heads were torn to pieces, blood and flesh were scattered all over the ground, and the other four gladiators were so frightened by the horrific scene in front of them that they hid in the corner and trembled. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

It was a large-scale competitive competition, kicked off by such a bloody performance.

And Apis, who was in the stands, was obviously not satisfied with such a performance, not because it was too bloody and cruel, but because such a performance required a lot of financial resources.

"Levius, I think we need to change the schedule of traditional athletic competitions."

Sitting under a special awning, Apis talked to Levius in a depressed state.

"Why change? This is the most ornamental pastime, Appis, and I don't know what pleasure I have in my life without it in a boring place like Gaul. ”

But Appis's exploratory proposal was initially shut down by Levius. For the pure Romans, the arena was almost a tradition in their blood, courage and blood, in this small arena was vividly embodied, in the jubilant killing, people's desires were fully satisfied, and even, this was another way to alleviate the social class conflict, because in ancient Roman society, the only event where commoners and nobles could be present together was probably only a few places such as the arena.

Of course, Appis is not against this killing, against this activity. It's about the money in your pocket, knowing that most of the wild animals needed for animal shows are in Africa, and the purchase of these wild animals is expensive, even ridiculously high. In order to avoid a net outflow of trade, Appis needed a revolution that allowed more slaves to take the place of large wild animals and gladiatorial games instead of animal slaughter. Of course, the big beast show will eventually be retained, but the proportion will be reduced. If demand is no longer strong, prices on the output side will naturally fall.

"I'm not talking about a complete ban, just a change in the number of appearances of large beasts, Levius. You ask the treasurer to calculate how many beasts, birds of prey, we have imported from Africa over the years, which is a lot of money. I mean let gladiator shows replace beasts and man-eating shows, unless they are to be executed and then add such bloody shows. What do you think? ”

Sitting in the main viewing platform, Apis discussed with Levius as he chewed on the crisp grapes. Although in his current position, Appis can decide all matters by himself, but there is no harm in consulting with the people around him, some situations may not be considered by himself, and a little more wisdom can give him more insurance.

"Well, I see when you say that, it's a lot of money, and a lot of the time, the pricing power is in their hands. Or maybe everyone is used to this activity on weekdays, and they don't think about it because they can save on such expenses, so they don't think about it. But, Apis, if you want to reduce the amount of money the arena spends on the import of beasts, it must also be slow, in other words, not all at once, but give the population a buffer time to adapt, for example, we can reduce the number of beasts per day and replace it with gladiator arenas. Over time, when the people get used to it, our reforms will be successful. ”

Levius raised his glass and replied calmly.

Appis bowed his head in agreement.

……

Rome, the capital of Italy.

"Appis is a liar, a traitor, a hypocritical villain, Commodus is not a simple pirate, his original name is Wintus! All of us were deceived by his façade of hypocrisy! The blockade of Rome was done by Wintus, the eldest son of Caesar's sworn enemy Pompey. Apis united Pompey's men against the heir of the great Caesar, and behold, what a blatant and bloody conspiracy. ”

On a sunny afternoon, the tribune Luvinus stood on the cornerstone in front of the Roman Senate and shouted to the assembled crowd. The people below were squirming and talking. Obviously, the news came too suddenly and unexpectedly. The son of Pompey, the former Roman consul, was still alive, but Antony and the Senate had already announced that Brutus and Wintus had died in Greece. Could it be that the Senate and Anthony's words were child's play?

And whenever this is not completely certain, Octavian will not come forward. He hid in his official residence, pretending to be ignorant of the matter, and still reaping the daily trivial copywriting and public opinions, and pretending that the matter was published by the senate itself. He was observing the movements of the people, and as soon as there was a serious protest and discussion about the matter, then Octavian would stand up from behind and accuse the officials of the Senate of spreading rumors, so as to clarify the facts in his own name, to be a good man himself, and to let the Senate take the blame. If necessary, remove the speaker and make a scapegoat. Of course, if the people reacted positively, and were willing to believe it, and if it went for good, then Octavian's goal would have been achieved, and in short, he could reserve a step for himself without coming forward himself.

"Evidence? We need proof! Relying on your own wanton nonsense here, we need more evidence to show whether what you say is false and slanderous? ”

Below, there were civilians shouting and questioning.

"Evidence? Here's the proof. ”

Luvinus said, gesturing behind the curtain. Subsequently, a Sicilian pirate who had been abused and beaten to the point of being bruised was escorted by two security guards and pushed to the stage. And he, almost no longer has the strength to speak.

"Citizens of Rome, this pirate is the crew who once besieged the city of Rome and worked under Wintus. Now, let's interrogate him and find out the truth! ”

Luvinus said in a high-pitched voice. Then, in a loud voice, he said to the "pirate"—

"I'm just asking you questions now, and if what I'm saying is right, then you nod your head, and if what I'm saying is incorrect, you shake your head."

Luvinas raised his voice, for fear that the people in the audience would not be able to hear. Then, the civilians below were silent, waiting for the facts and the truth. Although this trick seemed to the aristocracy to be so cliché.

"You're a pirate Cummodes' men, the helmsman of the pirate ship, aren't you?"

The bloodstained pirate prisoner nodded his head.

"So, your master, the great pirate Commodus, was actually a Greek prisoner of war exiled to Rhodes, isn't he?"

The limp pirate crew let go of his head again and nodded mechanically......

"Proof! This is a witness! Can be beaten into a trick! ”

There was silence at the scene, but then civilians raised their voices to question.