"You can destroy us, but you will never conquer Rome, traitor."

In the afterglow of the setting sun, the last fortress of Octavian in Sicily was breached. Antony, with a spear in hand, stabbed a Roman centurion in the abdomen. The old centurion struggled, and with his bloody tongue, scolded Antony for his despicable act of betraying Rome.

"Traitor? Who is the real traitor? In my youth I followed Gaius. Caesar conquered land and sea, we have achieved countless glory and wealth, including the conquest of Gaul and Britain, the defeat of Pompey, the defeat of Scipio in Africa, I have done great things for Caesar and Rome, I have shed more blood than Octavian has sweated, what reason do you have to question my authority? Is it just a suicide note with no source evidence? If Caesar were alive, if he could speak, he would have told you, who his true heir was! Let me tell you, poor soldier, Caesar's earliest heir and even Pompey. Even if he inherits, he would never think of giving a milky hairy child, Octavian can't even lift a shield, is such a weak person worthy of the name of Caesar?! Soldier, keep your eyes open and see, now surrounded by my people, my soldiers, I will be the leader of this land, the master of Rome! ”

Enraged by the words of Octavian's veterans, Antony became agitated, holding a spear in one hand and yelling at the bleeding centurion. The people on the side were silent, not daring to say anything, and they saw Anthony's irritable appearance, like a bloodthirsty beast, a monster that had lost his mind.

"None of this matters, I just know that Mark Antony took refuge in Egypt and became a captive of the queen of Egypt, look at how many orthodox Romans are still in your army? The Egyptians, the Greeks, and even the mercenaries of the East, who are weak as reptiles, will one day take them into Rome to show your so-called glory? Rome will not accept you, Antony, Rome despises all traitors who take refuge in foreign nations! ”

"Enough!"

The old centurion had a mouth full of blood and scolded. Anthony, on the other hand, utterly lost patience, shouted loudly, and plunged his spear into his body even harder, and then pulled it out again until the old centurion lay in the corner, and the blood was gushing.

"Now, march into Rome."

"But General, we've made a contract with Appis......"

Anthony's Legion Commander Tyrems asked in surprise. The Romans valued contracts, in other words, promises, and since they had made promises, they could not go back on them, except for special reasons. But Anthony apparently didn't, which made his followers feel a little unacceptable.

"Do what I tell you to do, and you do it. Tyrems, one day, Rome will be ours, only the weak will compromise, and the strong will always rely on weapons, and speak by the sword. I will keep my promises, abide by our traditions, and achieve the ends, and the means used in the middle, you don't have to be caught, and you don't have to ask. ”

In front of everyone, Anthony took advantage of the situation to educate his subordinates.

…………

A few days later, the huge Roman legions, as well as the auxiliary armies of the various vassal states, arrived on the outskirts of Rome. Apis rushed to the talks, and this time, Antony's demands were even more excessive, and the beast of the East, the lion, opened his mouth and directly demanded half of Rome's annual revenue and all kinds of trade revenues from Apis.

"Antony, we have made a contract, south of Capua, all under your rule, including Sicily, and I no longer have any dispute, it is the land you have worked so hard to win. But it is not right for you to ask for the revenue of Rome, which is not reflected in the contract, and you have no reason to ask me for it. What's more, this kind of city has just experienced an infighting, which consumes a lot of money, and urgently needs funds to resume production and restore its former vitality. I am afraid that your behavior of taking advantage of others will be laughable. ”

In front of Antony, Apis argued.

But the situation at this time is like the diplomacy of a weak country for Appis, no matter how reasonable you are, in the face of strong military strength, you can only surrender.

"I haven't seen it with my own eyes, I haven't heard it with my own ears, in other words, it has nothing to do with me. Appis, I am here to ask you for half of Rome's taxes, and if you do not agree, to-morrow, perhaps the whole city of Rome, will be in my pocket, and you see a steady stream of ships from the East docking at the port of Brindisi, and I have sufficient soldiers and supplies to meet any of my needs. ”

Anthony sat on the lion's head chair and said leisurely. He was dressed in splendid clothes, but Appis felt that Anthony was no different from a lowly ruffian. However, it is not surprising that he had worked with this old partner for many years, and had seen Antony's scoundrel character when Caesar was on his expedition to Gaul. It's just that at this moment, this ruffian spirit is used on himself......

"Alright, well, Anthony, I will fulfill all your desires and demands, half of the income will go to you, and I will have the confiscated gold and silver money delivered to your mansion every month. But please abide by our contract, this is the minimum bottom line, the legion must not cross the Appian Way, otherwise the people will once again condemn your despicable deeds. ”

Appis was on the verge of fainting. However, without Octavian to contain Antony, this oriental beast was unscrupulously arrogant on the land of Italy, flying and vigorous.

"Oh, no, I've changed my mind now, I want three-quarters of my income, and seeing how readily you've promised, it's not a very difficult thing for you to collect the money. You have Gallic and Spain, and these regions can bring you income. yes, I'm going to be three-quarters now, not one-half. My friend. ”

Anthony deserves to be the head of the ruffians and hooligans, and he has to make inches. It was reported that when he was in Alexandria and Cleopatra, a single dinner cost three hundred tanats, which was almost an entire year's revenue for a small Roman city, which made Apis despise the nouveau riche even more. This is the typical nouveau riche image in ancient times.

"What? Don't say yes? You must know that there can be countless reasons for starting a civil war, and the contract is made by people, and the reasons for tearing up the contract can also be woven by people. ”

Anthony sat down in a large comfortable chair and said in a semi-threatening tone, almost cutting flesh from the heart. You must know that Apis had just defeated Octavian, the legions had not yet been reduced, and a large number of soldiers needed to be fed every day, and they still had the thirty percent interest on their shoulders, although the civil war had ended, but the last installment of interest had to be paid, and Antony had undoubtedly fallen into a hole by taking away this property at this time. But at the same time, Apis knew in his heart that in the current situation, war or compromise must be chosen......