"It is only after suffering that one begins to think." —Thucydides

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Under the supervision of the centurion, all the soldiers worked very efficiently, even if in fact the great cousin of Ptolemy was almost like a dead man at this time, and it was estimated that there would be no decent armed force around him except for the eunuchs and female dependents, but the Roman legions were so meticulous that they did not dare to be careless, they first dug a semi-circular trench with a dozen stadia long under the slopes of the small city, and then there were wooden fences, and then along the Tisza River to transport all kinds of materials, with iron nails, Hinges and planks began to tinkle to erect all sorts of small siege machines, such as a battering ram with a canopy, such as a small two-story siege tower, such as a large "V" wooden shield that could cover the soldiers from digging the roots of the city.

His Excellency, the commander-in-chief of the patrol position, was satisfied, but when he walked up to the ballista and the catapult that had been erected, he frowned when he saw the direction of the alignment, and asked the person in charge of the artillery, "What is it to aim only at the new city, and what if there is an enemy hiding in the old city?" "Now it's the turn of the centurions around them to look at each other, I don't know what kind of anger Your Excellency Liberdaus is doing, Ptolemy's great cousin doesn't even have an army, and he is hiding in the new city, and it is incomprehensible to go to great lengths to build siege fortifications - a brigade of 1,000 people can solve any problem by rushing directly into it, and now he actually has to point the ballista cannon at the sacred temple of great love?

Petronius spoke, pointing to the grove and lawn in front of the golden corridor of the Temple of Great Love, and said, "Your Excellency. I must inform you. It's called the Sacred Grove. Soldiers and vicious weapons cannot be crossed. ”

"But I'm just aiming there with my ballista, and I'm protecting the Temple of Love, right?" Li Bida's words were unexpectedly aggrieved, and then he brought in Hebrida and asked, "You served in the East back then, and you should have heard that the veterans talked about the battlefield. What did General Sulla do with the temples and colleges of Athens? ”

"Your Excellency, they will first cut down all the sacred forests outside the academy to use them as fuel for the fire. They then burned temples, smashed statues, looted gold and jewels, and killed most of the priests and scholars. Highbrida replied with a scarred face.

Everyone was stunned, Li Bida asked his in-laws to say this, did he really want to loot and burn the wonder of the Great Love Temple? No, if this news spreads, not only you but the entire legion will have a bad reputation, and Lybidaeus you will wait for others to accuse you like tarsal ants when you return to Rome. Won't we have our property confiscated? It's terrible, wait for the inferior brutal soldiers to be stirred up by him. Stop it before you regret it.

But Li Bida's following words made everyone suddenly feel like they were stepping on the air again, "Then is there any way to enter this Great Love Temple peacefully?" I wonder if the high priest is still in it? Later, the former Cypriot officer, who was more knowledgeable, quickly replied: the high priest Desphomokis, the younger brother of the eldest cousin, was still in the temple, but most of the priests had fled.

"I still insist on staying in Paphos, it seems that there is indeed a big cousin's vault in this temple of great love." Li Bida secretly thought.

In the early morning of the two days, the Romans, who had been dead and silent, suddenly fired two stone bullets with fire, which did not face the new city, but really fell directly into the temple of great love in old Paphos, and smashed into the small pool with one shot, tearing the fountain sculpture, destroying half of the eaves of the side hall with one shot, and killing several white geese resting below.

Then after a day, Li Bida immediately quickly brought a large group of soldiers, came to the outside of the sacred forest and stood in line respectfully, several frightened priests under the steps of the temple held holy weapons in their hands (Li Bida had worked in the Stove Temple, he was too familiar with these nonsense things) or firewood, his eyes wandered to and fro, Li Bida then shouted in Greek, just now it was the artillery of our legion that made a mistake and hit this sacred place, so I want to pay homage to the chief high priest and explain all this face to face.

Who knows, after those priests went in, they never came out, it seems that this trick will not work!

At this time, no one seemed to care about the life and death of Ptolemy's eldest cousin in the new city, but Li Bida's heart was still very anxious, and it stands to reason that Brutus, who was following behind his ass, was also fast, and he had to hurry.

As a result, Defoemokys took the method of pretending to be stupid and stunned, and ignored all kinds of provocations from the Romans, and the next day Li Bida still had a new trick:

The next day, a group of Roman soldiers who had stripped off their armor, including their commanders of course Lybida and Peternius, dressed only in short shirts and civilian sandals, drove two snorting pigs, plus a lean ox, which they had stolen from the nearby villages, and when they found them hungry, apparently abandoned by their former farmer masters, they swaggered into the Sacred Grove.

Several white-robed priests hurriedly rushed out, trying to stop their advance, but Li Bida's reason was very strong, "We are here to love God as a priest!" Then the gang quarreled and shoved at the gate of the temple, and even broke the rope of the pig, and the two pigs ran happily all over the temple, and the Roman soldiers caught all over the temple, and the thin ox lay down listlessly, knowing that he was about to be sacrificed, and beat down with tears in his eyes.

The farce ended with the compromise of Defoemoth, and he was terrified to wonder if the Romans' camp would catch fire tonight if he forcibly refused this time, and then whether it would spread here and burn to rubble. In the years of peace, the temple of great love was full of pilgrims, and under the natural cliffs and stone bridges in the sea outside, luxurious ships were moored everywhere, and the kingdom of Cyprus even considered using this temple as a treasury, and now his brother had placed thousands of Tallent funds in it, and said to him, "Even if I cannot escape this calamity, I must fight, the Romans originally offered me to be the high priest, but they wanted me to go to Rome to become a naturalized citizen, I really can't accept such a change. My dear brother, protect this wealth, and expect the Romans to do nothing to you, and when the situation is at peace, you can succeed you as king. ”

Now it is evident that the Romans have come to the door, and they are very cunning and difficult to deal with, and they have to meet their commander head-on.

Outside the temple, the soldiers sat on the steps rubbing their feet, scratching each other's lice, and after sacrificing pigs and oxen, according to the rules, they took the cooked entrails and ears from the priest's hands and munched on them. (To be continued......)