The greatest weakness of war is the belly of the soldiers.

—Latin proverb

Demetrius was lucky, when the legion left the ruins of Amisus two days later, because of the hot water scrubbing and eating hot food, even if it was just barley porridge, but after all, let him resist, now on the stretcher, more concerned about whether his face was damaged.

Lybida secretly borrowed ten drachmas from Potti, hired two other camp slaves, and carried Demetrius on his way, and the Jewish slave was evidently full of gratitude: "You are righteous, and you will receive my favor." ”

Adiana never had a chance to meet Lucuras, because the hundred-man team of Highburida had been left in the camp and not allowed to enter the city, even with their slaves.

According to the soldier, Luculas was in tears when he entered Amisus, and he confessed to his general: "I used to envy Sulla's good fortune, but today I envy it even more, because Sulla had protected Athens from war." The general summoned the surviving citizens, gave them funds to resettle their homes, and encouraged them to call their surviving relatives and friends to rebuild the great harbor of Amisus.

After about three days, the chaos at Amisus was over, and the satisfied legionnaires, who were satisfied, slowly calmed down, withdrew from the city walls, and returned to the camp.

Then, Lucuras's military campaign continued smoothly, and the various detachments attacked the city, and soon even Sinop, the capital of the kingdom of Pontus, surrendered - Mithridates VI arranged for 8,000 Silesian mercenaries, most of whom were pirates, who had no intention of defending the city, and under the pressure of only five brigades of Roman soldiers, they set fire to the city and slipped away by boat—but this time the Roman soldiers did not sack Sinop again, because their greed was satisfied in Amisus, This seemed to give Lucuras a little relief.

After all of Mithridates' bases on the southern shore of the Black Sea had changed colors, Luculas sent the young military tribune Apis to the Armenian capital, Ataxetta, to demand that the Armenian king Tegrenice surrender his father-in-law, Mithridates VI, who was now taking refuge in some part of Armenian territory.

Appis's journey was long and arduous, with him crossing dense forests, mountains, and salt lakes before reaching Ataxetta, the capital of Armenia, surrounded by towering mountains. It was a huge white fortress with both political and military significance, and it happened to be designed by Hannibal, the sworn enemy of the Romans a hundred years ago, when the Lion of Carthage was taking refuge in Asia Minor, and tried to persuade the Armenian king Ataknes to use the city of Carthage as a model to build a capital city that could control all directions, and copy the "city of Carthage" from the sea to the mountains.

When the nobles of Armenia questioned the king's decision with Hannibal, they asked, "Why did the Latins so far away from us go to the trouble of building this city against such an illusory enemy?" Hannibal replied, "Yes, they are now far away from you, but only now they will come to Asia and will come to this land with a speed you cannot imagine, and conquer this land." In order to avoid the fate of being a vassal in a hundred years, it is time to be prepared. ”

A hundred years later, the Armenians had almost forgotten Hannibal's warnings, and they enjoyed the convenience of the castle for their military careers - 50,000 elite cavalry relied on it to go on four expeditions, and Tegrenice conquered countless surrounding kingdoms and barbarians, and also imitated the Persian royal family, calling himself "King of Kings".

Now, the complacent Tegrenice began to feel that this mountain city was nested in a remote place, and could not reflect the superiority and luxury of the King of Kings, so he forced countless craftsmen and people to build a flat Greek-style city in the plain in front of the Taurus Mountains, preparing to be the new capital in the future, and the name of the capital was also named after him, called Tegreseta. (Seta means "city of Tegrenys")

Although it was the middle of autumn, Tegreseta was in a state of revelry, with officials, civilians and even slaves, no less than 20,000 people, all pouring into the foothills of the racecourse, an oval-shaped, multi-tiered track with bronze mirrors at the corners as a sign of the racers' turns. Spectators were like a sea of spectators, the poor sat on makeshift mats or stools, the rich were guarded by slaves, their families sat under small tables and parasols, and the terraces of the buildings around the racecourse were the most powerful places in the city, where the mayors, governors, or royalty had the right to stand and watch.

A gong and drum sounded, the audience roared and cheered off a tidal wave, six excellent racing drivers galloped, and then a circle of sharp turns, as the referee's six golden dolphins fell in turn, there were constantly racers' cars in sharp turns, broken up, every time this bloody scene suddenly appeared, it would provoke the audience to scream, curse and laugh even more, because whether they are poor or rich, they will gamble on their fortune in this kind of event.

To the south, on a terrace with a grapevine trellis, a burly man of unusually large stature, with an unusually thick beard, sat on an ivory hoop chair, somewhat displeased with his hand against the railing, and looked down at the race below, apparently at the disadvantage of the racers he sponsored.

The slaves and servants around him, all dressed in gorgeous silk shorts, served the big man golden cups and plates filled with fruit and wine without stopping. Suddenly, there was a loud bang on the racecourse, it was in the Zuihou lap, the final of the two carriages, the giant man was very annoyed and followed the sound, threw the gold plate to the ground, and then stood up, "Faobi, this clumsy horse master, he deceived me, deceived my horses, deceived me of the decorated cars, and deceived some of my most beautiful slave girls - just now, he had better fall to his death on the spot, or tomorrow he will live worse than death." When the giant man was on fire, the fat all over his body shook rhythmically.

In the midst of the tidal cheers, on a terrace opposite, a rich man smiled and defiantly raised his wine glass to greet the giant man in this direction.

"Who is this guy?" The giant man asked, squinting at the man. An old man next to him, obviously in the identity of the chief of the guard, shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Who knows, anyway, he is the patron of the champion horse master." Soon, a slave who recognized the other party stepped forward and whispered a few words. The giant man clapped his palms and commanded, "Come, send me a plate of hazelnuts to Monsieur Alcius from the city of Sardis, who is on the opposite terrace, and convey my respect to him, and congratulate his horse master on his victory in this final." ”

Then, surrounded by servants and swordsmen, the giant man took the arm of a well-dressed woman beside him, went downstairs, boarded a sedan chair with an umbrella with peacock feathers, and slowly left the crowded racecourse.

"Brother, it seems that you are not in a good mood." The glamorous woman sat affectionately with the giant man, stroking his beard.

"Damn Faobi, damn it! Maybe I'm not in a good mood for a day. The giant man grunted.

At this moment there was a scream from the terrace on the north side of the racecourse, and the rich man of Sardis, whose face was blue and foaming at the mouth, lay on the ground and twitched under the gaze of the bewildered servant, and the ground was full of hazelnuts, and in a short time he was exhausted.

On the sedan chair that was leaving, the giant man heard the voice, smiled, and stroked the maroon hair of the beautiful woman, and said, "However, I am in a little more comfortable now." ”