"Rome, great country, it is not the foreign invaders who will force you to you, but your sons, who will continue to force women to you and punish you cruelly because you have fallen." - The prophecy of the witch Sybil

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Publici, which later evolved into the current meaning of "public", in ancient Roman times referred to people engaged in the public affairs of the republic, and these were not considered officials, because the orthodox officials of Rome were "unpaid" "horores", that is, "honors for the service of the state", and could not be paid for them, but of course they could be compensated by taking bribes. The Publici, on the other hand, were salaried, which meant that they were not considered high in the minds of the Roman people, and were generally held by state slaves and freemen, and engaged in occupations such as drinking trough keepers, jailers, executioners, or temple handymen, or secretaries and clerks for high-ranking officials, etc.

After boarding the Apollo, Luculas leaned on the side of the ship and took an affectionate look at the coast of Asia Minor, the rolling cliffs, forests, and towns, which should have been his place of honor, but now he had to leave it and give it to Gnaeus. Pompey, although the king of Pergamon praised his reverence and protection for the Greek Shijie at the time of his conquest, Luculas knew that his career as a Roman statesman would be completely ended with this departure.

The rest of the entourage, carrying their luggage and clay pots, one by one, climbed up the gangway, and Calabis let Poti and Paluma go up first, and then he stood on the dock and saw Hebrida, Arminius, and the others, who seemed to have come to hang out and to see them off.

"Hey, Calabis, don't forget that you spent time in the Triple Team, even though we didn't get along very well." Arminius shouted.

Calabis nodded to everyone, and then climbed the gangway as well, "Brother's wife and daughter are in the fifth single room on the third floor of the third apartment in the back alley of the Temple of Flowers, if your life in Rome is decent in the future, help me take care of it - count Brother owes you a favor, the Romans never like to owe favors." Highbrida said to Calabis's back.

Calabis didn't look back, he didn't answer, he jumped on the deck, "Apollo" is a three-story paddle sailing yacht, the lowest floor is the oarsman's place, the middle is the storage room, the deck is where ordinary people stay, there are two rows of opposite sheds erected above, and below is the seat, Calabis felt a shadow spread on his body, he looked up, it was the sails raised, the whole sky, the clouds hurried by, with a stirring drum beat, the oarsmen shouted a burst of trumpets, Calabis felt the deck under his feet move a few times, The whole "Apollo" slowly sailed away from Asia Minor, the head of a beautiful mare.

"All roads lead to Rome," Calabis looked at the seabirds that lingered over the pier that was drifting away, and then went to the shed and sat down between Porti and Paruma, and then he saw Timothy alone in a corner, even if he had shaved all his beard, and the triad in Bithynia had not been able to find a buyer, and in this region where Greek medicine was prosperous, no one recognized this fellow who only knew the art of Scythian medicine, Zuihou, after the triad had collectively consulted, Still, he was sold to Lucuras for a hundred cesdes (not as much as Calabis had paid for Paruma), for he had been short of a retinue to serve herbs since Demetrius left.

The black waters of the Apollo paddle flowed gently farther away, a palace rising on the cliffs of the distant Sinop Bay, a terrace surrounded by turquoise evergreen potted plants, Adiana was sitting on a circle chair, several maids were surrounding her, carefully combing her chestnut hair, knotting them one by one, and then following her ivory ears, combing back, one of the maids saw Adiana staring in the mirror, her thin neck empty, A little surprised, he asked, "Princess, maybe a precious pendant jewelry can be worthy of your neck." ”

"No, I don't need any jewelry right now." As she spoke, Adiana touched her neck in distraction, then reacted, made a decision, turned her face sideways, and whispered to an elderly maid, "What are the results of your observation during this time." ”

"Yes, the Emperor's imperial physician has delivered definite news - the Emperor will not die, but he will not have any more children, and the Roman centurion has wounded him very badly."

"That is to say, Stratonis just waited for my father to settle it someday, and she had nothing to fear. But my cousin, Marcha, had secretly written to me some time ago and courted me, while my father wanted to marry me to Chardus, king of Godini. Adiana gently cupped her cheeks with her hands and muttered to herself.

A younger maid suggested, "Perhaps it would be better to marry Governor Marcha, for now I hear that Godini is under siege by the King of kings, and that he is not in a good position." As long as you marry Marcha, the Bosphorus and Pontus will become one. ”

Hearing this, Adiana stood up silently, and all the maids respectfully dispersed back, and the princess wore a big hat and walked to the balustrade of the terrace, and the rough sea breeze with a great precipice fell on her face: she loved this palace, and she loved this empire, and the army of Pontus had regained Sinop a month earlier, and now her father's army had regained more than 100,000 men, but the enemy Rome had also changed its commander, and I heard that the new governor Pompey, who was stationed in Silesia, was the most outstanding commander of the enemy army, Now with eight legions under his command, he is a more formidable opponent than Lucuras.

"Goo-goo." A sea dove, fluttering its wings, stood on the terrace, with black eyes like beans, staring at Adiana for a moment, then flapping its wings and flying away, soon becoming a point among the sunken sea clouds. Adiana suddenly felt a wave of loneliness and coldness, and couldn't help but wrap her clothes tightly

At the end of the long voyage, Calabis also followed the clouds above and arrived at Brindisi, the largest port on the eastern side of the Italian island. Lucuras disembarked the "Apollo" with all his retinue, and traveled overland, along the Abian Boulevard, to cross the Caudine Pass, and first stopped at Lucuras at one of his estates in the Bay of Naples in Campernia, where Luculas was to meet with some Roman dignitaries and inquire about the charges he was about to face in the city of Rome.

After a long time at sea, Calabis trembled a little when he stepped back on land, but when he stepped on the solid and straight Appian road, he was still surprised for a while, and felt steady and comfortable, which is perhaps the difference between the Romans and the Greeks: the Greeks used opera and philosophy to interpret greatness, while the Romans used swords and military ways to expand their glory. This 200-kilometre-long military route, which runs from the port of Brindisi through valleys, marshes and fields, and the terrifying Mount Vesuvius, turns in Campeña to the famous city of Capua, which is not too far from the city of Rome.