"How nice it would be if I couldn't write!" -- The sigh of the ancient Roman Emperor Nero when he signed the death sentence

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It is not difficult to imagine that the edict of the cavalry commander in the city of Rome immediately provoked an earth-shaking effect, and who can say that what Lybidaeus demanded was unreasonable? Even Curio himself could not say the same, Africa was the last stronghold of the Pompeians, and now that the war was tight, the cavalry commander acted as the dictator and asked the four or five legions resting in Italy to come to the rescue, which was almost flawless.

But the consequences of the guide, as early as Li Bida expected, if Pompey in order to maintain a few legions, eager to dig Africanica three feet into the ground, then Caesar's current number of legions, including auxiliary soldiers, has nearly forty, and the legions are all paid, but the civil war has developed to this day, the entire republic and the surrounding world, agriculture and commerce have been severely destroyed, and even the livelihood of the knights who follow Caesar is unsustainable, let alone those ordinary tax collectors, When the burden is placed on their shoulders by both sides, the financial group can only intensify its efforts and shift the crisis and burden down to the poor citizens who are in debt. Now, these five legions have been ordered to dispatch urgently, but there is no food, no salary, Caesar still owes them many allowances and rewards, and most of the supplies that were originally abundant have been intercepted by Curio himself and sent to Africa, so they can't send ships back now, right?

Closer to Saturnalia, which was supposed to be a day of revelry for all classes, the atmosphere in Rome was far from harmonious. Because of the murder and homicide cases caused by debt demand. There are more than one or two pieces. Panic xù down. Many of the aristocratic senators with "bonds" in their hands also surrounded the Juilliard Hall at dusk, and they demanded that Caesar pay his debts as much as possible, even if he did not pay off all the principal and interest, and pay the amount for a year first.

After the panic, there was a widespread depression, and Anthony, who was left behind in the synagogue, was gone, and he was not a good person to deal with such miscellaneous matters. Now looking at the mountains of tablets and scrolls piled up on the pulpit, I wish that a fire would burn them all clean, and it is better than trying to peel off the cocoons and die of exhaustion in them. Antony did not receive much praise during his previous tenure in Rome, and now the wind is even worse, some people attack him for asking for bribes, Antony is very angry, although it is true, but can you not put it on the table and say, because I have always been paid to do things. just and equitable; It is also said that when he was in charge of the synagogue, he also brought prostitutes and dwarfs with him. Anthony laughed, what kind of mood did this group of people know about chasing the wind and shadows; Someone attacked him for indulging in banquets and athletic events, Anthony disagreed, I am a non-commoner nobleman, but I want to blend in with the plebeians, why is that wrong?

But then, the mutiny of the four legions refusing to go into battle made Anthony completely panicked.

Unexpectedly, it was the first time he faced such a difficult problem.

The eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh legions, all of which were veterans who had followed Caesar in Gaul, Spain, and Greece for many years, were uneven in combat effectiveness, but the number of deaths and deaths was extremely high, and the number of intact remnants of these four legions was only about 2,000 to 2,500 men each, and many feared that if they continued to fight, they would eventually die in the desert of Africa. In addition, veterans are veterans, but they have long been united in many years of war, and their internal unity is extremely strong, and they are very respectful and loyal to Caesar, but they know that Caesar can't play without him, so this time they rebelled again - especially the Tenth Legion, which was released back from Egypt by Li Pida, brought the bad news that "the dictator has not been able to pay the army", and even more made this group of veterans who were already resting and recuperating, originally belonging to the war of conquest in Gaul, razing barbarian cities, plundering property and selling slaves, can make this group of people make a windfall; But now it was a civil war, and Caesar forbade the veterans to plunder the cities of mainland Italy, even the Greek and Spanish ones, and the veterans were already on the verge of rampage.

This time, it was the 10th Legion that took the lead in mobilizing all the soldiers, and on behalf of the soldiers and officers, it was negotiated that no one would be allowed to leave the veterans' settlement until Caesar had cashed the reward allowance, and refused to transfer the order, and put forward several conditions to the agent Anthony:

Veterans who have served beyond the age are all allowed to be discharged from the army and do not need to go to Africa to participate in the war;

Soldiers killed or disabled in battle should be immediately and fully encashed, and suitable jobs and preferential treatment should be provided to the descendants of their families;

Increase the amount of land and money allocated to soldiers when they are discharged from the army in the future.

"In this case, simply dismiss all four legions!" Anthony, who was furious, said the same words as Lypida, "Myself and Gaius went to Africa with the Fifth 'Skylark' Army. With that, he shook himself out onto the porch outside the synagogue, where the streets were desolate, devoid of festivity, and the Colosseum and the Grand Speedway were dusty, and they had not held an athletic race that would bring joy to the people for a long time, for all the money had been poured into the bottomless pit of war, and there was no end in sight.

"What now?" Gaius asked, uneasily, behind his brother.

"I don't have that much cash to pay for those old ruffians; But now it is impossible not to go to the battlefield with the legions, which would be tantamount to disobeying the dictator's orders. Anthony was equally overwhelmed, and then he simply adopted the "ostrich policy", determined to wait a few days to see how things unfolded.

But there was no surprise in the development of events: the veterans of the Tenth Legion, seeing that their demands had not been answered, simply marched from Campeña, armed with a mighty force, to the Mars Yard in the northeast corner of the city of Rome, and set up colorful tents, declaring that "they want to spend an unforgettable Saturnalia with the nobles and commoners of Rome." ”

The rest of the legions had already begun to plunder the merchants and villages of Campeña and Naples.

"It's just too bold to call the 'Skylark' legion to come in and drive away these veteran ruffians!" Antony was furious, and then the new legions of larks recruited from Gaul outside the mountains, whose nickname came from the towering feathers stuck in the helmet horns, almost all of them Gauls or Celts, also rushed into the Mars field, and even a large number of cavalry came - the Roman nobles who came to see the bustle saw it on their terraces, and on the field of the Mars army, Antony personally commanded the cavalry, and trampled the old soldiers' tents, and the old soldiers sometimes resisted with weapons, and sometimes called the women and children to stand in front of the horses' hooves and weep.

That scene was simply indescribably "spectacular"!

Soon Cicero impeached Antony for his atrocities, and was immediately expelled by force from Rome, where he took refuge in the suburb of the Fauria de Formia, and soon fled to Port Brindisi, declaring that he was "leaving the present Rome, for he had lost his love for the kingdom." (To be continued......)