"People say there are nine muses, but they are all wrong, and if you don't believe it, look at the poetess of Lespos, Sappho, she is the tenth." - Plato

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Then Diotosus continued to stand on deck and announced the idea of the Ptolemaic royal family:

Invite three generals or consuls into the palace of Ipos;

The Kingdom of Egypt provided armed protection to all of Pompey's followers, and would not hesitate to go to war with Caesar if he came;

Invite three hundred veterans of Pompey to enter the city barracks to assist in the training of the Gorta legions and suppress the legions of the rest of the kingdom's factions;

After the end of the Roman Civil War, Pharaoh executed his will and gave the kingdom to Pompey after his death - of course, Theotusus hid the fact that the Piper had gone.

After hearing the arrival of the pharaoh's chief of guard, Scipio, Marcellus and the "leaders" of the three islands of Gambius immediately consulted, and the three of them had different reactions, Gabinus had previously intervened in Egyptian affairs as the governor of the island of Cyprus and Pompey's spokesman, and he had always had a condescending attitude towards the Egyptians, and this time was no exception, he believed that the current Ptolemaic royal family had been frightened by his own diplomatic offensive and sincerely asked for submission.

But Marcellus had always been a diehard against a foreign nation, and he did not want outsiders to come to Rome, nor did he like Romans to go to foreign countries, so he was always suspicious, and in the face of Ptolemy's invitation, he was strongly skeptical, "We can send a centurion to find out the truth and make a decision." ”

"What else do we have to decide now!" Scipio, who had been listening to the two arguing on the side. Said angrily. "All we have is this island. There is also this great lighthouse, and there are only 300 veterans with combat effectiveness, and Caesar has more than a dozen legions in Greece and Asia Minor, and they are eyeing us tightly, so they can only accept Ptolemy's kindness, use the rich Nile as a base, and cooperate with His Excellency Pompey to prepare for future counteroffensives. So—" he said. Pointing to Marcelus and Gabinus, he said in a commanding tone, "According to the envoy, in the evening Pharaoh will be waiting for us to come ashore at the palace dock on the island of Ipos, with a guard of honor, so you will take the boat and complete the ceremony of entering the city." ”

"But that's not safe for us. I'm not risking my own lives, but we're both former consuls. If he were killed, it would bring an indelible shame to the republic. The two former consuls immediately panicked.

Scipio said ye need not worry. I have carefully observed these days, that the long breakwater of Pharos up to Alexandra keeps the vicious waves out of this area, so that the ships will sail very steadily at all times, so I will give you two a ship, with fifty veteran guards, and I myself will take the remaining seven ships and all the armed slaves one furlong away from your ship, and in case things turn around, we will withdraw at once to Pharos and leave Egypt forever. But if we run away now, what will we do to your Lord Pompey in the future?

The hearts of the two former consuls were shaken by this, and Scipio called out one of the oldest and most loyal centurions in the procession, asking him what his name was and how long he had been in service.

"Lucius. Septimius, who joined the army when Pompey marched into Spain, served as a centurion during the suppression of pirates, retired with the title of chief centurion, and later took up residence on the island of Pharos and married a native woman, my general. The centurion's face was wrinkled, his beard and hair were gray, but he was in good spirits, and all the rest of the soldiers nodded, and told Scipio that Septimius was a strict and brave man, and that he could be at ease in serving as a guard.

Naturally, Scipio was satisfied, and he hung his own gold chain on Septimius, and gave him a money bag of one hundred dinars, promising to give him a reward of a thousand dinars when the deed was done.

After the negotiations, Marcellus and Gabinus, Septimius, jumped into a small sailing boat, and when Theotusus saw this, he ordered his ship to row towards the island of Ipos, and hung a flag at the stern of the ship to guide the work. As the sun set, the entire palace, residential quarters, temples and statues of Alexandro were set on fire, and when the trumpet sounded, everyone saw that the pharaoh's guard of honor had appeared on the dock in front of the main entrance of the palace.

The procession was extravagant, with the pharaoh's ornate curtained chariot carried by a line of Nubian slaves in the center of the procession, surrounded by generals, eunuchs, privy councillors, clerks in white linen skirts, servants, guards with feathered scepters, and many dead guards with swords and spears.

Soon, the guard of honor played solemn and grand music, as if to welcome the arrival of the king, and this music relaxed everyone's guard in a great way, because in it the enthusiasm and sincerity of the Egyptian royal family could be felt, and even the face of Marcellas, who was sitting on the deck, was not so nervous and restrained. At this time, Gabinus stood up, looked at the phalam's guard of honor, and then muttered, "It seems strange that the piper should be much larger, although it is separated by the curtain of the sedan chair." ”

In the midst of this music, Gabinus became more and more nervous, and he began to ask the helmsman of the ship to turn his head, for "the guard of honor of the pharaoh on the opposite side was full of murderous motives", while Theotusus, who was still on the ship in front of him, was waving his flag and asking them to follow.

"I can't keep following any longer!" Gabinus immediately made a decision, and he said to Septimius, who was still a little puzzled on the mast, "Tell your men to turn around quickly, meet Scipio's fleet, and we will return to Pharos!" ”

Septimius strode forward, shouted in obedience, and then stabbed his sword into Gabinus's abdomen, and Marcellus next to him screamed, as a result, Septimius flashed out his secondary weapon, a bronze axe, and then slid down, held it in his hand, and slashed at Marcellas's neck, the opponent's blood splattered, and he turned over and fell into the sea.

"You have betrayed your patron, centurion despicable man," Gabinus breathed as he gritted his teeth and cursed at the bloodied Septimius.

"My patron is not Pompey, but General Sethuris, I have been waiting for this day for a long time, not to mention that the new pharaoh is willing to pay 30,000 drachmas for your two heads." With that, Septimius drew his bloodied sword, then pushed Gabinus to his knees and cut off his head cleanly. Several soldiers also pulled up Marcellas's body with hooks and cut off his head in the same way.

At this time, in the afterglow of the sunset under the mast, there was an inconspicuous wooden carving of the antler god placed between the sail rope plates, and the two heads on the deck were quietly "looking at each other". (To be continued......)