Grace can be reciprocated, it is acceptable; After this, they are not grateful, but hateful.

- Tacitus (the greatest historian of ancient Rome)

Now that Tiberius agreed to the alliance, Marius and Julianus also completely let go of their hanging hearts; The reason why Marius offered a sky-high price of five million gold coins for each province was to save the relationship with the Brutus family. Marius knew that geography determined the relationship between them, and that the Julius family would never be able to form a strong alliance with himself and others.

Originally, Marius's best alliance was with the Augustus, because Marius knew that there was no conflict of interest between him and the Augustus, and there was no territorial border; And they have what each other needs. Such two are undoubtedly the best allies, but they are changed by a lowly servant; Marius had no choice but to abandon this path.

After both the Julius and Augustus families were excluded, the only remaining Roman power was the Brutus; Although Marius was keen to form an alliance with the Brutus, the conflict between the two southern provinces was a problem that had to be resolved. If Marius does not have access to the two southern provinces, then Marius will not have enough of a base to grow and develop himself.

However, once these two provinces are acquired, they will become mortal enemies of the Brutus family; Again, this is not a situation that Mallio would like to see. Faced with this dilemma, Marius eventually left the choice to the Brutus family to make an informed choice; Thankfully, Tiberius didn't disappoint Marius, and he chose to form an alliance!

Choosing an alliance is not just a simple matter, and the specific conditions of the alliance in all aspects still need to be well negotiated; To this end, Marius had prepared a treaty of alliance that would be beneficial to himself, to the Scipio family, and to the Brutus family. Before, because Marius didn't know if this thing could be done, Yulianus didn't know about the existence of this treaty.

Now that everything had come to fruition, Marius naturally took out the treaty; It was a treaty written in parchment, and Marius deliberately copied two copies. After handing one to Tiberius and the other to Julianus, Marius smiled and said to the two:

"His Excellency Tiberius's profound righteousness makes me and other ordinary people deeply admire! Now that Tiberius has agreed to an alliance, the alliance between our three parties is also established; The covenant I have listed here is the alliance treaty that I have drawn up in the first place, so you should take a good look at it. If you have any grievances, or want to increase, just say so! ”

Both Julianus and Tiberius nodded their heads at the fact that Marianus had planned to list the treaty of alliance first, and then began to read the covenant in their hands. I saw that the first article of the covenant on the parchment scroll reads: This treaty is against the tripartite alliance of Marius, Scipio, and Brutus; It requires the consent of the three parties to be implemented!

After that, there is a detailed list of covenants: first, the tripartite alliance includes not only political alliances, but also economic and military alliances; This alliance will be a tripartite alliance.

Second, the tripartite alliance cannot be easily dissolved, and if one side reneges on the covenant first, it will be resisted by the other two. But the alliance can also be dissolved.

Third, the dissolution of the tripartite alliance must be properly negotiated by the leaders of the three forces and can only be dissolved with the consent of the leaders of two or more forces. After dissolution, the Covenant may be concluded again if necessary.

fourth, economic union; After the tripartite alliance, there will be close commercial exchanges between the parties, and all trade goods will not be deliberately boycotted or banned. In addition to this, trade between the parties will be carried out under the protection of the various powers; It is the duty of your own forces to protect the caravans of the other two forces in their territory.

Note: If one party needs some resources from the other party, there may be negotiations between the two parties to enter into official negotiations on such resources; For example, if the Brutus family needs a ship built by the Scipio family, the Brutus family can negotiate directly with the Scipio family in exchange for the ships that the other Scipio family needs.

fifth, political alliances; After the tripartite alliance, each side will be the strongest allies of the other two parties and will need to fully support each other's political positions. For example, if the Brutus family declares war on the Macedonian kingdom, then the Marius forces and Scipio are obliged to declare war on the Macedonian kingdom at the same time.

Note: Political positions are limited to forces outside the Roman Republic, such as the war between the Brutus family and the Macedonian kingdom and the Greek city-state alliance, and the Marius forces and the Brutus family must support; But the war between the Brutus and the Julius, or Augustus, could not gain the support of the Marius forces and the Brutus.

However, if the Brutus family is attacked by the Ulius or Augustus first, then the Marius forces and the Brutus family must support the Brutus family and declare war on the Ulius or Augustus. In addition, if negotiated before the war, the three parties could also declare war on the other Roman families as a whole; But it must be agreed upon by the leaders of the three powers.

Sixth, military alliances; After the tripartite alliance, each side will withdraw all its troops on each other's borders, and each other's troops will gain military access to each other. However, before using this military right, it is necessary to notify the opposing forces in advance, and it is also necessary to pass on the fixed route provided by the opposing side; No unauthorized marching is allowed!

Note: Military alliances are based on political alliances; Suppose the Brutus family declared war on the Macedonian kingdom, there was a crisis of shortage of troops. The Brutus family had the right to ask for help from Marius and Scipio, and the Marius and Scipio family were obliged to send reinforcements to support Brutus; Reinforcements must be at least one legion!

The sprinkling of the Six Covenants doesn't say much, but it contains enough; In particular, the detailed political, economic, and military alliance treaties have pushed this alliance to the level of full-fledged alliance. Tiberius did not have any resentment in his heart; Because this alliance is the most beneficial for the Brutus family!

Marius and Scipio, who did not have enough naval power to expand overseas for a few years; Even if they built a naval fleet that could expand overseas over the course of several years, it would be almost impossible for them to break through the Augustusian family's powerful naval blockade and expand further overseas.

As for land, after Marius and Scipio conquered the southern provinces, the only thing they bordered on the road was the territory of the Julius family; Tiberius did not think that Marius and Scipio would dare to provoke the powerful Julius. If Julius were to expand southward, it would be incumbent upon Brutus to support Marius and Scipio.

Even without this so-called treaty of association, the Brutus family would have fully supported Marius and Scipio; Otherwise, once the Julius family gets the entire Roman Republic, then the Julius family will become the new hegemonic power, a henchman of the Brutus family and a potential opponent to restrict their own development.

More importantly, in the Brutus family's upcoming alliance between the Macedonian kingdom and the Greek city-states, this alliance is still of extraordinary significance to the Brutus family; At the very least, the Brutus family can also get support from Rome proper, and even the two most basic legions can play a pretty good combat effectiveness.

Tiberius's opinion on this covenant must have been agreed by Marius, the framer; Julianus felt that the treaty did not infringe on the interests of Scipio's family, so he agreed. After all three agreed to the treaty, they each carved a seal on the three-point parchment using the leader's ring, which represented his identity; The Three Alliances were thus formed!

After the treaty of alliance was confirmed, Marius told Tiberius that his forces and the House of Scipio were under attack by the Augustus family; It is hoped that the Brutus family can send a considerable fleet to assist the fleet of the Scipio family to break the blockade of the Augustus fleet.

Tiberius had heard of the blockade of the Latin and Campanian provinces by the Augustan fleet; It was only natural for Marius to make such a request. Tiberius agreed immediately, and as for how many warships to send, it is a question worth investigating; Marius also knows this.

Therefore, after Tiberius agreed, Marius was directly and frankly willing to pay a reward of one million gold coins in exchange for reinforcements from eighteen double ships and eight triames of the Brutus family; One million gold coins would be enough to build all of these ships, and Tiberius would certainly not refuse such favorable terms.

Marius would not have paid so much if it had not been for the destruction of all the facilities and ports of the Latin province by the Augustans; It's true that Scipio's naval fleet is too weak to resist the Augustus fleet! With the support of the Brutus family, the blockade could be broken on the open sea of Rome proper.

After the negotiations between the two sides were over, Tiberius returned to Tarentum to begin a three-month transfer; As for the fleet that promised Marius, on the third day of Tiberius' return to Tarentum, the support fleet of eighteen double ships and eight triremes left the port of Tarentum and headed for the port of Campania.

Scipio's fleet already consisted of eighteen doubles and four triples, and with the support of the Brutus, it more than doubled in strength; The size of the blockade fleet of the Augustan family also increased by one main fleet after the three battle fleets, and the naval confrontation between the two sides officially began! (To be continued.) )