Laguerraè l'incubodellamadre (War is a mother's nightmare)

- Horace (one of the three great poets of ancient Rome)

After these matters had been agreed, night had fallen for a long time; Under the dark Roman sky was a bright square illuminated by torches. The black-pressed crowd was still silently anxiously awaiting news of the senators, and the sixty bells had brought too much imagination to the Romans; No one knows what is happening in the republic, and why is it that after a day of calm, the republic is facing an existential crisis.

The senators have also begun to perform their duties, and several of them have quietly gone out of the city through the back door; Go and arrange cavalry for the next victory. The remaining senators would come out of the Senate en masse and announce the sad news to the people of Rome in the square. In order to better appease the people after the victory, the task of announcing the news of the decisive battle was given to Marcus; Decius, on the other hand, needed to use his position as high priest to stir up the faith of the Romans.

While the citizens of Rome continued to wait restlessly, the doors of the Senate suddenly opened; All eyes were firmly fixed on the patriarch who was about to come out. I saw that under the leadership of the consul Marcus, 600 senators slowly walked out in a neat queue; The sad expressions and difficult steps of the patriarchs made the people in the square feel a trace of fear in their hearts.

Marcus walked silently to the podium in front of the Senate, and the senators stood silently behind him; And the people of Rome were already looking at Marcus standing on the podium. Marcus looked at the dazed faces and nervous eyes below, and sighed in his heart; In a mournful tone, he said:

"The people of Rome, just now the Senate received an urgent message from Sicily. It is known that half a month ago, the Republic gathered a huge force of seven legions and went to Sicily to participate in a decisive battle against Hannibal and his corps. The huge difference in numbers between the two sides made us think that we had won the game; However, the results were not as we expected. ”

At this point, everyone present already understood what Marcus meant; This Armageddon, which had just broken out, probably ended with another defeat for the Romans. Even those whose family members served in the expeditionary corps have begun to quietly sob; Since the war is defeated, there will definitely be a large number of casualties, but I hope that my family can be safe. At this time, everyone did not realize how tragic this defeat was.

In fact, it's no wonder that they take chances; With the prestige of Hannibal and his legions, there was nothing unacceptable about the defeat of the Roman Combined Legion. However, the Roman Combined Legion was more than twice as large as Hannibal's legion, and its commander was the prestigious Conqueror Scipio; Therefore, even if the battle is lost, the losses should not be so great.

Unfortunately, their last shred of hope was soon shattered by Marcus's next words. Marcus naturally saw the reaction below on the podium, and knew that they must still be lucky; I had to continue to say helplessly:

"In this Armageddon, our Roman Combined Legion was defeated by Hannibal's legions; And all seven Roman legions were wiped out. Lord Scipio the Conqueror, and Lord Paulus, Lord Nousias, Lord Severia, and the six captains of the legions, all killed; Only the commander of the Quintus Corps was left with less than a thousand remnants of the army to evacuate the battlefield. ”

As soon as these words were uttered, the whole huge square fell into a deathly silence; It seems that no one dared to believe what Marcus said. Everyone lost their minds, and the sky began to be covered with dark clouds. Why? Why do this to the Romans? The night began to become dark and gloomy, and a light rain was falling densely, and Marcus stood in the rain and looked up at the sky, his eyes overflowing with water or tears.

The distracted Romans quickly reacted from their shock, for those whose families were in the expeditionary legion; Her husband, her children, her father, her brother, her best friend, will never come back. They had died in a distant land, so why did the Heavens do this to the Romans? Why did Heaven want Carthage to have Hannibal? Have the gods abandoned the Romans? Were the Romans doomed to defeat Carthage and Hannibal?

In the mournful square, countless people sat in the rain with tears in their eyes, calling out the names of their loved ones; Countless people are weeping bitterly. The city of Rome became a world of sorrow, a city of pain, at this moment; Marcus and the elders also shed their own tears in this atmosphere. Do you really think that these patriarchs did not arrange their own families in the expeditionary corps? They are also grieving for their families.

Marcus couldn't bear to see this tragic scene, so he had to wipe the tears from his eyes; Sadly, he said to the people who were in pain: "Life is like bamboo, after growing one section, the next will grow, and fate is unstoppable." What you expect is always contrary to what you really encountered, and life is unsatisfactory out of ten. There are countless people in the world who will choose different paths in life; Some people choose to sacrifice their lives for the country and sacrifice heroically, and some people spend their lives looking for the value of their existence, but they are also disappointed all their lives.

Death is everyone's fate, and it is based on the fact that each of us is an accidental existence in this world, coming from nothing and returning to nothing, and no one or anything can change our fate. Yes, not even status and wealth. Today, these great men have chosen to die in battle for the glory of the Republic and the happiness of the Roman people; Each and every one of them was a hero to the Romans.

The so-called fate is nothing but the boring masturbation of the loser, but the ridicule of the cowardly. People's future can only be determined by their own will and their own efforts. We must learn to bear the many hardships in life, learn to take responsibility, and learn to erect our souls in tears. Life has always been ups and downs, and fate has always been full of ups and downs, because of difficulties and setbacks, our lives will be wonderful. Sometimes, crying is not yielding; Retreat, not admitting defeat; Letting go, not giving up; Silence is not nothing to say. What if we fall, what if all seven legions are wiped out, at least the republic still has us.

The saddest thing in life is not the loss of limbs, but the lack of hope and purpose for survival! People often complain that they can't do anything, but if we only remember what we want to have or what we lack, and don't cherish what we have, it won't change the problem at all! What really changes our destiny is not our opportunities, but our attitudes. The road of life has to be walked by ourselves, and many times, it is not the misfortune of fate, but that we have not worked hard enough.

Previously, Hannibal defeated us several times; Today, Hannibal has defeated us again; So, what about the future? Does Hannibal still beat us? Could it be that Hannibal could be invincible forever and win forever? I never cared about defeat on the battlefield, but I would never allow the Republic to fall; No matter how many defeats we have on the battlefield, we can accumulate strength to continue fighting.

If the republic is gone, what do we have? Each of us will become a slave of the Carthaginians, and our children and grandchildren will forget that there was once a great country in this world - Rome! Therefore, we must work hard for the survival of the country and the nation; We must not submit to the Carthaginians, we must hold up the heavens of Rome for our descendants! ”

Marcus's tirade did not stir up conviction, and the grief of losing a loved one still hovered over everyone's heart; There was still a lot of grief in the square. Just as Marcus was about to step off the podium, a middle-aged man in his 40s who was dressed rather well-dressed stepped forward; shouted at Marcus:

"Your Excellency Archon Marcus, I have two sons, the eldest of whom is a centurion of the Eagle Legion; Now he is dead on the battlefield. I wonder if we still have any hope of defeating Carthage and Hannibal. On several occasions, Hannibal has annihilated the legions of our republic; Moreover, the number of republican ** teams annihilated at a time is greater than the last.

Now, even His Excellency Scipio the Conqueror, has died in battle; All the famous generals and outstanding generals of the Republic basically died on the battlefield. What shall we continue to fight Hannibal? Who will lead the new legions to fight Hannibal? What we lack is not the determination to win, much less the victorious army; Rather, it is a general who can lead our army to victory. ”

The middle-aged man's words left Marcus speechless, and made the people in the square cry even more sad and sad. At this moment, the sound of horses' hooves and shouts gradually came from afar. It may be that the distance is too far away, and the people in the square do not hear what is being shouted; However, there is one thing to be sure of. That is, the closer the horse's hoof, the louder the shout; The more people shouted.

Soon, the galloping figures of several cavalry began to appear; And the shouts gradually turned into cheers. It turned out that these cavalrymen were galloping on one side; While shouting: "Victory in Sardinia!" Victory in Sardinia! General Oscar led his army to occupy Carthage Sardinia in one day and annihilated Hannibal's elite army! “

All those who heard the cavalry shouting a great victory excitedly ran behind the cavalry and cheered; At this time, Rome was in great need of a victory over Hannibal. The cavalry did not stop their steps, and the people in the square silently made way for the cavalry; The leading cavalry, after galloping in front of the senators, jumped off his horse and reported loudly:

"Good news for Sardinia! General Oscar, the new leader of the House of Augustus, personally led the First Legion on an expedition to Sardinia in Carthage, having conquered Sardinia five days earlier; and annihilated the elite Hamarca army under Hannibal on the island, killing 3,000 enemies and capturing more than 2,000 people. Hannibal's general Hamarca was killed on the spot, and Sardinia is now the eighth province of the Republic! ”

Marcus, who was still standing on the podium in embarrassment, did not give any orders to the cavalry after the cavalryman's report; Instead, he turned his head and said to the middle-aged man: "My friend, the commander you need is here!" Although we lost seven legions in Sicily; However, Oscar won back a province and a legion for us. He will serve as the new Supreme Commander of the Republic's Legion of Confrontation with Carthage, leading the Republic's legions to victory. ”

The middle-aged man nodded and said to Marcus, "I will personally send my second son to the military camp of the republic; Everything, for Rome! ”