Chapter 742 Where Are You From?

Perhaps because they were about to be sent to a gladiator school to become gladiators, the tasks assigned to the two were not too heavy, and Zhang Heng was not able to feel the cruel oppression of the evil slave society for the time being.

After finishing the work at hand, the supervisor did not show up again, and assigned them new tasks, as if they had forgotten about them. So Zhang Heng and Varo, the two new slaves without any consciousness, took action as a matter of course. Fish come.

Zhang Heng took the initiative to communicate with Varro, hoping to get as much useful information from him as possible. After all, his knowledge of ancient Rome was limited to some well-known historical figures and historical events, while Varro communicated with ordinary slaves. The difference is that before he became a slave, he was a serious Roman citizen and a businessman. He was very well-informed, and unlike his burly figure, he was a very kind person. At the same time, he probably felt that what just happened was somewhat If there were any debts, he would answer all questions.

Considering the current situation of the two of them, Zhang Heng first asked Varro about things related to slaves, because from Varro's previous words, it can be heard that although slaves were at the bottom of Roman society, the fate of different slaves seemed to vary greatly. of.

"Of course." Varro explained patiently, "For example, it is usually better to stay in the city than to be sold to the countryside, because the city is relatively rich, the living conditions of slaves will be better, and some nobles We need to consider our own face and show our kindness. Most people will not exploit slaves too much. Your job is basically to take care of the master and the hostess, do cleaning and so on. There is not much heavy work, but in the countryside it can be Crap."

Varro licked his slightly dry lips and continued, "Being sold to the countryside, either farming or mining, the food and living conditions are not good, because the owners there will try to make you work more, they They don't care about your living conditions. The more you work and the less you eat, the more they earn. Women are even worse off and may be asked to keep having children. Every time a child is born, it is a sum of money, whether it is kept by yourself. Working on it or selling it are both good options.”

"Then what's the investment you're talking about?" Zhang Heng then asked.

"Oh, this is the best fate for a slave like me who has a certain talent. You can ask the master to invest some money and open a shop by yourself. As long as you can bring a steady stream of income to the master, your status will naturally increase. The higher you go, you no longer have to serve your master like you would with other endeavors, and if you are lucky, you can eventually gain freedom, because to motivate slaves, many masters would set a certain amount, and after earning this amount of money, you would become a Roman citizen again.”

"Sounds good." Zhang Heng said.

Varro hesitated for a moment, then added, "Actually, gladiator... is barely a way out. If you can pass the examination and become a gladiator, your status will be higher than that of ordinary slaves. And if you can If you win a certain number of games in the arena, you can get freedom, but it is too difficult. Many people who have been on the battlefield and have superb fighting skills will not survive that day, let alone us. By the way, where are you from? I haven’t seen you look like this before.”

"I come from the Han Empire in the East." Zhang Heng said.

He wasn't lying. In the second century AD, which was almost the Eastern Han Dynasty in history, the Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire were the two most powerful super empires in the world. The villagers of Ergan were very keen on discussing who would win in a fight between the Han Dynasty and Rome, and they kept arguing.

But unfortunately, until now, although the Roman Cup has been unearthed in China, the archaeological community has not yet reached a unified answer as to whether there was contact between Rome and the Han Dynasty, and the extent of the contact, let alone a fight. There is such a thing as who will win, but conversely, the more this topic can be discussed in a void, the more enduring it is, because no one on either side can convince the other.

Sure enough, Varro was a little confused when he heard about the Han Empire, not knowing where it was, "Then how did you come to Rome and become a slave?"

"I wanted to see what was in the west, so I planned a trip. As a result, I encountered bandits when I went to Persia, and then I was sold to a slave trader, and finally ended up in Rome." Zhang Heng casually made up a story that is not easily captured. Lies exposed.

"Then you are so unfortunate, my Oriental friend." Varro mourned for Zhang Heng for three seconds. In his opinion, Zhang Heng's temperament and the well-maintained skin of modern people all prove that Zhang Heng is what he said is a big man. He is a noble in the empire, and he is probably a noble with an unusual status.

As a result, this guy didn't know what was going on in his head. He just let go of the decadent and decadent ruling class life, but he insisted on pursuing some poetry and distant places. Now he is fine, and he plunged into the arms of the robbers. Not only did he become a slave from a noble, he also became a slave. He could no longer return to his hometown, and it looked like he would lose his life in Rome as well.

However, Varro hadn't lamented for Zhang Heng for a few seconds. He remembered that his tragic experience was not much better, so he became depressed again. However, with this connection, he felt that his relationship with Zhang Heng had become closer again. One thing is that both of them originally had a good life, but suddenly fell into slavery and became slaves. They have something in common in this regard.

Varro couldn't help but pat his chest and said, "Don't worry, if I regain my freedom in the future and make money, I will definitely redeem you from the arena and let you return to your hometown."

"Thank you very much." Zhang Heng said politely, not taking Varo's promise to heart.

Since he knew that slaves were at the bottom of Roman society, he would definitely not remain a slave. Fortunately, although Rome was in the stage of slavery society, the society was not completely devoid of mobility. According to Varro, slaves could be obtained through hard work. The status of Roman citizens was even higher than that of foreigners. In the same way, civilians could also become nobles. Of course, this was certainly much more difficult than converting slaves into civilians.

Zhang Heng doesn't need to think too much at this stage. He just needs to get rid of his slave status first.

The two chatted for a while longer until dinner.

To be fair, the dinner was pretty good, but the richness was definitely not comparable to that of later generations. Apart from beans, it was just porridge, but what was rare was that there was meat and crab in the porridge.

But Varro was not happy when he saw this, and whispered to Zhang Heng, "It seems they really plan to let us enter the gladiator school."