Chapter 743 The New Germans

Early the next morning, Zhang Heng saw the Germans sitting in the prison car.

At this time, the Germans were not as promising as their descendants and spread all over Europe. At this time, the Germans were still barbarians in the eyes of the Romans. It was a collective name for the barbarian tribes on the right bank of the Rhine. However, the differences between them and the Romans The war has a long history. The first conflict between the two sides can be traced back to 113 BC.

Two Germanic tribes crossed the Danube River to sneak attack on Roman towns, intending to make a profit and leave. As a result, they were defeated by the Roman legions stationed there. In terms of individual combat power, there was no doubt that the burly Germans had the advantage. , but the Romans were more disciplined and better equipped, and Rome's classical linear tactics were very smooth. Many tactical ideas were even absorbed by modern linear tactics.

Therefore, the Germans who advocated personal bravery suffered a great loss, but their desire to go south never died. There were border conflicts and frictions for a long time after that, especially in the later first century when Wei Qing and Huo Qubing pushed the Huns westward. rush, and Europe suffered as a result.

The Germans became sandwich biscuits in the middle and could only speed up their march south. Aurelius had been dealing with the invasion of the Germans while he was still alive. The two sides fought many tug-of-wars, and after hundreds of years of fighting and learning, Those barbarians have also made great progress. At the same time, they have accumulated a lot of experience in dealing with the Roman legions. Their production technology has also improved, making them increasingly difficult to deal with.

However, Zhang Heng knew that the war between the two sides would soon end. He had already learned from Varro that the time was now 180 AD. The former emperor Aurelius had just died of illness on the front line, and his son Commodus succeeded to the throne.

Commodus has little interest in war with the Germans. If nothing unexpected happens, he will sign an armistice agreement with the German leaders soon, and provide annual subsidies to the German tribes in exchange for an armistice between the two sides.

Considering the distance between the front line and the capital, maybe the two sides have signed a treaty now, but the news has not yet come back, so the Germans in front of them are probably the last batch of prisoners of war.

It can be seen that they probably did not feel very comfortable along the way. As invaders from the north, their image in the hearts of the Romans can be imagined. Some people even threw stones at them along the way, but these Germans were not afraid, but He laughed loudly back.

One of the burliest men turned his head and said disdainfully to his companions, "A bunch of pussies."

In short, they came to the Gladiator School in such a hostile atmosphere.

After the slave trader responsible for escorting and the person in charge of the school counted the heads, they began to discuss the final price. They quickly agreed on the price of the others and settled at 3,000 sesterces each, but for the last person, There seemed to be quite a bit of disagreement between the two sides about the burliest guy.

The director of the school wanted to buy it for 5,000 sesterces, but the slave trader insisted on 10,000 sesterces.

Because they were far away and both parties were speaking very fast, Zhang Heng couldn't hear clearly, so he asked Varo who was standing aside, "What are they talking about?"

"Well, the slave trader said that man fought very bravely and caused a lot of trouble to our army. Many people died at his hands. He was also very strong and could become a girl killer with just casual training. The noble ladies of Rome will be fascinated by him, and he can make the owner here very rich," Varro explained.

At the same time, he began to worry about his future, "These Germans are all prisoners of war, and they all look very powerful. The average gladiator only has two thousand sesterces. Although I sold myself for two thousand and five thousand, But that’s because I have the ability to run the business, each of them sells for three thousand, and there’s that guy who asks for ten thousand, so we won’t be their opponent.”

Zhang Heng was noncommittal upon hearing this.

From last night to now, he has not been completely idle. He has at least touched around the place where he lives. I don't know if it is because he doesn't think the two of them are any threat. The Gladiator School is not very strict about their supervision. As long as they don't When he goes out, he can basically go anywhere.

As for those slaves who have become gladiators, they seem to be freer and can even walk out of the gate to have fun.

This didn't seem to be the same as the gladiator school Zhang Heng imagined. With his skills and his newly acquired power of shadow, it was not difficult to escape from here at night. What was difficult was what to do next.

As the only Han Chinese who went deep behind enemy lines in the Roman Empire, his appearance was quite easy to identify, and he did not have the status of a Roman citizen. If he could only be a runaway slave, his life in Rome would be quite troublesome.

So after thinking about it for a while, Zhang Heng gave up the idea of ​​​​escape. Instead of hiding incognito, it would be better to sneak into the gladiator school and become a free man.

Varro is afraid of becoming a gladiator, but Zhang Heng is not worried. He has level 4 sword skills. In terms of combat experience, the group of Germans who look tough together are probably not as good as him alone.

In fact, Zhang Heng's real attention was not on the new barbarians.

In order to successfully accept this batch of slave prisoners and avoid any trouble, the gladiator school also dispatched some people, including six gladiators and two trainers. It was not the muscular gladiators that attracted Zhang Heng's attention. , but one of the Persian trainers.

He doesn't look very inconspicuous, he is short, and he is old. He is the kind of person who is easily ignored in a crowd. If it weren't for his light blue eyes, he would be just like the Romans who can be seen everywhere on the street. almost.

Now Zhang Heng can basically get a lot of useful information at a glance, but only for this old Persian trainer, Zhang Heng found that he could not tell anything from him.

The person in charge of the training school argued with the slave trader for a while, and the two parties finally negotiated a price. Considering the previous result that the German's price of 3,000 sesterces was quite good, the slave trader gave in and sold the last man as The price was 7,000 sesterces.

Both sides were quite satisfied, but the one who was dissatisfied was the one who was sold. The burliest Germanic man seemed to feel that the price was a bit insulting to him, and he cursed dissatisfiedly, causing the surrounding companions to burst into laughter.

These people were all warriors from various tribes. After being captured by the Romans, they had no intention of living. They were not afraid when they saw that they were sold to a gladiator school. Instead, they were still in the mood to make fun of them. Obviously, they did not care about the Romans around them. Take it seriously.