Chapter 114 The Roman Senate in Crisis

"For the safety of Rome, it's always right to be cautious! Most of the citizens of Rome were dispatched to attack the Helniki people. We only have 3,000 young and middle-aged citizens stationed in the city of Rome, which does seem a little empty!" Ambrosio Sith took up the conversation, raised his concerns, and took the initiative: "I propose to mobilize citizens over the age of 50 immediately, and also to arm the civilians and freemen in the Aventine neighborhood (referring to the It is the famous ghetto of Rome at this time), and jointly guard the city of Rome until Camelus leads the army to return! When the meeting is over, I will immediately go to the chief of the city guard, Cassius, to complete this matter together. "

Although many elders expressed doubts that Dionysus would immediately attack the city of Rome, but for the sake of safety, they still agreed to this proposal, and some even suggested that they should immediately send people to contact the surrounding Latin allies and ask them to send Citizens came to help guard the city of Rome.

But another objection was expressed: most of the citizens of the Latin confederates followed Camillous to attack the Herniki, where are there any extra soldiers to aid us, I am afraid they will wait until they know that the Dionians have invaded the Latinum news, will instead ask us for help.

The proposal was eventually dropped.

At this time, Abinius sighed: "According to the previous battle report, Camelus has led his army to storm the city of Ferentirum for some time, and it is at the most critical moment. If he is to withdraw now , I am afraid all the efforts I have made before are in vain.”

Many people sighed when they heard it, seeing that the Herniki people were about to be wiped out, and that piece of land would belong to Rome, but they had to give it up when it was about to succeed. How could they be contented?

Apuleus, the enemy of Camillous, took the opportunity to stand up and complained: "All the elders and all the newcomers, Camelus, as a Roman dictator, led an unprecedented army of 70,000 people, consuming a huge amount of food every day. food, but has not yet conquered the city of Pherentirum, completely wiped out the power of the Herniki people, and put Rome into such a dangerous situation, he must be responsible for this! We should not let him lead the army to withdraw first, Instead, he urged him to capture the city of Ferentirum within two days, and then quickly return to Rome, so as not to waste the materials we provided for the army with austerity. If Camelus cannot do it, wait for the attack After retiring the Dionian, we should consider whether to punish him."

Some of the elders were moved by Apuleus' words.

This made Portitus very angry, because if Apuleus' proposal was approved, it meant that his proposal to "let Camillous return as soon as possible with the army" would likely be shelved by the Senate, so he shouted angrily. Accusing Apuleus: "You are putting the city of Rome in a dangerous situation!"

Despite Portitus' high reputation, Apuleus finally seized an opportunity to sue Camillous, and he gave it up, he retorted loudly: "According to Ambestus' approach, we will be able to do it tomorrow. Organized a defense force of nearly 10,000 people,

With such a sufficient force to defend the city, I have never heard of any force that can storm a city in one day, let alone the city of Rome, which can accommodate hundreds of thousands of people. Until Camelus returns with his army!

What's more, this is just a guess from your lord. There is a greater possibility that the Dionians will not attack Rome immediately. After all, this is a huge risk, and we have to discard it for this small possibility. I don't think it's a smart move, and it doesn't do us any good in Rome, to take away the great opportunity to wipe out the Herniki people and gain a new colony.

It is precisely because the Dionysian army has invaded Latium that other races that hate Rome will inevitably jump out and oppose us again. Only by destroying the Helniki people and seriously weakening the Volsci can we be able to do so. Concentrate all your strength against our archenemy, Dionia! "

What Apuleus said was reasonable, but Portitus was speechless for a while.

At this time, Marugineensis, who was also sitting in an ivory chair in the front row of the meeting hall, spoke: "Aprieus is right, urging Camelus to destroy the Herniki people as soon as possible will help us together. The Dionians fight!"

Originally, many elders were very moved by Apuleus' suggestion, and the support of Marugine Enxi Shi made them make up their minds. This is because Marujisiensis is also a very old senator, his age is similar to Portitus, and he has also served as consul several times (less than Portitus), Just because when the Celts broke through Rome, he did not stay behind and stayed on Capitoline Hill, but retreated early, which became a stain on his political career. He seems to be relatively low-key, but this does not mean that his influence is small, after all, his full name is Publius Cornelius Maruguiensis, he is a Roman giant The most important representative of the Cominelius clan in the Senate.

Despite the opposition of the elders such as Portitus and Ambroses, the Senate finally passed the proposal of Apuleus: urge Camillous to capture the city of Ferentirum within three days, and then quickly Returned to the rescue of Rome.

Potitus looked at Apuleus, who was complacent, and hated in his heart. He knew that Apuleus seemed to be thinking of Rome, but he was actually avenging himself. Because whether or not Camillous takes the city of Ferentirum within the stipulated time, he will not have good fruit to eat, because even if he completes the task, and Rome is attacked, the people will resent him as a dictator, unable to Protect Rome, and after the war he is likely to be charged at the Citizens' Assembly. And if he ignored the order of the Senate and returned to the rescue in time, he would offend the elders who were eager to expand Rome and win more interests.

Damn Aplius! Portitus exclaimed: "Now that we have made a decision, we should send a messenger immediately to inform Camillous, and at the same time let him know of the attack of the Dionian army, so that he may intensify the battle. Prepare to capture Ferentirum City as soon as possible."

Although Portitus said this, he did not think so in his heart. Based on what he knew about Camillous, Camelus, who was worried that Rome was attacked, would probably refuse to attack the city of Ferentirum, and immediately. Return with the army. After all, Camelus was a dictator, and during his tenure, his power was supreme, and he could overrule the decisions of the Senate and do things exactly as he wanted. In fact, Camelus could have chosen an elder in the Senate as his agent during the expedition, and had the right to decide all affairs in the city. Unfortunately, the modest and prudent Camelus did not like to take power. One right has led to today's predicament.

But Apuleus apparently also sensed Portitus' intention, and he responded directly: "Let's not forget that Camillous is a dictator, and during his tenure, the proposals we passed could only be against him. If he doesn't want to obey, we can't do anything about him... So I suggest that the Senate designate a special messenger to rush to the army camp in Ferentirum, first tell Camillous our proposal, and wait until When the siege is over, tell him about the Dionian invasion. For this reason, we should block the gates of Rome and prevent anyone from going out..."

"You are crazy! You are flouting the laws of Rome! You are provoking the dictator of Rome! Cough...cough..." Portitus coughed in anger, and his body was a little unstable on the crutches .

The elder next to him hurriedly supported him.

Marugineensis persuaded seemingly concerned: "Don't get too excited, old friend Portitus. Apuleus also did this so that Camillous could concentrate on completing the task and not be distracted. Heart. He is also thinking of the bigger picture of Rome, at the risk of being punished by Camelous."

"Yeah, yeah! I think Apuleus' proposal makes sense!..." With the endorsement of Malujinsis, many elders expressed their support for Apuleus one after another. The reason why they Dare to be so bold, the reasons are self-evident: although Camelus was wise and resolute in dealing with his enemies militarily, he was gentle and amiable to the Roman people and even the senators. During his three tenures as dictator, he spent most of his time abroad. , and entrusted the right to stabilize the country to the senate, and did not take too much power, and did not punish any of the elders, even Apuleus, the great sinner who slandered his reputation and caused him to leave Rome. It is also safe and sound, and has been staying in the Senate, which is why these elders have no fear.

Seeing that even a veteran like Lucretius expressed his support for this new proposal of Apuleus, Portitus calmed down, sat back in his seat, closed his eyes, simply out of sight and out of mind. bother.

Sure enough, the last messenger candidate chosen by the elders was the city guard chief, Meliusius. You must know that his full name is Melusius Cornelius Scipio, and the old man Malujinen The Sith belonged to the same clan, so it was obvious who he would listen to.

When Portitus learned of this result, he just snorted coldly.

After this election was over, the venue fell into a brief silence. Ambustus took the opportunity to request a war mobilization in the city of Rome, which was agreed, and Apuleus also went out of the venue to inform Milou, the chief of the city guard. Hughes implements the decisions of the Senate.

The other elders continued to sit in the venue, and even started to contact the slaves to bring them dinner, apparently preparing to continue the discussion until the night, after all, did the Dionysians land? Was there a battle with the troops led by Paulus? Do you really want to capture Ostia? … these need to be determined, so they are waiting to continue to hear back from the west coast.