Roman Slave Owner

"Is there any misunderstanding? Maybe it wasn't him."

Manlius said.

"This is impossible. No one in Rome can do this except them."

said Catiline.

Seeing Catiline in a rage, Manlius felt worried.

The war hasn't started yet, but they have already started fighting among themselves. What should they do?

***

***

At this time, Dragon City has turned into a huge construction site, and there are scenes of craftsmen working enthusiastically everywhere. They are manufacturing materials, weapons and armor needed for various wars.

Many soldiers also invested in the construction, and Longcheng once again expanded the earth wall outwards to accommodate more soldiers and the families of the soldiers who fled.

In this way, a city within a city is formed. In addition to the core area, Dragon City has three walls.

On a wall of Dragon City, a beautiful teenage girl looked into the distance with a sad face.

She was Cicero's daughter Tulia, the fiancée of Livy the Younger.

The news of Cicero's arrest has spread, which makes her very sad. The one who cares most about him at home is Cicero. Even her mother does not love her as much as Cicero.

At this moment, a heroic young man came over.

He was wearing a white short coat and a short sword on his waist. His outline looked somewhat similar to Li Wei. He was Li Wei's son, Little Li Wei.

"Tulia, what are you doing here?"

Little Levi said somewhat flatteringly.

Tulia glanced at him lightly, then sat on the city wall and continued to look into the distance.

She was really in a bad mood and didn't want to answer him.

Little Levi felt bored, smiled, and continued: "Are you worried about your father?"

"Yes.

"

Tulia said.

"If Catiline kills your father, I promise to avenge him."

Little Levi said firmly, clenching his fists.

Tulia couldn't help but roll her eyes. What she wanted was her father alive. Could avenging his father bring Cicero back to life?

"How was your conversation with Catiline's emissary?"

Tulia asked.

Catiline had sent an emissary to negotiate a few days ago. Cicero's safety was one of Catiline's bargaining chips. Due to his special status, little Livy was one of the insiders.

To comfort Tulia, he told her the news.

"Everyone has the same opinion. They all know that their father loves Portia very much, and he would even fall out with Crassus for her. No one is willing to risk offending his father by marrying her to Catiline."

Little Levi said.

Catiline's most important condition is to let Portia marry him. Of course he knows how much Livy likes this daughter.

Because of this, he believed that if he married Portia, Levi would have a high chance of letting him go.

"Can't you persuade them?"

Tulia asked.

"My father would be very disappointed in me if I did this."

Little Levi said helplessly.

Li Wei often taught him to pay attention to family affection, and Li Wei at least seemed to be fair and just to the two of them, which made little Li Wei not have much ill feelings toward Portia.

On the contrary, under the guidance of his mother, he was extremely wary of his younger brother Appius, whom he knew was his biggest competitor.

Tulia understood his difficulty, but thinking of her own grievance, she could only turn her head away and shed tears uncontrollably.

Little Levi hurriedly tried to comfort her, but it was of no use.

Not long after, he suddenly opened his mouth in surprise. He pointed to the bottom of the city wall and said, "Tulia, do you think who is that?"

Tulia looked in the direction pointed by little Levi and soon became surprised.

Then she rushed down the wall, rushed towards the man, and threw herself into his arms like a baby swallow.

"Father."

***

***

The atmosphere in a room in Dragon City was somewhat serious. The four girls Emilia, Yulia, Geta, Serabio, Valens and others were discussing the matter of Catiline's emissary.

"Sybel, after our discussion, we agreed that Portia's happiness should not be exchanged for peace with Catiline."

Emilia smiled and said, "Portia is Levi's daughter, and no one can force her to marry someone she doesn't like."

"Really? That's great."

Sibel cried with joy.

During this period of time, she had trouble sleeping and eating because of Xibel's affairs. Portia was her darling and the biggest pillar of her life.

She really didn't know what to do if she lost Portia.

She even thought about threatening it, but she didn't expect it to be solved so easily.

"Please believe us, we have God-given weapons, how can Catiline be our opponent."

Geta smiled.

"It's just that we don't produce much gunpowder. In the past, we used the inventory accumulated over the years."

Emilia said.

"why is that?"

Geta asked.

"Due to the lack of one raw material, we have tried our best and are now purchasing raw materials from all the cities in the Campania region, but we still cannot meet our needs."

Emilia said.

She had already guessed what the raw material was, but she didn't understand how something so dirty could be related to gunpowder?

"I understand, we can defend Dragon City even without God-given weapons. As long as the armies of the major countries come to help, the enemy will be defeated."

Geta said.

But in this case, he had to slightly modify his plan.

Emilia nodded, and then asked: "How is our troop mobilization going?"

"Soldiers are not a problem at all. We have mobilized and recruited soldiers from more than 8 legions, and there is no shortage of funds. Dragon City and the church have provided us with a lot of funds. The only problem is weapons and armor. Our weapons and armor can only be armed There are 5 legions of soldiers, and the rest can only be slowly produced or acquired."

Geta said.

"I think we can send people to other countries to buy. Our caravan has good relations with many countries. They will definitely be willing to sell or even give us weapons and armor for free."

Valens said.

"This is a good idea. In addition, we should also pay attention to buying from other cities in Rome. We should find ways to gain their support."

"That's right..."

Listening to everyone's words, Serabio was a little absent-minded.

After losing to Spartacus, he didn't care much about the military. Anyway, he was not that material.

At this moment, there was a sound of footsteps outside, and little Levi and another middle-aged man walked in.

After seeing the middle-aged man clearly, Serabio couldn't help but open his eyes wide.

"Cicero, why are you back?"

The others were shocked to see Cicero.

Wasn't Cicero captured by Catiline? Could it be that he was released?

"It was Men Muse who released me privately."

Cicero said with mixed feelings.

He originally thought that he would probably die in Rome, but he didn't expect that he would come back alive.

"That's great. Welcome back, my friend."

said Servabio, and gave him a warm embrace, while the others also welcomed Cicero's return.

Next, Cicero told his own experience. After listening to it, everyone looked sad, but they did not believe what Menmus said.

Catiline's ability to reach this point shows that there are powerful forces behind him, and the Pompeii faction represented by Menmus is definitely one of them.

"Leave this matter to our intelligence team, and we will investigate this matter to the bottom of it."

Markian said.

Emilia nodded and decided not to worry about this matter anymore.

"I think we can formally reject Catiline's proposal, since his ultimatum is not far away anyway."

Emilia said.

"I agree, I think we should hold off for a few days and get our people out quickly."

"Seconded."

"Seconded."

"..."

***

***

In the Hostilia synagogue, hundreds of senators gathered together and made various sounds.

They were all Catiline's cronies, and they were packed into the Senate by Catiline, so they were naturally extremely grateful to him.

But Catiline's face was filled with chills at this moment. Dragon City actually rejected his kindness, which filled his heart with anger.

Men Muse, on the other hand, had a mocking look on his face and wanted to negotiate with Li Wei's woman, so he must have been slapped in the face now.

After the divination and other procedures, Catiline said coldly: "Dear senators, I now declare that the Senate meeting has officially begun."

All the senators looked at Catiline with solemn expressions.

"Rome has always been a country favored by the gods. Under the blessing of the gods, it grew from a small city to the most powerful empire. Its territory ranges from the Baltic Sea to Africa, from Spain to Armenia. Never before has such a birth been born in the world. A powerful country, all this is the will of the gods, it is the gods who made Rome such a great country! Thank you Olympian gods!”

said Catiline impassionedly.

"Thank you Olympian gods!"

"Thank you Olympian gods!"

"..."

All the elders said one after another.

"Under the will of the gods, I, Lucius Cornelius Catiline, became the ruler of Rome and the lifelong dictator of Rome. I have always felt very scared. Why do the gods favor me so much? I even had sleepless nights because of this, and I didn’t know the answer until recently.”

Catiline glanced at everyone and said, "Not long ago, I received some news. In Campania, some fanatical holy believers chanted the slogan of destroying false gods, and they smashed a statue of the goddess Diana ( The temple of Artemis, the goddess of the moon in Greek mythology, shocked me so much that someone would dare to do such evil."

Hearing this, the elders couldn't help but burst into an uproar.

It is simply unreasonable for the followers of the Holy Cult to destroy the temple of the goddess Diana.

"I have always had great reverence for the true God, and I have also maintained great respect for His Majesty Li Wei. Even if he once sent someone to assassinate me, I have never hated him, because he is a great Roman and my idol. But Facing the fanatical behavior of true God believers, I am hesitant, what should I do?”

Catiline said, "It was not until yesterday, when the god-king Jupiter told me in a dream that he asked me to drive out the holy religion and restore the Roman religion to its purity, that I knew my sacred mission, and I knew that the gods appointed me to be the ruler of Rome. The real purpose.”

"The Holy Religion has always denied the existence of other gods and called them false gods. This has already angered the Olympian gods. And my mission is to maintain the tradition of Rome, defend the Roman Religion, and expel the Holy Religion from Rome!!!"

When it came to the last sentence, Catiline said it almost in a roaring tone.

"Expulse the Holy Cult!"

"Drive them out of Rome!"

"..."

The elders shouted loudly, but some also hesitated. The True God has been so popular recently, especially the God-given weapons, which are so powerful. Do they really want to go into full-scale war with the Holy Religion?

"Now, as a lifelong dictator, I declare that the Holy Church is strictly prohibited from preaching in any territory of Rome. All believers of the Holy Church must either withdraw from the Holy Church or leave Rome within 10 days. Otherwise, after 10 days, I will Deprive them of their citizenship and declare all followers of the Holy Religion to be slaves of the state.”

Catiline said, "In addition, all the people in Dragon City must disarm and leave Rome. If they refuse, I will send troops to attack them and declare them as enemies of the country. Anyone who kills them can get their property."

Hearing this, many people became short of breath.

This is an opportunity to make a fortune. Those elders have more or less money.

Li Wei is even more wealthy. If someone kills Li Wei, he will definitely become rich.

A smile appeared on Menmuse's face, and that was it.

"I would also like to thank Menmus, Pompey and Crassus, and many nobles and knights in Rome. It is because of their support that I can easily occupy Rome. They have always been my staunch supporters. Please I believe we are never alone and we have strong allies.”

Catiline continued, with a faint smile on his lips.

The senators applauded one after another. The theory that Catiline had the support of Pompey and Crassus has been circulating in the army, but it has never been confirmed. However, they did not expect it to be confirmed by Catiline today, so that they not worried.

Menmuse was stunned at first, but soon became furious.

Catiline, how dare you say that?

Have you forgotten our agreement?

"Catiline, I think you misunderstood. I just don't want Rome to shed too much blood, so I stay here to help you."

Menmuse said coldly.

"No, you don't need to cover up at all. We are friends, aren't we? Is it not your people who opened the gates of Rome?"

Catiline said with sincerity.

"of course not."

Menmuse said without hesitation.

Catiline glanced at him indifferently. He thought that his denial would be useful. It wouldn't be long before he would send people to spread the news throughout Rome. It would be strange if Livy didn't believe it.

The nobles were indeed very powerful, but both Sulla and Marius suppressed them. As long as they had soldiers in their hands, they could do whatever they wanted.

The final meeting of the Senate broke up unhappily, and Catiline's decision shocked the whole of Rome and even the Mediterranean world.

Catiline wanted to drive the Holy Church out of Rome. Was he crazy?

( = )