Chapter 5 Brutus's Confusion (Part 2)

At the end of October, the Sali priests in Rome officially started a grand performance under the authorization of the high priest. This priesthood was pioneered by King Numa. According to legend, in ancient times, a huge plague came to the city of Rome, causing all life to be devastated. At that time, Numa, the second-generation Sabine king, received a bronze aegis falling from the sky under the inspiration of the "Sibyl Prophecy". The aegis was salvaged from the Tarquin Swamp Lake outside the city. King Numa obtained it. After receiving the shield, he immediately announced to all citizens, "This shield is a sacred object given to the City of Seven Hills by the Forest Fairy and the Muses to eliminate the infection of plague. We must offer gratitude to God and guard against bandits from taking this away." Holy object."

Then King Numa ordered that the lake where the Aegis was located be surrounded by fields and dedicated to the Temple of Vesta. Every day the virgins would hold water bottles and come here to draw water to wash the temple. Inside; on the other side, King Numa asked craftsmen to imitate eleven shields, mixed them with the real shields, and hung them in the Temple of War to disguise the fake ones from the real ones to guard against bandits. In October and October, the season when the plague may be raging, they will be asked to patrol the city and pray to heaven.

At this time, twelve warriors of the Sali Priesthood, wearing purple short shirts and copper-nailed belts, each holding a wavy shield and a short sword, danced in a Thracian war dance, taking three steps every time, They would strike their shields with their swords, spin them around, and shout to the crowd in unison, "ancilia!"

The crowds of people who came to watch, especially those who were sick, would raise their hands in support.

"anecathen! (falling from the sky)"

"akesis! (Eliminate disease)"

"Auchmon! (Drought demon expulsion)"

"anaschesis! (Stay away from the disease)"

Like this, there are a lot of auspicious shouts starting with the Greek word "a". At this moment, Lepidus was wearing a sheepskin cloak. Wearing an olive wood round hat. Standing on the stone bridge of the Tiber River, as the high priest, he came to pray for the city of Rome and pray for eternal peace.

At the same time, Antony, with a mournful face, holding the so-called "Lamp of Venus", and the newly established priesthood of Julius, also ascended Mount Scilly, the earliest habitat of the Caesar family, where Lepidus built a new The altar where Caesar was sacrificed. All poor people can go there to receive the "divine meal" on the day of the festival. The high priest told the group, "These meals are given to everyone by His Excellency Caesar. The high priest will allocate funds from Caesar's inheritance to establish a community." A special treasury is used to pay for the operation of the altar and the divine meal." So, Anthony then wore the priest's robe and stood at the passage of the altar, looking at the many cooks and servants. Baskets of steaming food were distributed to the people at the bottom who were waving their arms and smelling bad.

The lively celebration lasted for two market days. All parties in Rome, whether it was the treasury of the Temple of Saturn, the Executive Council, or the priesthood, paid about six million dinars in silver coins for this grand festival, in order to create a scene of flourishing industries, singing and dancing, and Lepidus led The republican atmosphere became more and more mainstream, while the Brutus republicanism, which was limited to Greece and a corner of Asia Minor, deepened its "rebellious" color.

At the seaside fortress of Rhodes Island, a fierce naval battle was going on. This was a siege battle in which Rosillo punished the Rhode Islanders who "supported the Lepidus bandits." Rosillo, who was standing on the flagship deck, looked solemn. With the command determined, he understood the tactics of the Rhode Islanders when he saw Rhode Island's light ships flying the "Sea Serpent Flag" arranged in a wide formation, splitting the waves lightly, like light cavalry on the sea. : Take advantage of the flexibility and speed of small boats to divide your fleet into sieges. You must know that the decks of those ships are full of flammable objects, javelins and crossbows, which are perfect for close combat.

"Place all our army's heavy ships to the four peripheries of the battle line, and arrange light ships inside to resist the penetration of enemy boats." Rosillo immediately ordered the navigators and flag bearers around him, and then they used fireworks and flags The commander's order was sent out.

The "heavy ship" in Rocillo's words was specially built by him by hiring many craftsmen in advance. The ship had a taller double-story tower, more oarsmen and sails, and doubled the number of crossbows on the deck and portholes inside. With guns, trebuchets and thunderstorm rocket launchers, it is truly a "giant ship in the arsenal".

Soon, the Rhode Islanders' ship was involved in a fight between wolves and lions with the four vanguard arsenal ships of Rosillo. "Retract the oars and lower the sail!" Following this command, the arsenal ship's array The oars were flexibly retracted into the cabin one by one, and then the arsenal ship was like a stationary fortress on the sea. All the crew and soldiers were in formation on the towers and high decks, shooting rocks and rockets at the enemy boats coming from all directions. The formation of the barrage rain, and the light ships of Cassillo also shuttled out, and carried out refreshing "last hits" on the burning and tilting Rhode Island ships. The Rhode Island fleet, which was proud of its naval power, was The four-sided defensive line that could not attack the arsenal ship was damaged and sunk one by one. In less than two minutes, more than 20 ships were sunk, five of which were decked, and the remaining ships could only cast smoke. , and then fled to the port of Rhodes City in embarrassment.

"The naval dockyard in Rhodes City is located on an independent island. Pursue and completely surround the island." Rosillo stood on the bridge, looking at the defeated enemy fleet, and calmly continued to give orders. command said.

So the oars of the arsenal ships were extended again, and they quickly pursued them in the sound of the trumpet. The sixteen arsenal ships soon surrounded the outer island fleet base of Rhodes City from all sides. The soldiers on them directly used catapults to destroy the ships and fortresses that the Rhodians still left in the base from all directions. After nightfall, the remaining Rhodians took small boats and did not dare to hang lights. They slipped back to the city through the gap of the Corsio fleet. At dawn the next day, this group of brave sea warriors did not even dare to defend the city of Rhodes. They covered the government and baggage and quickly ran to the city of Camillos in the corner of the island (where Cato the Younger once had his government office), because although it was a small city, it was more solid and durable, and could effectively resist the enemy's joint attack by sea and land.

"Very good, all two legions will follow me into Rhodes. After replenishment, we will quickly advance to Camelos. As long as we can completely subdue Rhodes, we can use it as a base and springboard to recapture Crete or Cyprus. In this way, Brutus will not be threatened by the sea in the Greek theater." Cosio was full of confidence. He knew very well that Lepidus would definitely send a fleet and infantry from the port of Cyrenaica.

But soon, Brutus in Athens sent an envoy, and it was obvious that his idea was contrary to Cosio's. (To be continued...)