Chapter 780
At the same time, the ballistae of the various legions of Diónia were pushed to the southwest corner of Rome, about 200 meters away from the city. The ballistae fired stone bullets at the city wall that protruded outward like a dog's ear.
Dozens of stone bullets bombarded the city wall at the same time. The momentum was terrifying, causing the defenders on the city wall to cry out in alarm.
Round after round of stone bullets bombarded the city wall, causing broken bricks and stone shards to fall continuously. This made the defenders on the city wall feel uneasy.
The ballistae were not the only ones attacking the city of Rome. There were also bows. These huge iron arrows shot by bows that were magnified countless times were not aimed at the city wall. Instead, they fell on the slums behind the city wall, causing panic among the people of Rome.
But soon, the people in the slums discovered that the iron arrows stuck on the ground and the houses were tied with several rolls of papyrus. Some of the bolder people stepped forward and untied the papyrus out of curiosity.
The chief of the city guard, Scipio The Great, had one of the papyrus in his hand. He carefully opened it and read it. The papyrus was written in Latin: My fellow citizens of Rome, my name is Valkries. I used to be a citizen of Rome, and I lived on Mount Raventine since I was a child. Eight years ago, because a rascal drove a flock of sheep to bite the wheat seedlings in the field I rented, and he provoked me with words, I was so angry that I beat him up. As a result, the court sentenced me to a large fine. I could not pay it. In the end, under the pressure of the other party, I had to buy myself as a slave to pay off the high debt. It was only later that I found out that this person was a customer of Kablus Claudius Sabinus. That was why I lost the lawsuit that I should not have lost and became a slave!
All my fellow citizens who live in Rome and have no land like me, all my fellow citizens who have a small piece of land but are born as commoners, are you living in anxiety every day like me? Are you worried that the nobles who own a lot of land and a lot of slaves will seize your insignificant land and turn you into their slaves? Just because they are rich enough, they want more! We have fought against the greed of the nobles many times, wanting to gain the right to protect ourselves, so we have abandoned the city many times, wanting the greedy nobles to realize the importance of us commoners! But to this day, these greedy nobles of Rome still control all the power in this city, and we are their livestock that can be slaughtered at any time! My compatriots, are you willing?!
Fortunately, thanks to Diana's blessing, the people of Diónia had arrived! Although Diónia was a country with a king, its citizens had a lot of power. They owned their own land, and the law protected them from being plundered. No matter where they were born or what race they were, as long as they had the ability, they could hold public office and even become senators. Even ordinary citizens could report officials who violated the law and let them be punished by the law …
The King of Diónia promised me that he would make Rome as beautiful as Diónia! My compatriots, if you don't want to become slaves, then join the Dionysian Army and overthrow the rule of these greedy and ugly nobles of Rome! "
After reading, a chill rose in Scipio The Great's heart, and his limbs turned cold. He hurriedly ordered, "Quick! Send someone to seize these papyri! Don't let anyone have them! "
When the city guards dispatched by Scipio The Great arrived at the slums, they saw some commoners gathered in groups on the streets, surrounding a few literate commoners, and whispering to each other as they listened to the commoners reading the papyri that were taken from the iron arrows.
"I know this Valkries. He used to live in front of my house, and he's a good person. When he became a slave, he even distributed some of his belongings to everyone … Sigh …"
"This Claudius's family is really bad! They have always been harsh to us commoners! Last month, it was the youngest son of Cablus Claudius Sabinus, who had just become a platoon jarl, who injured my neighbor because of a trivial matter. He still can't get out of bed! "
"It's not just the Claudius's family. Which one of the big families in Rome isn't bad? If you ask me, when the people of Diónia come, it's best to kill them all! "
"Do you think what this letter says is true? Is it really that good to be a citizen of Diónia?"
… …
Just as the commoners were discussing the matter described in the papyri, the city guards who were carrying out the orders of their superior rushed in and forcibly seized the papyri. Naturally, a conflict broke out.
Fortunately, the elders led by Ambustos, who received the news, arrived in time to appease the enraged commoners and criticize the city guards who almost caused the incident.
At the same time, Ambustos held the papyri and shouted loudly, "Citizens, this is the conspiracy of the people of Diónia. They want to use this to drive a wedge between us and make us unable to defend the city together! More than a decade ago, we had a conflict because of internal quarrels. Some of the people abandoned Rome and went to Venus, causing the wrath of Jupiter. The Gauls gave us the most painful punishment!
After the reconstruction of Rome, we have sworn on Mount Capitoline that we will never make the same mistake again! So, don't be fooled by the enemy's rhetoric. We must not let the tragedy of the destruction of Rome repeat itself! … … "
Ambustos' words quickly extinguished the anger of the people of Rome who were gathering.
But at this moment, someone shouted, "Yes, the commoners who fled to Venus eventually moved back to Rome, but has the promise made by the Senate been fulfilled?! We still owe a high amount of debt, we are unable to rent public land, we are unable to hold important positions in the city, we hope that one of the two consuls to be elected every year must be a commoner, but the senate simply ignores our request! "
Ambustos looked at the speaker. The person who spoke was Tribune Gaius Julius Brutus. Before he could explain, the roar of the people sounded again, "The Tribune is right. The Senate is always perfunctory with us. They just want us to work for them. They don't want to give us any rights at all!"
"This is the Rome of the nobles and the rich, not our Rome! What does it have to do with us if Rome is destroyed like this?! "
"When they promise us the same rights as the nobles, we will take up arms to fight against the people of Diónia!"
… …
The protests of the people surged towards the elders like a tidal wave, causing them to panic. Usually, they had many ways to deal with such protests, but now they were besieged by an army. If they were not careful, they were afraid that before the enemy's attack began, they would be in chaos. So Ambustos hurriedly said, "The Senate will discuss their request immediately. Ask them to settle down and wait for a reply."
With the consent of the people, the elders were able to return to the Senate and held an emergency meeting.
However, whether it was debt cancellation or sharing public land with the commoners, they seriously affected the interests of the elders and nobles. Not to mention, letting commoners hold important positions in the city, or even the consuls, was a taboo for the nobles. Therefore, although the debate in the Senate was fierce, no conclusion was reached.
… …
At this time, Scipio The Great, who had been busy defending the city of Rome, received another urgent report: Diónia's warships had appeared on the Tiber River.
Although he had already considered the possibility of enemy ships invading the Tiber River after learning that Ostia had fallen, he was still very nervous when he received this news.
He immediately rushed to the southwest corner of the city wall, stood at the top of the city wall, and looked to the south. He saw a long line of three-decker oared warships. Under the tutelage of the slaves and laborers, and with the sailors paddling with all their might, they moved upstream along the Tiber River. The warships at the forefront were already approaching the river port …
These warships, which were very small in the vast sea, looked unusually huge on the Tiber River, which was only about 100 meters wide. The hulls of more than 50 meters long crossed the river, reaching half the width of the river. This made many Rome soldiers on the city wall very nervous. They had never seen a three-decker oared warship before.
And what made Scipio The Great even more nervous was that he saw many Diónia soldiers boarding the warships from the river port, and then the warships sailed to the opposite bank. Then, the Diónia soldiers boarded the river on the opposite bank.
The Diónia wanted to attack Rome from the north through the bridge! Scipio The Great was shocked and immediately ordered, "Go and inform Cassius to strengthen the defense of the bridge. Be careful of the Diónia's attack!"
After the messenger left, Scipio The Great was still a little worried. He sent another 700 Rome soldiers to the bridge. Of course, most of them were citizens over 50 years old.
While Scipio The Great was worried about the north of Rome, another soldier came to report that a group of Rome slaves and Latin laborers had appeared outside the western wall of Rome. Under the protection of the Diónia soldiers, they shouted at the soldiers on the city wall.
The content of these slaves and laborers was actually similar to what was written on the papyrus scroll. It was just that these people spoke of their own experiences, which made it more convincing. They were not only talking about the civilians of Rome, but also the slaves. Because of the lack of troops in the city, the Senate of Rome had to let the slaves of the city serve as soldiers and promised to give them freedom after the war. Now the civilians and slave soldiers on the western wall were a little distracted. Their state of mind even affected the people in the city. The Senate's delay in making a decision had angered them. They gathered and ran to the front of the Senate to protest. They even declared that if the Senate did not give them a clear answer, they would open the city gate and welcome the Diónia.
The urgent message sent by the chief of the city guards, Scipio The Great, and the people outside the gate forced the senate to abdicate. The senators were like ants on a hot pan, panicking.
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