Chapter 857
At this point, Publius felt sour in his heart. He exhaled softly and then said loudly, "Therefore, the king of Diónia wishes for you to surrender!"
The meeting hall suddenly erupted again. Many senators stood up angrily and said to Publius, "The people of Rome would rather die in battle than surrender! …" and other similar words. Of course, there were also some senators who whispered in frustration, "How come even Phaedrus and Gabi are occupied by the people of Diónia?!" And other similar words.
"Isn't the king of Diónia too confident?!" Potitus sneered, "Even if what you said just now is true, it's not like we haven't experienced it when the Celts invaded, and the situation was worse than this time. In the end, we still won!"
"The invasion of the Celts is completely different from the invasion of Diónia. I believe that although you are trapped on the mountain, you should be able to feel it!" Publius retorted loudly, "The Celts burned, killed, and looted in the Etruria and Latin regions, causing all races to oppose them. Their atrocities were punished by the gods, causing them to be infected with the plague. In the end, they were defeated by the united Latin people led by Camillus. But now …"
Publius shook his head and pointed to the foot of the mountain outside the door, "Not only did the Etrurian city-states ally with Diónia, but the Latin city-states such as Prinister and Bonet also successively submitted to Diónia. Even the civilians of Rome in the city have become citizens of the Kingdom of Diónia. Except here, the city of Rome has completely become a city of Diónia. Instead, you have become the isolated people of the Latin region! — — "
"False! What you said is false! Diónia is an invader. The Etrurian and Latin city-states will never ally with it. They will only be loyal to Rome! "In the chaotic meeting hall, Senator Lucretius roared hysterically.
Publius turned to look at him, his eyes filled with pity. "I have no need to lie. You can ask Decimus and Dominicus later. They will tell you the truth. It's time to wake up from your sweet dreams!"
Potitus, Maruginense, Ambutus, Scipio The Great, and the others looked at each other. Publius' words confirmed the worries in their hearts.
Finally, Potitus coughed lightly and said, "We already know why you are here. We want to discuss this matter. You can go out and wait for our decision."
Publius saluted. As he turned and walked out of the hall, the faces of his former colleagues were no longer as arrogant as they used to be. Instead, they were filled with fear and jealousy. This gave him an indescribable sense of joy. He raised his head and walked out of the hall step by step. As he left the dark rear hall, he saw Decimus and Domicius being led into the hall by the guards.
A few hours later, he was led into the rear hall again. Only Ambustus was left in the rear hall.
"Have you made your decision?" Publius asked directly.
"Sit down and talk, Publius." Ambustus did not answer immediately. Instead, he pointed to the seat that had been prepared for him.
Publius did not stand on ceremony. He sat down and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Based on my understanding of the Senate of Rome, your decision must be to refuse to surrender, right?!"
Ambustus looked at him and did not speak.
"I'm actually very happy to see you not surrender because you are all a group of selfish, arrogant, and cruel people. It's best for you to die on this mountain!" Publius said sarcastically, then changed the topic. "But on this mountain, besides you, there are your families and other people, especially those commoners. They are already lying on the ground with hunger. They can't even make a sound. Do you have the heart to let them die with you? There are thousands of people here! Do you really want the aristocracy of Rome to be completely extinct?! "
Ambustus' face twitched a few times. He did not respond directly. Instead, he said softly, "Publius, Marcus insisted on helping the commoners and almost provoked civil strife. The Senate had no choice but to make such a decision —"
"It turns out that what Marcus did was right. If the Senate had passed his suggestions at that time, the commoners of Rome would not have turned to Diónia today, and you would not have fallen into such a predicament today!" Publius loudly vented his dissatisfaction with the Senate of Rome that he had suppressed in his heart all these years.
"Maybe we have made some wrong decisions over the years …" Ambutus sighed, stared at him, and said in a heavy tone, "As one of the oldest clans in Rome, the Manlius clan has lived here for generations. There are many relatives of your family who are related by marriage on this mountain. There are people who have given you favors, and there are people you have helped before … Do you have the heart to abandon all of this, including Jupiter and Juno, whom you have believed in since you were a child —"
Publius frowned and interrupted him, "What are you trying to say?"
Ambustus looked at him sincerely and said with a pained expression, "We underestimated the war with Diónia. We originally thought that even if they captured Rome, as long as Camillus' army returned, we could recapture Rome again. That's why we brought so many people up the mountain. But according to what you said, the army led by Camillus has been defeated, so the plan to return to Rome is far away, and our food supply is already very tight … Alas, I believe you have seen the tragic situation of the people when you went up the mountain. In a few days, they … may starve to death on this mountain because there is no food to eat …"
At this point, tears glistened in Ambustus' eyes, "You guessed it right. We are not going to surrender, but we hope that we can allow them to go down the mountain and surrender so that they will not become food for the crows …"
Publius was stunned. Ambustus' request made him feel very embarrassed. By besieging the Capitoline Mountain, the Diónia forced the Romans on the mountain to surrender by starving them of food. Ambustus wanted to arrange for most of the people who caused the greatest food consumption to go down the mountain so that he could continue to hold on. The shrewd King of Diónia would not let the Roman senators succeed with this clever proposal!
Seeing that Publius was silent, Ambustus immediately put his hands on the ground, bent down, and knocked his forehead heavily on the ground.
Publius was shocked and hurriedly got up to avoid it, "Ambustus, what are you doing?!"
"Please! Save your compatriots! "Ambustus begged.
"I … It's useless. The King of Devers will not agree!" Publius shook his head vigorously.
Ambustus did not speak but kept lying on the ground.
If it was Potitus or Maruginense doing this, it would only have the opposite effect. However, Ambustus had a good relationship with Publius in the past. After a long time, he sighed helplessly and finally responded, "Well, I will try my best to persuade the King of Devers."
"Thank you, thank you! I thank you on behalf of the people on the mountain! "Ambustus sat up and said gratefully.
"You don't have to thank me. I'll be content if you don't curse me a few more times," Publius said self-deprecatingly.
Ambustus coughed a few times awkwardly.
"But … don't have too much hope. The King of Diónia is very dissatisfied with the nobles of Rome. Now that you have made this suggestion, even if they are allowed to go down the mountain in the end, I'm afraid it will not end well!" Publius warned.
Ambustus smiled bitterly, "There is hope as long as we are alive. We can't ask for more."
Publius was silent.
"By the way, have you seen my youngest daughter and son-in-law in the city? Are they doing well now?! "Ambustus asked eagerly.
"Your son-in-law and daughter are imprisoned in their own house, but they are not harmed. The King of Devers seems to be interested in Stolo. Yesterday, he even let him meet the captive Minucius …"
"Minucius was also captured?!" Ambustus was surprised.
"That's why I came to persuade you to surrender. Because you have no hope anymore." Publius took the opportunity to persuade again.
Ambustus did not speak.
… …
"This is the condition proposed by the Rome senators?!" The Devers looked straight at Publius without anger or joy.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Publius did not dare to make eye contact with the Devers. He lowered his head and said respectfully, "After I went up the mountain, I have been patiently persuading them. I even brought the nobles of Rome who were captured in the previous battles, hoping that they could recognize the truth, but they still refused to compromise … I could only bring back their proposal …"
"You've worked hard!" The Devers praised him, then said in a flat tone, "It seems that these stubborn senators of Rome still haven't given up."
Publius' heart tightened, and he did not dare to answer.
The Devers walked a few steps in the center of the Senate with his hands behind his back. Suddenly, he asked, "How many people from Rome are on the mountain?"
"About 6,000 people."
"6,000 people …" The Devers pondered for a while and asked again, "After the Celts captured Rome, how many people were guarding Capitoline Mountain?"
Publius did not understand why the Devers asked this question. He answered truthfully, "532 people."
The Devers thought for a while, turned to face him, and said decisively, "I agreed to their request and allowed those people from Rome to go down the mountain. But they can only be public servants of the kingdom, and only 500 people can stay on the mountain."
When Heniboris heard this, he hurriedly persuaded, "Your Majesty, this is a trick of the people of Rome! They want to — "
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