Published at 17th of August 2023 6:00 am

Chapter 824: Sextus

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“My lord! Please wake up! Something serious happened!! My lord…”

Camillus's heart tensed up as he was abruptly awakened by his adjutant, “What happened?!”

“There was a revolt in the camp! Some soldiers had attacked the guards and took over the camp's gate…”

“What?!!…”

.............

Davos released some Roman plebeians without expecting much, for he had looked at the camp built by the Roman army from atop the city wall and noticed it seemed to be fairly well-defended. In addition, Camillus had even cruelly refused to accept his own family…

Davos sighed at the Roman dictator's worthiness of his title as the Father of Rome in his previous life. Thus he did not think that the stoic and calm-headed Roman dictator would lead those people into the camp and allow them to disturb the army's morale.

However, various coincidences made the outcome of this matter go beyond Davos' expectations.

When Martius woke him up and informed him about the chaos in the Roman camp, he found it hard to believe that the group of elderly men he had released in the afternoon was responsible for it. Only when Amintas, the legatus of the First Legion in charge of defending the northeast city wall, dispatched soldiers to select a few of the Roman soldiers and plebeians who had escaped through the east gate and brought them to the Roman Senate that Davos discovered the truth. After thorough questioning, Davos learned that the chaos within the Roman camp had been instigated by thousands of Roman plebeian soldiers who had decided to flee.

“Is this true? Or is this Camillus' plan to lure us?” Feeling unsure, Davos gazed out of the window into the deep night.

While ordering the various legions to gather their soldiers, Davos had also tasked the intelligence department to immediately separate and interrogate those soldiers and plebeians who had entered the city.

But when he finally decided to act, the chaos in the Roman camp had already become calmer than at the beginning. However, he still sent the Second and Fifth Legions out of the south gate to try attacking the Roman camp. Meanwhile, he sent the First Legion out of the east gate to receive the fleeing Roman soldiers and plebeians while repelling their pursuers.

Meanwhile, due to the suddenness of the incident, Camillus and his generals had to focus their energy on stabilising the army and suppressing the chaos within the camp on that night. As a result, they didn't have the spare strength to defend themselves against the Theonians' attack, let alone send more troops to attack the Theonian army back.

Since Davos didn't manage to prepare carefully beforehand, he was worried about the risk of attacking the Roman camp in the dark, and the plebeian soldiers who would flee into the city would become crazy and cause chaos. Hence this night's battle didn't last long and ended quickly.

But for the leaders of both sides, they still have many thorny issues that they urgently need to resolve.

.............

Under the illumination of more than a dozen candles lighting up the Roman Senate, Davos walked back and forth in the centre of the hall, accompanied by Henipolis and Crotokatax. He was looking at the ground while deep in thought.

Suddenly, the praetor of Rome, Asistes, strode into the hall.

As soon as he saw him, Davos asked, “What's the state of those Romans who fled into the city?”

Asistes replied instantly, “Your Majesty, upon conducting a quick headcount, we have identified a total of one thousand two hundred and seventy-five Roman soldiers and two hundred and thirteen Roman plebeians who sought refuge within the city. Furthermore, we have organised a screening process for a hundred Romans who had applied for Theonian citizenship, resulting in the identification of two noblemen and seven of their supporters. While we had confirmed the rest of the Romans to be plebeians, they are now residing temporarily in the camp of the First Legion, eagerly awaiting your next command.”

Pleased with the efficiency of the newly established city hall, Davos asked, feeling at ease, “What do you think we should do with them?”

“Before coming here, I had asked the census officer Platon to tell them about Your Majesty's special act on Roman plebeians to persuade them to apply for Theonian citizenship immediately. Then those who applied for citizenship would immediately receive their land and houses, and then we would let them go. Meanwhile, for those Roman soldiers who were not yet willing to join, we assigned them temporary roles as helpers within the camp due to the shortage of manpower. This arrangement also allowed us to monitor them closely…” Asistes spoke eloquently, clearly showing that he had already made plans for it.

“Asi, you had given it a lot of thought!” Davos first complimented him, then said confidently, “Since these Roman soldiers could flee the camp late at night and return to the city of Rome, we can see that most of them were willing to become citizens of Theonia. And even if a few remain uncertain, we no longer need to be cautious of them. So we can simply let them all go back to their homes and just have the guards pay more attention so that even if some had different ideas, they wouldn't be able to cause any trouble in the current city of Rome!”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Asistes immediately responded.

Davos looked at him and suddenly smiled, “Hoh, aren't you already prepared to let them all go home?”

“It seems I can't hide anything from your eyes, Your Majesty,” Asistes replied respectfully.

Davos intended to criticise him but swallowed his words. Instead, he reached out to pat him on the shoulder and said, “I had appointed you as Rome's praetor because I believe that you are the only one who can make the city of Rome into a Theonian city. So you can go ahead and govern it with confidence, give out your orders boldly and carry out your governance of the city without needing to ask me!”

“Yes…!” Despite answering with the same word, Asistes' tone now seemed a little more excited. Then after taking a deep breath, he said seriously, “Your Majesty, there's a Roman soldier who wishes to see you. He said that he has an important matter to report to you…and that this man is the only officer among all those Romans who have escaped into the city. From what the others told me, they could only escape from the Roman camp mainly because of his planning and leadership.”

“Oh?!” Davos then asked with interest, “What's his name?”

“Lucius Sextus. I had brought him here, and he is waiting outside.”

“You can let him enter,” said Davos with interest.

.............

Despite being a Roman citizen, this would be the first time Sextus would enter the Roman Senate. Naturally, he had heard countless times since childhood about the layout of the Senate and the many stories that took place in its hall, even imagining many times that he would one day sit in this sacred place in a white chiton and discuss the future of Rome.

But what guarded the entrance and exit of the venue was no longer the Roman soldiers wearing red helmets and armour. Instead, it was the Theonian guards in black helmets and armour. The circular hall, which was supposed to be the place of fierce debate, is now empty. Instead, there was now a long table and several wooden chairs in the centre of the hall, where there should have been enough space for a senator to speak. Under the lights of the candles, three men sat in the centre of the hall.

‘It looks like the Theonian had transformed the sacred Roman Senate into a place for ordinary discussion!’ Sextus felt he should be angry but couldn't feel any anger in his heart. Instead, he could only feel a slight discomfort that he couldn't explain.

After walking to the centre of the hall under the guidance of the palace guard Martius, the middle-aged man staring at him said in a kind tone, “Sextus, you can take a seat.”

After sitting down straightforwardly, Sextus asked in Greek, “Are you the king of Theonia?”

“I am,” Davos smiled slightly.

“A hundred years ago, we Romans abolished the monarchy due to the cruelty of our kings and embraced a republican form of government. As citizens, we made a solemn vow that no one would ever assume the title of king. And as far as I know, several Greek city-states have also transitioned from monarchy to democracy. Considering Theonia is under the rule of a king, do you believe that we Romans would be willing to accept a king ruling over us?”

Davos smiled faintly and said, “If you Roman plebeians are satisfied with Rome's system of governance, why do you often go into conflict with the nobles and even refuse to vote for the consul during your citizen assembly?”

Sextus had already thought of that and replied quickly, “There is indeed a problem with Rome's republican governance. However, it is far better than our former monarchy system.”

“Whether a city-state's political system is good or not depends not on what kind of system of governance it has, but on how many citizens it can benefit!” Then Davos stressed, “Rome's system of governance had caused strong dissatisfaction among the Roman plebeians, who accounted for about half of Rome's total population and had continued on fighting. Despite implementing monarchy in the Kingdom of Theonia, every citizen in the kingdom owned lands and could fairly use the kingdom's public land, and able to pay off their debts and had the opportunity to serve as important officials and statesmen of the kingdom. Furthermore, every citizen must abide by the law, whether commoners or nobles, and we will punish anyone who dares to violate the law…

And despite being the king, I must abide by the kingdom's laws, which the Senate legislates. So, I cannot simply pursue a citizen's wife solely because I find her beautiful, as such actions would be punishable by law, potentially resulting in the most severe death penalty. Similarly, I cannot unjustly seize a citizen's property merely due to their wealth, as this would constitute larceny. Furthermore, it is inconceivable for me to order the arrest or execution of someone solely due to personal dislike, as the inspectors would refuse to carry out such commands, and the Senate would vehemently protest.” (The reason for the expulsion of the last king of Rome was triggered because someone in the royal family raped a citizen's wife.)

Upon hearing this, Sextus could only express his disbelief, saying, “You seem to paint a positive picture of the monarchy in Theonia, but is it really enforced in such a way?”

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