Chapter 257: Rome

Chapter 257: Rome

< 257. Rome >

Publius continued to speak as if nothing was wrong, ignoring Shi Xians hardened expression.

In fact, you should not forget that your side is largely responsible for this situation.

What do you mean by our responsibility?

Im referring to the lukewarm attitude you showed during the war. The Senate believes that your country deliberately watched the situation with some intention.

Intention? Thats too much speculation. At that time, our country was not in a situation to help you return, because the Emperor was ill.

Shi Xian had already anticipated this kind of complaint beforehand.

And Publius also knew that he would give such an answer.

Of course, we didnt expect direct assistance. It would have been much easier to win if you had attacked the Huns from behind, but it must have been difficult to raise an army given the distance. But it wouldnt have been too hard to provide us with your experience and information from fighting the Huns many times, would it?

We tried to provide as much as we could

Everyone has one or two unavoidable reasons. But you have to show more sincerity to build trust. In that regard, your country missed the opportunity to earn our trust by itself. Thats why the Senate made this decision, so I hope you understand.

What if he said he couldnt understand?

Shi Xian realized painfully that he had no choice.

He had no choice from the beginning.

The choice was entirely on Romes side.

And he also guessed perfectly why they were doing this.

How petty of them to retaliate economically for not helping them enough.

According to what Shi Xian heard here, Rome had achieved an overwhelming victory in the Hun war.

It was hard to believe, but it was undeniable that they had crushed the Hun cavalry in the battle of wheels.

He couldnt understand how they did it, but it was true.

Han had also defeated the Huns in a frontal battle, but that was not the Huns at their peak.

It was a huge army that unified all the Huns and absorbed other nomads as well.

There was no answer in a frontal battle.

The military of Han judged that way and expected Rome to lose.

But Rome won a great victory in the battle of wheels, even after losing 200,000 soldiers.

This was evidence that Romes national power was much higher than Hans.

They were behind in national power, technology, and overall level.

Shi Xian suddenly imagined what would happen if this fact spread to neighboring countries.

No. That must be prevented at all costs. It could lead to the collapse of the order of the Han Dynasty.

He even suspected that Rome might be aiming for that and trying to trade directly with neighboring countries.

But he soon thought that this was too much exaggeration.

Rome was a powerful country, but it was still a barbarian in the west.

How could they be familiar with the ideology of the Han Dynasty, which maintains the order of the central plains?

It would be a bad move to expose their weakness by showing such a sign.

Shi Xian desperately managed his expression and asked one last time.

Are you sure you dont want to reconsider?

This is not up to me. I have to follow what the Senate has decided. Im not the governor here, but just acting as one.

I see. Ill tell the Emperor your intentions. But I hope you remember that this will only hurt both sides if it damages the friendship between our countries.

Ill convey your message to my brother and the Senate.

Publius smiled brightly and escorted the envoys out.

Shi Xian didnt cling any more and prepared to leave Ctesiphon right away.

Judging by Romes attitude now, it seemed certain that they had decided to restrain them.

It seemed better to return as soon as possible and prepare a countermeasure than to stay here and be humiliated.VịSit no(v)3lb/!n(.)com for new novels

Caesar gladly accepted this.

Marcus did not object either.

As a result, the upcoming gladiator game became a prelude to an unprecedented event in Roman history.

Invitations were sent out to the allies as well as the powerful people of the provinces.

Even with the large stadium built by Marcus, there were not enough spectators, so they added more emergency games and extended the event day by force.

As the date approached, dignitaries from various regions arrived in Rome.

Marcus planned to make their entrance into Rome an event.

The citizens looked at the powerful people from different places with curiosity and wonder.

The first ones to arrive were the chiefs of Gaul and Britain.

Caesar deliberately included Vercingetorix, a popular hero, in the procession to draw cheers from the Romans.

The citizens gave generous applause to Vercingetorix, who entered side by side with the Gallic chiefs in Roman armor.

Next, the royal families of North Africa, Cush, Axum, and Nabatea entered in order.

They had one thing in common: they wore their own costumes, but they were accompanied by senators who had entered the Roman Senate.

This was not much different from Caesars intention.

They wanted to elicit peoples welcome by emphasizing that they were friends of Rome.

On the other hand, Romans felt proud of seeing foreign royal families wearing their traditional costumes.

It was an opportunity to feel directly that Romes status was shining in all directions.

The final touch was Egypt.

Cleopatra and Arsinoe, who wore dazzling costumes as pharaohs of Egypt, captured the eyes of many Romans.

Their beauty, which was now at its peak, also contributed greatly.

Cleopatra did not include her children in the procession, considering Marcuss position.

But there was already a rumor in Rome that Egypts pharaoh was Marcuss woman.

But no one blamed Marcus for that.

In Romans perception, the two pharaohs were nothing more than concubines of Marcus, not his wife Julia, who was called the reincarnation of Venus and Caesars daughter.

They felt satisfied with seeing Cleopatra and Arsinoe being courteous to Marcus at the welcome ceremony.

It was a pleasure to see the pharaohs of Egypt, who had once ruled the world, showing polite manners in front of a Roman.

The queens of Egypt cant do anything in front of Marcus.

Of course. No matter how much they are kings, Egypt is practically nothing but a province of Marcus.

What if Marcuss child inherits the throne of Egypt? Does Egypt become a Roman territory?

Well is that so?

Caesar smiled contentedly as he looked at the crowd of citizens.

He whispered to Marcus in a low voice that only he could hear.

The ceremony will start tomorrow.

It seems so. It was long and short to get here.

Marcus nodded slightly with a smile to Arsinoe, who was politely clasping her hands in front of him.

Caesar joked to him.

How do you feel about becoming a king?

It was a very low voice that no one could hear.

Marcus chuckled and answered.

A king? Father-in-law, we are not just that.

His voice was lower than Caesars, but confident.

We are more than kings. We will be Rome.

< 257. Rome > The End