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Chapter 804 – Marcus, Rome’s Hero
Then the palace guards shouted simultaneously.
Even when faced with the murderous intent, Publilius Manlius didn’t feel nervous and put on a blank expression as if he couldn’t understand Greek.
Davos couldn’t help but laugh when he saw how this round-faced guy put on a blank expression and pretended to be stupid, “We’ve already interrogated your slave and know you are fluent in Greek. So you can stop feigning ignorance already.”
A cold expression swept across Publilius’ face as he uttered in Greek, “You have seized our city and now demand me to show respect? Only a fool would have such a preposterous notion!”
“You-” The furious Henipolis wanted to refute but was stopped by Davos.
‘It seems the Roman senators are worthy of being the elites among the Romans, with none of them being cowards!’ Davos sighed as he knew more or less some of the history of the Roman Republic in his previous life. Afterwards, he slowly said, “The gens Manlia is one of the renowned patrician houses in Rome! Someone told me that during the Celt’s occupation of Rome, one of the heroes who saved Rome, Marcus Manlius Capitolinus, should also belong to your Manlia clan, right? I wonder if he is your brother?”
Publilius turned pale and exclaimed immediately, “No, I have nothing to do with him!”
Davos looked at him and emphasised, “Marcus Manlius Capitolinus was the former head of your Manlia clan, so how could you possibly have nothing to do with him?! I am afraid the reason you could even sit as a senator of Rome is also related to him!”
Feeling insulted, Publilius ignored the guards’ intimidation and stood up. Then he loudly said, “Marcus attempted to impose dictatorship in Rome! As a disgrace to our Manlia clan, we had removed him from the family, making him no longer have anything to do with us anymore!”
“Oh, dictatorship?!” Davos smiled mischievously, “You had already abolished kingship in Rome, so how could Marcus dare implement dictatorship even though the Roman populace already cherished the current political system of Rome?! Is it because he repelled the Celts on Mons Capitolinus and saved Rome?! Or is it based on how many times he had repelled the Aequians?! Or is it because of his bravery in battle and the honour of winning over forty civic crowns?!… But I believe that Marcus, who had become the consul of Rome many times, shouldn’t be a madman or stupid enough to play with his life!”
Publilius was surprised as he didn’t expect a foreign king to know about Marcus so well.
“But he was eventually taken down and got charged with attempted dictatorship! Why is that?” Davos asked while gazing at him sharply.
But Publilius didn’t make eye contact with him and just remained silent.
Davos smiled slightly and said, “Wasn’t it because he supported the plebeians, demanding the abolition of their debts and fought for their rights, which is detrimental to you nobles, that you considered him a traitor and decided to kill him?!”
Publilius trembled as he heard Davos’ words, never expecting that the King of Theonia would have such a deep understanding of their past. He began to feel uneasy, wondering what exactly he wanted to do.
“In my opinion, Marcus Manlius Capitolinus is a true Roman hero who can disregard his noble status and sincerely help the common people to alleviate the fierce conflict between the nobles and the plebeians in Rome, allowing your city-state to develop even better. Unfortunately, you Roman nobles were greedy and short-sighted that you had brutally killed him while shamelessly framing him!”
Publilius was puzzled because Davos’ furious expression gave the impression that he wasn’t a king of Theonia but a Roman citizen worried about the city-state’s affairs.
Then, Davos said deeply, “Thus I have decided that tomorrow, in front of the Roman populace, I would clear the name of this true hero of Rome and declare the realisation of his ideals by abolishing the debts of the Roman populace, allocating land to them and give them equal opportunities to hold a position in the city-state…”
Upon hearing this, Publilius hurriedly exclaimed, “No, you have no right to do this!”
“I have the right to do this because the city of Rome is now in my hands! Do you think the sixty thousand or so mishmash troops led by Camillus could take this fortified city and have fifty thousand of my elite troops heavily defending it?! He will soon taste defeat!” Davos’ sharp gaze fell straight at Publilius. His voice pierced his head like an iron nail, “And you, Publilius Manlius, will appear with me in front of the Roman populace tomorrow and show your support for the order I will issue as the cousin of Marcus, which I believe will also earn you the support of countless Roman citizens!”
“No! I will never appear with you even if you kill me!” Publilius refused without hesitation.
“That’s an order! You must attend! Otherwise-” Davos spoke decisively, reaching out to the guard’s short sword, then swung it down violently, only to hear a bang as he sliced a corner of the wooden table.
The triangular corner of the table bounced a few times on the ground, which startled Publilius. But what frightened him even more was Davos following cold words, “I will have you and your family executed! Anyway, I still have a few captives from the Manlia clan in my hands, so someone will be bound to agree. For now, I’ll give you some time to think it over, Publilius Manlius, the current head of the Manlia clan.” Davos then smiled slightly at him at the end of his sentence.
When the guards escorted him outside, he could feel his legs go limp but kept cursing inwardly, ‘Marcus, it wasn’t enough for you to plague our Manlia clan, but now you want to drag us along?! If it wasn’t for you, how could I have kept a low profile in the Senate all these years? Because the other senators alienated our house that they had not informed us of the evacuation in advance. By the time we had finished packing and attempted to climb Mons Capitolinus, the civilians had already blocked the entire Roman Forum… Damn you, Marcus! Marcus…’
“Your Majesty, will he even agree?” Henipolis asked curiously.
“If he doesn’t, we still have other people from the Manlius house. And even if all of them disagree, it won’t affect our plan that much.” Davos returned the short sword to the guard and continued, “Having them around is just a way to make our actions more convincing. Anyway, I don’t believe the Roman populace won’t feel touched once we give tangible benefits to them.”
“In fact, this Publilius failed to realise how much benefit he would get from obeying your words, Your Majesty.” Henipolis laughed.
“Then he can only regret it in the underworld,” Davos lightly said. Then he reminded Henipolis, “Go and call Valerius.”
Although Valerius was curious as this was the first time he entered the Roman Senate, he didn’t stop to look around because the king of Theonia was waiting for him.
If his motive for aiding Theonia, an outsider, in its battle against his former homeland was to seek revenge and extricate himself from his predicament, he was now genuinely in awe by Theonia’s formidable military, which managed to capture the largest city in Latium within a day! ‘Could the other forces even stand up to this powerful kingdom?!’
Valerius was thinking about that as he nervously approached King Davos.
Davos then amiably said, “I remember your name is Valerius. You don’t have to be nervous.”
“Ye…yes…” Valerius nodded repeatedly but still stood stiffly.
Seeing him act like this, Davos said in a gentler tone, “It is because of your great contribution we were able to capture Rome this time. In recognition of your achievements, I will grant you Theonian citizenship in advance.”
Valerius hurriedly said, “Tha…thank you, You…Your Majesty!”
Davos smiled and continued, “And…now that we have the city of Rome, and you being the first Roman to become a citizen of Theonia, I have decided to appoint you as the vice praetor of Rome to facilitate the management of this city!”
“Vice praetor?!” Valerius was puzzled at this unfamiliar word.
“It’s just like a magistrate in Rome. However, its actual authority is far greater.” Henipolis, who had studied Rome’s system of government, explained.
As the name suggests, a Roman magistrate is to manage the government affairs of the city of Rome. The Senate would decide all decisions, whether large or small, while the two consuls were in charge of the government affairs, and the judicial magistrate was in charge of the most important legal affairs of Rome. Finally, a magistrate is just one of the positions under the consul and is responsible for some unimportant affairs of Rome, so it is only an intermediate position.
Meanwhile, the vice praetor in Theonia was different. While the praetor serves as the chief administrator of a city, allowing them to devise plans and make decisions for the city’s development within the boundaries of Theonia’s laws, the vice praetor serves as their assistant. The vice praetor is responsible for specific affairs within a particular aspect of the city and wields considerable influence and authority in that domain. Although it is an intermediary position in Theonia, it serves as a stepping stone towards becoming a statesman. Moreover, Theonian officials who were promoted to the rank of statesman in the past decade have previously served as vice praetors, making the position of vice praetor a prerequisite for advancing to the rank of statesman.