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The people began panicking when they saw this unforeseen event. Fortunately, there are legionaries keeping order in the courtyard.
With Davos and the others prepared, the guards behind them quickly rushed forward. Then while protecting Davos, they began surrounding the priest and the few attendants, capturing them all in the blink of an eye without shedding a single drop of blood.
Emilius approach the culprits while pretending to ask them something a few times. Then he stood in front of the staircase and shouted to the Romans in the courtyard, “Everyone, these men are the followers of the nobles who have imprisoned the several priests and attendants of the temple in an attempt to assassinate the king of Theonia! Who wants to follow me to the temple to free the imprisoned priests and attendants?”
Feeling sceptical, some volunteered to follow Emilius to the rear hall of the temple. After smashing open the locked door, they saw the tied-up priests and attendants.
Davos’ sudden announcement of visiting the temple for prayer made the Romans hostile towards Theonia to see it as an opportunity, but their limited time prevented them from planning meticulously. Still, they seized the moment when Theonians relaxed their control over the southern area of Rome to infiltrate the temple of Diana stealthily and persuaded the priests and attendants inside to cooperate with them in assassinating the king of Theonia.
But except for the elderly priest from a noble background who agreed, all other priests and attendants expressed their opposition. After all, whether they succeed with the assassination or not, it would spell disaster for the Temple of Diana, let alone committing murder inside the temple, which would be blasphemous to the gods.
So, in a hurry, these people simply locked them up, stripped off their clothes and pretended to be the temple’s attendants…without even realising that all of this was under the surveillance of Emilius’ subordinates.
Now that everything is clear, the Romans in the courtyard spat at the captured criminals one after another but were disturbed by the sight of the legionaries unsheathing their short swords.
Suddenly, Davos stood in front of the temple’s gate and loudly proclaimed, “Plebeians of Rome, this assassination was entirely planned by the nobilities of Rome to provoke a bloody feud between us Theonians and you! If they had succeeded, it would spell great disaster for us and you! And this also shows how those nobles of Rome who were high above had never regarded you as fellow citizens of the same city. That’s why they kept suppressing and exploiting you over the years and abandoning you at the critical moment! Since you weren’t involved in this assassination incident, what do you think we should do about these followers of the nobles who desecrate the gods and attempt to bring disaster to you?!”
Hearing Davos’ words, the people in the courtyard became furious. But before they could begin thinking, someone shouted, “Hack them to death!”
Then another voice immediately followed, shouting, “Yes, let’s kill them! Kill these lackeys of the nobles!…”
Then many people began shouting along uncontrollably.
Davos nodded solemnly and said, “Alright! As you have suggested, we would tie these people to the cross outside the temple and have you vent your anger on them with a short sword!”
After saying that, he immediately allowed the guards to drag the bound and gagged criminals outside the temple.
Then many Romans, led by some, also followed out of the temple gate. Meanwhile, the people already outside the temple and didn’t know what had happened began asking one after another.
As a result, the informed people unconsciously added coals to their stories.
After Davos comforted the frightened priests and attendants of Diana, he led Kaldeas, Henipolis, Martius and others to pray at the temple under the watchful eyes of the Romans.
When they stepped out of the temple, the criminals hanging on the cross were all covered in wounds and dying. Yet there were still some Roman plebeians stabbing them with short swords given by the legionaries acting as guards.
Afterwards, Davos continued going to the temples of Vesta, Caelus, Liber and Libera, with everything going much more smoothly. Not only were there no accidents, but the temple priests also actively cooperated; even the people by the side of the road looked at them a little more kindly.
Davos naturally reciprocated that. So when he saw that the three temples of Caelus, Liber and Libera were small in size and their statues were crude and simple(it was because they were temples built using the money raised by the plebeians) and were still made of wood, he immediately said, “Once the war ends, the kingdom of Theonia will spend a lot of money to rebuild these three temples. Not only will we double its size, but we will also use ivory and gold to make the statue.”
Upon hearing that, the priests and attendants couldn’t help but be overjoyed and immediately expressed their thanks, “We will tell the kindness of the king of Theonia to the Romans who would come to pray!”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
While Davos went on to pray at the Roman temples, the Roman army had already arrived outside Rome.
In this army, there are about one thousand five hundred cavalries. After seeing the strength of the Theonian cavalry in the Battle of Volsci, Camillus tried to establish a cavalry unit gathered from Rome, their colonies and the allies, playing a significant role in the war to conquer Hernici.
Currently, Camillus ordered his cavalry to chase and kill the mounted scouts of Theonia. At the same time, he sent his soldiers to attack and occupy the defenceless river port and granary in the west of Rome. Unfortunately, the inside was already long empty.
Then Camillus ordered the whole army to start building camps.
The Roman soldiers looked at their homes, occupied by robbers and unable to enter, with a strong desire and resentment. To let the soldiers vent their emotions and other purposes, Camillus also allowed the army to send the soldiers to the city in turn to shout their anger.
Despite most of the Theonian soldiers at the top of the city wall being unable to understand their words, they also knew it wasn’t good. So they all asked permission to leave the city and beat the Romans. Unfortunately, their officials strictly stopped them.
With the Theonian army staying inside the city, the Romans began rampaging outside. Besides playing some tricks, the Romans didn’t attack the city immediately and were busy building camps. For a while, both sides were at peace.
After assigning all the tasks and arranging everything properly, Camillus came to the south of Rome and stood in front of Porta Caelius with his guards.
Someone holding a token of authority rushed near the city. After looking at the top of the city wall, he shouted in Greek, “Camillus, the dictator of Rome, wants to talk with your king! Camillus, the dictator of Rome…”
“Legatus, look…” the officer of the Second Legion asked Matonis, who had come after hearing the report.
Then without hesitation, Matonis said to the herald, “Go inform His Majesty!”
When Davos got the news, he had just finished praying at the temple and was returning to the Roman Forum. And he immediately decided to meet the famous dictator of Rome.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Waiting anxiously with the guards, Lucius began persuading his father, “The Theonians are taking an unreasonable amount of time to respond, clearly intending to humiliate us. Let us return!”
“Lucius, there’s no need to worry excessively. It’s okay to wait for a little longer.” Camillus said calmly, “For Rome, such insignificant suffering is nothing! Moreover, the soldiers can see the efforts we are making.”
His words made Lucius ponder.
Suddenly, a guard said loudly, “Lord dictator, look at the top of the city wall!”
Two massive banners suddenly appeared atop the city gate, shining brightly under midday sunlight.
At the same time, the Theonian soldiers atop the wall erupted in cheers.
Camillus turned serious and muttered, “Here comes the king of Theonia.”
The attendant who shouted at the front also rushed back and reported, “Lord dictator, the king of Theonia has agreed to talk to you.”
“Let’s go,” said Camillus.
When Lucius saw enemy soldiers crowding atop the city wall, he suddenly became worried and grabbed Camillus by the arm and said, “Father, don’t go.”
Camillus laughed and said, “Calm down. I have already mentioned before that the king of Theonia, renowned for his numerous victories and commitment to keeping promises, would never risk tarnishing his reputation by deceiving an old man like me!”
After saying that, he continued moving forward, and Lucius could only reluctantly follow closely with the guards.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Davos was slightly delayed because he had rushed back to the Senate and changed into his military uniform because he had worn a ceremonial chiton to pray at the temple. Then when he saw the lines of Romans approaching the city wall, he suddenly said, “Come, let’s go out to meet the dictator of Rome.”
“Your Majesty, that’s too dangerous!!” Matonis, Martius and the others were shocked, prompting them to dissuade Davos quickly.
“If the dictator of Rome dares to approach our fortified city, do we Theonians dare not go out to meet them in our territory?!” Davos then resolutely shouted, “We Theonians are not cowards!”
It was difficult for those around Davos to persuade him again after he said that.
“Your Majesty, then allow me to accompany you!” Said Matonis immediately.
Seeing his resolute expression, Davos just nodded.
Matonis solemnly ordered the officers under his command, “All of you must keep your eyes open. As soon as you see any suspicious movement, attack the enemy!”
Davos turned around and went down the city. Besides the slightly excited Henipolis, the rest of the people who accompanied him all looked serious.
In addition to Camillus, the approaching Romans were surprised when they saw the two banners atop the city gate disappearing, then the drawbridge fell, and the city gate opened.
Surrounded by the guards, Davos rode out of the city gate with the banner raised behind him. He then stood before the trench after crossing the drawbridge.