Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Chapter 783: The Siege of Rome (I)

With his confidence bolstered after touching the railings, Terentus untied the rope from his waist and securely fastened it to the railings. He then tugged on the rope and received a response from his teammates. Next, he grabbed an iron bar with one hand, squatted down to retrieve his tools, and took out the saw to begin sawing.

While Terentus was busy with his work, Izam suppressed his excitement and immediately dispatched another one of his men to cross the already connected rope, reached the bottom of the sewer outlet from the Ponte Aemilius without a problem, climbed easily to the outlet, gestured to Terentus and, without speaking, simply unhooked his tools and did the same as his teammate – sawing the railing and then breaking it off with large pliers.

After over twenty minutes, they finally opened a gap in the railing to allow people in and out.

Terentus removed his tools and threw them through the gap in the railing. Then he leaned down and struggled through the gap while clinging to the slippery moss and stinking sewage. After feeling relieved, he leaned his aching body against the embankment as he was too exhausted to care about the dirty rubbish in the sewer.

His teammate also quickly crawled in and tugged hard at the rope tied to the railings.

Although Izam had already anticipated the result earlier, he still couldn't help but feel excited, “Success! Success! Brothers, follow me and enter Rome together!”

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

In the morning, Crotokax woke up the still-asleep Davos.

Last night, Davos was busy contemplating today's siege until late at night. But once he received Izam's message, his mind finally became at ease, and he could no longer resist the urge to sleep.

When he woke, the still-dazed Davos immediately asked, “Did something happen?!”

“No, Father. The legates are all waiting for you to give the order to attack!” Crotokax replied hurriedly.

Davos realised he had just lost his composure, so he hit his face with his palm to clear his mind. Then he stood up and said, “Bring me my armour!”

The servant immediately brought the armour and, along with Crotokatax, helped Davos to put it on,

“There's no need to be in a hurry.” Davos reassured his son and asked, “What's the weather condition?”

“Father, the weather is clear today!” Crotokax replied instantly.

“That’s a good omen!” Davos smiled and took the helmet from his servant. After Davos put on the helmet and straightened it, he calmly said, “Come, let's go and meet the protagonists of today's siege!”

After saying that, he strode towards the command tent next to him.

“Your Majesty!!” The legates in the tent immediately stood up to salute and watch as Davos walked onto the main seat.

Amintas – the legatus of the First Legion, Matonis – the legatus of the Second Legion, Litom – the legatus of the Third Legion, Olivos – the legatus of the Fourth Legion, Giorgris – the legatus of the Fifth Legion, Trotidis – the legatus of the Sixth Legion, Ledes – the Legatus of the First Cavalry Legion, Kurcius – the Legatus of the Second Cavalry Legion, and Miltiades – the navarch of the Third Fleet… Davos glanced slowly over them, each face, scarred and roughened by years of battle, now filled with excitement and anticipation.

At this moment, the excitement in their eyes gave Davos more confidence as he smiled broadly and said, “It seems everyone's confidence is high, so what are we still waiting for? Let's prepare to attack!”

“Yes, Your Majesty!” The legates responded with a smile.

“Litom and Miltiades, the Third Fleet and Third Legion under your command will start attacking half an hour after the other legions attack!”

“Yes!”

That was all Davos said, ending with, “Everyone, take Rome before nightfall! I await the news of your victory here!”

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

In the magnificent temple of the Roman god Jupiter on Mons Capitolinus in Rome, a group of priests led by Flagius Iulus prayed devoutly to the gods. Behind them were several Roman senators and officers led by the city guard prefect – the older Scipio.

The offering ceremony of Rome was relatively simple: After the prayer ended, a group of priests responsible for divining would appear holding a rooster with a red comb and its feathers mostly red. Then a priest would scatter a handful of lentils on the ground and release the rooster.

The hungry rooster(which hadn't eaten anything since yesterday afternoon until this morning) had its eyes immediately widened upon seeing the lentils on the ground, kicked its leg, and flapped its wings as it pounced towards the lentils like a bolt of lightning. Its head kept pecking at the lentils, making the people around dizzy.

In the blink of an eye, the rooster ate the handful of lentils until nothing was left. But the rooster still wandered around the temple unsatisfied, looking for more food.

Upon seeing the sacred rooster's behaviour, the onlookers all showed happy expressions since they already knew it was an auspicious sign, even without needing the priest to declare the result!

At the same time, the priests conducting bird divination outside the temple had also completed their task(One of the most important forms of divination for Roman priests. The priests would divide the sky into four parts and look for anomalies in any part of the sky, such as dark clouds, flocks of birds, and rain….and then decide whether it is a good or bad omen). After the priests entered the temple, they proclaimed loudly, “It's an auspicious omen! It's a great fortune!”

The people inside and outside the temple cheered.

And the people and soldiers at the foot felt a surge of confidence when they heard the cheering coming from the hill.

But then, a resounding salpinx sounded from outside the city, causing the expression of the people on Mons Capitolinus to suddenly changed, ‘Has the Theonian begun their attack?!’

The older Scipio hurried to the edge of the hill and looked northwest: In the distance, many figures appeared in front of the enemy's camp(This was the camp of the First Legion of Theonia) and began forming up.

The older Scipio tried to maintain his composure as he turned to the generals and said, “The Theonians have begun to attack. Each of you should return to your area, command the citizens and defend Rome!”

“Yes!!” The generals replied vigorously.

The older Scipio then led them down, and the crowd at the foot of the hill, mostly women and children, took the initiative to make way for the generals while wishing for their victory and repelling the enemy.

After an emergency mobilisation the night before and yesterday, the city of Rome managed to enlist about twenty-five thousand soldiers, which the older Scipio had divided into four, based on the Theonian camp outside the city: Five thousand soldiers to defend the north-eastern section of the wall, five thousand to defend the western wall, ten thousand to defend the southern wall, which corresponds precisely to the huge Theonian camp outside the city, and the remaining less than five thousand to protect the Roman bridge to the north.

Magnus Atilius, a cavalry officer among the three thousand elite soldiers left behind in Rome, was the one to command the defence of the city wall in the northeast. Since he had come from a prestigious family in Rome and was a seasoned officer who had fought on many battlefields, the older Scipio entrusted him with the heavy responsibility of defending the northeastern section of the wall, which was the longest and furthest from the centre of Rome. So after going down the hill, he didn't need to go far and immediately went up to the city wall next to Mons Capitolinus.

Some Roman soldiers immediately gathered around him and said, “General, the enemy is starting to attack!!”

Magnus was surrounded by young men under eighteen, their childish faces filled with excitement and tension. They held spears and leather shields as they looked at Magnus like a child looking at their parents.

“Don't panic! With our high walls and deep trenches, the enemy cannot reach us! The sacred rooster has also eaten all the feed, proving that the great god Jupiter has given us good fortune, and we will repulse the Theonians. Jupiter has blessed Rome!”

After listening to Magnus' encouraging words, all the soldiers cheered.

Magnus squeezed out of the crowd and found his adjutant. Then he told him in a serious tone, “Notify the centurions of each centuriae to keep their men in line and stay in their positions. Otherwise, they will face the military law!”

The adjutant immediately executed the military order.

Magnus saw rows of soldiers sitting against the outer wall, their weapons and even helmets on the ground, revealing their hair that had almost turned white. They were talking to each other in such a relaxed manner, seemingly unaware that the battle was about to begin…

These were Roman citizens all over the age of fifty, and while their strength had weakened and they were no longer muscular due to their old age, it did not change the fact that they had all fought in many battles. And Magnus trusted these old soldiers more than the young soldiers who had not yet experienced war. That was also out of helplessness because his team comprised only the elderly, the young, and a few plebeians and slaves, who he could not trust as they had almost caused a huge mess yesterday.

Magnus held onto the battlement and gazed into the distance.

Theonia's army had advanced to a distance he could see them clearly: Theonia's army was divided into groups of more than a dozen heavy infantry brigades, with long and wide planks covering their head, forming loose columns and spaced farther apart as they slowly approached the city wall.

“Blow the horn and prepare the soldiers for battle!” Magnus ordered.

The horn soon sounded, and the Roman soldiers, under the command of their centurion, quickly donned their armour, grabbed their weapons and took up a defensive position while watching the approaching enemy, ready to attack at any moment. The older citizens acted as auxiliaries, carrying bundles of javelins, arrows, jars of tar, and even stones and wood, placing them in designated positions…

Although the leading Theonian soldiers were less than one hundred and fifty metres away from the city, which was within the range of archers, Magnus still didn't give the order to attack. But suddenly, a few sparse arrows were fired from the top of the city wall.