Chapter 3137 delirium (seven)

Although gladiatorial combat was cruel, it was the way the Romans thought they could maintain their fighting power.

Greek aesthetics and mythology were integrated into Roman life. Of course, this also caused disaster for ancient Greek sculptures. They were brought back to Rome by the Roman conquerors and used to decorate their luxurious homes.

Gladiators generally have very toned muscles. On the one hand, muscles can protect important organs and avoid real damage. Just seeing blood is enough to drive the audience crazy. On the one hand, it is in line with the audience's aesthetics and cognition. How can a thin slave be powerful?

However, if you want to build muscle, you not only need to exercise, but also need a good diet. Many professional fitness athletes will eat protein powder, and there are also a lot of protein-rich foods. Gladiators cannot eat too much meat. One reason is that they Being slaves, another reason is that they are not building muscle just to show it off. In historical records, they are called "hordearii" (barley people) because their food contains a lot of barley and beans, and beans are also an important source of protein.

To digest this food, gladiators would drink a concoction made from charred wood or ashes, which also increased bone density and strength.

The Roman legions also liked to drink wheat porridge. Although the Greeks ridiculed them as "porridge eaters", the Roman legions after Marius' reform were well-trained and kept the surrounding countries awake at night. However, these people may have lived a life without food before becoming soldiers. They know better than anyone else what "failure" means if they live a life of food or hijack a hygienic life. So even though the heavy wooden shields used in training were twice as large as the equipment used on the battlefield, and they often had to carry their own baggage, the "mules" persisted.

For people with balanced nutrition, a cold is just a trivial matter, but for people who lack medical treatment and are malnourished, it can be fatal.

The same is true for the slaves who were abandoned by the slave owners on Aesculapius Island, and the same is true for the homeless people on the streets. The slaves engaged in agriculture do not have the value of "reward". The purpose of their existence is to create wealth for the master, even if the master Unlike Damofilas, who let the slaves plunder and feed themselves would not be given good food. The emmer kernels were hard, with the outer husk still intact, making them difficult to chew and swallow, and looked like goat hay compared with the soft bread that slave owners ate.

Compared to Spartacus, it can be said that Moses had a smooth journey when he led his people out of Egypt. When there was no water to drink, water would come out by hitting a rock with a stick. When there was no food, mana would fall from the sky to satisfy their hunger. It is said that it tastes like marshmallows, but even so, they still missed the comfortable life in Egypt and regretted leaving. .

Of course, if you have to make a comparison, even agricultural slaves have a much better living environment than slaves in the mines, which is also a place for sick and old slaves.

By observing ants, we can see that although they are small, they can move heavy objects as long as there are enough of them. Although mining is strenuous work, it is a waste to let a strong slave do it. If he is exhausted to death, it will be a big loss for the slave owner.

Those who are sick and old will die when they die. Anyway, they are cheap. As long as the work they do is enough to pay for their worth, it is not a loss for the slave owner.

But not all mines are slaves like this. There are always some unlucky ones who fall into that situation and experience the life of the underworld in advance in the dark mine tunnels.

These people were also more determined to resist slavery than other slaves. Although becoming a freed slave was difficult, it was not hopeless, and there was almost no other way to go to the mine.

At first, the Romans believed that the Roman legions after Marius' reform would be a crushing victory against these slaves. However, the actual situation was not what they thought.

As the rebels passed through more and more places, more and more people participated in the uprising, and the damage they caused to Rome became more and more severe, almost comparable to what Hannibal had caused in Rome.

With so many slaves eating horse chews, of course they needed supplies. When the Israelites came to Egypt due to drought, Pharaoh believed Joseph's words and made preparations in advance during the seven years of plenty, so as not to bring destruction to the country.

Another feature of the Cato-style manor was reserves. Cato told the manor owners that it would be more profitable to store the harvest when there was a good harvest and sell it when there was a shortage.

After the 1st century BC, Cato-style manors became less popular. At the same time, as the Roman legions changed from a conscription system to a recruitment system, agriculture was no longer regarded as a "soldier's school." As the "Eternal City" Rome grew in importance and a large number of people moved in, both agriculture and the wine industry began to decline.

If you are used to sweet wine, you will lose some of the sweetness when you drink watered wine. Lead can make up for this taste deficiency.

Although Dionysus is usually regarded as the god of wine in ancient Greek folklore, he also served as the god of agriculture in mythology, but this job was later replaced by Demeter, the mother of Persephone, the queen of the underworld. Just wine, drama and fun.

Dionysus was the son of Zeus, and in ancient Roman mythology, Saturn was the father of Jupiter.

In order to encircle and suppress Spartacus's army, the ancient Roman Senate changed generals one after another.

Spartacus was originally a Thracian. If he crossed the Alps, he might go to Gaul. The Romans might also intend to let him go. After all, fighting in Rome itself, Spartacus became Gaul. King, trying to conquer him is just repeating the process of the last conquest.

It should be easier to cross the Alps in summer than in winter. After all, there are no blizzards that may come at any time. Hannibal's elephants were frozen to death.

However, Spartacus changed his mind and returned to Rome.

Crassus was 42 years old at this time. He was originally a businessman in ancient Rome and was the governor of Sicily at the time. He was not as good at fighting as Pompey, who was 25 years old and had great military achievements.

But in Spain at that time, distant water could not save the nearby fire, so Crassus took the initiative to ask for help. The Senate immediately handed over six legions and a large number of auxiliary troops to him, and granted him absolute command.

These were the only remaining troops in Rome. If Spartacus defeated them, Rome would be undefendable, but Spartacus bypassed them and headed for Sicily.

In order to restore the morale of the Roman legions and no longer see Spartacus's army fleeing, Crassus used the law of eleven killings. Although this law existed, it was rarely used, even when Marius was in Aarau The Battle of Theo was only announced as "coming soon."

It is said that 4,000 soldiers died because of this order. After the implementation of this law, no Roman legionnaires fled when facing Spartacus, and Crassus also had almost dictatorial power at this time.

Spartacus's rebel army once consisted of two parts, one part was foreigners like Spartacus, and the other part was bankrupt farmers. They also hoped to defeat the Romans and regain their own land... …

"Is this the meaningful thing you're talking about?" Severus said, standing at the door of her room.

Pomona looked at him by the light of the desk lamp. Fortunately, there was no dust on him.

"Is there dinner provided at the palace?" Pomona asked, standing up.

"No, I ate outside." He said perfunctorily.

Pomona walked across from him and sniffed closer.

"What did you have for dinner?" she asked softly.

He lowered his head and looked at her silently.

"Lie." She raised her hand and poked his chest, "Does the palace allow you to stay that late?"

He smiled, showing yellow teeth.

"Don't ghosts only appear at night?"

"Come on, let's go have dinner." Pomona walked around him and walked to the living room.

"I just saw that the restaurant is closed." Severus said standing still.

"I didn't say I was going to eat out." Pomona said, coming to the dining table in the living room, moving his pile of documents aside, and then placing the food covered with a silver lid on the table.

"You brought it from Hogwarts?" Severus asked.

"No, it's from the restaurant downstairs. After dinner, I have to return the plates to others." Pomona said, snapping her fingers, all the covers flew up, and the food inside was still steaming hot. Like it was freshly cooked.

"How do you know I'm not eating out?" Severus asked.

"Did you really eat the sushi for lunch?" Pomona asked.

"That's funny. Do I still pretend to eat?" He smiled sarcastically.

She looked at him and shook his head.

"You haven't eaten all day."

He gradually stopped smiling.

"I can understand you not eating the bean soup and pancakes in the morning, but why not lunch?" Pomona asked.

"Those fish and meat have never been cooked at all." He said with a cold face, "If humans have been eating that kind of food, why do they need to learn to use fire?"

"I don't know what tricks you're playing, sit down now," Pomona said, pointing to the seat opposite her.

"I'm not a child anymore!" He looked like he refused to cooperate.

So Pomona gave a fake smile.

"Please sit down," she said in a sweet voice.

Now Mr. Dean finally had the honor to sit opposite her.

"I really hope you have the same attitude towards Mr. A." Pomona said in as calm a voice as possible, stressing the word "Mr."

He looked at the dishes carefully.

"Why are they all made of minced meat?" he asked slightly confused.

On the table are Sicilian meatball pasta, Sicilian meat pie, Sicilian fried rice dumplings and so on.

"Didn't you feel any hint?" Pomona asked, maintaining a mask-like smile.

He looked at her warily.

"How about we make a deal?" Pomona crossed her hands on her chest and leaned against the back of her chair. "I'll tell you a direction, just like I told the female Auror today, to accomplish her purpose, and you tell me a direction." secret."

He also followed her example and leaned back on the chair.

"How do I know what you're saying is valuable?" he said like a shrewd Slytherin.

In the past, he followed the mysterious man, surrounded by Death Eaters who wanted to perform meritorious deeds, attract the mysterious man's attention or reward his favor, and like them, after hearing the prophecy, he eagerly reported it to the mysterious man.

Severus was unlike James. He had never received much favor since he was a child, either from his parents or from Lady Luck.

No matter who it is, even Lily who is about the same age as him, as long as she protects him, he will feel satisfied.

But when a boy reaches a certain age, he no longer wants to hide behind a girl. Especially in the fifth grade, he tried to ride on a broomstick to attract Lily's attention.

This kind of partial love can come from anyone, even a mysterious person who has never loved anyone before.

"Our world is full of all kinds of morals and obligations." Pomona said slowly. "As the old fool often says, for the 'greater good,' but I also hope you can remember one thing, don't do it for these, Denying the value and existence of individual life.”

"Do you really believe what you say?" Severus asked.

She smiled bitterly.

"Replace the first half of what I just said with whatever you think is right. I want to tell you a story, a story about 'meat mince'."

Then she sat up straight and picked up the cutlery.

"We're talking while we eat."

He hesitated for a while, then finally picked up his fork and started eating the Sicilian meatball spaghetti in front of him.

She really hoped that the tramp who played Major William Martin had eaten this as his last meal before he died. After all, all condemned prisoners could enjoy the last supper.

But it was precisely because he died of pneumonia and his lungs were filled with water that he could disguise himself as a man who fell into the sea and drowned.

In fact, if you want to confuse Hitler and make him believe that the Allies are going to attack Sardinia instead of Sicily, complete the important landing plan, and "act" the scene more realistically, you may be able to actually execute a death row prisoner by drowning. The outlet of the Thames River is not far away.

Fortunately, no one thought to test whether the water in Major Martin's lungs was seawater, whether the algae in the seawater was Spanish and Mediterranean, and whether Major Martin's nutritional status met the standards of an active British officer.

Everyone's attention is focused on the "top secret" military intelligence, or who reported it to the head of state and made this great contribution.

"So they took the bait, and then what?" Severus said expressionlessly as he "destroyed" the noodles on the plate.

"It's the details, Severus, and this." Pomona placed a tarot card on the dining table, and his eyes shifted to her hand.

"Do you recognize this card?" Pomona took his hand away.

"The Sorcerer," Severus said, looking at the card and then moving his eyes to her face.

"Do you know what this card means?" she asked with a smile.

"Created out of nothing," he said slowly.

"How are you going to convince people that you have important information?" Pomona asked, then looking at the piles of documents. "Or are you going to get rid of these 'jokes'?"

"What do you want to know?" Severus asked.

Pomona turned her head and he was looking at her intently.

She felt uncomfortable and stroked her hair awkwardly.

"Can you tell me if Lucius Malfoy plans to take this opportunity to leave England." She whispered, mustering up the courage to look at him.

"You're just talking and haven't eaten anything." He placed a plate of seafood rolls in front of her, "Try this."

She didn't really want to eat it, because the "leaves" used to make Sicilian seafood rolls are sumac leaves, and most sumacs are poisonous, except for the sumac in Sicily, which was used by the Romans for sourness before lemons were introduced to Europe. agent.

"Why don't you eat?" Severus asked.

"This method is not authentic. The boss uses cabbage." She said deliberately, although the boss said that he used sumac powder instead, and the taste is the same as that wrapped in Sicilian sumac leaves.

"Isn't it filled with meat?" He looked at the shrimp in the seafood roll and said, "Why are you ordering it if you don't want to eat it?"

"I……"

"Don't waste food." He said with a condescending air, "There are also vegetables that need to be eaten."

"I'm not a child." She took the plate, "I don't need you to remind me."

Then she picked up her fork and took a bite of the vegetable roll. The boss added yogurt to the seafood. For a moment, she couldn't tell whether the sour taste was from yogurt or sumac powder.

"There's something stuck on your face." He said casually, then stood up and crossed the dining table, reaching out to wipe the sauce from the corner of her mouth.

However, before she could say thank you, he had already licked the sauce on his thumb and tasted it carefully.

"Toxic," he said, staring at Pomona.

"It's not poisonous, this is Sicilian sumac." She said absentmindedly, eating the seafood roll with her face turned sideways, unconsciously becoming elegant.

"You knew there was sumac in the dish?" Severus asked.

"The boss said he let it go. I have never tasted the taste of sumac leaves. As you know, most sumac leaves are poisonous." Pomona lowered his head. "Only the Sicilian sumac leaves are not poisonous."

"Why don't you raise your head and talk to me?"

"Who said I didn't raise my head?" She raised her head pretending to be calm.

"Do you want a diamond ring?" He grabbed her hand and said, "The ring will look great on you."

She thought of the bill for the engagement ring Major Martin had given his fiancée on credit.

"That's not what I want." She took back her hand, "We just agreed."

"I'll talk about it after I test it." He said as he stood up and picked it up from the pile of documents.

"By the time you finish the experiment, Malfoy has already settled in Iceland." Pomona stood up, "How can you break your promise!"

"To prove that your words are valuable, we have to wait until the experiment is successful." He said without looking back. "Besides, you don't need to worry about it, your Auror friends will also be able to do something."

"Aurors and I are not friends."

He ignored her completely, and after finding the necessary documents, he walked around the dining table and kissed her hard on the cheek.

"Thank you, 'my friend'." He said cheerfully, then took the documents to the master bedroom and closed the door with a bang.

But after a long time, she didn't hear him using Floo, and she didn't know what he was doing inside.

Then Pomona looked at the leftovers on the table. It was impossible for her to handle it alone. She thought he would eat them all if he didn't eat for a day.

"Looks like it's only for other people to eat." Pomona said, continuing to eat dinner alone.

In fact, she feels that resurrection is not a miracle. There are many misdiagnosed deaths in medicine, and people just look dead.

If the mysterious man will "come back" as the centaur said, then kill him again, come back and kill him again until he can no longer be resurrected.

So, if someone were to stuff something into her mouth before she died, it would be best if they paid for a ferry across the River Styx.

Maybe, this is why Veela is a "beast".

Lily rebounded the mysterious man's magic. Pomona was more willing to believe that Lily used wandless magic than Albus's constant talk of love and sacrifice.

She was a witch, even though she didn't like that word.

Why deny your own existence? What's wrong with accepting yourself for who you are?

"I know who I am, do you know who you are?" She said to herself, and also to the ghosts living in this house, who thought they were alive and continued to live in the apartment.

In fact, the apartment Severus lived in was also a "haunted house". His father killed his entire family and then committed suicide. After that, several renters moved in, but they were all scared away.

When Mrs. Hall saw someone dared to live in the house, she couldn't help but take a few more glances, as if to make sure she was not dead here.

"Would you poison me?" Pomona said with a smile, taking a bite of the sour seafood roll.

Although poisoning and killing is a common murder method for women, who knows.

After all, he is a "potion master" who is good at black magic.