Chapter 17 Active Maximus

It is precisely because of these considerations that Gaius Claudius Grabo ordered the recruiting officers to recruit soldiers with combat experience as much as possible.

Grabo's idea is good, but the problem is that a few years ago, Marius' subordinate Quintus Cedo stayed in Iberia to start a rebellion and won repeated victories. Later, he joined the remnant army of the former consul Lepidus of the popular faction. The military strength increased greatly. In order to quell the chaos, Rome even violated hundreds of years of political tradition and asked Pompey, who was only 30 years old and was neither a legal officer nor a consul, to lead the army on an expedition, and also added two additional troops to his army. Soldiers, there are not many excellent soldiers left who have combat experience in Rome.

Grabber had to lower his demands and recruit some veterans. These veterans were all Sulla's subordinates, and they marched into Rome with Sulla. After Sulla became the dictator, in order to fulfill his promise, he vigorously built colonial cities in Italy (such as Florence), allocated land to his soldiers, and settled them well. But the problem is that these soldiers have been fighting in the field all year round. When the daggers in their hands turned into hoes, they no longer knew how to farm. Year after year, many people went bankrupt due to farmland management, and had to influx again due to poverty. Rome is looking for a living, but now it has been ten years since they forced Rome, and the veterans who were not recruited by Pompey are all over 40 years old.

Clabo did not dislike them. Instead, he made these veterans serve as captains of ten and centurions to help him manage the new soldiers.

It took only a few days to recruit soldiers, a few more to form an army, and then Grabo led his army into the war without training.

Rome is about 400 miles away from Mount Vesuvius. Even with the Latina and Agna roads, it would take four or five days to travel by land. Taking the sea route would undoubtedly save time, but Grabo chose to take the land route because it could drive new recruits. They seize the time to train by marching and camping on land.

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"My name is Puro. I come from Egypt. I live on the lower reaches of the Nile. I once owned my own land. It was very fertile land! When the flood season is about to end, I will build embankments with mud and drain the remaining water. Stay in the field, and then start sowing. When the harvest season comes, the field is full of heavy wheat...

Later, there was a war in Egypt. The village chief, who had long coveted my family's land, falsely accused me of having an affair with the rebels. The city lord arrested our whole family without any hesitation and threw us into prison. Later, we were sold to Roman slave traders. , was locked in a hold that was crowded with people and was as hot as a stove. On the way to Italy...my wife...children...all fell ill and died..."

Standing in the middle of the yard, a man who was as thin as a skeleton in tattered single clothes burst into tears at the end. There were many people sitting around him, all of them with heavy expressions. Everyone was listening carefully and empathizing. Some people even Tears were also shed.

At this time, Maximus, who was sitting on the ground in the front row, stood up and said loudly and sincerely: "Puluo, like us, was bullied by those who were rich and powerful. He lost his home and his family. In the end, you have to work hard for those rich people under the pressure of sticks. Is this fair, brothers?"

"Unfair!!!" The people around shouted in unison.

"Yes, this is very unfair." Maximus looked solemn. He was silent for a moment, and then his voice rose again: "Fortunately, he has joined us now, joining our group of countless brothers who are also suffering. As a team, we have no bullying or oppression here, only care and help for each other. We are united like brothers in order to resist the Romans, defeat the rich, and obtain the freedom and happiness we want. Brothers, are you right?"

"right!!!"

"Welcome to join us, Pro, our brother!" Maximus looked sincere and gave the other party a tight hug, then led him into the crowd, and everyone stepped forward to hug him.

Prey was still filled with tears at this moment, but he was very excited.

The courtyard was noisy for a while, and then gradually became quiet again.

Maximus looked at another slave who had recently joined the baggage team not far away. He had an old face and was estimated to be over fifty years old. So far, those who have joined the uprising team are basically young slaves. Slaves are still relatively rare, so he was inevitably curious and said, "Please ask the next brother who joins us to come up and introduce his experience."

The old man walked to the center of the yard. Compared with Prolo's nervousness when he first spoke, he seemed calmer: "My name is Vorenus, a Samnite. I became a slave when I was very young. My master Titus. Longus was a knight in Rome. I grew up with him. He treated me very well, like a family member. Later, he paid for my freedom and sent me here to manage the farm for him..."

When the slaves heard this, most of them looked a little unhappy. They came from various farms in the Vesuvius region, and most of the suffering they suffered on the farms was caused by the foremen.

"...I have managed the farm very well, and the owner is very satisfied with it. He is ready to apply for me to become a Roman citizen...but Sulla...that damn Sulla!" The old man suddenly raised his voice and his face became ferocious: " He led his army into Rome and massacred the plebeians. Someone falsely accused my master of colluding with Lepidus, but in fact he was coveting the farm my master owned in Vesuvius. As a result, the damn tyrant executed him without even checking the facts. My master, and I was also falsely accused of frequently acting as a messenger for my master, delivering messages to the civilian faction, and was deprived of my free status and became a slave again. My family... my family was sold to other places, and I don’t know whether they are alive or dead... Ten years! In these ten years, I have been cursing Sulla and the Roman Senate all the time, and thinking about revenge all the time!

When I first heard about you, I wanted to run over and join you, but I was guarded by the guards at the farm. I was too old to act rashly. Today you attacked the farm where I was, and I was the first to respond. After hearing the call of the leader of Spartacus, I can swear to Jupiter that although I do not have the ability to fight the Romans, I am willing to do anything else that can help the team defeat the Romans! "

After hearing this, the slaves had a changed view of the old man. When Maximus shouted "Okay!", they all clapped vigorously (applause, come on, this is what I learned from Maximus) ), conveying their goodwill to Vorenus.

"That's it for the self-introductions of the new brothers who joined the baggage team today. From tomorrow on, you will work with the big guys. After you get familiar with it, our captain Hamilka will assign specific tasks to you. Understand Are you ready?" Maximus asked cheerfully.

Vorenus, Pro and others nodded.

"Raius."

"Here!" a forty-year-old skinny man responded.

"You will be responsible for their accommodation arrangements."

"OK."

Maximus looked around the entire yard. The slaves were all sitting around the yard. There were obviously many more slaves than at the beginning. They should all have come quietly from other teams. He was happy to see this and shouted loudly. Asked: "Brothers, what should we do next?"

"Tell a story!!" the slaves shouted.

"No, we have to learn before we tell stories!" Maximus said seriously: "Yesterday we learned addition and subtraction within 10. Today, before learning new arithmetic, let's review it first. Akago , Cassius, you two go and bring the blackboard."

"Yes." The two slave boys immediately carried a wooden frame next to them to the center of the field.

One side of the board was coated with black paint. Maximus took a piece of limestone and said: "For example, there are five bags of wheat in the yard, and we moved four bags of wheat from the farm outside. Now there are a total of How many bags of wheat?" He wrote "5+4" on the blackboard and asked, "Who will answer this arithmetic problem?"