Chapter 394 Land Exchange

The vast majority of Caesar's lovers were senators and noble ladies, and there was certainly a reason for this. Because according to the characteristics of Roman political life, senators had to hold a series of positions, many of which required them to stay overseas all year round, and married women often had to stay alone in their empty rooms for a long time, which gave Caesar the opportunity to get close to them.

For these noble ladies, Caesar was very charming, and few people could resist his charm. Because he dressed very individually, he determined the tone of Roman fashion, and many young people followed suit; he attached great importance to his appearance and gestures, and always did things differently, making him unique among Roman youth.

The noble ladies were flattered to be favored by Caesar, and his bad reputation for being a playboy might have made them feel more excited.

It was during the period when Crassus led his troops to encircle and suppress the Spartacus uprising that Caesar came into contact with Tertula, who was alone in her empty room.

Crassus's ears and eyes were all over Rome, and he soon learned about their affair after returning to Rome.

But he did not retaliate immediately, but he began to pay attention to this political newcomer who was regarded as a "dandy" by others.

In the following years, in addition to Pompey, who was shining in Rome, Caesar's performance was also quite eye-catching.

He held a grand funeral for his aunt and wife, portrayed himself as the heir of the civilian party, performed well in court as a lawyer, and cheered for Pompey to serve as the commander of the pirates in the Senate...

Compared with other low-level senators who had just entered the Senate and followed the rules and were afraid of making mistakes, Caesar was not only ambitious, but also extremely bold and presumptuous, which made many conservative senators quite dissatisfied. Catullus even criticized Caesar in person: "... Now Caesar is not secretly destroying the defense of the Republic, but launching an attack on the front!"

However, the richest man in Rome, who was good at dealing with people, felt that Caesar's unconventional behavior in Roman politics showed his unique talent, and perhaps he could give him great help in the future.

Therefore, he did not take any punitive action against his wife's lover, and deliberately ignored the fact that Caesar had been cheering for his political enemy Pompey in the past two years. Instead, he warmly entertained Caesar and generously lent him much more money than Caesar had borrowed.

With this money, Caesar began to renovate and improve the Appian Way and its ancillary buildings.

His money would not be wasted. All voters who traveled to Rome through this road would remember that Caesar paid for them out of his own pocket.

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Just as Pompey went to the East to continue to gain greater glory and Caesar began to show his talents in the Roman political arena, in the spring of 66 BC (the seventh year of the establishment of the Nix tribe), the Nix tribe's annexation of Brochi and the conquest of Antizeti and Mazii were also in full swing.

The military operation against Antizeti went very smoothly. The troops led by Aulus and Pecot attacked the Antizeti territory in two ways and encountered almost no resistance. They were unstoppable all the way and finally successfully captured the main village of Andizeti.

Moreover, the top leaders of the Nixes overestimated the reaction of the Skodischi tribe. The Skodischi tribe had been on the passive defense for a long time and knew nothing about the appearance of a Nixes tribe to the west of the Pannoni tribal alliance. Naturally, they did not know that this new tribe had defeated the Pannoni army many times and had become the most terrible enemy of the Pannoni people.

Because Andizeti had previously withdrawn most of the tribal warriors to rescue Brochi in a relatively secretive manner, the Skodischi tribe did not notice the abnormality for a while, so they did not make any preparations in advance.

When the Skodischi sentinels who were exploring the border found that a strange army that was completely different from Andizeti suddenly appeared on the border and captured Andizeti villages one after another along the border, the Skodischi tribe was shocked.

Moreover, this army was well-equipped, high-spirited, and its combat effectiveness seemed to be stronger than that of the Andizeti (Pequot even deliberately let the army march armed on the border to show off its military power to the Skodishchi tribe). Therefore, the top leaders of the Skodishchi tribe did not cheer for the attack on their enemy Andizeti. Instead, they felt very nervous. On the one hand, they urgently mobilized the tribesmen to be defensive and alert, and on the other hand, they sent people to inform the Dacian tribe to the south of them about this.

The tense atmosphere on the border between the Skodishchi tribe and the Andizeti continued for many days until the strange army sent a delegation of envoys to the main camp of the Skodishchi tribe.

The top leaders of the Skodishchi tribe were surprised to find that the delegation of envoys was almost all Skodishchi people, and the leader was called Govis.

Govis introduced the situation of the Nix tribe to the top leaders of the Skodishchi tribe, and clearly expressed the tribe's friendly intentions towards the Skodishchi.

Although the top leaders of the Skodishchi tribe were somewhat wary of the fact that the Nix tribe had destroyed several Pannoni tribes in succession only a few years after its establishment, they were relieved when they learned that many of the tribe members were once Skodishchi people.

They warmly entertained the envoys and further asked Govis and others about the situation of the Nix tribe in detail.

Govis and others also intended to understand the relationship between the Skodishchi tribe and the Dacians. At the same time, they also witnessed with their own eyes the poverty of the people of the Skodishchi tribe.

Because they were all from the Scodischi, the two sides got along well. However, when the leader of the Scodischi proposed that he was "willing to send troops to eliminate Andizeti together with the Nix army", Govis politely refused on the grounds that "Andizeti has been completely occupied by the tribal army".

After the return of the envoys, the tense atmosphere on the southern border of Andizeti was greatly relieved.

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The army led by Tolerogo and Carminus was frequently harassed by a small group of Mazii warriors on the way to the Mazii territory, but the Nix army had been prepared for this, so that the Mazii people's attempt to slow down the Nix army's advance failed.

After entering the basin in the mountains, the Nix army went straight to the main camp of Mazii. After careful preparation, it conquered it in one fell swoop, and then divided its troops to capture various villages in the basin.

The success of the war gave Tolergo a lot of confidence. He ignored the dissuasion of Carminus and Gilicus and let his troops continue to march towards the Mazii village in the mountains. As a result, they were ambushed and suffered some casualties.

Maximus was furious and sent an envoy to the main camp of Mazii to severely criticize "Tolergo for not implementing the planned plan, taking too many risks, and causing unnecessary losses to the army!".

For this reason, his position as the commander of the army was stripped, and Carminus took over to continue the conquest of the Mazii territory.

Carminus decisively stopped the attack on the Mazii tribe in the mountains, concentrated his strength to consolidate his control over the basin in the mountains, and fully cooperated with Gilicus and his men to lobby and attack the Mazii tribes...

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In the spring of 66 BC, after more than a month of observation, the top leaders of the Scodisci tribe finally determined that the Nix tribe had no ill will towards them.

In order to survive, the Skodishchi tribe has always relied heavily on the help of the Dacians. After the Dacian-Boii coalition won the battle, the Dacian tribes counterattacked across the board, captured the Boii's territory on the east bank of the Danube, and completely drove the Boii back to the west bank.

This made the Skodishchi tribe jealous, so they also asked the Dacians: to attack the Pannoni together.

But the Dacians refused without hesitation, which made the Skodishchi tribe leaders somewhat dissatisfied.

This time, the Skodishchi tribe asked the Dacians for help again. The Dacians were not very active at the beginning. After learning that the Nix army did not invade the Skodishchi tribe's territory, they even rebuked the "Skodischi people for making a fuss."

The indifference of the allies forced the Skodishchi tribe leaders to think: Should we have one more friend and one more way?

So, they sent an envoy to the Nix tribe.

The envoys went north and saw the lively scene of Andizeti and Brochi villages being divided into fields and houses and starting spring ploughing under the leadership of the Nix garrison, which confirmed that what the Nix envoys said before was true.

In the former Brochi main camp, the envoys met Maximus, the leader of the Nix tribe, who warmly welcomed the envoys.

This is not a superficial article, but the arrival of the Scodischi envoys is exactly what the Nix tribe needs.

First of all, this action shows that the Dacians have no ill will towards the suddenly rising Nix tribe, otherwise the Scodischi tribe, which relies entirely on the Dacians, would not dare to send envoys, so that the Nix tribe can be bolder in formulating future strategic plans.

Secondly, the Nix tribe needed to have a good talk with the Skodishchi tribe, because after Aulus and Pekot occupied the Andizeti territory, they found a problem: the land on both sides of the lower reaches of the Sava River was indeed within the territory of the Andizeti, but there were large tracts of mudflats and swamps at the confluence with the Danube, and neither side had effectively occupied them.

Of course, the Pannonian Alliance and the Skodishchi tribe were enemies, and their strength was far stronger than the other side. The fleet entered and exited this section of the river in a big way, and the Skodishchi tribe had no power to stop it. However, the Nix tribe did not intend to be an enemy of the Skodishchi tribe, nor did they want the fleet to frequently enter and exit the confluence of the two rivers in the future, which would cause dissatisfaction among the Skodishchi tribe and lead to hostility from the Dacians...

So when the Nix tribe's commercial officer Pigris negotiated with the Skodishchi envoy, he proposed a request to "use some of the original land in the south of Andizeti to exchange with the Skodishchi tribe for the land on the south bank of the confluence of the Sava River and the Danube."