Chapter 409: Claudius, the top Roman noble

Maximus was surprised by Brebista's proposal, because the territory of the Taurisi was not on the west bank of the Danube, but on the east bank, at the northern end of the Danube plain, and the remaining veins of the western end of the Carpathian Mountains were on the land. Wrapped around it, with the Danube River as a barrier to the west, the land inside is large and fertile, so the Taurisi people are not weak.

Seeing that Maximus was a little confused, Brebista explained frankly: "The Taurisi people used to frequently harass our Dacia tribes on the east bank of the Danube River. They are the accomplices of the Boi people! I wanted to do this twice. I led my army to seek revenge on the Taurisi people, but they relied on mountains and rivers for defense, which ultimately led to my return without success.

You Nix have a huge fleet. You were able to successfully cross the Drau River and defeat the Boi people before. This shows that you are also experienced in landing operations. I believe that your attack on Taurisi from the river bank will be smoother.

Moreover, the Taurisi are also a branch of the Celts and are incompatible with us Dacians. On the contrary, you Nix have also been very experienced in conquering the Celts in the past, so I hand over the Taurisi to you Nix. It is undoubtedly the most appropriate to solve this problem, so as to avoid the Taurisians from causing trouble behind our back when we go to war with Rome in the future. "

Maximus looked at the map of the Mediterranean roughly outlined with water on the table. There was no picture of Taurisi on it, let alone the forces north of Taurisi's territory. However, he had already investigated clearly. Taurisi and Like the Boi, there are fierce Germanic tribes - the Quadi and the Ossi - to the north. There are conflicts between the two sides from time to time, so Brebista's proposal also has his own selfish motives...

However, Maximus was not prepared to reveal the matter. He said with a smile: "Thank you for your generosity! In this case, after Nix eliminated Boi, he will consider destroying Taurisi to ensure that the entire Danube Plain of peace.”

"Okay, let's sign the covenant now!" Brebista said simply.

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After the two parties reached an agreement, they each returned to the shore.

On the way, Deceneu sighed involuntarily.

"What? Are you still worried that we are going to go to war with the Romans?" Brebista comforted: "Just now, Chief Maximus and I have already discussed that the only ones fighting Rome cannot be Nix and us. Chea, when the time comes, Maximus will send people to unite the Gauls and Germans, and we will also find ways to persuade the Parthian Kingdom and the wandering Pontic nobles...

We will try our best to unite all the forces that hate Rome. When the time comes to fight the Romans who are caught in a civil war, we will be more likely to win! "

"I am a little worried about fighting the Romans in the future, but in order to avoid being enslaved by the Romans in the future, we have to do it. I understand this." Deceneu sighed: "I am just surprised by the leader of the Nyx tribe. Maximus, who was only a slave, was able to know so clearly the situation in the entire Mediterranean, and even more so the situation within Rome. It is really… really… shocking!”

"No matter what, Nyx and Dacia are allies now. In order to defeat the powerful Romans, our two tribes must rely on each other and unite as one!"

Brebista said in a deep voice: "And according to the agreement I made with Maximus, once a civil war breaks out in Rome, the Nix army will go west over the mountains and enter Italy, while we will go south directly from the east and enter Italy first. Dricia, and then the province of Macedonia, which was approaching Rome...

Italy is the home base of the Romans, so the enemies encountered by the Nyx army must be powerful, but it is much easier on our side because we have to face the loose Odrisian tribes.

We can take the opportunity to implement the plan we are about to implement, and incorporate all Thracians who speak the same language and have similar traditions as us into our tribal alliance. Our strength will inevitably be greatly enhanced, and with the Roman provincial army Fight, I am confident to defeat them! "

Deceneu was silent for a moment, nodded and said: "Maybe you are right, form an alliance with the Nyx people, and give up the territory of the Taurisi people, let the Nyx people become a barrier to block the Germans in the north for us, so that we No more worries.

Once the Roman Civil War really breaks out, we can devote all our efforts to conquer Odricia first... No matter how the final war with Rome ends, our Dacia will definitely become the most powerful force in northern Greece. Ya will not be afraid of any country, including the Knicks. "

"That's right, that's it!" Brebista looked back at Maximus's boat, which was sailing to the other side, and a surge of pride arose in his heart.

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Caesar made great progress on the battlefields of Gaul, with frequent successes. However, in the few years since he left Rome, the political scene in Rome has been changing and undercurrents are turbulent.

Publius Claudius Pulca was born in the Claudius family, one of the greatest aristocratic families in Rome. For hundreds of years, members of this family have always been at the core of the Republic and have successively held many political positions. Officials and famous politicians, of course, there are also some mediocre people who make people laugh.

For example, during the First Punic War, an ancestor with the same name led a Roman fleet to attack. Before the battle, he performed divination with the sacred chicken according to tradition, but the sacred chicken did not cooperate. In a rage, Publius threw all the chickens into the sea and declared, "If they don't want to eat, then drink." As a result, the Roman fleet was defeated.

A few years later, Publius' sister was blocked by the crowded crowd when she was riding a sedan through the streets of Rome. She also shouted, "I hope her brother can drown some of these poor ghosts." This shows how arrogant and domineering the Claudius family was in Rome.

There were six brothers and sisters in this generation of Claudius, all of whom were famous in Rome for their moodiness and dissolute nature. Claudius was the youngest, but his behavior was the craziest.

Lucullus was his brother-in-law. When he followed him to serve in Asia Minor, he actually incited soldiers to mutiny against his brother-in-law, causing Lucullus to hate him.

After returning to Rome, he cheated on Caesar at the festival of the goddess of goodness.

In addition to Caesar's wife, he also had affairs with many married women, but the Roman people widely spread that he had incestuous relations with his three sisters.

For this reason, Lucullus, one of his brothers-in-law, could not bear it, and finally divorced his wife, and publicly announced that "she had incest with her brother Claudius."

Claudius was not ashamed, and then he did something that shocked the nobles. In order to gain power, he changed his status from aristocrat to a commoner under the arrangement of Pompey and Caesar, and was elected as the Roman tribune in 58 BC.

After he took office, he first helped the people do a few practical things, such as ensuring regular free food supply for the poor... After gaining their favor, he began to show his power.

He criticized Cicero, believing that Cicero's execution of Catiline's conspirators was against Roman tradition, and asked the Senate to hold a public meeting for this matter to discuss the issue again.

The Claudius family had accumulated a deep network of connections and retainers in Rome for hundreds of years. Therefore, many important elders who were close to Cicero were unwilling to offend Claudius in order to help a "newcomer" because of their connections with the Claudius family. In the end, Cicero had to flee Rome and go into exile.

Then Claudius passed a bill, officially announcing the exile of Cicero and confiscating his property.

So Claudius asked his supporters to burn down Cicero's mansion and built a sanctuary of the Statue of Liberty on the original site.

Claudius's fierce means frightened the elders.

Then, he used clever tactics to squeeze Cato out of Rome and let him supervise the work of annexing Cyprus, because Cyprus was a wealthy kingdom, and taking it could fill the Roman treasury and provide funds for the newly passed law of "supplying food to Roman citizens for free."

Cicero was exiled, Cato was transferred, and the two important conservative figures left the Roman political arena. It seemed that this was a clear proof that Claudius stood on the side of the Big Three.

But what happened next proved that this view was wrong. Claudius did everything just for himself.

First, the annexation of Cyprus was an insult to Pompey, which changed his previous plans for the East.

Then, the Armenian prince who was held hostage and imprisoned in Pompey's house was quietly let go by Claudius.

Then, he instructed his minions to beat up the consul Gabinius, smashing his fascist bundle and making him lose his dignity, just because Gabinius was supported by Pompey and tried to hold Claudius responsible for the escape of the Armenian prince.

Claudius even let one of his slaves deliberately drop a dagger at a public gathering, and claimed during the interrogation that he was sent to assassinate Pompey.

Pompey was brave on the battlefield, but he was very afraid of assassination because he had such an experience in his youth. Pompey was so scared that he closed his door and did not go out for several months.

In addition, Claudius publicly questioned the legality of the decrees made by Caesar as consul, and summoned Bibulus to testify against his former colleague at a public gathering.

After Claudius stepped down as tribune, the senators were relieved.

But they were too happy too early. Claudius still controlled a large number of mob supporters based on guild associations, and often used these thugs to threaten political opponents or disperse gatherings.