Rome Must Fall

Maximus didn’t spare Silo a glance and said with a smile, “Well done, Phaselus! Now, leave one century here to guard the armory, and the rest will follow me to support Carminus.”

“Yessir!”

This time, Maximus turned back to provide reinforcements, but unlike before, he didn’t force his soldiers to march at a rapid pace. Instead, he allowed them to proceed at a normal pace, giving them a chance to recover some of their strength.

The reason Areius’ reinforcements from the wealthy district were slow to arrive was that the district was located in the southeastern corner of Pompeii, farthest from the Herculaneum Gate. Upon receiving news that “a group of rebellious slaves had launched a surprise attack through the port and entered the city,” the first reaction of Pompeii’s elite was not to send reinforcements immediately but to first gather their own slaves and put them under strict control. Only then did they have their household guards assemble in front of Areius’ residence.

Although the 500 guardsmen led by Areius was a ragtag force, cobbled together from various sources, they were well-equipped and possessed considerable courage (otherwise they wouldn’t have been able to intimidate the slaves). Thus, Areius was confident in his ability to defeat the enemy force, which was clearly smaller in number.

However, the 200 soldiers led by Carminus were fully armed, and their morale was high due to the success of their surprise attack on the port. Among them were over 20 experienced Roman veterans led by Aulus. They held their ground at the crossroads, preventing the superior numbers of the Pompeian reinforcements from overwhelming them and effectively repelling Areius’ fierce assault.

As the battle dragged on, the intensity of the Pompeian reinforcements’ attacks began to wane. After all, they were merely guards accustomed to bullying slaves, not soldiers hardened by military training.

Carminus considered launching a counterattack but was stopped by Aulus, who didn’t want to scare the enemy off too soon.

Areius was shrewd in politics and business but lacked military experience. He had organized this force because of his significant influence in Pompeii. Concerned for the city’s safety, he repeatedly urged his soldiers to press the attack when he saw the enemy was on the defensive and unable to mount an offensive.

However, just then, under the cover of darkness, Maximus, again taking Quintus’ advice, chose to flank the enemy with reinforcements.

When the rebel soldiers’ shouts were heard from the rear of the Pompeian forces, Areius’ face instantly turned pale. The last armed force within Pompeii was now trapped like fish in a barrel, and this ragtag force, losing all their will to fight, quickly surrendered.

Areius, seeing the futility of resistance, prepared to surrender, but then he heard a voice from behind: “Areius, we finally meet again!”

The somewhat familiar voice sent a shock through Areius’ heart. He widened his eyes as he saw the old man emerging from the darkness. The unease on his face quickly turned into anger, causing him to forget his situation. “…Quintus, it’s you! It must be you who’s behind this, allowing these slaves to conquer Pompeii! Don’t forget you’re a Roman; this is a betrayal of Rome——”

“No, Rome betrayed me first!” Quintus replied coldly. “It ignored the loyalty we gave, shedding blood for decades, and sent dogs like you to seize our land and trample on our dignity! Areius, I’ve tried several times to bring you to justice for murdering my son and daughter-in-law, but you always managed to escape punishment. Tonight, you can try again!” As he spoke, he drew out a dark, gleaming dagger.

Areius was terrified, turning to flee, but Quintus grabbed him by the collar.

“Quintus, spare me! It wasn’t my fault! It was all Sulla the Younger’s doing! He wanted your land, and I had no choice——” Areius trembled all over, collapsing to his knees, with snot and tears streaming down his face.

“So this is what ‘The Protector of Pompeii’ looks like? It seems that all the talk of ‘law and justice’ is nonsense. Only force can reveal your true nature…” Quintus sneered, thrusting the dagger forward, piercing Areius’ chest. The pleas for mercy stopped abruptly.

Quintus pulled out the dagger and, with a powerful swing, severed his enemy’s neck in one blow.

He raised the head high, showing it to Aulus and the other Nucerians, who roared in excitement.

“Leader Maximus, the elite of Pompeii live not far ahead. We must do everything we can to capture them all if we are to truly take control of this town!”

Maximus felt a twinge of discomfort seeing Quintus holding Areius’ bloody head. He understood that Quintus had personal reasons for saying this since many Pompeian elites, not just Areius, were enemies of the Nucerians. But regardless, their goals aligned.

With that in mind, Maximus surveyed the surroundings and shouted loudly, “Brothers, hang in there a little longer! Follow me and let’s capture all those rich Pompeians who have oppressed us, slaves!”

“HAHH!!!” The soldiers roared in unison, full of excitement.

━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━

“Leader, after a rough count of the spoils, we have now obtained 450 sets of leather helmets and armor, 498 round shields, 515 short swords, 722 spears, 988 pairs of leather sandals, and 1,130 linen tunics——”

As Vorenus was speaking, he was interrupted by Capito, the military warehouse supervisor: “We likely got even more weapons and equipment because many soldiers stripped the armor from their enemies and used their weapons themselves after killing or capturing them, so it’s hard to get an accurate count.”

“It doesn’t matter; it all stays within our ranks,” Maximus thought for a moment and said, “Vorenus, send someone to inform the three senior centurions to have any soldiers who still lack equipment report to the city hall for a change of equipment.”

Vorenus quietly reminded him, “Leader, should we inform Spartacus and the others about these captured weapons and equipment?”

Maximus glared at him, “Spartacus, Crixus, and the others won a major victory earlier and captured enough Roman legionary weapons and equipment. They wouldn’t care about this little bit of loot, so there’s no need to mention it. By the way, Vorenus, how many slaves in Pompeii are willing to join us?”

“Um… Leader, since entering the city, I’ve been busy with Capito inventorying the supplies, so I haven’t had time to learn about the situation with the slaves in Pompeii,” Vorenus explained.

Maximus then remembered that due to the old warehouse supervisor Cornelius not following the army to Pompeii last night, claiming he was too old and weak, he had temporarily assigned the task of inventorying supplies to Vorenus.

Is it time to replace the warehouse supervisor with someone more proactive?

Maximus pondered as he spoke, “In a moment, go and focus on handling this matter. Get a clear understanding of the situation of all slaves willing to join our logistics camp. As quickly as possible, pick out those young and strong male slaves who don’t have any special talents, and assign them to the guard unit——”

At this point, Maximus suddenly asked, “Where is Frontinus?”

“He might be at the temple guarding the prisoners,” Capito replied.

“Go get him right away,” Maximus said and then turned to Vorenus, “What about other supplies besides the weapons and equipment?”

Vorenus carefully looked at his records and said, “We also obtained over a hundred kilograms of papyrus, enough linen to fill a large warehouse, many sheets of cowhide, many woolen blankets, many different-sized earthen jars, many jars of wine, many jars of olive oil, and a large quantity of grain and smoked meat… Additionally, we seized six large chests full of denarius (silver coins) and two large chests full of aureus (gold coins). Since we were pressed for time, we haven’t had a chance to make a detailed count, but these supplies are just what we looted from Pompeii’s city hall, treasury, temple, and the homes of the captured wealthy people. We haven’t even searched the shops and warehouses at the port yet!”

“That’s already quite a lot!” The previously weary Maximus suddenly became energized, his excitement making him a little careless with his words, “We’ve really hit the jackpot this time!”

“Hit the jackpot?” Vorenus didn’t understand the meaning of the phrase.

Maximus didn’t bother to explain and thought of another issue: “We’ve obtained so many supplies that Pigres’ transport team will probably have to make several trips, and there’s not enough space in the camp to store everything…”

Pigres’ transport team hadn’t accompanied the troops last night. After all, driving wagons in the dark was risky, and it was easy to be detected. If the people of Pompeii were alerted, the surprise attack would likely fail. So, Maximus had originally planned to notify them to come over the day after capturing Pompeii.

“Leader, why don’t we just make Pompeii our new camp?” Vorenus suggested.

“Hmm…” Maximus tapped the long wooden table in front of him with his fingers. Vorenus’ suggestion was tempting, but the special nature of the logistics camp made him consider more carefully: “We might need to discuss this with Spartacus and the others. Unless they’re willing to move here, it would be difficult for our team to camp so far from the main force…”

As Maximus was pondering, Frontinus walked in. “Leader Maximus, you wanted to see me?”

“Yes.” Maximus looked at the old man in front of him. Three months in the rebel army had washed away much of the weariness from him. Even though he had been busy all night and hadn’t rested, he still appeared vigorous, and most importantly, his eyes now held respect for Maximus.

“Cassius Frontinus,” Maximus announced solemnly, “In recognition of your many contributions to the logistics camp, I have decided—to appoint you as the Military Affairs Officer! From now on, you will be responsible for handling the military affairs of the logistics camp, but you will not have the authority to mobilize or command troops.”

Frontinus understood that this was a position similar to the Camp Prefect of the Roman legion. He felt a bit excited. After living in the logistics camp, where the order and operations were somewhat similar to a Roman camp, for three months and overseeing the training of the guard unit’s soldiers daily, he had developed a sense of belonging. However, besides supervising training and offering suggestions, he hadn’t been able to contribute more to the logistics camp, which made it hard for him to fully integrate into the group. Now, Maximus had given him real power, resolving the regret he had felt in his heart.

“Thank you, Leader!” Frontinus said gratefully.

“You can choose five people from the military advisory group to be your assistants,” Maximus said seriously. “Among them, there must be someone who can read and do calculations. From now on, the experiences of the soldiers and officers in the guard unit must be recorded in detail. After each battle, the soldiers’ achievements must also be documented… All of this needs to be archived. Do you understand?”

Frontinus was a bit taken aback: this requirement seemed even higher than that of the Roman legion! While there were two comrades in the military advisory group who were literate, they might not fully meet Maximus’ standards. Capito could, but he was already the military warehouse supervisor…

Seeing that Frontinus didn’t respond, Maximus understood his difficulty. Since Frontinus himself was illiterate, he wasn’t ideally suited for this role.

However, after observing him for some time, Maximus had noted that Frontinus was, first and foremost, a man of deep loyalty. Otherwise, when the dictator Sulla’s army approached the city of Rome and many of Marius’ old soldiers chose to hide, he would not have chosen to face the challenge, knowing it would likely end in failure. He had a very good relationship with his comrades among the army slaves, and even the proud Capito respected him. It was said that he often helped these comrades in the Roman slave camps… People who value relationships tend to be more loyal. Secondly, he was very diligent in his work. He had been conducting military training for the guard unit continuously for three months. While some members of the military advisory group had become statues at the edge of the training ground, he was still shouting at poorly performing soldiers every day, demonstrating his seriousness and persistence. Managing military affairs requires someone who can get things done… It was because of these qualities that Maximus decided to share part of his hard-earned military authority with Frontinus.

This was a necessity. When the guard unit had only one or two centuries, Maximus could manage it easily. However, when the number of soldiers exceeded 500, military affairs became more complex, especially after capturing Pompeii, which added even more layers of complexity to the tasks. As the leader of the logistics camp, Maximus couldn’t devote all his energy to handling military affairs, so he needed someone to help, which meant sharing power.

Maximus had even considered the administrative side of things.

When he first appointed Vorenus as the scribe, it was only to record the situation of the entire team so that Maximus could check it at any time. But later, it evolved into the heads of various departments reporting to Vorenus, who would then report to Maximus. And sometimes, to save time, Maximus would send Vorenus to resolve issues in the subordinate departments based on his instructions, and even had him oversee adult education in the logistics camp…