At dusk, in front of the Roman camp under construction stood Adriau, the messenger dispatched by Davos. Accompanying him were two women and two children, who followed closely behind.
While the Roman soldiers looked at him curiously, Adriaus shouted in Latin, before Camillus could send anyone out to greet him, “Lord Camillus, Dictator of Rome! To thank you for your kindness and help, and hoping to forge a deeper friendship, His Majesty King Davos has sent back your wife, daughter-in-law and grandsons!…”
Upon hearing the repeated shouting, the expressions of the Roman soldiers around them suddenly changed, and they began whispering to one another.
Camillus' house is only a small nobility in Rome, and became even fewer in his generation, with Camillus only having one son and few relatives. Furthermore, he had taken basically all the adult males of his house with him on this expedition to Hernici because this was a war that was certain to be won, so he also wanted the males of the house to make some achievements and profits in this war. As a result, this led to a lack of capable men in his house in Rome to lead them when the Senate decided to retreat to Mons Capitolinus. And since his home wasn't located in the core area of the city of Rome, his family naturally was slow to retreat, which ultimately made it impossible for them to go up the hill.
In the command tent in the centre of the Roman Ccamp, Camillus and his son were both surprised by the news, and Lucius even felt grateful. Lucius then said anxiously, “Father, hurry up! Send someone to pick them up!”
As he said that, he added, “Despite my hatred of the Theonians, I am grateful for their king's action this time! He is truly worthy of being the hero the Greeks praised with his extraordinary temperament!…”
Camillus, who had remained silent for a long time and had a pained expression, finally squeezed out a sentence, “No, Lucius! We can't…let them enter the camp.”
Thinking he misheard him, Lucius asked, “Father, what are you saying?!”
“We absolutely can't…can't…take your mother and the others here…we can't!” Camillus clenched his fist and smashed it on the table, “This is the scheme of the King of Theonia!”
“Father, do you even know what you are talking about?! That's your wife standing outside! Your daughter-in-law! And your two lovely grandchildren! How can you mercilessly watch them fall into the hands of the enemy, to be tortured and humiliated?!” Lucius asked him in disbelief and anger.
“Calm down…son.” Camillus looked at his angry son and started moving his mouth with difficulty, trying to convince him with a trembling voice, “Why wouldn't I…want to get them all back?! But…not now! Because the other soldiers' families are still in the city! Now that the Theonians had just sent my family back, what will the soldiers think?! Have you heard what that Theonian shouted outside the camp?! What do you think is the meaning for them to thank me for helping them?! All of that is the Theonians' scheme! If I welcome back your mother, your wife and your children, the soldiers would inevitably be suspicious! Would they still obey my orders then?! Could an army that does not obey orders work together to reclaim the city of Rome?!!!”
Despite usually listening to his father, Lucius could hardly accept Camillus' explanation now. Thus he could only say bitterly, “Father, you are the dictator! You don't have to consider what the soldiers think when you do something! It was because you had taken away the young adult citizens of the whole city that led to Mother and the others falling into the enemy’s hands, which caused such a terrible result. So you must make up for your mistakes as soon as possible!”
Although some people privately expressed their dissatisfaction with Camillus using similar words, it felt like a sword piercing his chest when his own family spoke them, leaving him feeling dizzy. He quickly steadied himself by leaning on the table and, after a moment, responded firmly, “No, I will not do that! I will lead the army to retake the city of Rome and save our loved ones myself!”
Upon hearing this, Lucius cursed loudly and immediately turned around to leave the command tent.
“Someone!” Camillus immediately shouted and then said to the guard captain, who entered the tent with a pained expression, “Immediately stop Lucius! Also…send people to expel the messenger of Theonia and the people he brought…back to the city…”
“But…” The guard captain knew the situation outside the camp because the soldiers talked about it everywhere.
Seeing his hesitation, Camillus snapped at him, “Go and execute my order!”
“Y…yes!”
When the guard captain left, Camillus felt like he had suddenly aged for several years, causing him to sink into his seat.
After a while, his adjutant entered the command tent and was about to report the situation. However, he couldn't speak up for a moment after seeing his bleak expression.
Only after Camillus noticed his existence that he asked weakly, “What happened?”
“The scouts reported that the Theonians had opened the gate to the north and released some of our people.”
Camillus immediately thought that the King of Theonia had released these Romans and was probably intended to divert the effect of releasing his family, resulting in him changing his mind.
Despite wanting to ask those Romans who left the city about the situation inside, Camillus was too tired and sleepy and could only say, “Go and settle those people down. Then bring a few of them here tomorrow so that I can inquire about the situation inside.”
“Yes, Lord Dictator.”
After the adjutant departed, Camillus issued an order to the guards, instructing them to stop anyone from entering the command tent unless there was an emergency.
Feeling exhausted and annoyed, he instructed his servants to make his bed quickly. Then without having dinner, he promptly fell asleep.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
As dusk settled in and the sky darkened, the soldiers ceased their camp construction and returned to their tents, preparing to have dinner.
During this time, Camillus' adjutant dispatched a Roman centuria to escort the hundreds of Romans who had departed the city to the refugee camp on the east side of the military camp.
It wasn't a coincidence that the Roman centurion assigned to this task was predominantly composed of plebeians, including their centurion, Sextus. It was because the superiority of the Roman nobility extended not only to politics but also to military affairs. Despite not having fought many battles, the children of the nobilities’ could serve as officers in the army. Meanwhile, the plebeians, even if they had repeatedly made military achievements, found it challenging to even become a centurion. Naturally, the situation has recently undergone some changes, with certain plebeians receiving promotions in the army, particularly since Camillus assumed the position of chief of the military. However, it remained an uncommon occurrence, as there were evident disparities in the treatment of nobles and plebeians within the army. Thus, when the soldiers were fatigued and hungry during dinnertime, the centuria they had dispatched consisted entirely of plebeians.
Naturally, Camillus' adjutant had to explain it to them eloquently, “All of this is for your sake. It is because the people the Theonians had released are all from Collis Caelius.”
And just as he expected, the Roman centurion, composed of inhabitants of Collis Caelius, didn't complain. Instead, they hurried over, only to be surprised to find that they knew all these hundreds of elderlies and that most of them were relatives of the soldiers, including the father of the centurion, Sextus.
As a result, the soldiers rushed forward while eagerly inquiring about the situation of their home, completely forgetting the adjutant's advice to quietly bring these people to the rear so that they won't disturb the army.
But instead of responding to the soldiers' inquiries, these elderlies began persuading them to flee the army and return to the city of Rome to join the Kingdom of Theonia.
The most typical among these conversations was Sextus' father persuading his son.
“Father, where are Tuya and the children?! They…are they all safe?!”
“They are all fine, so there's no need for you to worry! The Theonian army had an excellent discipline that after they entered Rome, they didn't do mass killing or plundering. In that regard, the Celts couldn't compare to them at all…not even us.”
“Father, how could you dare speak up for the Theonians?!”
“Because that's a fact! Not only am I speaking up for them, but I also want to persuade you!”
“Persuade me?!”
“I suggest you immediately leave the Roman army and join the Kingdom of Theonia with me!”
“O Jupiter, you had betrayed Rome?!”
“It's not that I betrayed Rome, but that many of the plebeians in Collis Caelius and even the whole city of Rome had joined Theonia!”
“Why?! Father, why?! You are a citizen of Rome! You have lived in the city as its citizen all your life. You are a genuine Roman citizen!! You had even participated in more than twenty battles and won a civic crown once. You are the hero of our street, and even mine-”
“I have also fought in the battle against the Celts and followed Camillus in chasing them away, but what good did it do? You should understand that my years of fighting have left me with impaired feet and hands, and I frequently suffer from fever, which has caused me to accumulate a significant amount of debt just to treat my illness. If it weren't for the support of my comrades, those nobles would have even seized my land. But did the Roman Senate even protect our house from those moneylenders because of my military achievements-”
“Father, there's no need for you to worry anymore! I am already a centurion and have won a lot of spoils from the expedition to Hernici, so I should be able to pay off your previous debts!”
“Oh, I didn't notice that you had already become a centurion.”
“Our former centurion died in the battle with the Hernicans. After seeing how I fought bravely, dictator Camillus promoted me to become the new leader of the centuria.”
“But what good would that do?! Would that stop those greedy nobles and moneylenders from harassing our family?! Would you receive more land?! Or will you serve as a high-ranking official of Rome?! And, once you are injured and unable to hold a spear, can you still ensure that you can keep feeding your family and provide them with clothing?!…”
