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The guards dragged away Apuleius, who kept on struggling and shouting, “Stop deceiving yourself. Rome is finished! And all of that is Camillus’ fault! O Jupiter from above, save Rome! This is all Camillus’ fault…”

The temple became silent after Apuleius got dragged away, with some clenching their clothes as fear appeared in their eyes while some looked down at the ground to hide their somewhat reddened eyes…

Potitus and Maluginensis exchanged glances and felt a sense of powerlessness. Nevertheless, they suppressed their negative emotion and muttered, “Ambustus, continue with what you were saying.”

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

After the Triumphant Return, Davos prepared to hold a war council to discuss the subsequent military action. But before the meeting, he went to meet someone first.

“Sit down, Publius.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!” Publius spoke with respect.

Unlike those senators on Mons Capitolinus, Publius witnessed the surrender of the plebeians in Rome and the flight of many plebeian soldiers. He also learnt from the mouths of the people from Veii who had come to Rome, as well as the envoy of the Etruscan city-states, that the Theonians had indeed captured Veii and Caisra, with several Etruscan city-states allying with Theonia. Furthermore, the subsequent surrender of Sutrium and Cosa…and the eventual disbandment of the Roman army that had fought in Ostia.

As the head of a large Roman house, he had keenly sensed the Theonian had now established a firm foothold in the Latium region, making it difficult for Camillus to retake Rome.

Despite this somewhat frustrating him, it was actually good news for the Manlia house, which had already been forced to join Theonia.

So, under the gaze of Davos, Publius sat in a posture showing his deference and submission.

Davos smiled slightly as he more or less grasped Publius’ thoughts. Finally, he said, “I heard from the praetor of Rome, Asistes, that you have been actively assisting the City Hall during this period, resulting in Theonia’s governance of Rome to be more targeted, efficient and much smoother.”

“Lord Asistes praised me too much. It’s just that I made some suggestions since I know Rome better,” said Publius modestly.

Davos looked at him and said bluntly, “With you being the head of the Manlia house and a senator of Rome, I think you are far superior to Valerius in terms of your knowledge of this region and ability to handle political matters. Yet, he is now the vice praetor of Rome while you have been left idle. Do you feel dissatisfied?”

Publius’ mind jolted, making him quickly say, “Your Majesty, my family and I are just your prisoners. We are already grateful for your forgiveness, so how dare we hope for more?!”

“Since you have already joined the Kingdom of Theonia and are in the process of becoming a citizen, I believe you have already learned about Theonia’s government with your shrewdness.” Davos tapped on the table and looked at him, “The Senate of Theonia gathers the elites from various cities and races within Theonia. Their job includes assisting me in creating laws and decisions for the kingdom, serving as the highest administrator of a city or even a region, and independently managing tens of thousands or even more than a hundred thousand people. While giving their all to the kingdom, they would also do their best to safeguard the rights and interests of the regions and races they come from. Naturally, integrating a large city like Rome into the kingdom would require elites to join the Senate to represent the Romans for their rights…”

“Your Majesty…” Publius felt touched since he knew the reason Davos said this to him was definitely due to his expectations. Thus, he boldly asked, “How can we become a statesman of Theonia?”

“First of most, you must let go of your mentality as a Roman noble, and then you would need to do your best to serve the commoners in the city and win their recognition no matter what position you hold…I believe this would be easy for you to achieve with the foundation laid by Marcus.” Davos then continued earnestly, “Secondly, you need to contribute enough to the kingdom and gain the recognition of the Theonian statesmen so that when you receive a recommendation, you at least won’t encounter opposition from the majority of the statesmen.”

After hearing that, Publius quickly took the initiative to say, “Your Majesty, please don’t hesitate to give me any orders. I’ll put forth my utmost effort to accomplish whatever task you assign me!”

‘He is indeed a smart man!’ Davos faced the other person’s keen gaze and said, “I have an important task for you to accomplish. While the situation in our north is now secure thanks to our alliance with the Etruscan city-state and the clearing of Rome’s northern colonies, Camillus still commands a substantial number of soldiers along with the support of their Latin allies. However, I don’t plan to engage them in direct combat for the time being.

So, while the Roman army recuperated in Satricum to the southwest, I needed an envoy to go to the various Latin city-states to the south. He would need to persuade them to break away from the Latin alliance, sever ties with Rome while allying with the kingdom, thereby further weakening the strength of the remnant Roman army…”

It’s not that Davos hadn’t sent an envoy before; it’s just that the previous attempt didn’t yield favourable results. The Latin city-states were much like the Etruscan city-states and were naturally sceptical of outsiders like Theonia. This is why Davos decided to seek out Publius.

With Rome maintaining its powerful position in the Latium region over the years and receiving the admiration of numerous Latin city-states, many high officials from the Latin city-states frequently interacted with the great house of Rome, and there were even instances of them becoming relatives with each other.

Publius thought for a while and asked, “What are the negotiation conditions?”

‘It seems it’s possible!’ Davos pretended to think and only answered after some time passed, “We can use our alliance treaty with the Etruscan city-states as a model. Heni, show Publius the contents of the alliance agreement.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!” Henipolis immediately responded.

“Your Majesty, I am willing to travel to the Latin city-states to the south.” Publius no longer hesitated.

“Very well!” Davos smiled, “I believe the negotiations with the Latin city-states would go much smoother with you as the envoy. You can set off tomorrow, and you can tell Henipolis if there’s anything you need to prepare before your mission, and he will help you solve it.”

Henipolis immediately nodded to Publius.

Publius also threw a friendly smile at Henipolis.

“There’s another thing,” Davos continued, “Upon our initial entry into Rome, some of the remaining Roman nobility took refuge on Mons Capitolinus. We refrained from attacking at that time because we were occupied with stabilising the city’s order and taking care of the mood of the city’s inhabitants. (In truth, Davos had intentionally left the Romans on Mons Capitolinus to entice Camillus’ army into attacking Rome. Unfortunately, he did not succeed in deceiving Camillus. However, the breaking up of the Roman army and the remnants retreating to Satricum for recovery shows they no longer posed an immediate threat to Rome.)

Now that we have stabilised Rome, capturing Mons Capitolinus will liberate our troops and allow us to manage the city better. But to tell you the truth, it wasn’t because our troops could not attack them. On the contrary, with the dense population on Mons Capitolinus, I would only need to order the soldiers to use the ballistae to bombard it with burning tar to cause countless casualties…”

Davos said that in a flat tone, which caused Publius’ hair to stand on end. He had seen the terrifying sight of the ballistae attacking the city’s west end and had no doubt about its power, so now hesitates whether to dissuade Davos.

But he then heard Davos sigh and say in a compassionate tone, “However, I have heard there are many women and children on the hill, and there are also several temples…Therefore, I consider that a last resort. So, I will send a messenger up there first to persuade them to surrender.”

After saying that, Davos fixed his gaze on Publius.

Publius hesitated momentarily before asking daringly, “Your Majesty, if they were to surrender…what would you do to them?”

Davos understood his worries. After all, they would mainly place the captured Roman nobles in prison and either take them away from Rome or turn them into slaves…if he were to follow this approach, the Romans on the hill would never surrender as most of them were Roman senators and nobles.

Davos smiled, tapped his finger on his armchair and said, “I can assure you that if they are willing to surrender and become Theonian citizens, despite getting transferred away from Rome, they will not be downgraded to slavery. However, while they will be scattered and placed in other territories in Theonia, they would enjoy the same rights as other citizens in the kingdom.”

Despite pondering deeply, Publius still hesitated.

Suddenly, Davos added, “Consider this: Should you become a statesman of Theonia, your immediate family would be granted the right to remain in Rome. Moreover, your house could become the sole noble house left in this city!”

Publius became more interested and said, “Your Majesty…can you allow me to persuade them to surrender after my mission to the Latin city-state?”

Publius had his reasons for requesting that, as he knew that those senators and nobles on Mons Capitolinus were the most stubborn group with the strongest resistance and would never surrender so easily. So, having them stuck on the hill for a few more days might reduce the difficulty in persuading them.

“Certainly,” Davos agreed. He then cheerfully said, “I feel a lot of relief with you taking on these two crucial things! Next, let’s talk casually. Since you were a Roman senator and grew up here, can you tell me in detail about your thoughts on the city-states and forces around Rome?”

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