Chapter 854: Persuading Surrender (I)

Nemeri, the general of the Hernican army, no longer hesitated upon hearing Davos' words and said, "Your Majesty, would you agree if the Aequians and Marsians also request an alliance with you?"

Davos suddenly remembered how the Praenestian rebels convinced the Aequians and Marsians to invade Rome together with Volsci and Hernici, only to be defeated by Camillus. Then, during the Roman army's conquest of Hernici this year, these two races sent troops to reinforce the Hernicans but suffered another crushing defeat, severely weakening their strength... Their wish to ally with Theonia was for them to clear their worries and guarantee the safety of their territories since the rumours about Theonia's abiding by their agreement have been validated by Volsci and Hernici.

"I welcome it very much!" Davos said smilingly, "I not only hope for the Marsians and Aequians to ally with Theonia but also the other forces around Rome to become Theonia's allies as well!"

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

At the end of the battle, Davos didn't invite the leader of the Volsci-Hernici coalition to enter Rome and hold a banquet as a celebration. On the one hand, the Volscians were eager to return to their defenceless territories to prevent the Romans' retaliation. On the other hand, Davos also considered the feelings of the people in the city of Rome. So he instead distributed most of the spoils they obtained(mainly armour and weapons) to the Volsci-Hernici warriors, making them return feeling grateful.

In this battle, apart from the casualties suffered by the Volsci-Hernici coalition, the Theonian army had a negligible loss. Meanwhile, despite having insignificant casualties, nearly two thousand soldiers of the Roman army were captured, while the one to suffer the worst was their Latin Allies, with over four thousand of them captured.

So, despite most Roman soldiers managing to flee back to Velitrae without any problems, and their loss wasn't significant, this defeat was another blow to their prestige in the alliance, especially since Theonia also captured so many Latin soldiers. After the battle ended, Davos didn't allow Phryntor to withdraw the sieging army back to Rome. Instead, he placed the Fourth and Sixth Legions under Phryntor and told him to intensify the attack on the city of Gabii and take it down as soon as possible.

Once he returned to Rome with the joy of victory, Davos called Publius and entrusted him with an important task: To persuade the Romans on Mons Capitolinus to surrender!

He also promised that once the Romans there dared to harm him, Theonia would ensure to bury the entire hill with him! Whether he succeeded in persuading them to surrender or not, he would become a newly promoted statesman of the kingdom of Theonia and become the one to advocate for the rights and interests of the kingdom's Roman citizens in the senate.

For this, Publius carefully prepared and climbed Mons Capitolinus with anxiety the next day. At the same time, he brought a captured Roman nobleman who lived in the city of Veii, as well as a Roman soldier who they captured in yesterday's battle, also from a noble family.

After receiving the order, the Roman soldiers opened the gate, and Publius, who had been waiting for a long time at the foot of the hill, stepped into Mons Capitolinus. When he passed through Roman patrol soldiers, they glared at him with unfriendly gazes, with some hurling curses at him. However, he was already prepared for it and pretended not to hear them and just followed the soldiers at the front closely while carefully observing the surroundings.

Because Mons Capitolinus was the highest hill in the city of Rome, the Romans chose it as the location for their citadel. With its steep hillside and relatively flat top adorned with lush trees, the Romans believed this to be a gift from the gods. They thought the gods must have favoured residing in such a beautiful place, leading the Romans to construct their main temple on this hilltop.

Upon climbing the hill, Publius was astonished to see they had cut down the trees in less than twenty days. The bare hill was now littered with simple huts and tents, where countless ragged people lay, each with a pale face and dull eyes.

Along the way, Publius saw several acquaintances who were from Collis Caelius and Collis Viminalis. They were either followers of the great nobles or some civilians who had settled in Rome several generations ago. Most of them used to be powerful helpers of the nobles in dealing with other plebeians. However, now they huddled together with their wives and children. When they saw Publius, they merely turned their eyes as they couldn't even muster the energy to wave or say anything... seeing their miserable conditions, Publius once again firmly believed that he had made the correct decision in leading his house to submit to the kingdom of Theonia!

Once he reached the summit of Mons Capitolinus, he could see that refugees also crowded the solemn and majestic courtyards of the temples. Not only did they make the peaceful and clean sacred courtyard noisy and dirty, but they also filled the air with an unpleasant odour.

Upon seeing this, Publius felt a surge of anger and a hint of sadness. But when some nobles recognised him and learned that he had come to negotiate as the envoy of Theoniya, they began to insult and scorn him loudly and even rushed forward to beat him. However, these people who didn't have enough to eat and walked unsteadily couldn't break through the protection of the guards.

Instead of taking them seriously, Publius looked at them with pity.

Finally, the soldiers brought him to the rear hall of the Temple of Jupiter.

"Please enter, O envoy of Theonia!" The guard captain deliberately emphasises 'Theonia' to show his contempt for Publius.

After taking a deep breath, Publius entered the hall.

"Publius Manlius, you still have the face to come here! As the head of one of the most illustrious houses in Rome, you have forsaken the honour of your forefathers and tarnished the name of your house by shamelessly defecting to the enemies of Rome and now even dare set foot in this hallowed hall! The furious Jupiter will punish you severely!"

Publius noticed that the person who made this statement was Maluginensis. In the past, he would have been afraid to engage with this highly respected senator. Maluginensis was known as the most ardent advocate for Marcus' execution, and he strongly disliked the Manlius house, often addressing them with mockery and sarcasm. However, on this day, Publius looked directly at him, sitting there with an angry expression, yet his tone remained calm as he spoke, "Today, I am an envoy of Theonia. The King of Theonia had sent me to discuss important matters with you, so there is no need to discuss any more nonsense."

"Nonsense?!" Maluginensis became even more enraged as he snapped to his feet and yelled at Publius, "Do you know why we let you in?! It's because we will dispose of you, a traitor, just like how we punished Marcus back then! Guards!"

With his shout, two intimidating guards walk in.

Despite immediately becoming nervous, Publius tried his best to calm himself and shout, "Dispose of me?! Then you must be prepared to have all the people on this hill and other Roman nobles captured by Theonia to bury together with me!"

With that shout, a commotion arose in the temple.

"Publius, there's no need for you to threaten us! After your body falls off the cliff and turns into a pulp, it won't be long before Camillus leads his army to defeat the Theonians you've defected! We'll then return to the city below and restructure Rome after the war, just as we did then!" Abilius immediately stood up and shouted to encourage everyone.

Publius laughed out loud as he said, "You are still dreaming of returning to Rome! I suggest you ask the two men I brought with me, Decimus Julius Brutus, who you are familiar with as the one who volunteered to take his family and migrate to Veii more than a decade ago, which became big news in Rome then. Now, he would tell you how the Theonians easily captured the cities of Caisra and Veii and then took him captive.

The other man, who you, Maluginensis, are more familiar with, Domitius Cornelius Hila, a young member of your house and was serving as a centurion in the great army led by Camillus. He would tell you how many times Camillus' army suffered defeat, and now these remnants have retreated to Satricum, fearing that the Theonian army would attack them!..."

As soon as Publius said that, the whole venue erupted into a clamour of discussions. Twenty days had passed since the fall of Rome, and apart from the sound of battle that evening, the city had remained peaceful. With each passing day, the senators began to sense a growing unease, though they didn't anticipate just how dire the situation would become.

"...lies! All of that is a lie!..." Abilius retorted hurriedly, but he clearly lacked confidence in his tone.

"No matter the situation outside, you, as a traitor, deserve the harshest punishment!" Maluginensis said in a fierce tone after experiencing the initial shock.

Publius avoided Maluginensis' threatening gaze and instead looked at the debating Roman senators. The panic and unease on their faces made him feel slightly calmer. After taking a deep breath, he exclaimed, "Since that is the case, I don't have any regrets since all of you Roman nobles accompanying me to die. Come!" He said, waving to the two guards and then turning around to walk outside the temple.

"Wait!" one of the senators shouted.

Publius' tense mood suddenly relaxed as he slowly turned around.

"As Theonia's envoy, what have you come to negotiate with us?" Potitus exclaimed.

Publius glanced at him, turned to Maluginensis, and finally looked at the other senators around him. With a calm tone, he uttered, "Considering the current circumstances, with Rome having lost its city and Theonia capturing Caisra, Veii, Fidenae, and Gabii in rapid succession, and Camillus' once seventy-thousand-strong army likely reduced to a mere ten thousand men today, holed up in the city of Satricum, it's evident that Rome is no longer the Rome of the Romans, neither now nor in the future!"