Chapter 156: The Edge of War
After arriving in Rome, Boniface did not rush north to attack Aetius, who was still suppressing the barbarians in Gaul. Because Aetius would come back to fight him sooner or later, and there was no room for two tigers in one mountain. What he had to do now was to use the scepter given to him by Placidia as much as possible to integrate more than 30 large and small field regiments in the Roman Italian province.
Although Emperor Valentinian III and Queen Placidia were in Ravenna, which was not too far away, Boniface had no intention of visiting them.
Since Boniface arrived in Rome, he has used a lot of money and food to support the carnival of the Roman citizens. A whole week has passed, and the carnival has not stopped. The original annual gladiatorial contest has become a daily event. The money that Aresio can provide to Boniface is squandered by Boniface. It seems that all Romans have forgotten the war, including Boniface himself. At this time, Boniface is just like the emperors of previous dynasties. He doesn't care about money at all. In order to please the Roman people, he spends money like water.
At night, Aresio had long been tired of such noise, he stood on the rooftop platform, looking at the boiling crowd on the street below. I wonder if they have forgotten the huge threat far away in Gaul in the revelry.
"Oh, courting your own destruction!" A sneer appeared on Aresio's face as he faced the revelers and soldiers below. He had tried to dissuade Boniface from stopping to reorganize his army and prepare to fight Aetius who might return at any time, but he knew the citizens of Rome too well. To ask them to stop their free revelry at this time would be tantamount to openly opposing the Romans and becoming the object of their hatred and curse.
Aresio thought that he was just a financial officer, and besides being in charge of the empire's treasury, he had no right to say no. He simply satisfied Boniface's endless demands, after all, there was not much left in the treasury.
"Good day, sir."
An old and hoarse voice sounded behind Aresio. Aresio turned around and saw Thermitius. The old man was a little exhausted from the long hours of entertainment, and the dark circles under his eyes made him look like he was in desperate need of rest. However, he still insisted and came to Aresio.
"What's the matter? Tell me quickly. I don't have the patience to waste with you." Aresio no longer had any respect for Thermitius. He hated this scheming old man.
"No, no, no, Master Aresio, I had no choice but to do that at the time." Thermitius smiled and waved his hands repeatedly, "It's just that Master Boniface used all the military pay you collected to support the citizens' carnival, so I had the audacity to ask the treasurer to pay more orens."
Thermitius paused at this point. He knew that if it were an ordinary person, he would have been furious. But to his surprise, Aresio stood there without any action to express his anger. This really surprised Thermitius. He hesitated for a while, then slowly asked, "Why, Mr. Treasurer, are you really not angry about this?"
"Why should I be angry?" Alessio asked back: "I have to pay this money even if I am angry. I have to pay it even if I am not angry. So why should I be angry about this?" Alessio said, sighed, and asked again: "Tell me, how much do you want? I am busy going back to have a good sleep."
The carnival lasted for two weeks and finally ended hastily with Boniface's call to stop it. The city of Rome, which had been noisy all day, finally calmed down, and the people who participated in the carnival finally went home to sleep. In an instant, the number of pedestrians in the whole city of Rome dropped sharply, as if it had just experienced a great escape.
A horse-drawn carriage was moving slowly along a street that was empty but full of garbage. Not far away on the roadside stood a thin, plain-looking young man wearing a brown gown.
The carriage slowly came to the young man, and the driver nodded to him. The young man did not hesitate at all, and he got on the carriage with his lower limbs. After the young man got in, the driver looked around and drove forward after making sure that there were no other pedestrians.
“Here it comes!”
The first words the young man heard when he entered the car were those of an old and hoarse voice. The young man turned around and saw an old man wearing a white toga. Yes, this old man was Thermitius.
"Um!"
The young man nodded in response and sat down opposite Thermitius, one meter away. In the dim light, the old and the young looked at each other. After a long silence, Thermitius finally spoke.
"What's the news?"
"Aetius is coming back with his troops!"
"Where are we?"
“Milan!”
"How many people are there?"
"There are 60,000 Huns from Pannonia, plus his own field legions in Gaul, the number is no less than 100,000."
"It seems that the two sides are almost evenly matched. This is the maximum number of troops that Aetius can mobilize. It has to be said that the Huns are his staunch allies!" Themitius' face was solemn. "We really can't underestimate Aetius. After all, he has the support of the barbaric Huns behind him." Boniface had the courage to sleep soundly, but he didn't. As for who would win, this was a gamble. What was at stake was not only the destiny of the entire Western Roman Empire, but also his own life.
"No matter which of them wins, it will be a heavy blow to Rome that will be difficult to recover from!" Thermitius said thoughtfully, putting his hand against his face.
"Like Varus?" the young man asked.
"No, it's even worse. They are both famous generals of the time, but because of their selfishness, only one of them can survive."
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"So who do you think will survive?"
"It doesn't matter who stays, as long as they can defend Rome and prevent it from collapsing!"
After Thermitius finished speaking, he dozed off and then lay down lazily. He was too tired and needed enough rest.
"When we reach a safe enough place, my coachman will signal you and you must leave quickly. Don't return to Rome until everything is over!" After saying this, Themitius fell into a deep sleep.
Through the dim light, the young man saw four golden letters on the wooden wall behind Thermitius.
"SPQR!"
The young man repeated in a low voice.
(End of this chapter)