"For the sake of Rome's security, it's always right to be cautious! Most of the Roman citizens were drawn to attack the Helniki people. There were only 3,000 young and middle-aged civilians in our Roman city, which really seemed to have a little empty force!" Ambrose took the conversation, raised his own concerns, and took the initiative to propose: "I suggest that citizens over 50 years old be mobilize immediately, and also arm the civilians and free people in the Aventing neighborhood (referring to the famous slums in Rome at this time) and jointly guard the city of Rome until Camillus led the army back! When the meeting ended, I immediately went to Cassius, the commander of the city guard, to complete the matter together."

Although many veterans expressed doubts that Dionia would attack Rome immediately, for safety reasons, they agreed to the proposal, and some even proposed: they might as well send people to contact the surrounding Latin allies immediately and ask them to send citizens to help guard Rome.

But some people expressed their opposition: most of the citizens of Latin allies followed Camillus to attack the Helniki, and there were no extra soldiers to help us. I am afraid that when they knew about the news of the Dionians invading Latinum, they would ask us for help instead.

This proposal ended up being left alone.

At this time, Abinius sighed: "According to the previous battle report, Camillus has been leading his army to attack the city of Ferentilum for some time. It was at the most critical moment. If he was asked to withdraw now, the efforts he had made before would probably be in vain."

Many people sighed repeatedly after hearing this. Seeing that the Helniki people were about to be destroyed, the land would belong to Rome, but when it was about to succeed, they would give up it, so how could they be content with it?

Camillus' enemy Apuleus took the opportunity to stand up and accused: "As the elders and all the newcomers, Camillus, as a Roman dictator, led an unprecedented 70,000 army, consuming a huge amount of food every day. However, it has not yet captured the city of Ferentirum, completely eliminated the power of the Helniki, and put Rome in such a dangerous situation. He must be responsible for this! We should not let him lead the army to withdraw, but urge him to capture Ferentirum within these two days, and then quickly return to Rome, so that we will not waste the supplies we have provided for the army in vain. If Camillus cannot do it, after repelling the Dionians, we should consider whether to punish him."

Apuleus's words made some elders feel moved.

This made Portitus very angry, because if Apuleus' proposal was recognized, it would mean that his suggestion of "let Camillus lead the army back as soon as possible" would be put on hold by the Senate, so he angrily accused Apuleus: "You are putting Rome in danger!"

Despite Portitus' high reputation, Apuleus finally seized an opportunity to accuse Camillus and gave up his promise. He retorted loudly: "According to Ambustus's approach, we can organize nearly 10,000 defenders tomorrow. With such sufficient city defense, I have never heard of any force that can capture a city in one day, let alone the city of Rome, which can accommodate more than 100,000 people. We must have confidence and be able to hold on until Camillus leads his army back!

What's more, this is just your guess. The Dionians have a greater chance of attacking Rome City immediately. After all, this is a great risk. For this small possibility, we have to abandon the great opportunity to destroy the Helniki who we finally won and get a new colony. I don't think this is a clever approach and it is of no benefit to us Rome.

It is precisely because the army of Dionys has invaded Latinum that other Roman-hate races will inevitably jump out and fight us again. Only by destroying the Hilnikis first and seriously weakening the power of the Volsie people can we concentrate our efforts against our great enemy, Dionys!"

Apuleus's words were reasonable, and Portitus was speechless for a moment.

At this time, Marugineensis, who was also sitting in the front row of the venue, spoke: "Aprilus is right and urges Camillus to destroy the Hilnikis as soon as possible, which will help us fight against the Dionians!"

Originally, many senators were very moved by Apuleus's suggestion, and Marugine Encisch's support made them even more determined. This was because Marugine Encisch was also a very experienced senate. His age was similar to Portitus and he served as the consul several times (less than Portitus). It was just because when the Celtics conquered the city of Rome, he did not stay and stayed on Capitolin Mountain, but retreated early, which became a stain on his political career. Therefore, after rebuilding Rome, he seemed relatively low-key in the Senate, but this did not mean that his influence was small. After all, his full name was Publius Cornellius Marugine Encis, who was the most important representative of the Roman giants Comine Nelius clan in the Senate.

Despite the opposition from the elders such as Portitus and Ambroses, the Senate finally passed Apuleus' proposal: urge Camillus to capture the city of Ferentirum within three days, and then quickly lead the army back to rescue Rome.

Portitus looked at Apuleus, who was proud of himself, and secretly hated him. He knew that Apuleus seemed to be thinking about Rome, but was actually avenging himself. Because no matter whether Camillus seized the city of Ferentilum within the specified time, he would not have good fruit, because even if he completed his mission and Rome was attacked, the people would resent him as a dictator and unable to protect Rome. After the war ended, he would likely be accused at the Citizens' Assembly. If he ignored the orders of the Senate and returned to rescue in time, he would offend the veterans who were eager to expand Rome and win more benefits.

Damn Apurius! Portitus said loudly: "Since we have made the decision, we should send a messenger to inform Camillus immediately, and at the same time let him know about the attack of the Dionian army, so that he can step up his battle preparations and attack the city of Ferentirum as soon as possible."

Although Portitus said that, he did not think so in his heart. With his understanding of Camillus, Camillus, who was attacked by Rome, would probably refuse to attack the city of Ferentilum again and immediately led his army back. After all, Camillus was a dictator. During his tenure, his power was supreme, and he could deny the resolution of the Senate and do things completely according to his own ideas. In fact, during his expedition, Camillus could have selected a senator in the Senate as his agent and had the right to decide all matters in the city. Unfortunately, Camillus, who was modest and cautious, did not like to take over power, gave up this right, which led to today's dilemma.

But Apuleus obviously also noticed Portitus' intentions, and he responded directly: "Let's not forget that Camillus is a dictator. During his tenure, the proposal we passed can only be a suggestion to him. If he is unwilling to obey, we have no choice but to do it... So I suggest that the Senate designate a special messenger to rush to the military camp of Ferentilum, tell Camillus the proposal we passed, and wait until the siege is over, and then tell him about the invasion of the Dionians. For this reason, we should block the gates of Roman cities and prohibit people from going out..."

"You are crazy! You are despising the laws of Rome! You are provoking the dictator of Rome! Cough... Cough..." Portitus was so angry that he coughed repeatedly, and his body with a crutch was a little unstable.

The veteran next to him hurriedly supported him.

Marugineencis persuaded him with concern: "Old friend Portitus, don't be too excited. Apuleus did this to allow Camillus to concentrate on completing tasks and not be distracted. He also took the risk of being punished by Camillus for the overall situation of Rome."

"Yes, yes! I think Apuleus's proposal makes sense!..." With the endorsement of Marugine Encis, many veterans expressed their support for Apuleus one after another. The reason why they dared to be so bold was self-evident: Although Camillus treated the enemy wisely and bravely in military terms, he was gentle and amiable to the Roman people and even the Senate. During his three dictatorships, he spent most of his time fighting abroad, and handing over the power to stabilize the country to the Senate, he did not take over the power, and he had never punished any veteran, including Apuleus, the great sinner who slandered his reputation and caused him to leave Rome, was also safe and sound, and he stayed in the Senate, which made these veterans feel fearless.

Seeing that even a veteran like Lucretius expressed support for Apuleus's new proposal, Portitus calmed down, sat back on his seat, closed his eyes, and simply disappeared without seeing him.

Sure enough, the last messenger elected by the elders was Milucius, the chief of the city guard. You should know that his full name was Milucius Cornelius Scipio, who belonged to the same clan as the old elder Marugine Encius, so we can tell who he would listen to.

When Portitus learned of this result, he just snorted coldly.

After this election, the venue fell into a brief silence. Ambustus took the opportunity to request a war mobilization in Rome, and obtained consent. Apleus also left the venue and informed the city guard chief Milucius to implement the resolution of the Senate.
Chapter completed!