Rome Must Perish
Chapter 113 - 91: Harvest and Arrangements

Chapter 113: Chapter 91: Harvest and Arrangements

"Did anyone take it privately?" Maximus interjected.

Flanitnus hesitated slightly, and the Military Judge Sidonius immediately said coldly, "Yes, there are a total of three people, all from the same squad, who have been caught. I plan to publicly administer the rod punishment during dinner to alert the entire army! Moreover, the centurion of that squad has shown poor leadership, and I recommend reprimanding him and removing him from his position!"

"Alright, do as you suggested." Maximus nodded approvingly, then turned his eyes seriously to Flanitnus, "Since we have established military law, it must be strictly enforced. Do not fear complaints from the soldiers. Even if they want to leave, I will not stop them. Removing those with weak resolve will only make our unit more cohesive and disciplined. Besides, we are not short of manpower now; there are countless slaves and commoners outside willing to join our ranks!"

"The leader is right. Our soldiers come from all over the Mediterranean, and if we tolerate these violators of military discipline even slightly, the army could fall into chaos."

Quintus sternly reminded, "Look at Spartacus. Originally, his troops had good discipline, but then those southern people came. He allowed them to form their own troops and agreed to let them follow his forces. However, these southerners had no military discipline and plundered everywhere, corrupting the soldiers of Spartacus’s army. Now he is completely unable to control his army. I foresee more trouble for him in the future..."

Maximus felt the same, but Flanitnus did not want to listen to Quintus’s chatter and hurriedly said, "Besides the seized goods, we have captured over 600 slaves from these rich men’s estates and more than 100 of their family members, mainly women and children. I wonder how you plan to deal with them, leader?"

Maximus thought for a moment, then called out, "Volenus! Volenus! Volenus!!..."

"Leader, what is it?" The administrative officer of the Maximus Army, who was examining the Sarabia town documents, stood up hastily, knocking over the wooden chair behind him.

"What has got you so engrossed?" Maximus asked curiously first.

"Leader, I was looking at the records of trade taxes collected in Sarabia over the past two years." Volenus, holding a stack of papyrus, said excitedly, "Though Sarabia City is not large, last year’s trade taxes amounted to nearly two thousand Gold Aureus (the most valuable Roman currency, made of gold)! But that’s not the main point. More importantly, there’s a weapon workshop in Sarabia City!"

This remark moved everyone present.

Maximus hastily asked again, "Are you sure it’s a weapon workshop and not a blacksmith’s shop?"

Every town has blacksmiths, who forge iron and make farm tools, but it’s difficult to manufacture a full set of weapons independently. However, a weapon workshop is a factory dedicated to manufacturing weaponry and is generally not small in scale.

"It’s not a blacksmith’s shop; it’s a weapon workshop!" Volenus said with certainty while handing over the papyrus in his hand, pointing to a line, "Leader, look here; this weapon workshop called Ilacus sold 100 square shields and short swords, and 30 sets of legion armor to the southern military port Brindisi last year... And this weapon workshop also smelts iron ore..."

"Ilacus?..." Maximus found the name somewhat familiar, and immediately recalled, "Isn’t this person a big noble of Sarabia City? It’s said that his family was one of the city’s founders and now has close ties with Rome. Based on what we learned beforehand, we have listed him as a top must-execute noble. Do we know his current situation?"

This question was obviously directed at Flanitnus, and Flanitnus immediately answered, "He has already been killed. It was during the attack on his estate that our soldiers suffered the greatest casualties."

"Since he’s dead, let’s take over this weapon workshop and everyone inside..." Maximus said while carefully reviewing the tax records of this weapon workshop in his hand. Suddenly, his eyes focused, "This record shows that this weapon workshop imported iron ore from Noricum... Is this Noricum the place north of the Northern Italy Province, west of Pannonia?"

For Maximus’s question, those present looked at each other, unable to provide an answer.

"The leader is right; this Noricum is in the place you mentioned." A voice came from outside the door, and then Capito walked in, "This region, controlled by the Noric Gaul Tribe, is rich in iron ore, and its quality is much better than that within Italy. Many years ago, the Roman Senate reached an agreement with the Noric people. Their iron ore production, except for personal use, must be procured by Rome..."

Capito said earnestly, "Ever since the other city-state citizens of Italy became Roman citizens over a decade ago, they too have had the right to purchase Noricum’s iron ore. From the Noricum mountains, the iron ore is transported to Aquileia City, then shipped across the Adriatic Sea to here, refined into iron ingots, and manufactured into weapons, then sold to Brindisi, distributed to Roman soldiers about to head into battle...

This trade route is conveniently transported, saving costs. It must be said, the owner of this weapon workshop has foresight. Given a few more years of development, he could certainly become a major merchant supplying weapons to the Roman army."