Pompeius's promised soldiers stood out when Lucullus arrived at the port to return to Rome.
Looking at the line, it looked more than 1,500, as promised. This is enough to save the least face.
With a sigh of relief, Lucullus moved a little closer and looked around at the soldiers.
And soon, he, overcome by uncontrollable anger, gritted his teeth and muttered.
"Pompeius, you son of a--…."
Most of the soldiers listed were old soldiers who were about to retire and those who they seriously injured and unable to fight.
In addition, Pompeius selected soldiers who were not on good terms with Lucullus and accompanied them on their way home.
A feeling of humiliation he had never felt in his entire life ran through Lucullus' whole body.
"How dare you...… You treat this Lucius Licinius Lucullus like this?"
No matter how much Lucullus could not end the war, his influence was not negligible.
As Marcus predicted, this behavior of Pompeius would be more of a loss than a gain, but Pompeius did not care about it now.
He has not had anything to do with failure since he was young.
Judging that it was an obstacle, he could kick it away and do what he wanted without hesitation.
No matter what means Lucullus and the senate used, it was a future that had not yet come.
Pompeius did not care about the powerless Senate and Lucullus. His eyes were only on Pontus and Armenia.
The time has come for the despotic monarchs of the East, who have long plagued Rome, to face the catastrophe of Pompeius finally.
Taking command of the eastern front from Lucullus, Pompeius began to reorganize his legions.
It would have been nice if he could have used the 20 legions organized during the pirate sweep as it is, but unfortunately, it was impossible.
It was the result of persistent opposition from the Senate.
After making all sorts of excuses, they succeeded in halving the forces allowed for Pompeius.
Pompeius was entrusted with ten legions and 270 fleets to conquer the East.
This alone was a large army of well over 60,000.
It was twice the force Lucullus commanded in the war against Mithridates.
Rumors rapidly spread that Pompeius would become a new commander and deploy ten legions on the front line.
Mithridates and Tigranes, who were scolded by Lucullus once, were nervous.
However, Pompeius showed a relaxed movement, unlike his usual stance of emphasizing speed warfare.
With no sign of an end to the legion formation, Marcus set out for Bithynia with Pompeius's permission.
He got even told that there were no plans to move the military this year, so it was okay to come after doing enough errands.
Arriving on horseback in Bithynia, Marcus immediately sought Thaddeus.
Whether he faithfully followed the order, he was already developing his business centering on a fairly good building.
After confirming Marcus' identity, the staff escorted him to a clean personal room.
The slaves guarding the guest rooms in the personal room bowed politely.
"Thaddeus is inside."
As he entered through the door, he saw Thaddeus sitting in front of the table. There was a considerable pile of documents next to him.
Thaddeus, who was busy moving his pen, jumped up from his seat as soon as he saw Marcus.
He realized Marcus' ability well in the wheat hoarding.
In addition, it perfectly matched the fact that the pirate sweep would be over in a short time.
An emotion that transcended fear as well as surprise sprang up in his mind.
The ancients would naturally associate an incomprehensible phenomenon with the existence of a god.
Thaddeus was no exception. He began to get convinced that Marcus was the favor of a god.
Otherwise, there were so many things that were difficult to explain.
Thaddeus's attitude towards Marcus was similar to that of a vassal towards a king.
"Hello, I've been waiting for you."
"Yes. Is the work I asked for going smoothly?"
"Of course. We are currently building a trade network by recruiting the hippeis (knight) of the Eastern states. Still, the speed is not coming out fast because you told me not to reveal my relationship with the Crassus family. I think it would be much easier to mobilize the Clientes of the Crassus family, but you told me not to...…."
"Yeah, good job. There may be people paying attention to you because of your wheat hoarding, so you shouldn't be too close to me. As well as what needs to be done in the future."
Although he moved with the utmost care, he should consider that Thaddeus was exposed as long as he had purchased a large amount of wheat.
Julia would be the only one who figured it was related to Marcus, but she needed to be more careful.
"But then, shouldn't you be careful about meeting me like this, Young Master?"
"It doesn't matter if we meet. Few of the famous merchants in Rome have a relationship with me. It's okay as long as it's not known that I'm behind you."
"Yes. Oh, and I have also contacted the merchant of Parthia as you mentioned. Did they say the fabric is silk? It looked really soft and luxurious. I thought it would be a lot of money if I took it to Rome."
"Isn't it? The price will jump a lot because the Parthians rip it off in the middle, but the aristocrats will open their pockets generously."
Originally, it was more than a decade from now that Rome recognized the existence of silk.
And Caesar, who is very ostentatious and cares a lot about clothes, made silk popular in Rome himself.
However, silk's price has not decreased since then as Parthia blocked between Rome and the Han Dynasty.
From the perspective of Parthia, it was an opportunity to make huge profits through intermediary trade, so there was no way to give it up.
Silk, which became very popular in Rome, is said to have boasted the price of more than one horse.
Marcus planned to bring this silk to Rome while he was in a relationship with Parthia.
Of course, the sale of silk was a secondary problem.
Marcus was really aiming to establish connections with the high-ranking aristocrats of Parthia.
Parthia is a power that can never get underestimated as a power that claims to be a descendant of Persia.
In the original history, the Roman legion led by Crassus suffered near-annihilation from the Parthians.
The battle, considered one of the worst defeats in the history of the Roman Republic, will lead to the death of Crassus and his second son, Publius.
It was a future that Marcus could never let happen.
After that, Parthia clashed with Rome several times, but Rome failed to subjugate Parthia completely.
There may be many reasons, but the biggest reason is that Rome could not maintain the long supply line.
Parthia's continued resistance also played a role.
These two obstacles are never problems that he can solve in a short time.
It was necessary to take time and do it slowly and surely.
Marcus announced the next mission in a low voice that even Thaddeus could hear.
"There is a prince named Mithridates (IV) among the sons of Phraates III, the current king of Parthia. He's violent, quick-tempered, and has a bad temper, so we'll make contact with the aristocrats he's connected with. Don't be in such a hurry and get results within five years is enough."
"If you are an aristocrat close to the royal family, it will be difficult to have a relationship, but if it's five years...… I think it's possible. I'll do my best."
Phraates III, king of Parthia, had two sons.
Orodes II and Mithridates IV are two of them.
Mithridates IV was, of course, a separate figure from Mithridates VI, king of Pontus at war with Rome.
Marcus planned to make the most of the subtle friction between the princes of Parthia.
It will be a far-off future, but he must sow the seeds of conflict in advance to get harvested in due course.
'I said battle is nothing more than confirming the victory of the war.'
Marcus planned to apply the teachings he received from Pompeius faithfully.
The moment you enter the war should be when you are sure of winning at least 90 percent.
Marcus then gave Thaddeus the details of the precautions.
They began to review a huge amount of data and all possible variables.
It exercised his eye for the distant future and his excellent judgment to the limit.
* * *