Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 91
It is not realistic to simply label this woman as a beauty who brings disaster. If we look at Cleopatra from the perspective of an Egyptian monarch or a Greek successor, she should be considered a good monarch.

Build cities, organize navy, ease domestic ethnic conflicts, provide relief to disaster victims, and recover homeland. In fact, Rome at that time had long planned to annex Egypt, and Cleopatra did delay the annexation of Egypt by her diplomatic tactics.

If it weren't for this woman, Caesar might have annexed Egypt on the way when he chased the defeated Pompey to Alexandria. At that time, Caesar had already defeated the main force of Egypt. For such a powerful ruler, as long as he was willing to spend a few more years, conquering Egypt could have become part of his achievements.

Back to Cleopatra herself, although many people accused her of being greedy and having no long-term political acumen, in Orwell's opinion, not everyone is a man of great talent without weaknesses or mistakes. The education Cleopatra received since childhood was not aimed at cultivating a monarch. Greek women only received literary and artistic education rather than political education, which she relied entirely on self-study. Compared with those almost eye-catching rulers of Ptolemaic Egypt in the middle and late periods, at least she still has some commendable aspects.

But that's all. Orville would not be affected by the propaganda of the time. No matter how afraid he was of Cleopatra, he would do what he had to do. This was business, nothing more.

Even if Egypt really becomes a hidden danger to the Roman Empire in her hands in the future, there is no need to worry too much. Caesar can conquer Egypt's main force with a small army, and other rulers of this time and space are not much different.

Could she defeat [The Best Emperor] Trajan, [The Restorer of the World] Aurelian, or [The Last Roman] Belisarius? Orville felt that she couldn't even handle [The Divine] Tia. If it really came to that, it would only be Egypt that would suffer. Rome's national fortune was now flourishing at its peak in history, and Egypt couldn't stop it. Unless Alexander crawled out of his grave to lead the army to fight, it would be worth watching.

This was the pinnacle of the classical era, and Cleopatra could not grasp it.

After coming to his senses, Orville was much more relaxed about his work: "I can quickly provide the weapons that Her Royal Highness requested. I can get swords, spears, guns, and bows as long as you ask. Equipment for two or three thousand people or more is no problem. But armor is not easy to get. I only have 300 sets of extra ones that can be provided immediately. I can't take out more.

As compensation, I will build a blacksmith workshop in Palphi and continuously forge equipment. I will sell those weapons to Her Royal Highness the Princess at the market price, and the extra money will be counted as shares for Her Royal Highness the Princess to invest in. Then, I will provide Her Royal Highness the Princess with that part of the equipment for free according to the shares she holds. How do you think this is?

The King and Queen of the Kingdom of Palfi are my friends and partners. They are protected by my father. The Commander-in-Chief of the 12th Legion of Governor Palfi is my comrade-in-arms. The 12th Legion and I have fought side by side for a long time. I set up the workshop there. At least no one else in Egypt will know the news. This should be a safer plan. "

Ptolemy's strengths lie in his knowledge of astronomy and geography, but he was not particularly familiar with these complicated things. Orville's words were very good, so he could only agree vaguely.

Seeing this scene, Orville understood a little bit in his heart - Cleopatra really had no one around her, so she had to let her teacher take the blame.

Claudius Ptolemy was not born into a royal aristocratic family, but was born in the city of Ptolemy in Egypt. Just by hearing the name, we know that he or his family has received a lot of favors from the royal family throughout their lives, so it is natural for him to repay the favor. After all, intellectuals believe that a scholar will die for his confidant. The Library of Alexandria is a beacon of knowledge in the Mediterranean world. The Ptolemy royal family who are willing to spend a lot of money to maintain it are naturally the confidants of these scholars.

After making things clear, Orville did not send Ptolemy away, but invited him to his house as a guest.

This is the cartographer that Orville has been dreaming of. It would be a real crime if he were to be let go and something went wrong. He must be strictly guarded and protected.

Ptolemy himself was also happy about this - the royal family members treated him politely and arranged for him to stay temporarily in the emperor's palace, which was a great honor for an intellectual. The Romans were similar to the farming people on the other side of the Eurasian continent, valuing technology and despising science. The optics, mathematics, geometry and other things that Ptolemy was studying at this stage were only interesting to them unless they were turned into some kind of equipment. They were not very interested in just talking about theory. Even if the Greeks were slightly better, they were not much better. The times were there.

The fact that Orville was willing to treat him in this way showed respect. He was not the kind of person who would be picky. Instead, he was quite touched and thought that Orville was a person who respected intellectuals.

After he left, Belisarius came up to him and said worriedly, "Your Highness, is this okay? If His Majesty the Emperor knew about this, it would be very troublesome, right?"

After working with Orville for a few months, a certain friendship had developed between the two of them, and it was no longer just a relationship between bodyguard and master, so Belisarius was also worried about Orville's behavior.

"Of course it's not good. I'm overstepping my bounds by doing this. If someone else were caught doing this, they might be suspected of treason or something like that. So I have to go to my father and admit my mistake. The key is to appeal to his emotions and reason with him."

These words reassured Belisarius. He did not have to face any dilemma. The duty of the Guards was to obey the emperor's orders. If the emperor had no problem with Orville, he did not have to do much and could just let things take their course.

…………

After leaving his room, Orville, as he said, went straight to Vespa and told him everything he had done.

He was very clear about his position. After all, he was Vespa's adopted son, and Vespa did not fully trust him. Don't think he didn't know about what happened. Many of the middle-level cadres under Orville were Vespa's confidants. Vespa basically knew everything he did, so he had to approve this matter.

After telling Vespa everything, Vespa did not blame Orville, but instead made a joke with him.

"I heard from Curio (the governor of Egypt) that the Egyptian princess Cleopatra was a beautiful girl who was so beautiful that she could overwhelm the whole country. Is this true?"

Orville answered truthfully: "If Caesar met her, he might be infatuated with her and forget his duties and responsibilities. Of course, this is only temporary. After all, he is Caesar, a man among men, a leader among leaders."

Vespa didn't mind hearing Orville making fun of the national idol, but laughed heartily.

(End of this chapter)