Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 97 Spiritual Roman Training Center

Originally, Orville thought that it would be good enough for the Herod royal family to arrange two to three thousand people. After all, their population and military strength were indeed average, but he did not expect that the other side would bring seven thousand people at once.

These auxiliary soldiers were not qualified to approach the city of Rome. They were supplied at the port of Brindisi in southern Italy. After being supplied, they continued to take ships and went to the port of Genoa with the food. Then they joined the regular Roman legion along the avenue and received corresponding training.

Orville rode quickly to Brindisi and inspected the quality of the soldiers there. He could only say that it was slightly better than he had imagined. At least not all of them were pale and skinny. But that was the case. A large part of them were able-bodied men, and these men were not strong at all. They came to the auxiliary army just to beg for food.

But at least there were some decent troops. Some were auxiliary troops trained by the Romans during the Parphaic War. Some were semi-peasant troops brought by the Herod royal family who were temporarily serving as auxiliary troops. There was even a proper cavalry unit.

The Herod family also had their own ideas. Even if they were short of food, using refugees to make do was too perfunctory. Any Roman general would feel that this was an insult to themselves. Mixing in some high-quality troops was also a show of sincerity, which made the Roman generals less dissatisfied with him.

The auxiliary troops actually sent over were the two thousand people who had received formal training, and the remaining five thousand were just extras, the kind who waved flags, cheered, and served tea and water.

After meeting Orville, Herod Architas II first thanked Orville for his reminder, and privately promised him that he would help him deal with the blacksmith shop's affairs. Then he did not stay in Brindisi for long, and drove directly to Rome under Orville's reception.

After entering the city, the son of Herod Architas began his operations.

He was allowed to attend the war meeting of the Senate as an exception, and then burst into tears at the meeting, saying that Palphi had experienced years of war and then suffered a rare drought. The natural disasters and man-made disasters combined together, and now the local people could hardly survive.

So he asked the "Romans who liberated the peoples of the world" to help him for the sake of the 7,000 auxiliary soldiers, otherwise his kingdom would be in danger of collapse.

Whether the liberated locals were willing or not, the proud Romans believed this from the bottom of their hearts. They believed that they had brought order, stability and peace to the conquered areas, and now that the territory they protected was threatened by disaster, they should indeed do something about it.

Of course, it also has something to do with King Archieta's own good performance, and his father once had some influence in Rome, and his contemporaries are still alive. Many people, out of friendship with his father, chose to agree to help.

A batch of military reserve grain will be transported from Syria to Parfums, which will be enough to feed 50,000 people for three months. This is a relatively generous number that the city of Rome can give. It is now June, and when the order to transport grain is passed on, it will probably take September or October for the grain to be transported from Syria to Parfums. This batch of grain can help them survive the winter. The Senate and the emperor both agreed to this matter, and the Herod royal family was even more pleased to see it happen.

To put it more cruelly, this is a trade of exchanging people for food. The regular auxiliary troops are usually used more appropriately, but the able-bodied troops are different. They are just battlefield cannon fodder, human trigger enemy detectors, and human-shaped animals.
When the Herod royal family sent out these 5,000 people, they probably didn't think that how many of them could come back alive. They were just showing their loyalty. There was no other way but to do so because there was not enough food.

Sending these people out could ease the food pressure, and at the same time get more food from the outside world, so that they could survive the most difficult reconstruction period of the past two years, and things would be easier in the future. He also fought hard to gain support, and even put his sister Berenice as a hostage in Rome, so that the people of Rome could feel completely at ease.

Although she was sold in a sense, Berenice herself did not seem to be dissatisfied, but accepted the result. After all, Tia's case was a rare one. At this point in time, most people could not choose their own destiny, especially members of the royal family.

She had been married to a small king in the Caucasus before, but the marriage ended soon due to political problems. She was sent back to Parfit, but before she could find her next marriage partner, the marriage was temporarily put on hold due to a partisan uprising.

Now that the uprising is over, Herod Architas II should of course consider his sister's next destination. He has no children now, so Berenice naturally becomes the most suitable hostage candidate, whether she wants it or not.

The Romans' understanding of hostages should not be much different from that of the Chinese during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Those who could survive in harsh conditions as long as they did not die were called prisoners, not hostages.

Generally speaking, hostages would be taken to the homes of Roman upper-class nobles from an early age, receive Roman-style aristocratic education like their children, and be treated with good food and drink. If nothing unexpected happens, they would be released when they reach adulthood. People who have been influenced by Roman culture since childhood are more likely to become spiritual Romans when they grow up. These elite Romans would generally inherit the family business in the future, so it was of great benefit to the Romans' rule in various places.

To be precise, Berenice was obviously over the age limit, but there were no very strict regulations on this matter, so it didn't matter. Everyone knew that it was the Herod family showing their loyalty, and the Romans would accept the loyalty of the Herod family.

Tia took the initiative for once and ensured that it was the Flavian royal family who received Berenice. Originally, the Flavian royal family was the protector of the Herod family in Rome, so this request was reasonable and there was no resistance.

To Orville's surprise, she reacted quickly and did things very efficiently this time.

First, he went between Vespa and several Vespa senators, trying to find a way to quickly grant Berenice citizenship, on the grounds that Berenice, as a gifted person, should have Roman citizenship. Considering the other party's special status, the request was readily granted.

Then Berenice lived in the Flavian mansion as an aide rather than a hostage. The mansion was very large. After all, it was positioned as a royal palace, so it was no problem to squeeze in a hundred guests. There were only a few people from the Flavian family living there, so there were plenty of empty spaces.

In fact, Orville and Berenice were not very familiar with each other. To be honest, he was more familiar with Herod Architas II. After all, the two sides had always had business dealings, mainly because Tia had a good relationship with her.

So he was not particularly concerned about this matter. He had been busy reselling Cleopatra's treasure trove with Herod Architas II these days.

(End of this chapter)