Rome Must Fall

Chapter 44: Horatius and Nessia

New Translator: Phos

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“Her name is Nessia, the head nurse of the medical team and also the deputy leader!” Maximus exclaimed loudly.

Nessia, a Greek slave, was bought by an overseer from a nearby farm to be a concubine. She suffered various abuses and had two miscarriages. When the rebels attacked the farm where she was, she incited the slaves on the farm to kill the overseer and his subordinates directly and joined the rebels. She appeared delicate on the outside, adept at socializing, but her inner strength and endurance were remarkable.

Upon hearing Maximus’ words, Nessia was both surprised and puzzled: “What is a head nurse?”

“A soldier who takes care of the wounded is called a nurse, and the leader of the nurses is called the head nurse,” Maximus intentionally distorted the meaning of nurse.

Nessia and the other women immediately showed delight. Being referred to as “soldiers” clearly elevated their status within the rebel group.

Nessia continued to ask, “What if these wounded soldiers, while we are taking care of them, behave rudely towards us? How should we handle it?”

Maximus spoke sternly, “Every wounded soldier who enters the medical team’s camp should be reminded in advance. If there is any harassment, you can issue a warning. If they continue to cause trouble after the warning, they will be expelled from the medical team’s camp. We won’t accept such wounded soldiers!”

“Understood!” Nessia smiled, satisfied with Maximus’ response.

While the others were clamoring noisily like the legion slaves, Horatius, who had been lost in thought since hearing Maximus’ requirements, finally asked, “Why do we need to boil water to soak the linen used for dressing wounds?”

Maximus was prepared for this question and answered earnestly, “We often see countless small insects at the bottom of ditches in the wild. In fact, these are only the ones we can see. There are also unseen insects around us that thrive on filth. They can cause high fever and illness. Usually, our skin acts as armor, tightly protecting us, and coupled with our strong bodies, we can live normally. However, if we are injured and physically weakened, they can easily enter our bodies through the wounds, causing the wounds to fester, high fever, and ultimately death. High temperatures can kill these insects, and a clean environment can also reduce their presence…”

Maximus’s words not only startled Horatius but also made the others nervously glance around.

Maximus’s serious look left Horatius half-believing and half-doubting. He eagerly asked, “From which physician did you learn all this that you speak of?”

Maximus was too lazy to explain further to Horatius and emphasized, “Don’t worry about where I learned it from. Just follow these instructions for now and see if it works after a while. If it works, we’ll continue with it. If not, then we can go back to your original methods of caring for the wounded. How about that?”

Horatius had never studied medicine, so he did not adhere to any particular theory that would cause him to reject other “heresies.” Instead, he felt that what Maximus said made some sense. Moreover, as a farmer by birth, he did not mind doing a bit more work.

“Alright, let’s give it a try as you suggested.”

This response relieved Maximus, who had already made up his mind that if Horatius had opposed the idea, he wouldn’t have minded finding another obedient person to be the leader of the medical team.

Maximus looked at Nessia and then at Horatius, speaking earnestly, “I hope both of you will work together to make our medical team successful and help more wounded soldiers recover!”

Nessia immediately expressed her support, saying, “I will fully cooperate with the leader of the medical team and lead our sisters to do our best!”

Horatius, on the other hand, said, “I’ve never been a leader before, so I don’t know if I can do a good job, but I’ll do my best!”

Such an honest man! Maximus had a good impression of Horatius upon this first meeting.

After a simple plan was made for the medical team’s camp based on the severity of the soldiers’ injuries, they began carrying the wounded into the tents.

At this moment, Maximus approached Nessia and whispered, “Nessia, I’ll give you another task. While you lead our sisters in taking care of the wounded, you can subtly persuade them to stay with our logistics team after they recover.”

This was another purpose of Maximus in establishing the medical team. Since the leaders were reluctant to allocate more soldiers to the logistics team, he would recruit from among the wounded soldiers. After all, the rebel army accepted new members on a voluntary basis, but most people didn’t understand the internal situation of the rebel army, so they just followed orders. If the wounded soldiers insisted on staying with the logistics team, it would be difficult for others to object. Moreover, the wounded soldiers had already experienced battles and had better qualities than new recruits.

“I understand. We will persuade them discreetly,” Nessia whispered back, throwing him a flirtatious gaze. “If I do well, Captain, how would you thank me?”

Maximus’s heart skipped a beat as he met her gaze, but he maintained his composure and said, “If you do well, it means I didn’t pick the wrong person.”

Nessia’s eyes danced on Maximus’ face, and she giggled.

Of course, it wasn’t just the medical team that carried the wounded into the tents. Maximus also called in the guards to help, so within half an hour, all the wounded soldiers were properly settled.

Afterward, Maximus tirelessly went around comforting each wounded soldier and intentionally told them that he had personally applied to the leaders to establish the medical team and would ensure their recovery process was fully supported.

Since the soldiers were wounded, the rebel army had been busy for the past two days. As a result, they were left behind with no one to take care of them, and their spirits were very low. Now, hearing that the logistics team specifically sent women to take care of them, they suddenly felt like they had gone from hell to heaven. They were not only grateful to Maximus but also promised to respect these women who would take care of them.

Following Horatius’ orders, several legion slaves started chopping firewood and preparing to boil water outside the medical team’s camp. Horatius began carefully instructing Nessia and the others on how to clean the wounds of the wounded soldiers, how to stop bleeding, and how to bandage them.

Seeing that the medical team’s work was starting to progress smoothly, Maximus quietly left. Thinking back to the grateful eyes of the injured soldiers just now, he decided to come here every day to win the favor of these wounded soldiers. It was a beneficial thing without any cost.

…………………………………………………

Since the rebel army had only 2,000 soldiers, the makeshift camp previously built by the Roman army on the olive oil farm could easily accommodate them. However, even so, the soldiers were busy all day and didn’t settle down until late at night.

Early the next morning, Spartacus and Crixus led the troops, escorting the hundreds of Campanian prisoners, and headed to Naples.

Naples was located northwest of the rebel army’s current camp, just ten kilometers away.

By noon, the troops arrived at the outskirts of the city.

Neapolitans had already received news of the rebel army’s approach and had closed the city gates long ago. The city guards were all stationed on the city walls, ready to face a formidable enemy.

Spartacus shouted loudly from below the city, declaring that they had risen up in resistance because they could no longer endure the oppression of the Romans. They had no ill intentions towards Neapolitans. However, Naples had aided the Romans by sending troops to assist the Roman army in attacking their camp. Now that the Roman army had been annihilated, and the majority of Campanian soldiers, mainly from Naples, had been captured, the rebel army had decided to punish the people of Naples. Unless Naples presented 500 sets of armor, 500 short swords, 500 spears, and 500 shields in exchange for the lives of these prisoners, they would all be executed right in front of them.

Spartacus’ proclamation caused a commotion among the officials, senators, and the city guards who were watching from the city walls.

Through the defeated soldiers who had escaped and returned yesterday, Neapolitans had already learned of the disastrous defeat of the Roman army. The families of soldiers who had not seen their loved ones return were already preparing for funerals, and the city was filled with mourning.

Now they saw that so many Neapolitan soldiers were still alive, and they were crying out in despair at the outskirts of the city. Most of the people wanted to agree to Spartacus’ conditions.

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Hi readers, Phos here. Thank you for waiting patiently for the continuation of this project. From now on, I’ll be the new translator of this novel. I’ll try to post 3-4 releases per week. But of course, it still depends on my free time.

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