Early the next morning, Zhang Heng saw the Germanic sitting in the prison wagon.
At this time, the Germanic were not as promising as their later descendants. They were scattered all over Europe. At this time, the Germanic were still barbarians in the eyes of the Romans. They were a collective name for the barbarian tribes on the right bank of the Rhine River. However, the war between them and the Romans had a long history. The first conflict between the two sides could be traced back to 113 BC.
Two Germanic tribes crossed the Danube River to attack a Roman town, intending to make a killing before leaving. In the end, the Roman legion stationed there defeated them. In terms of individual combat power, there was no doubt that the burly Germanic had the upper hand. However, the Romans were more disciplined, better equipped, and more adept at using classical linear tactics. Many of their tactical ideas had even been absorbed by modern linear tactics.
Hence, the Germanic, who advocated individual bravery, suffered a great loss. However, the Germanic never gave up on invading the south. For a long time, there were border conflicts and frictions, especially in the first century, when Wei Qing and Huo Qubing drove the Xiongnu to the west. As a result, Europe suffered greatly.
The Germanic were sandwiched in the middle, and they could only speed up their march south. When Aurelius was still alive, he had been dealing with the Germanic invasions. The two sides fought a lot, and after hundreds of years of fighting and learning, the barbarians had made great progress. At the same time, they had accumulated a lot of experience in dealing with the Roman legion. Their production technology had also improved, and they were becoming more and more difficult to deal with.
However, Zhang Heng knew that the war between the two sides would end soon. He had learned from Varro that it was the year 180 AD. The former emperor, Aurelius, had just died of illness on the front line, and his son, Commodus, succeeded the throne.
Commodus had no interest in the war with the Germanic. If everything went smoothly, it would not be long before he signed a truce with the Germanic leader. He would provide annual subsidies to the Germanic tribe in exchange for a truce between the two sides.
Considering the distance between the front line and the capital, the two sides might have signed a treaty by now. It was just that the news had not reached them yet. So, this group of Germanic in front of Zhang Heng was probably the last batch of prisoners of war.
It was obvious that they did not have a good time along the way. As invaders from the north, one could imagine what the Romans thought of them. Along the way, some people even threw stones at them, but these Germanic were not afraid. Instead, they laughed at them loudly.
One of the most muscular men turned to his companions and said disdainfully, "A bunch of pussies."
In short, they came to the gladiator school in such a hostile atmosphere.
After the slave trader and the person in charge of the school counted the heads, they began to discuss the final price. They quickly reached an agreement on the price of 3,000 Sestertius per person, but when it came to the last person, which was the burliest guy, the two sides seemed to have a big disagreement.
The person in charge of the school wanted to buy it for 5,000 Sestertius, but the slaver insisted on 10000 Sestertius.
Zhang Heng couldn't hear them clearly because they were quite a distance away, and they were talking very fast. So, he asked Varo, "What are they talking about?"
"Uhh, the slave trader said that the man is very brave and has caused a lot of trouble for our army. Many people have died in his hands, and he is very strong. With some training, he will become a lady-killer. All the ladies in Rome will be fascinated by him, and he will make the owner of this place a lot of money," Varo explained.
At the same time, he began to worry about his future. "These Germanic are all prisoners of war, and they look very powerful. An ordinary gladiator only costs 2,000 Sestertius. Although I sold myself for 2,500 Sestertius, that's because I have the ability to run a business. Each of them is sold for 3,000 Sestertius, and the guy who asked for 10,000 Sestertius. We are no match for them."
Zhang Heng was noncommittal when he heard that.
Since last night, he had not been completely idle. At the very least, he had searched the area around the gladiator school. Zhang Heng did not know if the two of them posed any threat to him, but the gladiator school was not very strict with them. As long as he did not go out, he could basically go anywhere.
As for the slaves who had become gladiators, they seemed to have more freedom. They could even walk out of the gate to have fun.
This seemed to be different from what Zhang Heng imagined the gladiator school to be. With his skills, coupled with his newly acquired shadow power, it would not be difficult for him to escape at night. The difficult part was what he should do after that.
As the only Han who had penetrated deep into the Roman Empire, his appearance was quite recognizable. Besides, he did not have the identity of a Roman citizen. If he could only be an escaped slave, his life in Rome would be very troublesome.
So after thinking about it for a while, Zhang Heng gave up the idea of escaping. Instead of hiding, it would be better to become a free man in the gladiator school.
Varo was afraid of becoming a gladiator, but Zhang Heng was not worried. He had level-4 swordsmanship, and in terms of combat experience, the group of arrogant-looking Germanic could not compare to him.
In fact, Zhang Heng's real attention was not on the newly arrived barbarians.
In order to accept this batch of slave prisoners smoothly and to avoid any trouble, the gladiator school had also sent some people, including six gladiators and two trainers. And what attracted Zhang Heng's attention was not the muscular gladiators, but one of the Persian trainers.
He looked inconspicuous, short, and old. He was the kind of person who would easily be ignored in a crowd. If it were not for his light blue eyes, he would look like a Roman that could be seen everywhere on the street.
Now, Zhang Heng could basically get a lot of useful information with just a glance. However, he found that he couldn't see anything special about the old Persian trainer.
The person in charge of the training school argued with the slave trader for a while, and the two sides finally agreed on the price. Considering the previous result, the price of 3,000 Sestertius for the Germanic was quite good. The slave trader took a step back and sold the man for 7,000 Sestertius.
Both sides were satisfied. The only one who was dissatisfied was the person who was sold. The burly Germanic seemed to feel that the price was a little insulting to him. He cursed in dissatisfaction, causing his companions around him to burst into laughter.
These people were warriors from various tribes. After being captured by the Romans, they had no intention of living. They were not afraid of being sold to the gladiator school. Instead, they were in the mood to make a scene. Obviously, they did not care about the Romans around them.
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