Rome Must Perish

Maximus glanced at Capito.

Capito immediately introduced, "Leader, his name is Kadesos. He used to be a slave, but now he is appointed by me as the manager of this weapons workshop. The original manager was Ilacus’s trusted aide, a Sarabian and Roman citizen, who was reluctant to work for us.

And Kadesos was his servant. As you can see, the environment here is not very good. The manager didn’t like staying here, usually instructing Kadesos to do things, so Kadesos is more familiar with the workshop’s affairs than the manager."

Maximus nodded in agreement, "You’re right. The weapons workshop is very important to us, and only those who are aligned with us can be entrusted with significant positions!"

Then Maximus smiled broadly and affectionately patted Kadesos on his sturdy shoulder, "I know nothing about the weapons workshop, so I’ll rely on you to show me around and explain everything in detail. Let me learn well."

"Y...yes, Leader." Kadesos was flattered and, after composing himself, cautiously asked in an inquiring tone, "Shall we go to the stone crushing room first?"

"I’ll follow your arrangement," Maximus replied cheerfully.

Kadesos led Maximus and Capito towards the riverbank, followed closely by fully armed soldiers of the Personal Guard. They encountered many busy people along the way, who sensibly stepped aside upon seeing the formation.

Soon, they came to a tall building situated above the water channel, right next to the small hill on the west. The two-meter-wide channel introduced the gentle Ophidus River water, which became turbulent as it cascaded down from the hill, hitting a substantial wooden wheel beneath the building, producing a loud rumble and causing the paddles of the wooden wheel to continuously rotate under the impact of the water flow...

Seeing this, Maximus’s mood suddenly became excited. He couldn’t wait to step into the building, where he saw a large gear at the other end of the wooden wheel, spinning inside the building. This gear meshed with another smaller iron gear, which meshed with another iron gear, and through connecting rods... eventually extended an iron arm, ending with a large iron hammer. The interlocking gears resulted in continuous up-and-down movements of the iron hammer, smashing the iron ore laid below...

"This is the Water Hammer!" Maximus exclaimed involuntarily. In Campania, he had discussed water mills with Volenus and Scapula, but instead of seeing a water mill, he first encountered another ancient mechanism utilizing water power.

"Lea... Leader, please... step back a little, beware of flying stones!" Kadesos reminded with concern, having to raise his voice due to the rumbling noise within the building.