Probably because they were about to be sent to the gladiator school to become gladiators, the work assigned to them was not too heavy, and Zhang Heng hadn't felt the cruel oppression of the evil slavery society for the time being.
After finishing the work at hand, the supervisor did not show up again, and assigned them a new job, as if they had been forgotten, so Zhang Heng and Valo, the two unconscious new slaves, took it for granted. fish come.
Zhang Heng took the initiative to communicate with Varo, hoping to get as much useful information from him as possible. After all, his knowledge of ancient Rome was limited to some famous historical figures and events, while Varo and ordinary slaves No, before he became a slave, he was a serious Roman citizen and a businessman. He was very well-informed, and unlike his burly figure, he was very kind. At the same time, he probably felt that what happened just now Some owed, he basically answered every question.
Considering the current situation of the two, Zhang Heng first asked Varo about slaves, because from what Varo said before, it can be heard that although slaves are at the bottom of Roman society, the fate of different slaves seems to be quite different of.
"Of course." Varo explained patiently, "For example, staying in the city is usually much better than selling to the countryside, because the city is relatively richer, and the living conditions of the slaves will be better, and some nobles They need to consider their own face and show their kindness. Most people will not squeeze slaves too much. Your job is basically to take care of the hostess and hostess, do cleaning and so on. There are not many heavy jobs, but in the countryside Crap."
Varo licked his slightly dry lips, and continued, "Sold to the countryside, either farming or mining, the food and living conditions are not good, because the owner there will try to make you work more, they Don't care about your living conditions, the more you work and the less you eat, the more they will earn, and the female slaves are even worse, they may be asked to keep giving birth, and every time a child is born, it is a sum of money, no matter It’s a good choice whether you keep it for yourself or sell it.”
"Then what about the investment you mentioned?" Zhang Heng asked later.
"Oh, this is the best fate for a slave like me who has a certain talent. You can ask the master to invest a sum of money and open a shop by yourself. As long as you can bring a steady stream of income to the master, your status will naturally increase. The higher you are, the more you don’t have to serve your master like other endeavors, and if you’re lucky, you can get your freedom eventually, because in order to motivate the slaves, many masters will set a certain amount, and after earning this much money, you will become a Roman citizen again.”
"Sounds good." Zhang Heng said.
Varo hesitated for a moment, and then added, "Actually, gladiators... are barely a way out. If you can pass the examination and become a gladiator, your status will be higher than that of ordinary slaves. If you win a certain number of games, you can also get freedom, but that is too difficult. Many people who have been on the battlefield with superb fighting skills will not survive that day, let alone us. By the way, where are you from, I I've never seen you look like this before."
"I come from the Han Empire in the east." Zhang Heng said.
He is not lying, the second century AD is almost the Eastern Han Dynasty in history. At this time, the Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire were the two most powerful super empires in the world. The villagers of Ergan are very keen to discuss the topic of who will win in a fight between the Han Dynasty and Rome, and they keep fighting.
But it is a pity that until now, although China has unearthed such things as the Roman Cup, the archaeological community has not yet had a unified answer on whether there was contact between Rome and the Han Dynasty, let alone a fight. Who will win this kind of thing, but on the other hand, the more this kind of topic that can be used for laning in the void, the more enduring, because neither side can convince the other.
Sure enough, Varo was also a little dazed when he heard about the Han Empire, not knowing where it was, "Then why did you come to Rome and become a slave?"
"I wanted to see what's in the west, so I planned a trip, but when I went to Persia, I met robbers, and then I was sold to a slave trader, and finally ended up in Rome." Zhang Heng made up a casual A debunked lie.
"Then you are too unfortunate, my friend from the East." Valo mourned for Zhang Heng for three seconds. In his opinion, Zhang Heng's temperament and the well-maintained skin of modern people all prove that Zhang Heng is the big man he said There is a nobleman in the empire, and it is estimated that he is still a nobleman with an unusual status.
In the end, this guy didn't know what was going on in his head, and he was living a good life under the corrupt and degenerate ruling class. I can't go back to my hometown again, and it seems that I will lose my life in Rome.
However, Valo hadn't been feeling emotional for Zhang Heng for a few seconds, and thinking of his tragic experience was not much better, so his mood became depressed again, but with this connection, he felt that the relationship between himself and Zhang Heng was getting closer One point, both of them originally had a good life, but suddenly fell into slavery and became slaves. In this regard, they have quite a common language.
Walo couldn't help but patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, if I regain my freedom in the future and make money, I will definitely redeem you from the arena and let you return to your hometown."
"Then thank you very much." Zhang Heng said politely, not paying much attention to Varo's promise.
Now that he knows that slaves are at the bottom of Roman society, he will definitely not be a slave forever. Fortunately, although Rome is in the stage of slavery society, the society is not completely without mobility. According to Varro, slaves can be obtained through hard work. The status of a Roman citizen is even higher than that of a foreigner. Similarly, commoners can also become nobles. Of course, the degree of difficulty of this matter is definitely much more difficult than mixing slaves with commoners.
Zhang Heng doesn't need to think so much at this stage, he just needs to get rid of his status as a slave first.
The two chatted for a while until dinner.
In all fairness, the dinner was not bad, and the richness was definitely not comparable to that of the later generations. Except for the beans, it was porridge, but what was rare was that there were meat and crabs in the porridge.
But Varo couldn't be happy when he saw this, and whispered to Zhang Heng, "It seems that they really plan to let us enter the gladiator school."