Augustus Road

No consul dared to make a major decision without seeking permission from the Senate - Edward Gibbon

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In the evening of midsummer, Karabis, Milu and several other veterans were topless, together with the limping little Paluma, sweating and playing with a ball on the small school field, while Poti had a ball with their wives and daughters. They were chatting and laughing under the parasol, drinking mint water, and the parents were short-lived.

Sometimes, Milu would talk about their enemy Papina in Spain, and Calabis would joke that in two or three years, we will be able to form a small fleet to kill him. At this time, the expressions on Milu's face, as well as those of Pop and Tagus, were all very serious, making Karabis feel that they were not joking at all.

But whenever they hear their husbands say such words, women's faces will be cast into thick clouds. They all agree that under the leadership of Calabis, every household has lived a good life like the rich in Rome. Why bother to remember the grudges from twenty years ago?

This was the same year when Cicero became consul. The city of Rome was basically calm at least in the first half of his term. The knights of Sicily, in order to thank him for his performance in the corruption case of Verres, not only sent Victor to Most of the stolen money returned by Luos was donated to the treasury, and he also gave away a lot of money to support Cicero's governance. Cicero also acted decisively and used the money to transport grain to Rome from all over the provinces, which alleviated the shaky food supply of the city of Rome. The poor don't have to worry about going hungry, and the rich can live in luxury and enjoy themselves with peace of mind.

Most people, no matter where they live, can just muddle along, not to mention that life is very good now.

A burst of noise came from outside the school grounds. All the men and women stopped moving and talking. Calabis held the ball motionless. He saw Catiline wearing a spotless white robe under the sunset. Under the protection of a group of people, he was walking towards them.

"I would like to express my afternoon greetings to you, rich free man, called Calabis, right? They all call you 'Hearth Madman' now." Catiline's face was always paler than his white robe, and he was gloomy. Smiling, behind him stood several big men in leather armor, some of whom were Celts and some of whom were Spanish Moors. They all held daggers and iron rods in their hands, all with ferocious faces.

Calabis winked at Poti and Milu at the same time. Poti quickly pulled Paluma aside, while Milu and the veterans nodded at Calabis and stepped aside.

"Salute to you, nobleman with a gold ring." Calabis wiped his hands on the sand, and then bowed politely to Catiline.

"Haha, what kind of noble..." Catiline laughed, and kept making denial movements with his hands, and then said with a trace of sadness: "I originally got almost 10 million Seths in Africa. Damn it, now it’s all gone to the treasury, why do you think I’m such a noble person?”

"I don't know where I can help you, respected noble." Karabis was tired of fighting with this guy.

Catiline twirled the gold ring on his hand, then raised his head and said: "Nothing, I want to prove my innocence, get back the ten million sesterces, and promote the implementation of my proposal."

"So that's it, I can fund your prosecution."

"Stop pretending to be stupid!" Catiline's face suddenly turned cold and frosty, "You are a liberated slave of a foreign race, a free citizen. Why do you earn so much money? Don't tell me that it is through law-abiding means. Langji Sir, do you know him?"

Hearing Catiline's question, Calabis's heart tightened. What he was most worried about happened. The outcome of Langisi's day was not settled. It would be a time bomb for him at any time, but now he can only pretend The confusion continued, "I'm sorry, I don't know who you are referring to. I have never met Lang Jishi."

Catiline raised his hands flat, made a very regretful gesture, and then said: "Calabis, you are really good at it. First, you assassinated Galba of Africa with Langis, and framed me, causing me to be in trouble." When you were prosecuted, you were very passive and squandered all your wealth. Then you used the rewards from the behind-the-scenes sponsors to support Julius Caesar's campaign for high priest, defeating my best friend Catullus, in an attempt to make me in office. You will lose support in the next year's campaign. You kept squeezing me in the Colosseum, and you kept squeezing me, a free citizen. Do you think that the city of Rome allows you to do whatever you want to a descendant of the oldest nobles? !" He yelled the last sentence, which scared the women nearby and covered their children's ears.

These inexplicable words made even Calabis confused. Damn it, the financial backer behind Langjishi, isn't it you?

But before he could ask anything, Catiline continued to fire: "It doesn't matter, I lost a move in the Senate, but I still have a few friends who serve as tribunes of the people, and they have the right to propose plebiscites. Just wait and see. I will restore the original appearance of the ancient Roman city - every citizen has land to farm, the legions are free of scum and rogues, and the financial problems of you who deceived the Romans will be completely solved. Go to hell with the alien bad guys, you will all become slaves under the New Deal, because you are born slaves!"

Calabis had heard of Catiline's plan recently, but the naivety of this plan surprised even him from modern times. It was a land plan, advocating the establishment of a ten-member committee to make all Italian state-owned land public. After auctioning and selling, the money obtained is used in the form of a foundation to purchase cheap land from foreign city-states, divide it into small plots, move the poor people in Rome there, and distribute it to them for free, but without property rights, only the right to operate.

What a painful plan! You can guess the outcome from the beginning. Many of the new rich knights made their fortune by renting state-owned land and running farms and workshops on it. Now that it is to be sold publicly, they will be the first to hold up signs to oppose it; what about the nobles? Except for a few die-hards who are full of retro ideas, no one will approve of this crazy move. Their daily luxury is realized by knights lending money and blood; as for the poor, they will not buy it - stay in Rome. , I can live by selling tickets and eating relief food every year, and I can also enjoy the trophies of the legion. I have cheap girls to play with and cheap slaves to serve. Who is willing to go to a colony thousands of miles away and live a repair life? The earth's miserable days?

The glorious traditions of ancient Rome, what we want to retro, etc., we can just talk about it on weekdays, but when it comes down to it, everyone is afraid of being in front of others.

I don’t know whether this Catiline is really stupid or fake.

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