Augustus Road

"You'd better implement separatist politics in your own home first!" - Lycurgus of Sparta said sarcastically to the separatists who came to lobby him.

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The battle first started in the streets and squares of Rome. Cato, who had just been angry about his daughter's marriage, and his purple-robed colleagues were caught off guard. Caesar in the Port of Tia and curbed the lobbying of Caesar's teammates in the city's aristocratic circle. Cato was proud to think that he had prevented Caesar to death. But who would have thought that some of Caesar's teammates in the dark were in the slums and drainage areas? Gouli has such great organizational ability!

But this is nothing in the hands of Lepidus and Claudius. They have already contacted a large number of knights, freedmen and street gangsters, and connected them in a short time. In short, those with money will pay, and those with money will pay. The reward was ten sesterces a day for those who held an inscribed bronze plate, seven a day for those who could read and shout, and three a day for those who carried chair legs. Claudius's gang of friends also showed good street organizing skills. In an instant, they gathered more than ten thousand people in the municipal square. Such a huge crowd seemed to have suddenly emerged from the ground.

But this was just a prelude. Lepidus secretly gathered a group of "public opinion representatives" from Etrunia and other regions in advance. They all lived in the river warehouse at the address of Varin's apartment and prepared to release them at the right time.

Facing the "people" gathered like a mountain, several of Claudius' friends who were talkative and good at speeches, who were preparing to make a name for themselves in the judicial field, regarded this situation as a rare practical training platform. They took turns to go into battle and wander around. In bustling places such as the Grand Place, Catopil Hill, the Subra District, the cattle and fish markets, shout out:

"The Gracchi brothers once said that heroes who truly fought for their country were wandering in the sun with their wives and children with nothing. Now we have to take the risk and publicly commemorate a man who once helped the city of Rome to conquer the barbarians in the north. Under the black cloud of invasion, the real hero who saved us is Gaius Marius! A man who has served as consul seven times and does not even have a third name, a man who relies on Seriton (Marius' origin) Who dares to say that he did not reach this stage through real hard work and military merit, and who dares to say that he does not represent the dream of the rise of the Roman common people? "Whenever these orators say something? When the key point was announced, the "professional audience" in the audience gave out thunderous and rhythmic cheers. This group of people is easy to find in Rome. They all have outstanding personal abilities and can speak aristocratic language. You can also speak slang, you can both praise and criticize, and it is of high quality and low price, very reasonable.

As the speech gradually reached its climax, slogans agitating for the surname also appeared, "Is this how the city of Rome treated a civilian leader and war hero? Let the humble freed slave, insult his body, and scatter his ashes, symbolize As his record of annihilating a large number of barbarian enemies for the country was also destroyed, I can't help but ask, where is the justice and righteousness required by the Temple of Concord? Since General Marius is the son of a commoner, let us commoners do it! Solve this paradox." The next process was a matter of course. Amid the fanatical chants of the people, many craftsmen majestically pushed the huge marble base with solid wooden wheels into the main square. Many people shouted slogans and came to help. , the whole scene reached its touching climax - in fact, many people simply did not understand that the terrorist policies adopted when the Popular Party was in power were no different from when Sulla was in power.

After the base was laid out, the craftsmen used makeshift pulley lifting equipment and began to tie the bust of Marius with ropes amidst cheers and crossed half of the square to prepare to place it on the base. This simply made the people feel crazy. They felt that their behavior today, compared with living in a cramped apartment and not even being able to drink water from the aqueduct, was finally as good as going between countries. A brief but vigorous "love" began.

The Senate's armed slave "fire brigade" came. When the senators at the Temple of Concord heard that a mob had publicly erected a statue of Marius, they all felt that this was an act of subversion against the republic. However, the armed slave brigade was leading to the square. On the narrow streets, they were fiercely attacked by the people. These people all lay on the arcades and disappeared, just like they did when they resisted Sulla's army that entered the city, smashing bricks and tiles like rain, and the leader of the armed slave team The blood from his forehead was poured into his eyes, and he shouted and ordered his men to set the street on fire. This aroused even greater anger among the people. Many women stared at arcades and apartments, stripped off their tops, and shouted The provocative slogan satirizes the incompetence of these "fire brigade".

Seeing that the passion of the people had been completely ignited, the orators hired by Claudius climbed up to the newly completed statue of Marius with all their strength, and stood among the bricks flying in the sky and the single pieces as hard as bricks. Grain wheat bread, continue to shout the slogan of victory. At this moment, slogans such as "Death to the Popular Party bastards" and "The status of the senatorial fathers left by General Sulla cannot be shaken" suddenly appeared in the crowd. Then a sharp stone flew out, probably thrown by a sling. Suddenly it hit the famous orator's neck. The guy was dripping with blood. He was twitching all over and holding the statue. He slipped down and fell into the crowd of people who were screaming and angry. Many women screamed and took the body of the orator who died. A stretcher was improvised from rough wood and branches (Roman law stipulates that fine wood chopped with an ax cannot be used as a stretcher or coffin when the body of the deceased is buried) and it was lifted up. Everyone shed tears and sang angrily. Requiem songs carried this man through the streets of Rome.

I don't know who shouted again, "The lackeys and scum of the Senate will soon be detrimental to our tribunes. These murderers are never willing to wash the blood with water after killing people. I can smell the blood." The smell hit my nose." So, on the spot, thousands of people armed with simple weapons rushed to the brightly lit Palatine Hill after nightfall, gathered around the tribune Claudius's house, and vowed to protect Croton. In order to ensure the safety of Claudius, he went in to cry to Claudius, demanding a thorough investigation of the orator's tragedy, and for this purpose, he could use the power of the tribune to appeal to the citizens' meeting.

But Claudius obviously wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to play a bigger game. What he wanted was not the right to appeal to the citizens' assembly, but directly used the "convening power" of the tribunes, asking the senators to discuss this matter on the next court date ( Rome stipulates that every month there are separate days for appearing in court and days for not appearing in court), leaving the Temple of Concordia to give an explanation to all the residents of the city of Rome. Because the Temple of Concord is the place where the Senate meets, it can only be said to be a normal place, and Claudius explicitly requested that the senators discuss this matter in the open air at the Temple of Mars Square on the other side of the Tiber River.

The convening power of the tribunes? The senators always believed that it only existed in books, but they didn't expect that Claudius was serious this time. (To be continued.)