Augustus Road

"All the wealth contributed by the Greeks for the war was wasted by the Athenians in their own city, like a vain woman who dressed up and decorated the Temple of Athena with the most precious gems, gold and silver, until all the money in the world was spent." - Accusation of Athens by the Delian Alliance

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Of course, as the Queen of Eupernia, Adiana must first express her gratitude to Lepidus for her help on behalf of the kingdom and the Pontic bloodline. Then she is willing to return the favor and provide Lepidus with a very interesting message: Ptolemy XII of Egypt may soon come to Rome with his children.

Seeing this news, Lepidus' eyelashes jumped violently, and he couldn't help but continue to read Adiana's narration. It turned out that during these thirty years, the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt was always in turmoil. When Ptolemy XII was still a teenager, he lived in the court of his father Mithridates to avoid civil strife. Adiana was quite familiar with this past. Later, with the help of Mithridates Eupater, Ptolemy XII returned to the country and ascended the throne, but he was addicted to music and banquets all day long. The people of Alexandria did not like him at all, especially his attitude of turning a blind eye to the Roman legions' forcible occupation of the Kingdom of Cyprus (the Roman Republic used the excuse that the King of Cyprus, Ptolemy XII's half-brother, supported Pontus in the war and captured this strategically important island country). This completely angered Alexandria, and the people organized an army to expel the pharaoh nicknamed "The Piper".

The successor to the Piper's throne was his daughter Beneneki, who was originally arranged to stay in the royal family. She was supported by the people as the new female pharaoh and no longer recognized her father's power. Sad and angry, Ptolemy XII took his other ten-year-old daughter, named Cleopatra, to Rome to seek Pompey's help, because he and Pompey were "old friends". As early as when Pompey took over the command of Lucullus in Asia Minor, he gave Pompey a lot of money, begging the Roman legions to protect his pharaoh's crown and make Egypt a vassal of the Republic, but Pompey only accepted the money and did not deal with Ptolemy XII's wish in time, so when Ptolemy XII was expelled from Egypt, he could only come to Pompey.

It is said that Ptolemy swept all the treasures of the Egyptian royal family this time, a total of 3,000 talents, just to come to Rome to bribe. Cicero had long ridiculed this exiled pharaoh, "Under the noble dress full of gold and jewelry, there is a humble and soft-hearted soul."

But this guy, isn't his ten-year-old daughter Cleopatra the legendary Egyptian queen? But Adiana didn't mind Cleopatra at all in the letter, and specifically asked Lepidus to pay attention to this matter. If he had enough money, he should not forget this "rare commodity" political deal, and be willing to spend money on it. Winning over Egypt will be good for our future. As for Cleopatra, she is only ten years old. You should comfort her more. Maybe she will be the future female pharaoh.

Well, ten years old, this may be the fundamental reason why Adiana didn't mind at all. She is just a young bud. I guess Lepidus wouldn't kill her so hard!

"Willing to spend money? Of course I will!" Lepidus wanted to treat the letter as Adiana's real body and kiss her tenderly. The news she sent was very timely. Now it was time for him to take advantage of this incident to completely counterattack Cicero.

Soon, Lepidus secretly found more than a hundred knights he knew, all of whom owed him a favor for Crassus's flower list. Then Lepidus asked for money, so the knights readily said that the interest rate was 8%, and it would not be a problem to collect 500 to 700 talents in a short time. But Lepidus thought about it and said that we are investing in national industries. If the interest rate is still 8%, there will be no profit. Anyway, the country is not a Roman province and is not under the jurisdiction of Caesar's new case law. How about this, I set a repayment period of five years and a 30% interest rate. Everyone will make money together. You should do your best to collect 2,000 talents for me!

When these words came out, not to mention the knights were stunned, even Lepidus himself sweated unconsciously: investing in the throne of a country is always a gamble, and it must be done well, otherwise it will be a complete failure.

However, as the top business person in Sardinia and Etruria (Lepidus had entrusted the specific affairs to Kamais and Habaluka), Lepidus still had enough credibility to collect the money. Then Lepidus first spent 500 talents and bought a mansion in the Bay of Naples that was similar to the one where his master lived. Behind the breakwater where he could see the golden waves, Lepidus found the most expensive oriental chef, the most expensive musician, and the most expensive Egyptian-style designer in Rome. In short, all of them were the most expensive, and he carefully decorated the mansion from inside to outside.

This time he was careful, and only after everything was arranged did he find Caesar and ask if the "pipe player" Ptolemy XII would come to Rome in the near future? Caesar, who was sitting on the couch reading official documents, hummed and said casually that this might be the case. Soon there would be a wave of bribery by foreign monarchs in the city. Then Caesar fell silent - this silence was exactly what Lepidus liked. At this moment, Rome was far from concerned about the distant land of Egypt. From Caesar's reaction, it could be seen that I wanted to be the first to try something new.

Then Lepidus cautiously beat around the bush, saying that Ptolemy XII had a good relationship with the previous Pontic royal family, and I had a good relationship with the current Pontic royal family, so I also had the obligation to take care of Ptolemy XII privately. If you don't mind, I will arrange his accommodation and food, and let the pharaoh live in the public villa apartment next to the Grand Forum, which is not a polite act for the Republic.

"Okay, don't use this matter to interfere with my main work for the time being. You have to know that this is a critical moment for the consul election next year." Caesar put down the official documents and pinched his nose and eyes tiredly. Yes, of course I won't interfere with you. Lepidus was secretly happy and left.

Three market days, probably when Caesar proposed to the Senate the plan of Basatus, one of his trusted tribunes, that the resigned consul had the power to independently request to serve as the governor of the province, the Temple of Concordia continued to fight. So when Ptolemy XII's cruise ship docked in the Bay of Naples, this wandering king, who was born in Macedonia but wore thick eyeliner and a pharaoh's hat, looked at the endless green woods in the bay and said to the eunuch Motanmenes beside him with a contemptuous tone: "Look at these backward peoples still living in the wilderness. They will definitely flock to gold and silver coins and help me return to the palace of Alexandria." (To be continued.)