Augustus Road

"No Athenian died in vain because of the mistakes I made." - Pericles' last words. He believed that this was the greatest achievement in his life, and the rest were insignificant.

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"Dear Cato, I heard that your great-grandfather Cato left a whole set of legacy and family rules for the family before his death, ranging from how to stick to his political direction in the Senate to wiping his mouth with a napkin at home. I envy your family tradition, even when you are having sex with others (laughter from the Senate)" Caesar seemed to want to lead the conversation elsewhere.

Cato retorted, "Romans have had [***] children since ancient times. If a man admires his friend's virtue, he can send his wife away, so that he can give birth to children with the blood and honor of his friend, and prosper his family. I am not ashamed of this matter at all, but I am only satisfied that I can help my friends. But Julius, I heard that you have recently married the daughter of the Bishop family, and this pimp business has made you earn again. Quite a bit, at least you were heavily in debt before you became consul, and now I actually heard that your assets are beginning to be in surplus (second wave of laughter from the Senate).”

Amid the laughter, Caesar showed no sign of nervousness or guilt. He also smiled and used gestures to put aside the discussions of the senators, and continued to say to little Cato: "Don't be nervous Cato, what I just said was not meant to be a mocking attack. I was just Say, there is one thing about Lao Cato's family rules that I think is lackluster, that is, each item only says 'what to do', but not a word about 'why' and 'how'. You grew up looking at your great-grandfather's family rules. Yes, this has led to you having plenty of principles, but lacking a dialectical perspective on the entire world. The same thing is true for this matter - sorry, let us return to the original topic, our dearest young Cato, he always believes that The world of the Republic is to give speeches to the gentry in the city, or unwillingly distribute food to the poor. But as I said before, the Republic is no longer the Republic of five hundred years ago. At that time, people’s footprints were no longer there. It would take seven hills, but now we are responsible for the entire sea and land. Ariovistus's army has penetrated into Gaul, and the rest of Gaul is migrating in panic, with the most violent emotions among them. They are the Helvetii (the original inhabitants of present-day Switzerland). They originally settled on the east shore of Lake Leman, but now they have written to me, asking the whole family to move to Britannia.”

At this time, the Senate was tutting. Britannia is on the northwest side of Gaul by the sea. If the Helvetic people do this, it will indeed cause a chain of turmoil in Gaul.

Caesar continued on this topic. He said that Britannia was not deserted, but that there were densely populated Picts there. If we approve the Helvetic people's request, then It would inevitably trigger the Pictish rebellion against Rome.

"So now, it is time to appoint a highly respected person to guard the Gaul region for three to five years to ease the explosive situation there. When it comes to such a person, I, Caesar, as the chief consul, do my duty!" Caesar finally said Throwing out a critical argument, this time he once again relied on Lebid's reasoning to successfully combine personal interests with the security affairs of the Republic, making the elders irrefutable, "As for Syria, where the situation is also a bit tense, I recommend the second choice. When Archon Byblos goes to take office, he can of course wait until the meeting is over and send his followers to his house to inform him of the matter."

At this moment, Cato could no longer bear it. He once again loudly asked Caesar to provide evidence instead of talking nonsense here.

At this time, Caesar calmly patted the platform, then raised his hand and shouted to Cicero, who had always been silent in the corner: "This is like listening to our orator to provide evidence. As soon as this statement came out, little Cato was stunned and laughed silently while watching the play, while many others who were also kept in the dark were extremely surprised.

Cicero was suffering from pain, sometimes making as if to stand up, sometimes hunching over and hesitating in place, but finally he took out the roll of vellum and stood up, stutteringly, to read the letter. Nominally written to his younger brother, the writer was a young nobleman from Gaul who studied under Cicero. In his letter, he made it clear that the Helvetic people were indeed migrating; On the north side of the huge mountain range, waiting for a reply from the city of Rome.

Crassus asked in a panic. Of course, his panic was justified. Everyone knew that his properties were particularly large in Robe Gaul and the Po River Valley. "How many people from the entire Helvetian clan participated in the migration?"

Cicero paused, and then under Cato's glare, he announced to everyone with a constipated expression, "A total of 320,000 people from the Helvetic clan participated in the migration, and they abandoned twelve towns and eight There are more than ten large villages, with about 80,000 men who can bear arms. They also claim that if the city of Rome does not agree to their request, they will cross the huge mountains and enter the Po River Valley.”

This statement really stirred up three waves. The elders shouted nervously. This was determined by the territory of the Roman Republic. Its foundation has always been in the Apennines, the narrow and long peninsula. The Republic has Sardinia as a barrier to the west, Sicily to the south, and the Greek city-states that surrendered to Rome to the east. But the threat always comes from the pocket mouth in the north, the long Alps, which not only brought a little sense of security to Rome, but also created countless panic for Rome. It is an unguarded area, which makes it easier for determined enemies to infiltrate and wreak havoc. This is also the case with historical facts. This is how Brennus came, how Hannibal came, and how the Teutons and Cimbri came.

When Caesar asked Cicero to swear his real name for his words, Cicero did so. At this time, the "Basatus Plan" that appointed Caesar as the governor of the province seemed to have been passed without any obstacles. The Senate immediately decided that Caesar could be the chief executive or governor of Inner and Outer Gaul, plus Illyria, for a maximum term of five years, with four legions under his command!

At this time, Cato the Younger was like a bereaved father. He rushed down from his seat and slapped the podium, shouting that if so many legions of the Republic were placed in Caesar's hands, it would be like "putting the tyrant as safe as in a solid fortress." He once again proposed a rebuttal to this plan.

Now it was Caesar's turn to get angry. He loudly questioned Cato, saying that if there was no proper reason, he should not allow the interests of the Republic to be harmed. Before Cato could say anything, Caesar pointed at Cato and said, "If you really care about the country as you claim, then don't stay in Rome to hinder the correct national decisions. Go to where you are really needed. When I was young, I fought on the front line of the Republic's battle. What about you?" (To be continued.)