Augustus Road

"I personally feel that General, you must help Cicero. We had an agreement with him before. As long as you can help Cicero go back, General, your reputation in the political arena will immediately rise. A year ago, you... .." Of course, when Demetrius saw Caesar's daughter holding Pompey's hand, he swallowed the next sentence.

"Speak boldly, Julia is now my wife, and Caesar is my brother, there is nothing to hide." Pompey sat on the grass under the parasol disapprovingly, and was about to take off the funny ring of branches and leaves, but saw Seeing Julia's irritated eyes next to her, she could only use her hand to smooth the curly hair on her forehead and said to Demetrius.

"Yes, actually what I want to say is that now Claudius is getting more and more aggressive and his energy is getting more and more arrogant. According to my inquiries, the guy named Lebida who has been making things difficult for you before is now Just support Claudius behind his back, so even if it is for the purpose of suppressing the cancer of Claudius, he has to..." Before Demetrius could finish speaking, Julia posted on Pompeii. He whispered a few words affectionately into his ear, and then Pompey also laughed, helped Julia up, and told Demetrius that I would accompany my beloved wife to explore the lake soon. She said that she had not seen it yet. Having seen how the greatest Roman general ever threw a javelin at his prey, she did not believe that I had ever hunted a lion in the Pharaoh's palace grounds.

"As for Cicero's matter, of course I will help. Demetrius, it is already evening today. You go to my staff and deputies to discuss this matter. After the discussion is completed, you can return to Rome. Save poor Lady Cicero." Pompey put on his bracers and cloak, said these words to Demetrius calmly, and walked over there with Julia with a smile.

The Jews behind them had a completely helpless expression: Now as long as you ride into Rome alone, you can inspire all the senators and suppress Claudius, and the entire Senate will be grateful to you, but now you are greedy for Julia. Her beauty delayed the opportunity. You must know that Lepidus and Claudius acted very quickly when they joined forces.

But now, the Jew could only wave his hands and follow the master's instructions to argue with his staff.

As a result, in the early morning of the next day, Cicero himself fled the city of Rome and went into self-exile. In the smoke, the former consul, the hero of the Republic who broke up the Catiline cabal, took his wife and a few followers, He walked out of the gate of Rome in embarrassment and sadness. He looked back and saw that the morning light covered the Palatine Hill in the slightly cold air. The gorgeous villas of the rich on it were still dotted like pearls, but Cicero could not even see his own. The family was abandoned, and he looked at his beautiful home among the poplar trees and shed tears again, but Lenchart cheered him up and said: "Husband, what makes you so depressed? Is it the temporary loss of honor or the loss of the house? ? But none of this is the fundamental problem. We are still standing on Roman soil, and Claudius's authority is limited to the city. Don't be afraid of him. Rent a house on the outskirts of the city to live, and then contact your political friends. , and there are officials from other provinces who admire you, so we will return to Rome without leaving a market day, and don’t be intimidated by Claudius’s bluffing villain.”

After hearing his wife's encouragement, Cicero could only hold her hand dejectedly and express his agreement with his wife's request.

But at this time, several people wearing priestly robes came walking in the direction of Appian Street. Cicero squinted and looked. They were members of the Alvar Brotherhood. This group of priests served the Mother Earth. History It is extremely old, but they also have a function, which is to read out the new decrees of the city of Rome, so when he saw these people, Cicero's heart twitched, and he knew that Claudius would not be willing to just drive him out. The city of Rome gave up.

Sure enough, when a priest saw Cicero, he stood up and read the new resolution of the tribunes in front of him, which stipulated that no nobles or commoners were allowed within a radius of 500 Roman miles outside the city of Rome. Cicero and his wife's family provided meals, and this additional decree took effect immediately.

After hearing this extremely cruel decree, Lenchardt, who had been so strong in persuading her husband just now, cried bitterly on her husband's shoulders. Then a light flashed, and the couple looked like they had seen a comet marking disaster. , raised his head, and saw his mansion on Palatine Hill in the distance. The house was full of tall poplar trees, and black smoke and red tongues of fire quickly appeared - "Claudius is burning my house! Those gangs Lawless mob...my statue of Minerva.”

The statue of Minerva left in his mansion was the object of Cicero's worship. Now it fell to the dirt and was trampled under the feet of the mob who set fire to it. The base of the statue of the goddess was also engraved with "Dedicated to "Minerva, the patron saint of Rome", the mob broke down the door of the mansion in the light of the fire, looted the valuable utensils and furniture inside, cut down all the trees in the courtyard, and used hammers to destroy Cicero's original monument. The bronze monument in front of the door engraved with his achievements was replaced by new bronze monuments written by Claudius himself, one by one engraved with Cicero's "crimes", and finally all the fish raised in Cicero's fish pond. , were also fished out by the mob and turned into delicacies in their bellies.

In fact, there were many people in the Senate who spoke for Cicero, and they even passed an overwhelming resolution asking the country to observe silence for this disaster day. However, Claudius in the Temple of the Goddess of Virtue became furious when he heard about this resolution. Angry, he ordered many mobs to surround the Temple of Concord.

At this moment, the two consuls who had been elected for the next year also sent their own followers to the Appian Way to express their opinions to Cicero and his wife.

Caesar's father-in-law, Piso, was particularly polite. He asked Cicero to be patient for the time being. After Claudius's anger passed, he would write to Caesar to mediate with Pompey and take him back to Rome. Pompey's confidant Gabinus, who should have been ridiculed by Cicero for his stupidity before, replied rudely, saying that Cicero's current situation was entirely his own fault.

Cicero couldn't help but think of Pompey from Gabinus' attitude. He said to his wife bitterly and disappointedly that Pompey had let him down again. The biggest mistake I made in my life was to mistake him for my friend.

At this moment, Cicero, who was holding the letter board, calmed down. He comforted his wife and said it was okay. Claudius's additional decree was effective within a range of 500 miles. Then we should go to Sicily. The governor there, Vigilius, was my closest friend and he would definitely take me in.

Who would have thought that the couple endured hunger and walked the next day. Vigilius took the initiative to send a letter to Cicero. There was nothing else in it, just asking Cicero not to come to his province, "Sicily does not welcome criminals expelled from Rome." (To be continued.)