Augustus Road

Just as everyone expected, at the bottom of the mountain, Curio, Basatus and a new face - Antony, held up a board said to be Caesar's open letter, shouted slogans of veto, and rushed along the mountain road. Come up.

Although the ceremony was rudely interrupted, Pompey still politely invited the three tribunes, "What kind of legal loopholes are they going to help Caesar to exploit?", and then he humorously called the tribunes "the German forest." The pangolins here have become pets designed to dig holes for unscrupulous people.”

Curio held down the shoulders of his good friend Anthony and signaled that I will not use my eloquence now. It is your turn, Marco. I hope that the debating skills you have developed in Greece can be used to fight back against Pompeo.

Ever since, Antony delivered his speech for the first time on the political stage. He was already twenty-eight years old. When he ran for tribune, he lied about his age as thirty-one. Now it was his turn to show off. .

But when Antony next read out Caesar's public letter, he did it in a business-like manner, which surprised Curio. His language was as straight to the point as if he were reading an order to a centurion and soldiers in a military camp. , without any sloppiness, he seems to be more like Caesar in this regard. In the "Gaul Wars" that Caesar sent back to Rome and was gradually compiled into a book, the opening chapter does not have any common literati's idle moans and pretentiousness, but directly Starting directly from "What we call Gaul is divided into three parts", no wonder Cicero shook his head after seeing it, but he had to admit that this was not a work of writers, but really a work of generals and soldiers. work.

Antony's letter was simplified into three articles: "First, I, Caesar, am the hero of the Republic. It was I who defeated the Gauls and Germans and brought 300,000 slaves to the city of Rome; second, now the Senate is controlled by me. Controlled by political opponents. A bill that is not fair to me at all is passed, and I demand justice; thirdly, I can compromise, but political opponents must also respond to reciprocal conditions." As for who the political opponents are. What does fairness mean? Anthony didn't say anything at all, but the implication was all the elders present. Everyone including the knights and people watching the ceremony understood.

After speaking, Anthony pulled out a man with blond hair but wearing a robe and told everyone. "This is the local elder of Calim and an honorary member of the Roman Senate. Maybe there are still people who don't know where Calim is. It is a brand-new colony established by Caesar on the other side of the mountain in the fertile Gaul region. There are flowers and wheat fields everywhere, we can colonize the past, and the other side can come to Rome. This will truly integrate Gaul into the republic.”

Then the blond-haired Gallic elder, although he was wearing a toga like a Roman, his Latin was obviously not fluent enough, but his tone was very sincere. He said that he came here to petition Rome on behalf of all Gaul, which meant that they, the Gauls, have now obtained Roman citizenship. The people led by His Excellency Caesar are not rebels. He hopes that everyone will not be hostile to us and grant tranquility and peace to the entire country.

But the elder's stammering speech was quickly interrupted by Cato's wink. Marcellus and Scipio took action directly, shouting that this was irrefutable evidence that Caesar was colluding with the barbarians and preparing to invade Rome! Then they instructed the retinue to girdle their sticks, and the sticks rained down. In front of everyone, and despite the efforts of the three tribunes to stop them, they beat the blond-haired Gallic envoy and elder until they were rolling on the ground, wailing, and shouting loudly. He kept repeating the Latin word "hurt", which probably meant begging these arrogant little Roman senators to forgive him for the sake of his bruises.

"Isn't this very good! Let your beloved national thief Caesar count your wounds. This may inspire his will to fight despite being trapped." Marcellus said proudly, and Scipio next to him added , we have a good reason to beat you, because Caesar, the governor of Gaul, has been declared a public enemy and a traitor, so all his laws will be invalid. You are not a Roman citizen at all now, but a defeated slave. If a master beats a slave, is it right? Isn't it natural?

Over there, Antony also became angry. He waved the letter and shouted that if some thieves in the Senate were to be aggressive again, he would go to convene a general meeting of the tribunes on behalf of all ten tribunes. Read and vote in front of all citizens. When many senators began to hesitate again, Cato shouted, everyone should not be fooled by Caesar again! The whole scene became chaotic.

In the crowd, Cicero and Aetius rushed out and shouted that everyone should stop. Then Cicero pointed at Antony and roared, "Your behavior is simply adding fuel to the fire. If Caesar becomes For Agamemnon, the city of Rome became Troy, then you are the Helen who brought disaster to the country and the people, and Curio, you are Paris!" But then, he had no regard for the little Cato standing on the altar. Shan Yan, "My friend, or my former friend, are there only two words left in your political world, 'yes' and 'no'? Why can't we compromise? I propose the following - Caesar can be allowed to resign as governor of Gaul and Gabinus take over, but he can retain the governor of Illyria and register to run for the consulship next year. His legion can only remain one, because Illyria does not currently have If there is no external trouble, won’t all disputes be eliminated?”

But Cicero's pertinent opinions were not listened to by Pompey and Cato at all. If Pompey did not force Caesar, wouldn't the legitimacy of his appointment as Dictator be lost? Cato the Younger's plan was to first use Pompey, who was vain and incompetent in politics, to eliminate Caesar, and then force him to hand over military power and withdraw from politics. The Republic would naturally be safe and sound forever. Therefore, now is not the time to talk about taking the medicine of progressive policies, the arrow is on the line.

Therefore, in the midst of the quarrel and fight, Cicero's opinions were completely ignored - while Antony and the other three rushed towards the Tebris Assembly Hall without looking back.

At the meeting, Antony reiterated his proposal that "Caesar and Pompey should disband the legions at the same time, so that the republic can avoid danger" and implored all civilians to "put their hope in peace, because the senators also thought so, and do not be careless. Became Pompey’s cannon fodder”.

All the people shouted in agreement and said that when the recruiting officer came to their door, what they should do was to disperse and ignore him.

This actually destroyed Pompey's possibility of recruiting troops in Rome, leaving him with no troops to recruit in the city in an emergency.

By the time Little Cato and others hurried to the assembly hall, Anthony and others had already disguised themselves and fled without a trace.

Similarly, when Dumitius came to the legion's camp carrying his sword, he was also greeted by an open space.