Augustus Road

"Unless it is a close combat, the German cavalry will not be able to stop the attack of the Byzantine horse archers." - Procopius

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Afterwards, Acuta also added an additional supplement: Caesar ordered that the luxury trend also includes the purchase of goods exceeding 300 sesterces at the market at one time. From now on, heavy taxes will be imposed on jewelry, expensive food, spices, ointments, etc. in the Roman market, and the scale will be restricted.

Once these two decrees were issued, coupled with the publicity of the people hired by Helsius, the effect was explosive. Everyone knew that this decree was not aimed at civilians at all. Ordinary people in the city were lucky to be able to take out 50 sesterces at home at one time; in addition, the knights' losses were not great, because most of their money was invested in the provincial tax farming business. In other words, the money that could be loaned out was squeezed dry by Caesar or Pompey, and they were crying for food - so the target was undoubtedly those nobles and wealthy people who could not survive without these luxury goods and luxurious dinners.

What should I do if I cannot hold more than 60,000 sesterces? Originally, I could quickly buy luxury goods such as sculptures, paintings, spices, and furniture, and quickly turn money into physical goods and hoard them at home. I could cash them out after the hype passed, and the loss would not be great. But the subsidiary decree made it clear that if you wanted to buy these things, it would probably be impossible. Lepidus had set up many checkpoints in advance on the passages and routes. It was estimated that before merchants and vendors could transport their goods to the flower market in the city, they would have been taxed to the last drop. So those nobles who wanted to buy these luxury goods would definitely not be able to buy them. On that day, a terrifying phenomenon appeared in the Roman market: slaves with gold collars holding pottery jars filled with coins lined up in a long queue in the market and under the pergola. The luxury goods were instantly swept away. The goods that Pope's wife had accumulated for three years were sold out at ten or twenty times the price - she originally wanted to raise the price to fifty times, but there was no way. Because the decree will be officially implemented tomorrow, you have to make as much money as you can, and you must not be greedy. It is enough to make 7,000 drachmas in one day.

The rush to buy luxury goods has aggravated the panic of the people in Rome. You must know that this is the period when Dictator announced martial law. The colonnades in the city are full of big-headed soldiers holding real weapons. Now the nobles have known. What they are about to face is extortion, but they are not willing to sit back and wait for death - they soon gathered in front of the Julia Hall with armed slaves to ask for orders.

According to the previous experience of these elder nobles, Lepidus must be more reasonable than Antony, who only uses violence and hangs around brothels and racecourses.

As a result, the assistant of the dictator and the temporary construction officer looked very ugly this time. It is not an exaggeration to say that he was as cold as ice. In the end, he directly called the Medeiger Guard, which was the most feared by the Romans. That team of black warriors guarded the hall, and he did not receive anyone. It was just emphasized that the decree would not be changed or postponed, and would only be implemented without compromise. Arms are always more effective than verbal debates in a short period of time.

When many senators who were forced to disperse stayed at home, looking at the splendid jewelry, decorations and gold and silver in the room for the first time with melancholy, the dictator broke out a more shocking news: Lepidus might follow Caesar's wishes and implement the "public enemy declaration."

The public enemy declaration has probably always been a sword hanging over the head of Rome. Since the civil war began, that is, since Caesar crossed the Rubicon River. No matter which faction you stand on, you are facing such a danger: the winner is the king and the loser is the bandit. Your name will be ruthlessly erased from the list of the Senate and the citizen roll, and your life and property will no longer be protected. The prosecutor will arrest your family and slaves and torture them slowly until they can no longer bear it. Then there will be hasty and brutal execution and confiscation. Sometimes it seems that there is no need for this procedure at all - your slaves who are greedy, lustful, or dissatisfied with your actions on a certain day will take this opportunity to launch a fierce liquidation against you. "Informing" is a huge and terrifying curse.

But this may be just "rumors", or maybe just... Many people use this to comfort themselves, but if the "public enemy declaration" is not used, how to explain the means by which Lepidus wants to implement the new decree? First, the decree is used to set consumption limits, and then the public enemy declaration is used to legitimately deprive us of our excess property.

Julia Hall remained silent, as silent as death, but rumors outside were getting more and more intense. Palatine Hill had been facing a great enemy in the past few days. The behavior of the nobles in the villa surprised the slaves who had served them for decades. The mistress no longer beat and scolded the slaves when combing their hair, and the master sometimes took out a few outdated silks or jewelry and rewarded them to the people around him. Most of the time, the slaves found that they were unwilling to go out at all, but hid in the dark inner room, sometimes groaning and crying, and sometimes whispering fiercely.

Soon, someone saw with their own eyes that a team of financial slaves, carrying abacus and account books, entered Julia Hall.

This was undoubtedly confirmed by the previous rumors that General Lepidus had sharpened his sword!

There was a wailing sound, followed by waiting in darkness and anxiety. The water meter at home was constantly leaking. When the elders saw the slaves in the courtyard whispering to each other or looking at themselves and their families with strange eyes, they couldn't help but shudder a dozen times in their hearts.

Suddenly, on the fifth day, Lepidus suddenly used the power of the dictator to summon all the elders to discuss matters in the synagogue.

"I am representing the Supreme Lord Dictator, with unlimited power, to discuss a matter with you all." Lepidus, wearing a red-edged robe, stood in the position of the host of the synagogue, surrounded by guards holding swords and bows, and spoke to the elders who were pale and fidgeting. The synagogue was very quiet, and everyone stared at Cicero. Now it seemed that he was the only one in Rome who could speak in front of Caesar's army, because his brother and son-in-law were serving in the other legion.

But Cicero just remained motionless.

"As we all know, war is the most expensive. The war in the ancient Peloponnese lasted for many years and dragged down Athens, the once richest city-state. You should know that when Athens was at its most prosperous, it spent 4,000 talents just to build the statue of Athena on the island of Delos. The same is true for the Republic now. I will be frank. Your Excellency Caesar has run out of money. His soldiers will either continue to be rewarded in future wars, or they will destroy the entire country because they know this fact." Lepidus continued, and finally he concluded, "So we are very short of money, extremely short of money. There are only centipedes and rats left in the treasury. This is why I called a meeting of the elders today. The situation is imminent. So can we talk about the "declaration of public enemy"? "