Augustus Road

Then, Lepidus took Matthias to the house where he lived, to let him see new things. However, he saw something covered with silk cloth in the study. Lepidus smiled and opened it. It turned out to be a simple set of this era. The stamping mold is divided into upper mold and lower mold. The upper mold has a handle, which can be lifted by one person. The lower mold can be fixed on a wooden board or table with fixed nails. Vertex Novel Between the two molds, there are circular pits and reverse reliefs equivalent to the size of coins. Immediately, Lepidus snapped his fingers, and a servant who had been prepared carefully poured the melted gold water one by one into a row of stone slabs with holes. The height of each hole was just slightly more than the height of a coin. After a while, After cooling, pick it up with tweezers and slowly place it between the molds.

Li Bida then smashed it hard, and the fit between the upper and lower molds turned the small silver pieces into irregular but patterned boards, "This is not the end yet."

Then he unveiled the silk scarf of the food next to him, "This thing is what really makes the Roman people fall in love with the new coins. The former mold was given to me by Adiana, and this one was given to me by Cleopatra. It was given as a gift. Originally, only the Ptolemaic royal family in the whole world had it. Unfortunately, the Pharaoh just kept it as a treasure. It was a waste of money. Later, with the efforts of the Cyrenaic alchemist, he successfully copied two items, put together a set, and sent it to Come here."

Matthias took a closer look and saw that it turned out to be something like a wooden bed with some iron technical devices on it. Then Lepidus easily pulled open the end of the wooden bed and removed the semi-finished product with various irregular edges. The coins are placed in the arranged chuck and then closed, and then the file is turned. Irregular excess shapes are quickly cut into neat circles.

then. Lepidus proudly handed over the exquisite new coins. It was handed into the hands of Matthias, who caressed it and looked at it. He had to admit that the quality, appearance and fineness of this new coin were indeed better than those of Rome's previous crooked melons and cracked dates. You must know that there were many dinas in Rome. The Er silver coin has no relief pattern at all on the reverse side, which is even better than the Greek drachma silver coin. "However, the figure on the front, with a bald head and a laurel leaf crown, is not His Excellency Julius Caesar?"

"Well, this is natural." Lepidus said, "Who else has this image besides him?"

Immediately, Matthias shouted in surprise again. He also saw the pattern on the back, which was the Latin word "imperator", surrounded by wheat ears and sickles. This person was a little confused, after all, his mastery of Latin was not enough. He also asked about the meaning of the word "Lepida".

"Oh, this is not for civilians. Civilians only need to recognize the bald Caesar on the front. The word on the reverse means 'imperial power'. The pattern of the silver coin is wheat ears, and the pattern of gold coins is palm trees." Next, Lepidah looked at it. When Matthias didn't know what the clouds looked like, he smiled and explained to him in detail, "Wheat ears and palm trees are beautified patterns. They have no deep meaning. They just made the Romans fall in love with this kind of coins, and the ones on the front The image of Caesar and the words on the reverse are very meaningful, which is the fundamental reason why I prefer to make the coins as fine as possible—Caesar is a man who wants to destroy the republic.”

When these words were spoken, the surrounding area immediately fell into panic. Even Caesar himself, even though he was actually doing this, still chanted republican slogans and refused to relax. Lepidus' words were really extremely bold. Fortunately, it was in In a private residence, this person just passed by, and then talked endlessly about the meaning of coins, "Within a country, the fastest circulation and the most contact with people are coins of various colors, so when Caesar and Imperator are combined, then Even in his daily life, people had a subtle impression that this bald man was not just a consul, not a simple citizen or a noble, but he wanted to become the supreme figure in all of Rome."

"What kind of character is that?"

"It's 'Caesar'. From now on, his name will represent his status and power." Lepidus said.

As a result, the dazed Matthias asked a more courageous question, "After Caesar's death, will you continue to be 'Caesar'?"

"I just want to live alone. Of course, if fate determines that my position is that name..." Lepidus did not continue, obviously keeping secrets.

The law restricting luxury was promulgated, but was later revised. Lepidus changed the "three hundred" in "Three hundred sesterces are not allowed to be consumed in the market at one time" to "six hundred". Not only that, he also relaxed He restricted the types and quantities of luxury goods and allowed goods from all over the world to enter the Roman market in an orderly manner. Therefore, his financial channels became three-way: one was the aristocratic money raised through bonds, and the other was the tax on luxury goods (the tax was heavy). , but the nobles will still bite the bullet and buy it, not worrying about business), and the last step is to directly use the old coins taken from the temple and the nobles to mint new coins.

After scattering part of the coins to invigorate market circulation, Lepidus made careful calculations and sent the coins urgently needed for Caesar's war, and was rewarded without hesitation, "It's a pity that my appointment as Dictator will not last long. But there is a third time for everything, and your current power is still the construction officer, that is, the minora, and next time it will be the maiora," Caesar said in the letter.

Both words mean "divination power". The Romans were very superstitious, so the division of power among public officials was based on the influence of their divination results. Minora means "low-level", while maiora means "high-level". That is to say, the next time Caesar becomes consul or Dictator, the official rank he is promised will not be a construction officer, but at least a legal officer, a legion commander (a legion commander with consul power, not a legion commander held by a lieutenant) or an inspector (this seems to be out of the question at Lepidus' age).

But Lepidus often said "maxima", which means "totalitarianism". It is usually only possessed by the chief consul and dictator Dictator. But there is also a secondary "maxima" divination right holder, that is, Dictator's official deputy - one or two "cavalry commanders". When Dictator is not there, he can exercise equivalent power. Although Lepidus is doing this now, things like "status" are very important in any world and era.

So, Lepidus began to plan to go to Sicily and go to Africa with Curio. As a result, in the port of Naples surrounded by the sea, Lepidus, with his entourage and guards, looked at the sea with anger and hatred, "Curio, is this the answer you give me?"

When he sent a token officer to inform Curio, the governor of Sicily, and asked him to send a fleet to pick up the six, thirteen, fifteen and sixteen legions left by him and Caesar, and cross the sea, Curio chose to be lonely and silent and uncooperative.

The implication is, "The glory of 'Africacus' used to belong to Scipio the Younger, but now it belongs to me, and no one needs to interfere." (To be continued..)