Augustus Road

"Wherever a man can pass, an army can pass. ...≦," - Napoleon

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Arimiron was the first city in mainland Italy after crossing the Rubicon River. It was also the key point at the junction of the entire city of Rome and the north. Whether it was Marius' counterattack or Caesar's advance, it was the first key point to be captured. , but in more peaceful years, it was just an inconspicuous small town.

Following Maecenas's prompts, Pansa soon found the young black nobleman named Arp in the city. He stood politely in front of the Roman consul, could speak relatively fluent Greek, and claimed to be A loyal servant and brave warrior of Lepidus.

"Then what does your master want to do?" Pansa asked right away.

"The master loves Young Caesar very much, but he is also afraid that he will make some mistakes that young people will make, such as being overly aggressive or being too arbitrary about authority." Arp replied.

"You mean that Lepidus should be asked to complete the task of conquering Caesar's murderer?"

Arp nodded, indicating that he was not denying it. Pansa laughed and said, "I already know your master's ambitions clearly. He has placed nails and insiders around Young Caesar, and his four legions are also Almost arriving in Rome?

"So the consul's return to Rome this time is just to help the master complete this great situation. The master will never treat his friends badly, let alone betray his friends."

"What if I say with the honor of the Supreme Consul that I don't want to?" Panza asked with a tentative smile.

"The result is the same." Arp spoke without hesitation.

Pansa thought solemnly for a while, then walked to the window of the farm with a long sigh: There is nothing we can do. He is the same as Hedius. It turned out to be because of his excellent administrative staff skills. The man promoted by Caesar who broke through the restrictions has long been a thorn in the side of the Senate. The reason why the wealthy people in the Temple of Concord have not thrown out agents to squeeze him out is just to ease the situation and win people's hearts. Now Hejiu His death just gave the Senate an excuse, because Rome generally does not allow only one consul. Unless he is Sulla, Pompey or Caesar, he has the qualifications and ability to serve as a 'single consul', but he is not, so now once he returns the coffin of Hegius to the city of Rome, the Senate will immediately recommend an agent Someone came out to take over the seat of Hegius, and there was no need for an election process. Rome's emergency procedure law stipulated that the high priest could directly transfer to the consulship in case of temporary emergencies, and the current chief priest was the consul. It's that anti-Caesarian guy from Merut.

So to put it bluntly, this is the wishful thinking of the Senate. He pushed Merut into the position of consul, fought with him in the ring, and then took advantage of Young Caesar's low-key words and lack of financial resources to order him to disband the legion. "To be honest, Young Caesar really made a bad move this time.", and then Pansa continued to think that Young Caesar was finished this time, and Lepidus was using this node to win over me, a key figure, to deal with the Senate and Young Caesar at the same time. He was the one who stayed behind the scenes and had the last laugh. , the Dacian dragon hiding among the sea fog and rocks? How terrifying!

"However, for a person like me who has no military foundation and comes from a humble background, it is more important to protect oneself - Caesar has passed away, and those who are alive should work harder, right? Fortunately, I still have value now, so Lepidus Only then will you try your best to win me over, so as not to lose this last opportunity. In other words, as long as you can avenge Caesar, no matter who it is, I will respond with approval. It will not do me any good if the Senate succeeds or if Caesar succeeds. , and may even lead to death. People, do you even have to follow the tide sometimes?" Pansa looked up and sighed, secretly whispering in his heart, dear Julius, this is all I can do.

Then, Pansa turned back and nodded to Alp.

Five days later, Pansa returned to the city of Rome, which was obviously nearly three days slower than the theoretical journey. However, there was a tacit understanding that when he arrived at the foot of the Palatine Hill, Lepidus' four legions arrived at the rear. Passini on the outskirts of Rome and in front of the city defense fortress.

While the whole city was in a state of panic, Pansa climbed up to the Palatine Hill and secretly discussed with Cicero for half a day. Then Cicero walked out of his house with great excitement, summoned all the senators, and said, "Lepidus is willing to negotiate with the Senate." Compromised!"

"However, he hopes to seek the position of high priest." Cicero then threw out this condition. Almost at the same time, Aetius and Casca led many senators to rise up to protest, "Are you kidding, you are asking a foreigner to be naturalized? A citizen who holds the most sacred office and serves as an uncrowned king?”

"Speaking of this, the ancestors of Julius Caesar who served as the high priest were also foreigners in Rome. They were awarded the seats of nobility and senators after being conquered. None of us can see that for three hundred years In the future situation, there will be a first time for everything." Basatus and Ebro stood up to support Lepidus.

At this time, Panza, who had a tacit understanding for a long time, also stood up and spoke, "After Lepidus received the amnesty, he sent the registration application documents to me and Hejius. At that time, we were on the front line of Mutina City, so It's too late to report to the Senate, but this time I brought the documents approved by Hejius and I." After that, Pansa handed over the approval documents stamped with the seals of the two consuls to everyone present.

"You bastard, you cheated. Hetyus is dead now, and there is no evidence." Aetius cursed, but Pansa ignored him and handed the document to the on-duty chairman, Senator Cicero. Then Cicero nodded and announced to everyone, "Since Caesar's death, the high priest has been in the hands of Meru. Now that Hetyus is dead, Meru can take over the position of deputy consul according to the emergency law. As for the vacant high priest position - I think Lepidus can be considered, especially since his four legions are just outside the city. What's more, he is a descendant of King Numa, who was the ancestor who formulated all the sacrificial regulations and laws of the Romans. "

After Cicero said this, some of the senators who were originally wavering or neutral suddenly softened, because after all, Melut became the consul, which also indicated that the flaws in Caesar's memorandum had appeared, and the "five-year system" he left behind was expected to be broken faster. As for the position of high priest, it was occupied by Lepidus. Because of his extremely high honor, he would not do anything that would harm the Republic and the country's elite nobles. What's more, the high priest was theoretically not allowed to lead troops to war. Although there was an exception in the past, Caesar, the senators still had the confidence to control Lepidus in this position. He was a foreigner, so he stopped there!

Of course, there was a secret agreement that Cicero did not say, that is, Lepidus had secretly promised him to use financial resources and connections to help him reach the most glorious step, that is, to replace Spinzel as the inspector, the inspector wearing a robe with double purple edges. (To be continued..)