Rome must fall.

Chapter 422 Parting ways
Pompey immediately decided to send the legion he had lent to Caesar and had fought under Caesar ever since (the First Legion) to the Parthian border.

This meant that Caesar would lose two legions at once. He did not refuse, but gave each soldier a generous bonus when the troops were about to leave.

The young Roman officer who was in charge of going to Gaul to transfer the two legions returned and declared: Caesar's entire army is dissatisfied!

At the same time, the two legions were uncooperative after returning to Italy, and certainly no effort was made to send them overseas.

The whole of Rome was nervous about this.

It happened that Pompey fell ill at this time and had a persistent fever. People from all over Italy spontaneously prayed for this great Roman hero and wished him a speedy recovery.

By August he had recovered, and the people were delighted, with crowds gathering to greet him as he made his way from Naples to the outskirts of Rome.

Pompey always liked others to be grateful to him. He regarded this enthusiasm of the people as respect and support for him. At the same time, he also felt everyone's hope for him - peace, not civil war.

Pompey decided to respond to the people's expectations. He wrote to the Senate, expressing his willingness to resign as governor and assuring them that Caesar would do the same.

So, in September, the Senate held an important meeting, which was held in the suburbs of Rome to ensure that Pompey could attend, and required that all senators in Rome must attend.

At the beginning of the meeting, Curio the Younger once again proposed that both Caesar and Pompey should resign at the same time.

Then the consul Marcellus (not the same consul as last year, but another one) divided the matter into two parts, submitting separate motions for the senators to vote on.

The first motion, that Caesar should resign, was passed by a majority vote, which shows how weak Caesar's power in the Senate was; the second motion was that Pompey should also resign.

Before the vote, Pompeo asked to speak.

This time, Pompey was ill, and he had a rare amount of time to calm down and think about the current situation in Rome. He had to admit that the current chaos was mainly caused by him and Caesar.

Although Caesar was successful in Gaul, Germania and Britain, which made Pompey, who was idle at home, a little jealous, Pompey had already won many triumphs in three continents (Asia, Africa and Europe) long before Caesar became a military commander. He thought his achievements were far more brilliant than Caesar's. Therefore, he did not put Caesar on an equal footing with himself, but always regarded him as a younger brother who needed his support. In fact, he did always escort Caesar in his conquest of Gaul.

But when Curio the Younger, who was instructed by Caesar, proposed that both of them must resign at the same time, he became angry because it meant that Caesar, who had always been supported by him, considered himself to be of the same status as him.

When he agreed to transfer the legion lent to Caesar to the East, he was shocked to find that the legion had completely disobeyed his orders under Caesar's instigation.

He also learned from secret channels that Caesar had ten fully-staffed legions under his command, and could even recruit tens of thousands of auxiliary troops at any time from the Gallic tribes that surrendered to Caesar... The Gaul region has been peaceful for nearly two years, but Caesar still has such a large army, and this year he suddenly treated the Gauls with a harsher attitude and deliberately provoked conflict. What on earth does he want to do?
In previous history, the Gallic Rebellion led by Vercingetorix lasted for more than a year from the year before last to last year. Although Caesar finally won the victory with great difficulty, he also paid a huge price for it - more than half of the soldiers were killed or injured, and he had to rest the troops and recruit new soldiers afterwards.

In this life, the "docility" shown by the Gauls for a long time and the aggressiveness of Caesar's huge military force made Pompey feel tremendous pressure and made him seriously doubt Caesar's intentions.

Although Pompey repeatedly broke Roman traditions and laws, he had no ambition to change the Roman political system. He only wanted to always maintain his dominant position as the number one person in Roman politics and keep the Roman people supporting him. Therefore, he did not want Caesar to use force to change the status quo in Rome driven by ambition.

This is why Pompey did not speak before the senators voted in his previous life, but in this life he took the initiative to ask the senators to vote for his resignation.

The elders were moved by him and praised him for his dedication to the country and his sense of justice.

Pompey accepted it calmly, with his own calculations in mind: Although he would suffer a great loss if both of them resigned at the same time, Caesar would suffer a greater loss. After losing his army and returning to Rome, Caesar would face further suppression and even possible persecution from the senators. He could only seek his protection and become his younger brother again...

Pompey admitted that he lacked some talent in politics, but Caesar was very good in this area. With his assistance, he had nothing to worry about.

Although the senators were inspired by Pompey, the result of the vote was that only more than half of them voted in favor, not because they loved Pompey too much and were willing to go against his wishes, but out of concern for the possible outbreak of war.

However, this vote was enough to pass the motion. Curio was dumbfounded. He had originally planned to have the Senate vote on the motion that both men should resign, but now that was completely unnecessary.

He was so angry that he shouted at everyone: "You fools, don't you think about what terrible consequences this will lead to!"

The entire venue suddenly fell silent.

Cato spoke first, and said confidently: "Everyone has cast a sacred vote according to their own will. The entire voting process is in full compliance with the law. All Roman citizens should strictly abide by this approved proposal! If anyone refuses to implement it, then he is a sinner of Rome. The Senate can impose severe punishment on him, and all Roman citizens will abandon and oppose him! -"

Young Curio looked at Cato with sidelong glances and sneered continuously, which prevented him from continuing his long and passionate speech.

Pompey stood up and said loudly: "Caesar has always been rational and loves Rome deeply. I believe he will implement today's Senate resolution, resign his governorship, disband his army, and return here to continue serving Rome!"

"What if he refuses to implement the agreement and instead leads his army towards Rome?!" This question from former consul Marcellus focused the attention of all the senators on Pompey.

Facing a pair of worried eyes, Pompey spoke generously: "Then I will lead my soldiers to fight bravely, repel them, and keep Rome unharmed!"

Cheers suddenly rang out in the venue, and the elders excitedly surrounded Pompey, and some even shouted: "Magnus Pompey!"

Amid the cheers of the Roman elders, Pompey couldn't help but feel a little elated...

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However, as soon as he returned to his mansion and regained consciousness, he immediately began to write to Caesar.

In the letter, he first briefly recounted the proceedings of the meeting, then emphasized the political environment at the time and that it was imperative for both parties to resign. He then reminded the Roman people of their hope for peace and promised that after Caesar returned to Rome, he would always ensure his safety and fully support his campaign for consul.

Pompey sent his trusted men to ride fast horses to the north with the letter.

By the time the messenger arrived in Ravenna and handed the letter to Caesar, Caesar had already learned that the Senate had passed a resolution to force him to resign.

In front of the messenger, Caesar calmly opened the letter and read it, and he secretly sneered at Pompey's promise.

Unlike Pompey, Caesar followed the rules of the Roman officialdom after entering Roman politics and was promoted step by step (of course, due to his outstanding performance, he was promoted to the next level at the lowest age line many times).

On the surface, he was an outstanding citizen who strictly adhered to Roman traditions, but in fact he had seen through the essence of power very early on. In order to gain greater power, he could give up those intoxicating glories, attack political opponents by any means necessary, and even bend down when he was weak. He clung to Pompey's thighs, owed Crassus money, and acted as a younger brother to cheer for them. In the end, he won their trust and support, became consul, and became governor of the three northern provinces.

Because the opportunity was hard to come by, he put in 100% of his efforts during his time as Governor of Gaul, and of course received huge rewards:

After several years of Gallic Wars, he gained a huge amount of wealth, not only paying off his debts, but also using money to gain more connections;

The conquest of Gaul brought it under the control of Rome, and the Senate rewarded him with more than two public thanksgiving celebrations, which greatly enhanced his prestige in Rome.
More importantly, he controlled a large and battle-hardened army, whose officers and soldiers were loyal to him and willing to fight for him. This was the basis of his rising status in Rome. He certainly would not be so foolish as to listen to others, resign as governor and disband the army.

On the contrary, in order to maintain the loyalty of this army and his position in Rome, he needed to do more, such as asking Rome to promulgate new laws, reward land to the soldiers who followed him, and confirm his arrangements in Gaul in the form of law, just as Pompey did for the East. He even wanted the Senate to promulgate other laws to win over different classes of Roman society in order to achieve his political ambition to transform Rome...

To achieve all this, Caesar could not stay in the province all the time, but had to return to Rome and become consul. So on the one hand, he refused to acknowledge the time limit on his governorship set by his political opponents, but did not clearly state when his governorship would end; on the other hand, he hoped to gain Pompey's support to make his campaign for consul smoother.

In short, he wants to have his share of the bear and the fish.

(End of this chapter)