Rome must fall.

Chapter 445 Caesar Returns to Rome

Caesar also wrote a letter asking his confidants in Rome to send people to the northern Italian provinces as soon as possible to find out the movements of the Nyx army and the Gallic rebels.

He also asked them to bring to Brindisi someone who knew the whole process of how the Knicks' army defeated Anthony's army, so that he could personally ask for details.

After several days of tossing and turning on the sea, Caesar arrived in Brindisi, but he had no time to reorganize his army here, so he hurriedly led a legion to Rome by boat day and night.

Because the city of Rome was in turmoil, even the Senate was in danger, and the root of all this came from the invasion of the Nyx army.

It turned out that after defeating Antony, the Nyx army occupied the entire northern Italian province and expelled all the people from the province. These people were forced to flee southward, and most of them fled to Rome. On the one hand, they could directly petition the Senate to send troops to defeat the barbarians and reclaim their homes. On the other hand, only Rome had enough food to meet the needs of so many fleeing people.

But they didn't know that the city of Rome was basically in chaos at that time.

After the outbreak of the Roman Civil War, two consuls followed Pompey to flee to Greece. Caesar first served as dictator for a short period of time, and later let Antony take his place in Rome to stabilize order. But a few months later, Antony led his army to Greece to support Caesar, and there was no ruler in Rome. Fortunately, there were not many senators left in the city at this time, and they were basically supporters of Caesar. They had the same political views and could cooperate with each other to maintain good order.

After the Battle of Pharsalus, some conservative senators who followed Pompey abandoned him when they saw that victory was hopeless, and returned to Rome in disgrace. And those neutral senators, seeing that the civil war was already decided, also ended their seclusion...So the Senate began to become lively, and disputes began to arise.

At this time, a large number of people from northern Italian provinces poured into Rome. The city of Rome already had too many people, so it became even more crowded and chaotic. What was worse was that there was not enough free food to meet their daily needs. The hungry and cold northern Italian exiles had no choice but to rob in order to survive.

However, the people in Rome, especially the gangs of the landless poor, were angry that the northern Italians were invading their interests, so they regarded the northern Italians as their enemies and even tried to drive them out by force. As a result, conflicts occurred every day in Rome, and people died in fights every day, making everyone feel insecure.

The Senate had no ability to quell the chaos in the city, and no one dared to stand up and take the initiative to assume the responsibility of maintaining order in the city.

As the chaos continued, one view was gradually accepted by many people on both sides of the conflict, which was what the Nyx claimed: "They invaded Roman territory because Caesar launched the Gallic War and massacred their compatriots. As long as Rome executed Caesar, admitted its mistakes, and gave compensation, they would stop the war and return to their tribes..."

If this were true, the people of northern Italy would be able to return to their homes, the Romans would be able to resume their previous lives, and there would no longer be the threat of barbarians. Why not sacrifice one person to restore peace and tranquility to the whole of Rome?

As a result, a small number of people began to petition the Senate.

At this time, the Senate was originally controlled by Caesarian senators, but the army led by Antony was defeated and he himself was killed in the battle. At the same time, Caesar was trapped in Alexandria for a long time without any news. The Caesarian senators were in panic because they had no leader. Some conservative senators who returned to Rome took the opportunity to propose: respond to the people's call and restore peace in Rome as soon as possible.

Not only were the Caesarian senators unable to restore order in Rome, they were even unable to quell the countercurrent that the conservative senators had deliberately stirred up. Instead, they exposed the disputes in the Senate to more and more people. The people, who were forced to make a living, gathered in large numbers in the Roman Forum. Under the instigation of some people, they even attacked the Senate in anger, causing the senators to hide in their homes and dare not hold meetings again...

Even when the city of Rome was in complete disorder, Caesar led a legion to land at the port of Ostia and marched quickly into the city of Rome.

Caesar decisively implemented temporary martial law over the entire city, forcibly detained the gang leaders and individuals who provoked the conflict, ordered all the people to stay where they are, and killed those who disobeyed orders and dared to resist...

It took a day and a half, and after learning the lesson of iron and blood, the people in the city finally obeyed the orders and order was restored in Rome.

Immediately afterwards, Caesar urged the Senate to hold a meeting, and all senators in the city and suburbs must attend.

The consuls for the year were Caesar and Servilius, but when all the senators were seated, everyone found that Caesar, who was sitting in the middle of the meeting, was like a king, and Servilius, who was standing next to him, was simply his follower. Caesar did not rush to announce the start of the meeting, but instead scanned the people in the meeting room for a long time.

His expression was indifferent and majestic, his eyes were sharp and cold, which was very different from his previous appearance in the Senate. The senators felt as if he had become a different person, and those with ulterior motives were frightened.

The usually bustling venue was unusually quiet at this moment.

After a long time, Caesar announced the start of the meeting and signaled that the senators could speak freely.

According to convention, the chief senator or the most senior senator should speak first, but these senators had supported Pompey and most of them followed him to Greece. Later, some of them returned because the war situation was unfavorable. However, the Senate was basically controlled by the Caesar faction at this time. They were proud of their high status in the Senate and often had disputes with the Caesar faction. At this moment, under Caesar's gaze, none of them dared to stand up and speak first.

The first person to speak was Lucius Cornelius Balbus, a close friend of Caesar. When Caesar was away from Rome, he and Gaius Opius led the Caesarian faction to handle political affairs and safeguard Caesar's interests, thus winning Caesar's trust.

He coughed and said loudly: "Dear consul, colleagues, in view of the chaos in Rome and the threat to people's lives, I request the consul to impose strict martial law on Rome until order is completely restored to normal!"

In fact, Caesar had already imposed martial law on the city of Rome. This was just another legal procedure to avoid criticism.

Even though they were afraid of Caesar's power, a conservative senator still dared to question: "I object! The army is not allowed to enter the city of Rome. This is a sacred tradition that no one can violate! Moreover, if the army is stationed in Rome and controls Rome for a long time, it will be difficult to guarantee the safety of us and the people if any chaos occurs! Let's not forget Sulla's previous experience!"

This man was called Gaius Cassius Longinus. He had once accompanied Crassus on an expedition to Parthia. After the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Carrhae, he was the only one who led the remnants back to Syria and successfully repelled the Parthian invasion of the Syrian province, thus winning praise from the Senate. After the outbreak of the civil war, he defected to Pompey and commanded part of the fleet, but the failure of the Battle of Pharsalus forced him to surrender his fleet to Caesar. However, he refused to lead the fleet to attack the Pompey faction's naval base in North Africa, and was deprived of the right to command the fleet. He returned to Rome alone, and the relatively young man became one of the conservative senators in Rome.

Longinus' words caused a commotion in the meeting hall. Many older senators still remembered the time when Sulla led his army into Rome and cleared away the terror caused by the Plebeians.

When some people were whispering, Balbus stood up and loudly refuted: "My colleagues, don't forget that when Pompey was consul, he also led the army to control Rome. Now Rome is more chaotic than it was then. However, you would rather let Rome fall into danger than allow Caesar to take the same action. I don't know what you are thinking. Are you still thinking about the dead Pompey?"

After this big hat was put on, no one dared to say anything.

After implementing martial law, Trebonius also stood up and looked at Caesar. After receiving a slight nod from Caesar, he took a deep breath and said loudly: "Dear consul, colleagues, Pompey, Cato, Domitius, Metellus and a group of people persecuted Caesar and provoked civil war for personal grudges, regardless of national interests. Not only did they cause thousands of people to suffer from the war, but they also damaged the prestige of Rome and enabled many barbarians to seize the opportunity to declare war on Rome!

Today, war is raging in Rome, the territory is being ravaged, the people are displaced, and the country is in danger... This is all caused by Pompey, Cato and others! They betrayed Rome and brought great disaster to Rome. They are the sinners of Rome! The Senate must punish them severely so that the anger of the Roman citizens can be vented and warn future generations! "

As soon as these words came out, all the elders present were shocked: Is Trebonius crazy? ! He wanted to label Pompey, Cato, Metellus and other respected elders as "traitors", which is a crime of high treason that should be executed!

Before the elders could react, Caesar on the field said in a cold voice: "I completely agree with Trebonius's suggestion! Especially when Pompey was killed and the overall situation was decided, Cato and his gang ignored the terrible situation of Rome being invaded by barbarians and recruited troops to fight against Rome. Their treason is beyond doubt!
However, those senators who were once bewitched by Pompey and Cato but eventually returned to Rome and shared the difficulties with the people, they are different from Pompey and Cato and their gang, and should be forgiven!
Of course, if you have any different opinions on Trebonius' proposal, you can raise them now."

After saying this, he looked towards the area where the conservative elders were.

(End of this chapter)