Simulating the Universe, Starting with Speedrunning Greece

This incident shocked him greatly.

When were children of free men and Roman citizens taught from a young age to do adult things and learn how to please others or the nobles?

Where has the sense of shame among us Roman citizens gone?"

Chapter 98 Tiberius is harming me! Strabo: Help!

"Any upright person who sees this scene will feel ashamed and angry, and ask themselves what happened to their motherland, the great Rome...

And this was just one of many changes that were happening in Rome.

At last I discovered that the corruption of us Romans—"

There was a sudden uproar below.

No one expected that Tiberius would suddenly fire a barrage of criticism, saying that all the Romans had become corrupt, which immediately caused dissatisfaction among many people.

--What's the meaning?

No one thought that they were corrupt and bad. Even though Tiberius had pointed out the problem before, they only thought...

'Oh, it seems there is a problem. ' Some people are also reflecting on it, but no one likes to be judged with one stroke.

Maybe a few people are corrupt, but not everyone is like that, right?

Then--

Just as people were discussing it heatedly and were even in a bad mood, they heard Tiberius continue to speak:

"Mr. Cato is a representative of our Roman conservatives. He once criticized the extravagant and extravagant atmosphere, such as women's excessive love and pursuit of jewelry, and issued many relevant laws.

But these laws did not stop the spread of extravagance and corruption.

It also made the simple, pure and harmonious scene of the traditional Roman family gone forever.

The divorce rate in Rome was increasing day by day, and the golden age when traditional Roman morality dominated was long gone.

This phenomenon is particularly evident among our lower-class people.

The vast majority of people do not understand the true Greek culture. They attribute the reason why Greek civilization is so desirable to the comfortable and luxurious material life in Greece.

As the city of Corinth was destroyed, an extremely absurd scene even occurred.

I once watched several of my fellow Roman soldiers playing dice on a famous ancient Greek painting in front of the enemy's ruins, tearing the painting off the wall and spreading it on the ground as if it were a piece of rag.

A passing musician tried to give a Greek concert to comfort the soldiers, but everyone refused without hesitation, shouting at the musicians to put down the music and have a boxing match instead!

Puff——~!!

Someone in the audience couldn't help but laugh.

And they feel that if they were in their shoes, they would probably make the same choice.

Who would like to listen to the slow and plain music of Greece? It is not as exciting and eye-catching as a battle.

And heard laughter coming from below.

Tiberius said loudly: "You think this is a very normal thing, right?

That’s just so sad and horrible.”

There was a trace of genuine sorrow in Tiberius' eyes. He raised his hand and said in a pompous tone, "I am ashamed of you...

All this was in stark contrast to the Athens of Pericles' time.

They treat art as chaff and regard barbaric and bloody indulgence in lust as treasures.

Here everyone didn't notice anything unusual and thought it was the right thing.

So--

Don't rush to get angry or refute. If you still think what I am going to say is correct, I, Tiberius, apologize to everyone!"

What? ! !

This was the second time Tiberius had displeased the people.

They were extremely angry...

For a while, there was constant cursing from below.

No one could stand being humiliated like this.

Moreover, for the Romans, who advocated personal strength and fighting, fighting was not something they hated, but rather a glory.

Now someone tells them that that person is a loser and asks them to cultivate their moral character instead. Then they will twist that person's head off and kick it like a football, and then see if the other party can still speak and ask whether he should cultivate his moral character or not.

“Get down!!”

"Get down! Tiberius, Gracchus! You are not qualified to run for the tribune!"

"You should be ashamed of your words and actions, you damned, arrogant noble."

When the crowd was getting excited, some people even wanted to rush up and pull Tiberius down.

Strabo was stunned - what kind of operation was this? !

Even his opponents Strabo and Pompey were worried about him.

However, Tiberius was extremely calm at this time——

Just before the scene was about to get completely chaotic, he shouted to attract everyone's attention, "Are you angry because you were hurt by what you said?

Don't you even have the patience to hear me out?

Or are you just living in your own world, like frogs in a well who are unwilling to open their eyes to the truth of the world? ! "

"Let him speak!!"

"I want to hear what else he has to say!"

"Hmph, let's wait a little longer." Many people couldn't help but suppress their emotions when they were provoked, and even asked their companions around them to calm down first, wanting to listen to what Tiberius had to say.

Tiberius' next words completely changed their worldview.

When the scene finally returned to calm, he said in a cold voice: "Let's continue and talk about how we started from that wrong fall.

The corruption of the lower class people affected more aspects of Rome.

Among them is the story that in order to gain votes and people's support, the leaders of Rome had to try their best to satisfy the hobbies of the citizens, and even the nobles catered to the preferences of the people -

The use of good names to commemorate the deceased Roman greats led to the initial fights among death row prisoners and slaves.

In order to pursue excitement and win votes, even the officials presiding over the funeral ignored the funeral schedule and simply extended the competition time to win the hearts of the audience.

You think this is a good thing, right?

Moreover, holding such events allows you to share the various properties plundered by Rome during its conquest.

You can get something for nothing and live on the food provided by the rich for free.

But it was precisely because of this over-reliance that flaws occurred in the election of Roman officials.

This is the first sin!

The election of officials is a process of canvassing for votes at all costs, and it should be about selecting selfless tribunes who work for the welfare of the people.

It became increasingly difficult for young people in Rome to display their ambitions and talents and to gain votes, even in the most humble positions.

They have to spend a lot of money to afford a long competition and bribe voters.

Let me think, will there be free competitive matches to watch in a few days?"

When Tiberius spoke so sarcastically—

Many people in the audience were shocked and couldn't hide their expressions at all. Strabo's face changed even more.

——! Isn’t this referring to him?

In order to bribe the voters, he did plan to hold gladiatorial games next.

But these are already the basic default unspoken rules.

Damn it! Tiberius knew he couldn't be elected, so he deliberately intensified the conflict so as to drag me down with him?

What a cruel heart, it actually harmed me like this.

Chapter 99 If stupidity is a sin, then this sin is unforgivable

When Strabo thought he had figured everything out, he was shocked and angry at Tiberius's sinister intentions.

however--

Tiberius never had the other person in his eyes from beginning to end.

He simply continued: “Maybe in the short term, you think this is a good thing.

But no one has ever thought about—

Who would elect an official selected in this way if he has no money? After spending a lot of money and finally winning the election, how can we get back the money we lost? ! ! ! "

When Tiberius shouted with great emotion—!

At this moment, the anger in the hearts of the people was like being poured with a basin of cold water. Suddenly, everyone was stunned and calmed down.

That's right—

To become an official, one must learn to bribe and spend money, but will a truly ambitious person really spend money to buy votes?

Would they engage in such bribery and collusion?

They only thought about the joy of collecting money and the happiness of free celebrations, but never considered what would happen when all the officials in Rome were replaced by such a group of people.

People suddenly shuddered.

Such a simple truth can be easily understood by even the most ordinary civilians.

No one would be stupid enough to spend a lot of money just to buy a false reputation.

They are not children anymore, so they know very well that only when there is profit to be made will people work hard and fight for it.

Just like Rome valued the land and wealth of other countries, so it launched wars against them.

It's not that people can't understand or think of these truths, but that they don't care about them at all and fall into a blind spot. Or some people have noticed them but know that it is difficult to change the status quo, so it's best to pretend that they know nothing.

But now there is one person, no - there are some people, they don't sleep anymore.

Woke up from his slumber and tried to wake up more people.

Tiberius: “Let me tell you.

Of course, being elected is profitable! Who in this world would do a business without any investment?!

Why do our Roman politicians rack their brains to seek official positions and constantly expand their influence, even to the point of running for elections at all costs and incurring heavy debts?

Is it to serve the people of Rome after becoming a high official? No——

Some people may think that spending money to canvass for votes is simply a waste of money, but in Rome——

As long as you seize the opportunity to become the governor of a wealthy province, no matter how much debt you owe during the election, you can pay it off within one year of your term as governor.

At the same time, they could enjoy supreme power in each province, and were not restricted by the Roman legal system. So who were the people who were persecuted in the end? !

It’s the people——!

Taking advantage of one’s position——

Nobles and high-ranking officials were still able to purchase large amounts of land, but who were the ones who lost their share of the land? !

It was the soldiers! It was the countless people, the men in every household in Rome, who fought desperately on the front lines. It was the salary that the soldiers should have received.

It was the achievement they gained at the cost of their lives.

Now, the land to the north of Rome that originally belonged to the Etruscans has become the estates of the rich Romans.

And the soldiers who conquered that land for Rome were not given even a small farm.

How many of you have family members or friends who were drafted and went to the battlefield and haven't returned for many years?

How many people have become penniless because the only breadwinner in their family left to go to the battlefield.

Because you were too poor to sell your children to nobles as slaves? Those wealthy landowners couldn't find enough free people to farm the land for them, and they were even more unwilling to distribute the land you deserved.

So what’s the end?! What’s the end!!”