Simulating the Universe, Starting with Speedrunning Greece

As a Roman citizen, have you ever thought about this question?

Rome always won battles, but why were the families of the soldiers so poor? There was an invisible but clear dividing line that had long divided the Romans into two, or even several, classes.

The rich and powerful Rome also had a hidden ugly side.

The first thing is to clarify your own class, and then find out where you are in the hierarchy.

Understand who is suppressing, oppressing and exploiting you.

The next step is to figure out which class levels are their enemies and which are friendly forces that can be won over.

Only when these key cores are identified and organized clearly, can people know in which direction to strive for. Otherwise, they will only know that the empire is in crisis but will not know where to start.

Even though they knew what to do to make the country better, they missed the opportunity for change again and again, found obstacles again and again, and ultimately failed because they could not distinguish who were the enemies and who were the trustworthy friends.

But that is a story for the distant future.

What Tiberius needed at this time was to make the people understand their position, feel anxious, learn to fight for themselves, and understand who their enemies were.

What to do next will be the plan afterwards.

Ye: “Think about it carefully. Before we wanted to do this (land reform), there were actually smart people in Rome who saw this crisis and wanted to change it.

Do you need me to remind you?"

After Tiberius's sincere request, Ye smiled and told him: "During the Hannibal War, the conflict between the nobles and the common people had actually arisen long ago and almost intensified.

But with the coming of the war, the contradictions were somewhat eased, and as soon as the war ended, some people proposed laws to protect the interests of the poor.

Lucienius - at that time there was a tribune with this name who successfully passed his decrees and policies at the Roman Assembly.

The new law stipulates that no citizen can own more than 500 acres of land, no more than 100 cattle, and no more than 500 sheep.

However, due to the intervention of the Senate, this decree became a dead letter.”

To put it simply, this law is an attempt to redistribute the land owned by the Roman state to the civilians.

This touched upon the interests of the nobles. After all, in ancient Rome it was difficult to distinguish between public property and the private property of the nobles.

So - it's not hard to imagine that any similar legislation would be proposed again.

How resolutely the landowners represented by the Senate would resist the decree to redistribute public lands.

And what they are going to do now, although it was initially to speak for the soldiers, is also to speak for the millions of slaves and those who have been exploited and forced to the point of being unable to survive.

This is bound to cause suppression from the Senate and other large landowners again.

It is not enough to rely on their own strength, otherwise they will only repeat the same mistakes. They also need the help of the people.

"Are we going to let unarmed civilians fight?"

Tiberius at that time asked Ye so worriedly and confusedly.

However, Ye said--"They are not unarmed civilians.

You greatly underestimate the power of the people, Tiberius.

Once a person understands what he relies on for survival, and when someone wants to take away your last thing, your survival will be completely destroyed.

Then even those who are usually cowardly will have the flame of fighting spirit ignited in their hearts.

They will go crazy and fight desperately to bite off a piece of flesh from the enemy at all costs.

Don't underestimate anyone's determination to survive.

Everyone has the potential to be a hero.

When the spark started to spread like wildfire, citizens, free men, and even slaves all over Rome stood up and spoke for themselves.

The Senate will also be terrified - if you don't believe it, just wait and see.

We can’t just rely on civilian power, of course – we also need our own military.

Win over those retired soldiers, they will be the main force in this battle.

And how many surprises can awakening the will of the common people bring?

Let us enjoy it slowly. The red storm will eventually come. "

At this moment, the memories end and we return to reality.

Looking at the countless roaring and shouting crowds below, Tiberius truly felt a sense of power.

That is not the force of fighting on the battlefield, but a kind of spiritual force...

It is a kind of awakened will, like a burning soul, when all voices shout the same goal, bringing shock...

Tiberius had some faith that they could really succeed.

At this moment he thought of a lot of things, the most part of which was the night by the Ebro River when the night inspired everyone and led them to launch a Jedi raid.

When people have faith, they can really burst out with a formidable spirit.

With a goal, people will not be confused. As long as they know that the direction they are heading is correct, they will be able to fight to the death without fear of hardships!

He believed that the people, who already had a clear hostile target, had become soldiers who could actually fight.

At this time, Strabo and Pompey in the audience were completely frightened.

He didn't know how he got through the rest of the time.

When Tiberius gave his last cry, he called on those who, like him, wanted to change all this to move forward with him.

Everyone responded with a roar, high and firm, angry and powerful, piercing gold and splitting stone - it made Strabo and Pompeii, who were on the noble side, extremely frightened.

Someone suddenly started shouting Tiberius' name, and then countless people followed suit. The sound of 'Tiberius'...

It was like calling upon the hero in their hearts. Strabo and Pompeii felt that they could not stay in this place for a moment longer.

how so?!!!

Chapter 102: Win over those who can be won over, and sanction those who must be sanctioned

A panic spread in Strabo and Pompeii's hearts.

Crazy! All the citizens of Rome have gone mad along with that madman Tiberius.

The Senate will definitely not sit idly by and watch what happens today.

They would never let Tiberius succeed.

Even if the senators had known Tiberius' crazy ideas earlier, they would not have given him the opportunity to enter politics.

but--

Wait, Strabo Pompey finally remembered that he was still at the tribune election meeting.

After this commotion, he had reason to believe that everyone would choose Tiberius. Even Strabo saw many civilians who had been bribed by him before, roaring in the crowd.

…! What is this?

That excitement, the look of being unable to control one's emotions... Strabo had no doubt that if he were to ask them to help him canvass for votes now, these people would tear him to pieces in a minute.

The worst thing still happened——!

There was now no chance of stopping Tiberius's rise.

as predicted--

When the final citizens' assembly voted, Tiberius was elected as the Roman tribune for this term.

The votes almost crushed Strabo by five times! !

Among them, many people who had received money from him turned against him halfway through. They told everyone about the money they had received, then shamefully reflected on themselves and jumped to Tiberius' camp.

For a moment, this truth was exactly the same as what Tiberius had said in his speech about the dark side of the Roman election, which immediately caused a strong reaction from the people.

Just as they were angry and wanted to tear apart the shameless villain Strabo Pompey.

Strabo had already seen that the situation was not good and fled early.

After that, they believed in Tiberius even more. As more and more people realized the darkness of Rome and realized that Tiberius was the only one who could save them, the citizens even spontaneously protected Tiberius.

At the same time, on the other side——

When this incident became a hot topic, Tiberius' speech in the central square was spread from one person to another and quickly became public.

There were even many "retired veterans" who added fuel to the fire during the process.

Soon even the manuscripts of Tiberius' speeches began to appear in the streets of Rome.

As more and more people learned everything quickly, they came to know the suffocating dark side of Rome.

Oh my god——~!

In the holy city of Rome, when did their Roman power center become so corrupt? !

More people were shocked by this bloody truth.

The matter finally reached the Senate, and after many nobles learned the whole story, they even sent people to collect all the events that happened during Tiberius' speech...

Suddenly - countless nobles were shocked and angry, and some even wanted to strangle Tiberius to death.

As a vested interest and aristocrat, Tiberius not only did not stand on their side, but also wanted to seek justice for ordinary Roman citizens and even redistribute land to soldiers and civilians?

Did he think that by taking off his luxurious clothes and being elected as a tribune responsible for the people, he could really integrate into the ranks of the common people?

He actually wanted to overthrow his own class.

Although others had not heard of the class hierarchy as Tiberius had.

But in his speech, Tiberius exposed all the dark sides of their nobles and completely offended them. Almost all the nobles who heard about this regarded him as their enemy.

However, there were also a few kind-hearted officials who chose to support Tiberius.

Even though Rome was corrupt to the core, it didn't mean there were no good people left.

Something unexpected happened to Ye and his friends the day after the election results came out. Some senators in the Senate actually chose to speak out in support of Tiberius and his friends.

This also made Ye and the others realize that they were not the only ones who had long been fed up with the current pathological conditions in Rome, and there were still many people with foresight.

Ye: “This is someone who can be won over.

The division of class levels is definitely not just a simple polarization between rich and poor, rulers and civilians.

It should also be possible for many different classes to exist among him.

Among them, those who are close to the upper class, or are directly accomplices, are the vested interests who exploit the civilians. Such people can be directly passed over.

It is difficult to win them over, and even if you do, you still have to worry about whether they are sincere, as they are likely to turn against you.

But civilians, kind-hearted people with lofty ideals, officials, even retired soldiers and many active soldiers, and even slaves can be won over.

Some of them have been exploited by the nobles to the point where they can no longer survive.

Some of them have a decent standard of living and can still make ends meet.

Things to note——"

At this time, Ye was aware of their situation. Rome took control of the situation and started a lesson with the Gracchus brothers.

“Those such as slaves, retired soldiers, and civilians whose families have been broken up by the nobles are our first targets.

They have been forced into a desperate situation. Having experienced the deepest despair and knowing how ugly the nobles are, their determination to follow us and change everything has become even stronger.

If it were a family that was still okay, they would have been temporarily brought together because of their own interests.

But if the nobles use money to secretly buy a group of people to speak for them and defect, these people may not be able to hold on.

Therefore, we can attract anyone who wants to get close to us, but only those who are completely trustworthy can get involved in the core of our team."

The Gracchi brothers were all amazed and agreed with Ye's statements.

Well-reasoned, calm and wise, I have to say——

Ye explained to them the many networks of relationships among the various classes in Rome and the ideas for breaking the impasse, which made them feel as if they had suddenly realized something and their minds were clear.

The other party has a more far-sighted and outstanding vision than the two brothers. He can see the essence of things through the problems and guide them step by step to understand the situation and go in the direction that is most beneficial to them.

Although he saw through human nature and social contradictions so clearly, he did not become arrogant. He continued to lead them step by step to expand the advantages of their reform team.

Even at this moment, the night was still warning the Gracchus brothers not to be happy too soon. If they were complacent now, they might lose their heads at any time tomorrow and would never see the sun rising the next day.

Although we have received support from a lot of people, we must not lose our minds because of the increasing number of calls.

Even though they have won over a group of retired soldiers, many of the active soldiers have become restless after hearing the rumors and conditions in Rome.