Chapter 422: Parting ways

Pompey immediately decided to send the legion he had lent to Caesar and had fought under Caesar ever since (i.e. the First Legion) to the Parthian border.

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

The young Roman official who was responsible for transferring the two legions to Gaul returned and claimed that Caesar's entire army was dissatisfied!

At the same time, the two legions showed an uncooperative attitude after returning to Italy, and of course no one made an effort to send them overseas.

The whole of Rome was nervous about this.

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

It was not until August that he recovered, and the people were jubilant. Crowds gathered to greet him all the way from Naples to the suburbs of Rome.

Pompey always liked to be thanked by others. He regarded the 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 expectations of the people. 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 all senators in Rome not to be absent.

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

Then the consul Marcellus (not the consul Marcellus last year, but another one) divided the matter into two parts, submitted motions separately, and let the senators vote.

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

Before the vote, Pompey asked to speak.

Pompey was ill this time, and he had a rare opportunity 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 had achieved success in Gaul, Germanic and Britain, which made Pompey, who was idle at home, a little jealous, he had won many triumphs in three continents (Asia, Africa and Europe) long before Caesar became the military commander. He thought that his record was much more brilliant than Caesar's, so he did not put Caesar on an equal footing with himself, but always regarded him as a little brother who needed his support. In fact, he had been escorting Caesar in Gaul.

But when Curio, who was instructed by Caesar, proposed that the two must resign at the same time, he was angry, because it meant that Caesar, who had been supported by him, thought that he was on the same status as him.

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

Moreover, 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 from the Gaul tribes that surrendered to Caesar at any time... The Gaul region had been peaceful for nearly two years, but Caesar still had such a large army, and this year he suddenly treated the Gauls with a harsher attitude, deliberately provoking conflicts. What on earth did he want to do?

In the history of the previous life, the Gallic rebellion led by Vercingetorix lasted from the year before last to last year, for more than a year. Although Caesar finally won the victory with difficulty, he also paid a huge price for it - more than half of the soldiers were killed or injured, and he had been resting the troops and replenishing new soldiers.

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 great pressure, and made him seriously doubt Caesar's intentions.

Although Pompey repeatedly broke the traditions and laws of Rome, he had no ambition to change the Roman political system. He only wanted to maintain his dominant position as the first person in Roman politics and let the Roman people always support him. Therefore, he did not want Caesar to change the status quo of Rome by force 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 him to resign.

The senators were moved by him and praised him for his dedication to the country and his righteousness.

Pompey accepted it calmly, with his own calculations in his mind: although the two of them resigned at the same time would cause him a lot of losses, but Caesar's losses would be greater. After losing his army and returning to Rome, Caesar faced further suppression and even possible persecution from the senators, so he could only seek his protection and become his younger brother again...

Pompey admitted that he lacked a little talent in politics, but Caesar was very good in this regard. 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 because they were worried about the possibility of war.

However, this voting result was enough for the motion to be passed.

Curio was dumbfounded. He had originally planned to let the Senate vote on the motion that both of them should resign, but now it was completely useless.

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

The whole venue suddenly became quiet.

Cato spoke first, saying confidently: "Everyone cast a sacred vote according to their own will, and the entire voting process is in full compliance with the law. As long as you are a Roman citizen, you should strictly abide by the proposal that has been passed! If anyone refuses to implement it, then he is a sinner of Rome, and the Senate can severely punish him, and all Roman citizens will abandon and oppose him! ——"

Little Curio looked at Cato with a squinting eye, and kept sneering, causing him to be unable to speak any more when he was about to make an impassioned and long 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 leads his army to Rome instead?!" This question from the 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 from harm!"

Cheers suddenly rang out in the meeting hall, and the senators excitedly surrounded Pompey, and some even shouted: "Magnus Pompey!"

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

However, when he returned to his mansion and regained consciousness, he immediately began to write a letter to Caesar.

In the letter, he first briefly described the process of the meeting, and then emphasized the political environment at the time and the imperative for both parties to resign. Then he reminded the Roman people of their expectations 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 subordinates to take the letter and ride fast horses to the north.

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

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

Unlike Pompey, Caesar entered the Roman political arena and always followed the rules of the Roman officialdom, and was promoted step by step (of course, due to his excellent performance, he was promoted to the next level at the lowest age line many times).

On the surface, he was an excellent citizen who strictly adhered to Roman traditions, but in fact, he had seen through the essence of power very early. In order to gain greater power, he could give up those intoxicating glory, and he could also attack political enemies by any means, and he could bend down when he was weak. From holding Pompey's thigh, owing Crassus money, and acting as a younger brother to cheer for them, he finally won their trust and support, became consul, and became the 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 the governor of Gaul, and of course received huge rewards:

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

Conquering the territory of Gaul, basically bringing it under the control of Rome, also allowed the Senate to reward him with more than two public thanksgiving celebrations, which greatly improved 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 power to rise in Rome. Of course, he would not be stupid enough to listen to others, automatically resign as governor, and disband the army.

On the contrary, in order to maintain the loyalty of this army to him 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 enact other laws to win over different classes of Roman society in order to achieve his political ambition to transform Rome...

To do 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 recognize the time limit set by his political opponents for his governorship, but did not clearly state when his governorship would end; on the other hand, he hoped to get Pompey's support to make his campaign for consulship smoother.

In short, he wanted to have his cake and eat it too.