Chapter 446: Killing a chicken to scare the monkey

Caesar's words made the conservative senators uneasy. They realized that Caesar was determined to kill Cato and the others this time. However, he publicly stated that he wanted to forgive them, which at least showed that he did not want to be Sulla's second son. , not planning to launch a major purge in Rome, which reassured them a lot.

A very small number of conservative senators (including Longinus) lowered their heads and chose silence when facing Caesar's sharp and majestic gaze.

Caesar wanted to use his power to force the Senate to pass this proposal that shocked the world, and he had no choice but to do so.

Caesar took control of Rome before leading his army to Greece. At that time, he only reiterated many times in the Senate and citizen gatherings that "it was Pompey, Cato and others' deep hatred for him that forced him to resort to force. It was Pompey and Cato who forced him to resort to force." Pompey started the war, not him!" and did not use his power to declare Pompey and others as Roman sinners.

Even after Pharsalus won a great victory and obtained Pompey's head, he never had such an idea. Therefore, in his previous life, he completely defeated the army led by Cato in Africa and returned to Rome for a celebration ceremony. , all they declared to the outside world was "celebrating the victory over the King of Numidia"...

Whether to the senators or to Rome, he always downplayed the civil war, trying not to stimulate the sensitive nerves of some people, thereby promoting the unity of Rome.

Caesar has always been arrogant and confident, especially when the overall situation has been decided. In his eyes, Cato and others are just clowns. There is no need for him to beat them to death politically to offend these famous nobles in Rome. On the contrary, he He also hopes that they can take the initiative to admit defeat and then grant them forgiveness, which will further satisfy his vanity.

But now the situation has changed!

The Nyx invasion, the Dacian invasion, the Gallic rebellion, the Pontic rebellion... Roman territories and provinces were besieged on all sides.

However, internally, Cato, Metellus and others were still recruiting troops to continue to fight against him. Some seemingly obedient but dissatisfied senators and nobles were secretly causing trouble. Even the Roman people who once supported him, especially those from northern Italy, The provinces and the people who had long benefited from his conquest of Gaul also began to express dissatisfaction with him...

Not only was Rome suffering from internal and external troubles, Caesar also felt his own crisis. He had to take action to establish his prestige, intimidate the emperor, and win over people's hearts again, so that he could gather all his strength, successfully pacify all enemies, restore peace to the turbulent Rome, and achieve his goals. The ambition to transform Rome.

Therefore, convicting conservative senators such as Pompey, Cato, Metellus, etc., so that they can occupy a high position legally and morally, and annihilate political opponents more conveniently and thoroughly, is the first step he must take.

After a period of silence in the meeting place, Cicero stood up. He did not avoid Caesar's gaze, with a calm expression and a serious tone: "Dear consuls, colleagues, you all know that I followed Antony's army to the province of North Italy before. , although I didn’t participate in that battle, I went Padua also went to Verona and saw the towns that had been looted. The women of the province who had been humiliated by the barbarians were hiding in the corners and crying. The road was full of Roman citizens with their wives and children. They looked frightened. Seeing our troops coming, they even knelt down and begged for food...

Hey, everyone, Rome is the master of the Mediterranean, but our citizens in Northern Italy are being bullied like pigs and dogs! Rome has the most powerful military power in the Mediterranean, but our most fertile Po River plain is being trampled by barbarians! When Northern Italy, which has been at peace for decades, is once again invaded by barbarians, we, the senators of the Senate and the fathers of the Roman people, would rather waste our time fighting here instead of saving our people! "

Caesar's eyes turned dark.

Cicero suppressed his increasingly passionate emotions and seriously advised Caesar: "Dear consuls, Cato and Metellus did make mistakes! They can be punished, but don't call them treason. Because this will inevitably force them to resist fiercely and continue the civil war, thereby weakening the power of our Rome and not conducive to the unity of the Senate.

The invading barbarian military force this time is extremely powerful. They can capture the strong fortress Aquileia and defeat the powerful Antonine army. We must concentrate all our forces as soon as possible to defeat them! Don’t forget, in addition to the barbarians in northern Italy, our eastern provinces are being threatened by enemy countries such as Dacia, Pontus, and Parthia. Rome needs to unite in order to win peace faster! "

Cicero's speech won the echo of many senators.

Balbus stood up again and mocked: "Cicero, don't forget, when you were consul, no matter how much the senators tried to dissuade you, no matter how Catiline's rebels threatened the security of Rome, you used treason to After having executed five senators who had no clear evidence of collusion with Catiline, they now have the nerve to talk about unity! The family members of Kitagus still come to the Senate from time to time to cause trouble. You have never tried to appease those who talk about unity like this. they!"

Cicero was a little embarrassed, but he still defended shamelessly: "The decision to execute those five senators was not my decision alone, but the result of discussions by the Senate, and the final decision was made after many court trials..."

"Okay!" Caesar shouted and said simply: "There are many things to discuss today, don't waste more time on this issue! Everyone will vote on Trebonius's proposal immediately! If the vote is passed "After Cato, Metellus and others are captured in the future, they will be tried in court according to the procedures and lawyers will be allowed to defend them."

The venue fell silent again.

At Caesar's urging, the vote began, and since Caesar controlled the Senate, Trebonius's proposal was naturally passed smoothly.

The atmosphere in the venue was already tense, but Opius decided to add to the fire.

He stood up and said loudly: "Dear consuls, colleagues, since Cato, Metellus and others have been confirmed as treason, then I want to accuse a person——"

The elders suddenly became nervous.

Opius said in a sonorous tone: "Caelius Rufus! Although he sided with Caesar at the beginning of the civil war and ostensibly opposed Pompey, he has been secretly writing letters to Cato and others. Except for In addition, he also secretly contacted Milo, who quietly fled back to southern Italy last winter, in an attempt to launch a rebellion against Rome. Although Milo's rebellion has been put down, Caelius should be punished according to the law for committing these crimes. Severe punishment for treason!"

Caelius Rufus, a close friend of Cicero, who was not from a well-known family, chose to support Caesar because Caesar could help him advance further in Roman politics. Last year, with Caesar's support, he became this year's legal officer, but the highest-ranking position among the legal officers was awarded to Trebonius by Caesar. This made him very angry, and he began to secretly oppose Caesar.

At this moment, the accused Caelius was sitting in the venue. He immediately jumped up and shouted: "Slander! This is slander! I once offended Opius, so now he is spreading rumors in an attempt to wrongly accuse me——"

"I did not accuse you wrongly. This is evidence of your treason!" Opius took out a stack of letters between Caelius, Cato, and Milo from his arms, and passed them around to the surrounding senators. .

Obviously, Caesar entered the city of Rome in the past few days and was just suppressing the chaos.

The facts are clear and the evidence is conclusive. Even Cicero, who wants to defend him, has nothing to say. Only Caelius himself has been denying it, saying that these letters are forgeries.

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Caesar was too lazy to listen to his noise. After the senators voted to approve Opius's proposal, he immediately let the guards enter, took Caelius down who was still yelling, and then said lightly: "No need, everyone." Worried, Caelius will be given a fair trial.”

The senators who had been in Roman politics for many years remained silent. They all knew in their hearts that Caelius was taken down not only because he colluded with Cato or Milo, but more importantly because he had asked the senators to comply some time ago. The voice of the people and one of the leading advocates of restoring peace in North Italy.

Yes, Caesar hated Caelius for cheating and damaging the interests of Rome, and even more hated him for wanting to kill him. Although the conservative senators had long wanted to kill him, they still had to cover it up with the cloak of legal procedures. , regardless of Kelius’s blatant public declaration, if he is not severely punished, I am afraid that others will follow suit.

Obviously, Caesar's approach had an effect. The venue was extremely quiet, especially the faces of the non-Caesar senators who showed more or less fear, fearing that they would become Caelius's second.

Caesar felt that the heat had come, so he spoke again: "Although the order of Rome has been restored to some extent through military control, if the problems of food and accommodation for the refugees are not resolved, conflicts and chaos may reoccur at any time. Do you have any good ideas? solve?"

If the senators here had their way, the chaos in Rome would not have lasted so long.

Seeing that no one responded in the meeting place, Caesar coughed lightly and said, "I have some ideas for everyone to consider. First, the free bread originally provided to the poor and refugees in Rome was mainly provided by Sicily, but due to the civil war, Sicily's food production decreased , the supply of the original poor is not enough, not to mention the tens of thousands more refugees in the northern Italian provinces. The food supply pressure of the city of Rome is quite high...

However, at the beginning of this year, I learned about the plight of the city of Rome in Egypt, so I took the initiative to discuss with Pharaoh Cleopatra, and finally she agreed to provide a large amount of cheap wheat to the city of Rome every year to meet the needs of the Roman people-"