Chapter 445 Caesar Returns to Rome

Caesar also wrote to his confidants in Rome to send people to the Northern Italian province as soon as possible to find out the movements of the Nix army and the Gaul rebels.

He also asked them to bring people who knew the whole process of the Nix army defeating the Antony army to Brindisi, and he wanted to ask for details in person.

After a few days of tossing on the sea, Caesar arrived in Brindisi. But he had no time to reorganize the 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 Nix army.

It turned out that after the Nix army defeated Antony, it occupied the entire Northern Italian province and expelled all the people in the Northern Italian province. These people were forced to flee south, and most of them fled to Rome. Because on the one hand, they could directly petition the Senate to send troops to defeat the barbarians and regain their homes, and 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 disorder at this 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. Everyone 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 Pompey and returned to Rome in disgrace when they saw that the civil war was over. Those neutral senators also ended their seclusion one after another... So the Senate began to become lively and disputes began.

At this time, a large number of people from the northern Italian provinces poured into Rome. The population in Rome was originally too large, which made it even more crowded and chaotic. What's worse is that there was not enough free food to meet their living needs. The hungry and cold northern Italian exiles could only rob in order to survive.

But the people in Rome, especially the gangs of landless poor people, were angry that the influx of northern Italians had encroached on their interests, and thus regarded the northern Italians as enemies, and even tried to expel them 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 take on the responsibility of maintaining order in the city.

As the chaos continued, a view was gradually accepted by many people on both sides of the conflict, that is, the Nixes claimed that "the reason they invaded Roman territory was 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 could be done, the people of northern Italy could return to their homes, the people of Rome could resume their previous lives, and there would be no more threats from barbarians. Why not sacrifice one person to restore peace and tranquility to the whole of Rome?

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

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

The Caesarian senators were not only unable to restore the order of Rome, but also unable to quell the countercurrent deliberately raised by the conservative senators. Instead, they exposed the disputes in the Senate to more and more people. The people who were forced to live gathered in the Roman Forum in large numbers. Under the instigation of those who had ulterior motives, they even attacked the Senate angrily, causing the senators to hide at home and dare not hold meetings again...

It was when Rome was completely out of order that Caesar led a legion to land at the port of Ostia and marched into Rome.

Caesar decisively implemented temporary martial law over the entire city, forcibly detained the gang leaders and individuals who provoked the conflict, and ordered all the people to stay in their own places. Those who disobeyed orders and dared to resist would be killed without mercy...

It took a day and a half, and under the lesson of iron and blood, the people in the city finally bowed their heads and obeyed orders, and the city of Rome restored order.

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

The consuls this year were Caesar and Severius, but when all the senators took their seats, everyone found that Caesar, who was sitting in the middle of the venue, was like a king, and Severius, who was standing next to him, was simply his follower.

Caesar did not rush to announce the start of the meeting, but scanned the people in the venue for a long time.

His expression was indifferent and majestic, and his eyes were sharp and cold, which was very different from his previous appearance in the Senate. The senators felt as if he had changed into a different person, and those who had ill intentions were even more terrified.

The usually noisy meeting place was unusually quiet at this time.

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

According to convention, the chief senator or the senior senator should speak first, but these senators once supported Pompey, and most of them followed him to Greece. Later, some of them came back because the war situation was unfavorable, but at this time the Senate basically Controlled by the Caesars, they relied on their high status in the Senate and often had disputes with the Caesars. At this moment, under Caesar's gaze, none of them dared to stand up and speak first.

The first one to speak was Lucius Cornelius Balbus, who was a close friend of Caesar. During Caesar's absence in Rome, he and Gaius Opius led the Caesar faction to handle the political arena. affairs and safeguarded Caesar's interests, so he won Caesar's trust.

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

In fact, Caesar had already imposed military control on the city of Rome. This was just to add another legal procedure to avoid being criticized.

Even though he was afraid of Caesar's power, a conservative senator still had the courage to question: "I object! The army is not allowed to be stationed in Rome. This is a sacred tradition and no one can violate it! And allowing the army to be stationed in Rome for a long time If something goes wrong in Rome, it will be difficult to protect us and the people! Let’s not forget what Sulla learned!”

This man's name was Gaius Cassius Longinus, who had accompanied Crassus on his expedition to Parthia. After the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Calle, he was the only one who led the remaining troops back to Syria and successfully repelled the Parthian attack on Syria. Invasion was avoided, thereby winning the Senate's praise. After the outbreak of the civil war, he defected to Pompey and commanded part of the fleet. However, the failure of the Battle of Pharsalus forced him to lead the fleet to surrender to Caesar. However, he refused to lead the fleet to attack Pompey's naval base in North Africa and was deprived of it. He was given the command of the fleet and returned to Rome alone. Still young, he became one of the leaders of the conservative senators in Rome.

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Longinus' words caused a commotion in the venue. Sulla led his army into Rome and knew the terror caused by the plebeians. Many older senators still remembered it.

While some people were whispering, Balbus stood up and retorted loudly: "Comrades, don't forget that Pompey also led the army to control the city of Rome when he was consul. The times are even more chaotic, but you would rather put the city of Rome in danger than allow Caesar to take the same action. I don’t know what your intentions are. Are you still thinking about the dead Pompey!”

With this big hat off, no one dares to say anything anymore.

After the military control was implemented, Trebonius also stood up and looked at Caesar. After receiving a slight nod from him, he took a deep breath and said loudly: "Dear consuls, colleagues, Pompey, Cato, Domitius, Metellus and other people persecuted Caesar and provoked a civil war for personal grudges and regardless of national interests. This not only caused thousands of people to suffer the suffering of the war, but also damaged the prestige of Rome and allowed many barbarians to See the right moment and declare war on Rome!

Today, wars are raging in Rome, its territory has been ravaged, people have been displaced, and the country is in crisis... This is all caused by Pompey, Cato and a group of people! They betrayed Rome and caused great disaster to Rome. They are the sinners of Rome! The Senate must severely punish them so that the anger of Roman citizens can be vented and they can serve as a warning to future generations! "

As soon as these words came out, all the senators present were shocked: Is Trebonius crazy? ! He wanted to label Pompey, Cato, Metellus and other highly respected senators as "traitors". That was a crime of treason that would be punished by execution!

Before the senators could react, Caesar on the field said coldly: "I completely agree with Trebonius's suggestion! Especially when Cato and his gang were killed in Pompey and the overall situation was decided, they ignored Rome. Suffering from the terrible situation of barbarian invasion, they are still recruiting troops to fight against Rome. There is no doubt about their treason!

However, those senators who were once bewitched by Pompey and Cato, but eventually returned to Rome to share the hardships with the people, are different from Pompey and Cato and they should be forgiven!

Of course, if everyone has any different opinions on Trebonius's proposal, they can also raise it now. "

After speaking, he looked towards the area where the conservative elders were with his piercing eyes.