Augustus Road

"After three glasses of wine, a wise guest should take his leave and go home." - Ancient Greek playwright Eubias

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Just half a day before the mutiny took place, Caesar led many generals and officials to pay homage to the coffin of Cato the Younger in front of the Immortal Temple in Masseria, and requested that it be transported back to the cemetery in Rome for burial. Under the scattered clouds, Caesar was wearing a plain robe and said sadly to everyone:

"I will never be able to defeat little Cato, because he chose to die unyielding and defeated me forever in spirit and position."

As soon as he finished speaking, the token officers of Lepidus's fifteenth and sixteenth legions ran to the deserted square, and then the tenth legion also came. Caesar's expression suddenly changed, and he quickly gathered his followers and the chief centurions of each legion. The commander, because they were directly responsible for military discipline, mounted their horses and quickly left the city of Masseria without stopping at all, heading towards the town of Pinocenza, preparing to eliminate the grievances of the soldiers along the way.

The first one they arrived at was Lepidus' military camp. At that time, the chief lieutenant was joining forces with the Sixth Army. When he heard that Caesar was ten Roman miles away, he immediately lifted up the blanket and cloak from his couch and ran out as fast as he could. , asked Sabo and the centurion on duty to immediately announce that the access control of all soldiers was cancelled, and they could move around the barracks at will, because under his command, the Sixth Army showed no signs of mutiny at all, and the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Army also surrendered within half a day. It stopped. But Lepidus was very shrewd. He could not let Caesar lose confidence in him, but he could not make him wary either. "If even Caesar's ten legions make a fuss this time, and my three legions are all dumbfounded, what will Caesar think of me?" So when Caesar rode his horse to the camp of the six legions, the soldiers shouted Walking around, the centurion who was shouting curses in front of his subordinates who were about to call the tower summoned the chief lieutenant Lepidus to come to see him, but he was quickly stopped by Caesar with a cold face. Then Caesar asked the centurion who was full of foul words and ordered military discipline, "You guys What is the chief deputy doing in the camp?"

When the centurion saw Caesar wearing his iconic cloak, he knew that he was the consul, and he would brag about it when writing his memoirs in the future. Immediately he replied excitedly and unabashedly: "The chief deputy general oversees our army. He said earlier that he was tired of sorting out the accounts, so he found an excuse to reject his mission and go to pay homage to that person, and he is sleeping in the tent!"

"Is it possible that the access control was so relaxed that soldiers were allowed to walk around without caring about it?" Caesar looked very angry and grimaced. The centurion was so frightened that he suddenly felt that he had made a mistake and trembled all over. He hurriedly defended, " The reason why the soldiers were running around was because there was a commotion in the marching legion in front. The soldiers were also confused. "

"Well" Caesar's expression immediately softened, and then he saw him at the main entrance of the camp. Lepidus looked disheveled, and he was panicking with his followers on horseback, carrying trumpets and flags. After seeing Caesar, Lepidus shouted, "It is said that the army in front mutinied. It is true. What should we do now?" "Suppress your legion first. I believe the source is not here, but the ninth legion in Pinocenza." Caesar replied quickly.

So, Lepidus spent half a day in front of him pretending to appease the six, fifteen and sixteen legions. Caesar was stationed outside the camp gate and watched. Faced with the mutiny that had been expected, he seemed to There is no urgency and panic at the beginning. "What should have happened has happened." This is probably what Caesar said in his heart. "It's okay to use this opportunity to rectify military discipline and ask the soldiers to swear allegiance again!"

Finally, seeing this scene, Caesar felt indescribably relieved about his chief lieutenant. Although it took some time, it was worth it. When the three legions calmed down, Caesar immediately asked Lepidus to select their respective chief corps. Then we arrived at the camp of the Tenth Legion in the evening. At that time, many soldiers were making a fuss and excitement. Caesar dismounted majestically at the main entrance. The large group of soldiers brought behind him lined up to fight, with a murderous atmosphere. Then Caesar said nothing. , in front of the centurions and soldiers of the Tenth Legion, he took off his cloak and armor, and lay down in his underwear with his golden sword in front of more than ten thousand soldiers. Then he shouted: " If you want to raise the eagle flag and abandon the consul and the camp, then there are only two options left. One is to all go out through the back door, which is to admit your guilt, because only soldiers who have violated military discipline will go out from there. "One is walking out from the front, yes - stepping on my body, Julius Caesar!"...

Is this okay? Lepidus was dumbfounded. He really didn't know whether to call this Julius a sincere person or a pure rogue.

"Could it be that our tenth legion is the one that will pass the consul lying on his crotch?" After a moment of silence, the situation suddenly changed. Many soldiers who had been noisy just now and wanted to put forward various conditions began to feel sad and worried about their own Domineering felt ashamed and fell to their knees one after another. After all, they were abandoned by Pompey on the Eastern battlefield. Thanks to Caesar's shelter, they were able to achieve what they are today. Therefore, they were the most loyal to Caesar. Seeing this man lying desolately at the door of his camp , I can’t stand anything I say.

In this way, in less than half an hour, the mutiny of the Tenth Legion was resolved. Next, Caesar quickly asked the chief group of the Tenth Legion to follow him, and continued to the camp of the Eighth Legion.

The Eighth Legion was not confident enough to begin with. When they saw the consul with four battalions, their calves were shaking. Caesar did not play the trick of lying down. Instead, he led the guards and gave a speech to all the soldiers, saying, "You are not a new recruit legion, but you are being incited now. This is a great shame. Don't let me feel distrustful of your legion. When you charge into battle in the future, you should think about the Eighth Legion. If that happens, how will General Gobale, the commander who has led you for so many years, feel?" After saying this, when they saw the flags of the four battalions outside, the officers and soldiers of the Eighth Legion knew that this mutiny was destined to be suppressed. They all rushed to surrender. The centurion shouted that he would report the names of the soldiers who started the trouble and asked the consul to continue to trust the Eighth Legion in the future. Many people began to curse and fight with each other, and the whole scene was almost out of control.

"No one will be punished, but the centurion on duty today and the chief centurion of the entire legion must be whipped in public to serve as a warning to others!" Caesar's serious tone actually absolved the Eighth Legion of its guilt.

The soldiers gathered again and stretched out their hands to express their extreme regret. Then Caesar asked them to swear allegiance and said that the bounty would be paid within the next three months. All the soldiers expressed their sincere submission and hoped to continue fighting under the consul - "It seems that Pinocenza's Ninth Legion is really going to lose a layer of skin this time. What a brilliant tactic of Caesar to defeat them one by one!" Lepidus speculated with certainty. (.)