Augustus Road

"If I can't write, how good it would be!" - The sigh of the ancient Roman Emperor Nero when he signed the death sentence

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It is not difficult to imagine that the cavalry commander's edict immediately aroused earth-shaking effects in Rome. Who can say that what Lepidus asked for was unreasonable? Even Curio himself could not say so. Africa was the last territory occupied by Pompey's party. Now the war was tight, so the cavalry commander acted as the dictator and asked the four or five legions resting in Italy to rush to help. This approach can be said to be flawless.

But the consequences were already anticipated by Lepidus. If Pompey wanted to dig deep into Africa to maintain a few legions, then Caesar's current legion number, including auxiliary troops, was nearly 40. Legions all needed to be paid. However, the civil war had developed to this day, and agriculture and commerce in the entire Republic and the surrounding world had been severely damaged. Even the knights who followed Caesar could not make a living, let alone those ordinary tax farmers. When both sides put the burden on their shoulders, this financial group could only intensify the crisis and shift the burden to the poor citizens who were in debt. Now, these five legions have received an emergency order, but there is no food or military pay. Caesar still owes them a lot of allowances and rewards. The originally sufficient supplies were intercepted by Curio himself and most of them were taken to Africa. It is impossible to send ships back now, right? It was approaching the Saturnalia, which was supposed to be a day for people of all classes to revel together, but the atmosphere in Rome was far from harmonious. There were more than one or two murders and homicides caused by debt collection. In a panic, many noble elders holding "bonds" surrounded the Julian Hall day and night, demanding that Caesar repay the debt as soon as possible, even if he did not pay off all the principal and interest, he had to pay the amount for one year first.

After the panic, there was a large-scale depression, and Antony, who stayed in the hall to supervise, was at a loss. He was not a person who was good at handling such miscellaneous matters. Now looking at the piles of tablets and books on the pulpit, I wish I could burn them all with fire, which is better than trying to work myself to death by trying to unravel them. Antony had never received any good reviews during his previous term as the garrison commander in Rome, and his current reputation was even worse. Some people attacked him for asking for bribes, which made Antony very angry. Although it was true, could he not say it publicly, because he always took money to do things. It was fair and just; some people also said that he brought prostitutes and dwarfs with him when he was governing in the synagogue. Antony smiled and said, what kind of mood do these people who catch wind and shadow know; some people attacked him for being addicted to banquets and competitive activities, but Antony didn't think so. Although I am a nobleman who is not a commoner, I am eager to integrate into the common people. What's wrong with that? But then, the mutiny of four legions refusing to go out made Antony completely panic.

Unexpectedly, he also faced such a thorny problem for the first time.

The Eighth, Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Legions were all veteran legions that had followed Caesar in fighting in Gaul, Spain and Greece for many years. Apart from their uneven combat effectiveness, a large number of them had died of illness and death. Now the only remaining intact men in these four legions are only about two to two thousand five hundred people in each legion. Many people were afraid that if they continued to fight, they would end up buried in the desert of Africa. This fear of war was the cause. In addition, veterans are veterans, but they have been united for many years in war, and their internal unity is extremely strong. They respect and are loyal to Caesar, but they know that Caesar can't do without them, so they rebelled again this time - especially the Tenth Legion released by Lepidus from Egypt, which brought the bad news that "the dictator can no longer distribute military pay", which made these veterans who were resting even more angry. Originally, it was a conquest war in Gaul, and they could make a fortune by razing barbarian cities, plundering property and selling slaves; but now it is a civil war, and Caesar forbids veterans to plunder Italian cities, and even Greece and Spain. The veterans have long been on the verge of going crazy.

This time, the Tenth Legion played the most important role. The one-eyed centurion Scavo took the lead in agitating all the soldiers and reached an agreement on behalf of the soldiers and officers through negotiations, that is, before Caesar paid the reward allowance, no one was allowed to leave the veteran resettlement area, refused the transfer order, and put forward several conditions to the agent Antony:

All veterans who served over the age limit were allowed to retire and did not have to go to Africa to participate in the war;

The pensions of soldiers killed and disabled in battle should be paid immediately and in full, and their families and descendants should be provided with suitable jobs and preferential treatment;

Increase the land and amount of money allocated to the soldiers who participated in the war when they retire in the future.

"In that case, we might as well just disband all four legions!" Antony, furious, said the same thing as Lepidus, "I myself and Gaius will take the Fifth Skylark Legion to Africa." After saying that, he walked to the porch outside the synagogue in a huff. The streets were bleak and there was no festive atmosphere. The Colosseum and the Grand Circuit were covered in dust. They had not held any competitions that could bring joy to the people for a long time, because all the money was invested in the bottomless pit of war, and there was no sign of an end in sight.

"What should we do now?" Gaius asked anxiously behind his brother.

"I don't have enough cash to pay for the plan proposed by those old soldiers; but now I have to take the legions to the battlefield, which is equivalent to violating the order of the dictator." Antony was also at a loss, and then he simply adopted the "ostrich policy", determined to wait for a few days and observe the development of the situation.

But the development of the situation was no surprise - the veterans of the Tenth Legion, seeing that their requests were not responded to, simply marched from Campania, carrying weapons and rushed to the Ares Parade Ground in the northeast corner of Rome, set up colorful tents, and claimed that "I want to spend an unforgettable Saturnalia with the nobles and civilians of Rome."

And the remaining legions have begun to plunder the merchants and towns in Campania and Naples.

"It's so audacious! Call the Skylark Legion to drive out these old soldiers!" Antony was very angry. Then the Skylark Legion, newly recruited from Transalpine Gaul, whose nickname came from the towering feathers on the corners of their helmets, almost all of them were Gauls or Celts, also rushed into the Mars Parade Ground. Even a large number of cavalry came - the Roman nobles who came to watch the excitement saw from their own terraces that Antony personally commanded the cavalry to trample on the tents of the old soldiers in the Mars Parade Ground. The old soldiers sometimes resisted with weapons, and sometimes asked women and children to block the horses' hooves and cry.

That scene was simply indescribably "spectacular"!

Soon Cicero impeached Antony's atrocities, and was immediately expelled from Rome by force. He stayed in the suburban Fumia Manor and soon ran to the port of Brindisi, declaring that he wanted to "leave the current Rome because he had lost love for this country."