Rome must fall.

Chapter 395: Moral Model - Cato

The messenger thought he had heard wrongly, because the land given by the Nix tribe was not only large in area but also flat in terrain, while the land they wanted to exchange for was all swamps and mudflats, with no one living there at all, and it could not even be considered the territory of the Skodischi tribe.

After receiving the other party's answer of "It's not a joke", the envoy was overjoyed and agreed without hesitation.

The Nix tribe and the Skodischi tribe reached a land exchange agreement and promised to live in harmony in the future. Naturally, it was also necessary to develop trade between the two tribes.

In order to avoid causing displeasure to the Dacians, the two sides did not conclude any alliance.

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Caesar was successfully elected as a Roman alderman in 65 BC (the eighth year of the establishment of the Nix tribe).

During Sulla's dictatorship, it was stipulated that "the minimum age for serving as a municipal official was 37 years old", but Caesar was only 35 years old that year, and he obtained special permission from the Senate.

The reason why he received special care from the Senate was obviously directly related to his outstanding performance in managing the Appian Way in the previous year and his status as a nobleman.

The duties of the aediles were almost all related to the management of the city of Rome. They were responsible for the maintenance of public buildings, supervising food supply, market activities... and even paying attention to the operation of women's monasteries.

For the ambitious Caesar, the main attraction of this office was that he would be responsible for public entertainments and festivals, which he could use to win the hearts and minds of the people.

Although the state treasury would provide the city government with funds to pay for these entertainments, it had long been customary for aldermen to do their utmost to host lavish entertainments, often paying out of their own pockets to supplement the state treasury funds.

Not only did Caesar have no money, but he also owed a lot of debts when he managed the Appian Way last year. However, he did not feel embarrassed at all. Instead, he continued to borrow money after becoming a municipal official. His main creditor was still Crassus.

Under normal circumstances, Crassus would be unlikely to be so generous to others, allowing them to borrow again and again, and borrow more and more, but he obviously saw Caesar's development potential, so he continued to donate generously.

With Crassus's funding, Caesar and another city official, Bibulus, held the seven-day festival in April to commemorate the earth goddess Cybele and the fifteen-day Roman festival in September in a high-end and grand manner. The people wholeheartedly enjoyed these free performances and competitions and were fascinated by them.

However, Bibulus, who also borne part of the expenses, complained that all the credit and limelight seemed to be monopolized by Caesar, and that the people always talked about Alderman Caesar instead of Alderman Caesar and Bibulus.

The alcalde Caesar also did something that alarmed the Senate.

He ordered the re-erection of a monument in the square commemorating Marius' victory over the Cimbri and Teutons (Sulla had ordered the removal or destruction of these monuments during his dictatorship). Most people approved of this decision because they still remembered the terrifying atmosphere when the barbarians invaded northern Italy. It was Marius who saved Rome in times of crisis, which was worth commemorating.

However, the conservative senators led by Catullus strongly opposed it. However, today is different from the past. Caesar persuaded the majority of senators and the monument was re-erected in the square.

From then on, people who went to the square and saw the monument would think of Marius, the leader of the Popular Party, and perhaps would think of Marius' only relative today - his nephew Caesar.

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Brochi, Mazii and Andizeti were successively occupied by the Nix tribe, and the Pannoni tribal alliance was in name only.

Although the Nix tribe did not continue to attack, the situation of the three large Pannoni tribes in the north is now getting worse and worse.

They had to guard against the Nix tribe and resist the attacks of the Boyi people, which was extremely stressful. Especially after they saw that the Nix tribe occupied Mazii and Andizeti and gradually stabilized the situation in the newly occupied territories, this made them even more nervous.

Therefore, at the end of the year, the three tribes sent a group of envoys to the former Brochi main camp to ask for an audience with Maximus, hoping to reach a truce with the Nix tribe in order to achieve peace.

Maximus took into account that the Nix tribe had to concentrate all its efforts on digesting the huge newly occupied territory and did not want any complications in the process. At the same time, he also hoped to relieve the worries of the three large Pannoni tribes so that they could concentrate on defending against the attacks of the Boyi, thus buying more time for the Nix tribe.

Ultimately, Maximus agreed to the demands of the Pannonian delegation, but with one condition: the three great Pannonian tribes must recognize the occupation of Mazii, Brochi, and Antizeti by the Nix tribe.

The situation was stronger than people, and finally the Pannoni delegation had to accept the newly occupied territory of the Nix tribe, so the two sides signed a peace agreement, and this time the term was no longer one year, but five years.

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In 64 BC (the ninth year after the establishment of the Nix tribe), Caesar, who had just stepped down as a city official, served as a court judge.

This year was marked by a particularly large number of court trials, nearly half of which were caused by the activities of a quaestor named Marcus Bolchius Cato.

This Cato was the descendant of Cato the Elder, the builder of the Appian Way and the advocate of the destruction of Carthage. Rome at this time was the hegemon of the Mediterranean. The wealth gained through wars and exploitation of the provinces continued to flow into Rome. Most of the senators and nobles had long abandoned the hard-working and simple style of the early Republic and lived an increasingly extravagant and indulgent life.

Like the famous orator and lawyer Hortens, who flaunted his wealth with a mansion, villa and garden;
Like Lucullus, who had just returned to Rome from the East, he devoted himself to building saltwater ponds, raising sea fish, and indulging in delicacies from the mountains and the sea;

Like Caesar, the newcomer to the Senate, who took pleasure in having affairs with noble ladies, and whose love affairs were known throughout the streets;

For example, Claudia Metri, the eldest daughter of the famous Claudius family, her villa in Baia was a famous place for incest, and it was said that she had affairs with countless men...

In this generally decadent Roman society, Cato the Younger stood out. He inherited the character of his illustrious ancestors, lived an extremely simple life, and worked with perseverance.

This year Cato the Younger served as quaestor. Unlike previous Roman youths who merely regarded this position as a stepping stone for promotion in officialdom and delegated daily management work to long-term officials who were specifically responsible for this matter, he did it himself and carefully checked every detail of the work.

He dismissed and prosecuted several officials who had embezzled the treasury, despite opposition from his colleagues. He also investigated some irregularities left over from Sulla's time as dictator: Sulla had allowed favored cronies to borrow money from the Republic's treasury but never repaid them.

He pursued these borrowers relentlessly until all the money was recovered.

He also launched a special investigation into bounty hunters who had received a reward for killing those exiled during Sulla's dictatorship.

Cato's series of actions were popular among the people, because the horror of Sulla's exile of political enemies was still in people's memory. Some people took the opportunity to sue these bounty hunters.

Caesar was no doubt pleased to preside over these trials, as his own experiences under Sulla left him with no sympathy for the bounty hunters, and it was a great pleasure for him to once again be involved in a popular cause.

Caesar was very active in condemning and punishing most bounty hunters, but he showed mercy to one person.

Catiline was born into an ancient Roman aristocratic family, but his family gradually declined over the centuries and retreated to the margins of politics.

In order to restore the reputation of his family, Catiline joined Sulla during the civil war. He not only accumulated considerable wealth, but also gained influence in the political arena.

He once helped the current chief senator Catullus to execute the murderer of Catullus' father.

He also received funding from Crassus and prepared to run for consul that year.

He went around looking for women and even had an affair with a Vestal Virgin.

He was notorious among the senators, but he had the support of many Roman poor people and veterans, and he also had a strong appeal to young people... In short, he was extremely similar to Caesar.

Catullus defended him in court, Crassus pleaded for him in secret, and Caesar did not pursue Catiline relentlessly, allowing him to escape legal sanctions.

Another thing happened during the entire trial. Cicero was preparing to run for consul. He knew that Catiline also had this plan, so he wanted to be his defense lawyer and hoped that the two of them could run together.

Catiline sneered at the country bumpkin with aristocratic arrogance.

After Catiline was acquitted, he quickly formed an open alliance with another noble, Hybrida, to run for consul together.

Hybridas was also a dissolute and depraved fellow, and it was hard to believe that he was the son of Marcus Antony (Cicero's hero).

Faced with these two candidates with such disastrous statements, the Roman nobles had no choice but to cover their noses and reluctantly chose Cicero, who was not the worst; the same was true for the common people.

In the end, Cicero received the most votes and was successfully elected as consul for the next year; Hybrida came in second, barely having enough votes; Catiline came in third, and in such a year when the consul election was extremely weak, he was actually eliminated.

Failure was a disaster for Catiline because he was heavily in debt, and his main creditor was Crassus, who had no interest in funding a loser.

In any case, this year's consular election was rather bad for the Romans, but they still saw a glimmer of light in the political arena - Cato the Younger.

This young Roman man, who was born into a noble family, shared the joys and sorrows with his subordinates when he was an officer; when he was a civilian, he dressed very simply and often even walked barefoot; and in the year he served as quaestor, his diligence and integrity surprised the people, and everyone said that being a quaestor was as glorious as being a consul.

(End of this chapter)