The Mad Tycoon of Rome

< 244. The Future of Rome 4 >

The assassins, who were stunned by Caesar’s words, gritted their teeth and glared at Brutus as they heard Cassius’s scream.

“So it was you who tipped him off!”

Trebonius shouted angrily.

The other assassins followed suit, hurling insults and curses at Brutus.

“Shame on you for siding with the enemy who is ruining the republic, when you are a descendant of Brutus!”

“I thought you were just a coward who didn’t have the guts to join the plan, but that was an overestimation.”

“Didn’t I tell you? He is Caesar’s bastard son!”

Brutus just stood there dumbfounded, with an expression of disbelief.

It took him a long time to realize that the accusations were directed at him.

“You think I told Caesar about the assassination?”

What nonsense was this?

The assassins kept pouring out their resentment towards Brutus, even Cato gave him a doubtful look.

Cato was also someone who openly opposed the assassination, but he didn’t bother to tell Caesar about it.

He had no loyalty to him, and more importantly, he didn’t even know that the assassination was planned for today.

“Did you really tell Caesar?”

“Of course not! Come on, Cassius. What kind of evidence do you have to make such a ridiculous claim? I admit that I didn’t cooperate with you, but that doesn’t mean I would betray my family.”

The senators, who were just screaming and running away a moment ago, were now watching the situation with keen interest.

Caesar also didn’t order his soldiers to arrest the assassins right away, but deliberately let the argument escalate.

“There were only two people besides us who knew about this plan: Cato and you. But Cato didn’t even know that we were going to execute it today. So it’s obvious that you were the one who leaked it.”

“No, but I…”

Brutus tried to argue that he didn’t know the schedule either, but he remembered what happened yesterday.

Cassius had said something.

Today would be a very meaningful day.

But how could he have guessed that they were going to carry out the assassination today from that?

It would make more sense to assume that they had some trick to stop the final vote on expanding the senate.

He had considered the possibility of assassination, but he never expected them to draw their swords and attack in the senate house.

Brutus noticed the strange looks from hundreds of senators around him and gave a fierce glare at the assassins.

“How can you accuse me of being a traitor without thinking that you might have slipped up? I didn’t cooperate with you from the start, so I have no reason to be called a traitor. But even so, I’m not so low as to sell out my friends!”

Brutus’s protest didn’t convince the assassins that he wasn’t a traitor.

This assassination plan was carried out in utmost secrecy, so they didn’t even tell their families about it.

They knew they would lose their heads if they got caught, so who would risk talking about it?

Decimus’s voice, filled with hatred, echoed in the senate house.

“You cowardly scoundrels! You don’t have the courage to stain your own hands, but you pretend to care about the future of the republic like hypocrites! You are nothing but trash with big mouths! Go ahead and keep betraying those who have a cause and worry only about your own survival. Do you think there is a future for you as Caesar’s slaves!”

The criticism gradually spread not only to Brutus but also to others.

But the senators who were watching didn’t sympathize with the assassins at all. 

They just sneered coldly.

“To be called cowards by those who brought weapons into the senate. You see all kinds of things in life.”

Piso’s chilly remark summed up everyone’s feelings.

No matter what argument there was, using physical means in the senate was never acceptable.

This was an absolute rule that many senators deeply agreed with.

How could they express their opinions freely if anyone could sneak in a knife and stab them?

From that point of view, this assassination attempt was an unforgivable crime that had to be prevented for the sake of preserving the senate as it should be.

“No matter what happens, killing someone in the senate house is intolerable.”

“Wait a minute. Why didn’t the consuls who should have led the lictors attend today’s meeting?”

The senators realized that there were more than one or two suspicious things.

And they learned belatedly that the praetors and aediles who were supposed to lead the lictors were detained by the aristocrats and couldn’t come to the meeting hall.

Naturally, the senators who belonged to the populares were outraged.

“They went so far as to use such vile methods to try to kill someone!”

Piso, Caesar’s father-in-law, stomped his feet in anger.

“Since when did the senate become a place where thugs plot their schemes? How dare they try to kill the former consul and current governor of Rome in the senate house?”

“That’s right. Why do you think Roman citizens can walk around anywhere with peace of mind? Because they are guaranteed their lives as Roman citizens. No one can take away a Roman citizen’s life without due process. And those who know this better than anyone else are trying to do this in the senate of all places…”

“This is not something we can just let go. We have to punish them severely so that this never happens again!”

“Make the assassins pay!”

Hundreds of senators, filled with anger, raised their fists and demanded the punishment of the assassins.

Piso, sensing the mood, proposed to invoke the senatus consultum ultimum.

It was an extreme measure that would suspend the citizenship rights of the assassins and deprive them of the right to a trial.

As voices demanding punishment rose from all sides, Caesar pretended to give in and ordered his soldiers.

“The senators’ requests are so severe that I will have to examine them carefully. It’s hard to execute them on the spot, so I’ll just lock them up somewhere for now. Take them away!”

The assassins tried to resist, but they had no chance against the fully armed elite soldiers.

They were quickly subdued and dragged out of the senate house.

Some bowed their heads in resignation, while others still vented their anger with loud curses.

Cassius and Decimus were clearly among the latter.

They spat insults and spit at Brutus and Caesar alternately.

“Rome should be led by our senate. We can’t let it fall into the hands of an individual like Caesar!”

“Brutus, you have committed an unforgivable sin by staining the name of your great ancestor!”

When Cassius, who was desperately trying not to be dragged away, reached near Marcus, he grabbed his toga hem with all his strength.

“Marcus, help me. You’re the only one who can save us. You have to make a decision for the republic here!”

Marcus, who hadn’t said a word until now, sighed softly and looked at his old friend.

“Cassius…”

“If you use your power to give us some mercy, we can do something…”

Cassius’s eyes were filled with desperation.

He was holding onto Marcus’s toga hem so tightly that the soldiers couldn’t drag him away without tearing Marcus’s clothes.

Marcus pried Cassius’s hand off his toga hem and whispered in a low voice.

“I’ll try my best, so just stay calm for now.”

“Really? Thank you. You’re the only hero of the republic.”

Cassius, who believed Marcus’s words as if they were carved in stone, finally relaxed and let himself be pulled out of the senate house by the soldiers.

At least Cicero wasn’t arrested because he didn’t wield a knife himself and just watched from behind.

He was lucky in that sense, but he didn’t like Cato’s gaze at him.

Cicero hurriedly left the senate and returned to his mansion, fearing that he might be accused of being with Cassius.

The senate meeting on the Ides of March ended in a chaos that no one expected.

But the day of fate wasn’t over yet.

This was just the beginning, not the end.

※※※

Caesar decided to meet again tomorrow and finalize the treatment of the assassins.

Of course, no one doubted what the outcome would be for them.

The maximum was death, the minimum was confiscation of all their property followed by permanent exile.

The problem was how far the punishment would extend to those who were involved with them.

It wasn’t certain that it was limited to those who participated in the assassination or drew their swords themselves.

Those who interfered with the consuls’ attendance at the meeting were also accomplices, and there might be more who hadn’t been revealed yet.

The senators tried to cut off all ties with the assassins’ families to avoid being caught in the net.

They couldn’t afford to have any trouble, so they naturally became busy.

Only Caesar, Marcus, Spartacus and Surenas remained in the spacious senate house where everyone had left in a hurry.

Marcus looked at his confidants and pointed his finger at the entrance.

“Go ahead and wait for me.”

“Yes.”

When they were left alone, Caesar came closer with a snicker and sat next to Marcus.

“I owe you my life today. I didn’t expect you to have armed soldiers waiting nearby.”

“You seemed calm even though you must have been surprised.”

“You told me not to worry about anything. I didn’t think it would be an assassination attempt.”

“Didn’t you consider that possibility at all?”

Marcus scratched his head as if he couldn’t understand.

Caesar gave a hollow laugh and nodded.

“It’s one of my bad habits. Sometimes I forget how stupid they are. I thought they would stop at this point, but they always surpass my expectations with their idiocy… What could they do even if they killed me? They wouldn’t get anything they wanted by killing me. Did they not even calculate that much?”

“People don’t always act rationally. There are more people who rely on their emotions and make irrational decisions. I thought you would know that.”

“Still, it’s hard to imagine that they would bring knives into the senate. But how did you know about this plan in advance? They didn’t seem to suspect that you knew anything.”

Contrary to the assassins’ assumption, Caesar had no idea how this had happened.

Of course, the one who tipped him off was not Brutus either.

“I can only tell you the details after this is over, but someone I trust had already taken care of everything. I feel a bit sorry for Brutus. He seemed genuinely wronged.”

“Well, at least he can decide where he stands with this opportunity. That’s a relief. Anyway, we just have to decide what to do with them. Do you have any thoughts?”

Marcus closed his eyes slightly.

He brushed off his toga hem that Cassius had grabbed and whispered.

“You already know what I think. Get rid of them.”

< 244. The Future of Rome 4 > End