The Mad Tycoon of Rome

< 252. Revolution 3 >

Cicero was speechless for a long time after hearing the shocking truth. He only let out a hollow laugh.

But he didn’t express any doubt about Marcus’s words.

He thought it was plausible enough, if he thought about it.

“Come to think of it, it couldn’t have been Brutus… He never saw me with Cassius.”

He had assumed that Cato had told only Brutus about it, and that Brutus had betrayed him to Caesar.

The problem was that he couldn’t understand why Cato had leaked it to Caesar.

Cato’s hatred for Caesar was genuine.

That’s why he decided that he wouldn’t reveal it himself, even if he opposed the assassination.

‘Is he willing to embrace Caesar for the sake of his noble conviction? What a saintly gentleman.’

He should at least not interfere if he couldn’t help.

He felt like screaming in rage at his short-sightedness, which only cared about keeping himself clean.

If Marcus hadn’t been next to him, he might have spat out some curses to vent his anger.

He calmed his anger by taking deep breaths and looked at Marcus, who was smiling bitterly. He nodded slightly.

“Anyway, thank you for telling me this valuable information. If it weren’t for you, I would have been hit in the back of the head and kicked out of Rome.”

“Will you see Cato before you leave Rome? I think you have enough time for that.”

“No. Considering my situation, I think it’s better to just pretend I don’t know anything and leave quietly. If I make a mistake with my mouth now, it might be hard to get out of Rome. But I’ll pay back this debt for sure. As soon as I arrive in Alexandria, I’ll use all my connections and abilities to make the traitor pay.”

“I think that’s the best option. There’s no point in making a fuss now. I’ll do my best to help you leave as quickly as possible.”

Marcus reassured Cicero and left his mansion leisurely.

Everything went according to his plan.

He was confident that Cicero wouldn’t do anything stupid like rushing to confront Cato right away.

Cicero was a wise man.

At least in Rome, apart from Caesar, himself, and Octavius, there was no one who could match Cicero’s intelligence except Cato.

And unlike Cato, Cicero was still popular among various classes.

His only weakness was that he lacked the spirit to throw away his life and uphold his conviction, unlike Cato.

He was too much of a thinker for that.

But that problem would be solved once Cicero left Rome.

In a way, his true value would be maximized when he maintained his position as an adviser outside.

And if he used that influence to strike at Cato or other moderate aristocrats, it would be like picking up money without lifting a finger for Marcus.

When Marcus came out of the mansion, Octavius greeted him politely.

“Did everything go well?”

“Of course. Now I just have to sit back and watch.”

“You’re sending Cicero to Egypt… What about Cato? Do you intend to leave him alone? I thought we should deal with him somehow.”

Marcus chuckled as he got on the carriage.

Octavius would have found some excuse to sweep away anyone who could pose a threat to the reform.

He said that wasn’t his way, but Octavius still seemed to be clinging to it.

“If I were to become the sole absolute ruler of Rome, that might not be a bad idea.”

“Is it because of Caesar? In the end, you and Caesar will have to share power?”

“Remember this. Absolute power leads to absolute corruption.”

Octavius nodded and repeated his words several times.

Marcus looked at him with satisfaction and asked him.

“What do you think is the best way to unite a group?”

“That’s easy. Giving them a clear reward… No, that’s not what you mean.”

After thinking for a moment, Octavius deduced the answer that Marcus wanted based on his recent actions.

“I see. You deliberately left some enemies in the aristocratic faction. But not enough to pose a real threat, just enough to annoy us.”

“You’re quick to understand. Yes. The best way to strengthen the cohesion of allies is the existence of enemies.”

This had been proven by the many wars that Rome had fought.

In the Punic War against Hannibal, or in the Hunnic War against Bayatur,

The politically opposing groups put aside their own interests and focused all their efforts on fighting the enemy.

Those who couldn’t do that had lost even the minimum condition to be bound as one group.

Octavius grasped the picture by verbalizing the structure that came to his mind based on Marcus’s intention.

“If you sweep away the aristocrats and you and Caesar become the joint supreme rulers, there is a possibility that factions will form in some way. That’s not what you want. So you’ll use Cato to buy some more time… I think that’s a good idea. Cato will make a good enemy.

Not a fatal threat, but just annoying enough…”

There were a few other benefits as well. 

They would reveal themselves naturally over time.

The view of the Palatine Hill was conveniently visible outside the carriage that the two men were riding in.

Octavius, who was watching the same scenery, muttered in a low voice like talking to himself.

“It would be perfect to build the imperial palace there…”

It was almost the same spot where Octavius had built his huge palace in the original history.

Marcus chuckled and leaned back on the seat.

It wasn’t time yet, but it was getting closer.

If he could handle a few things, he might be surprised by how soon it would be.

Marcus didn’t care much about the political fights that were attracting the attention of the citizens right now.

What he really focused on was the implementation of a system that could capture the hearts of the citizens much more than the futile political arguments.

※※※

The center of attention in Rome for the past few months was undoubtedly Caesar.

A unprecedented incident occurred where the hero who symbolized Rome was almost assassinated in the Senate, and the culprits were the famous nobles of Rome. 

The impact was beyond imagination.

Moreover, another accident happened where the culprits tried to hijack the escort ship during their exile and drowned.

It was a big event that would have been talked about for a year even if it was just based on the gravity of the matter.

Thanks to that, many trivial incidents were buried without even becoming an issue.

Cicero took advantage of this gap and quickly left Rome and fled to Egypt under the pretext of recuperation.

Normally, it would have been a huge scandal that someone like Cicero had left Rome. 

But even Cicero’s escape news only briefly circulated among the citizens and died down.

That was because bigger issues had erupted one after another, enough to overshadow all other issues.

The protagonist of this rumor was not Caesar.

It was Marcus, who had been quiet recently, who announced a series of big projects that caught the attention of the citizens.

The first statement was, of course, the hotel that opened after a long preparation.

The hotel, which was built on a huge scale in the center of the city, naturally attracted all eyes of the people.

The lobby on the first floor was made like a salon so that people from the upper class could exchange contacts.

They could enjoy all kinds of luxurious dishes, tea, coffee, etc. while lying on long chairs and play chess and card games.

He also hired chefs who were among the best in Rome and brought recipes himself.

The advanced cooking techniques and high-end dishes that could be used in ancient times, as well as sophisticated service, were enough to captivate the hearts of Rome’s wealthy class.

Even Caesar, who was more sensitive to fashion than anyone else, visited the hotel several times a week and spent time there.

Caesar had already been treated to food by Marcus several times before, so he was very familiar with tea and coffee.

He also handled new utensils that sometimes came with food skillfully, naturally drawing admiration from other nobles.

“You are truly Caesar. There is nothing you can’t do.”

“That’s right. Coffee, is it? You drink this drink as if you’ve been drinking it since before.”

“It’s because I enjoy challenging new things more than anything. You’ll get used to it soon. Once you get a taste of it, you’ll think there’s nothing better than this.”

Caesar’s active attitude naturally led to publicity for the facility.

In no time, the hotel lobby was filled with nobles and knights, and citizens looked at the hotel with envy in their eyes.

Foreign merchants or envoys who came to Rome on business also naturally stayed here.

Marcus was not satisfied with just spreading new food culture.

He focused on leaving his and Caesar’s great achievements in shape.

People now praised them as heroes who saved Rome, but such memories would fade away someday.

It was the same for triumphs.

They played a role in amplifying the momentary joy to the extreme, but they didn’t last long.

To make it last longer, a concrete form was needed.

So Marcus built a triumphal arch that was bigger and more splendid than any other in Roman history.

Originally, triumphal arches were also erected in republics to honor triumphant generals.

Marcus made an arch so large and majestic that it made existing arches look shabby.

He poured money and engineers into it as much as he could, and as a result, he completed a product that was twice as large as Septimius Severus’ triumphal arch, which was famous in history.

Next to the arch, he also built a museum to commemorate Rome’s great victory.

It wasn’t just a museum where you could see and forget once, but a museum with a performance hall attached to recreate famous events.

And of course, the biggest part of the museum was the victory of Marcus and Caesar.

Marcus used the museum as an excuse to make the Romans remember all the victories he had won since the Parthian War.

Bayatur, who became Marcus’ last rival, was depicted as a more gigantic and threatening enemy than the truth.

From now on, Roman children would recognize Bayatur as the scariest demon, not Hannibal.

That way, Marcus’ fame would constantly be on people’s lips, as he had defeated Bayatur.

Surprisingly, the last thing Marcus built was a huge prison facility.

It seemed to have little to do with the convenience of the citizens at first glance, but it was a facility with a significant meaning.

Rome was expanding day by day and increasing its population.

Naturally, all kinds of incidents and accidents were endless, and there were many crimes among them.

The problem was that there was no proper prison facility in this era, so there was a limit to dealing with criminals.

It was almost enough to say that they either locked them up in prison, exiled them, or deprived them of their status and made them slaves.

If the criminal was not a citizen, it was no problem to just punish them.

But as the number of Roman citizens increased rapidly, crimes committed by citizens also increased, and headaches continued to increase.

Roman citizens were exceptionally enjoying highly developed human rights in ancient society.

Marcus introduced a new system called prison in advance to respond proactively to this problem.

Of course, it wasn’t a modern prison that protected human rights, but a facility that was poor and had brutal forced labor.

But this point was rather a factor that received cheers from the citizens.

“It feels so good to see those criminals work until they die.”

“Of course. Those guys should be locked up and rolled for life.”

The citizens recalled the time when Marcus served as a consul as they saw him introducing new systems and leading changes.

They expected their living conditions to improve even more in the future and gave him unconditional support.

The seeds sown in the soil firmly took root and grew.

All he had to do now was sprout leaves.

The time was ripe.

< 252. Revolution 3 > End