Chapter 189: The Crossroads of Fate
< 189. The Crossroads of Fate >
Sextus kept his promise and arranged for Gnaeus to be exiled with all his property intact.
The cities of Hispania that had cooperated with Gnaeus also received full pardons.
Only those who had actively led the rebellion were fined.
The Senate welcomed Sextus’s measures.
Of course, there was no triumphal procession.
The civil war in Hispania was a matter of Romans shedding blood among themselves.
It would only alienate the conservative senators if he killed Romans and celebrated a triumph.
Sextus had enough discernment to avoid that.
Moreover, he had no time to waste or worry about trivial matters.
Now that he knew he had no choice but to confront Caesar, he had to focus all his attention on strengthening his base.
He briefly considered asking Marcus to mediate, but soon concluded that it would be useless.
Rather, if Marcus tried to mediate, Caesar might pressure him more secretly and skillfully.
He thought it would be better to prepare for a counterattack when Caesar clearly underestimated him.
As soon as Sextus arrived in Rome, he explained everything to Marcus.
“Is there a possibility that Gnaeus tried to confuse you with false information?”
“I don’t think so. In fact, I suspected Caesar from the beginning. Gnaeus started his actions suddenly after Caesar disappeared in Gaul.”
“That’s how it must be. Then what are you going to do? Do you want to try fighting Caesar?”
“I would like to hear your opinion on that, Marcus. Do I have a chance?”
Marcus answered without hesitation.
“No.”
Sextus’s face hardened.
“Do you mean the gap is too big?”
He couldn’t help but look unhappy.
Sextus had gained some confidence from his recent victory.
He realized his shortcomings, but he believed he could make up for them.
And he also became aware of the strength of the legionaries he led.
He thought that if he used his navy well, which controlled the Mediterranean, Caesar would not be able to underestimate him, no matter how strong he was.
But when he heard that it was impossible, he felt a bit frustrated.
“I know what you’re thinking. But when you judge calmly, you’re not yet a match for Caesar. You may have a balanced base if you only look at what you inherited…”
“Do you think my ability is inferior to Caesar? Of course I think so too. But can’t I win if I devise good strategies and tactics?”
“You might be able to deter him. But if you try more than that, you’ll have to be prepared to lose a lot.”
“…You mean I can’t handle him in battle.”
Marcus answered with a deep sigh instead.
Sextus couldn’t argue because he had felt something in the battle of Munda.
He realized how amazing Caesar’s achievements were when he actually commanded the legion.
But he still thought he could do it because he felt that Caesar underestimated him.
No matter how strong the opponent was, if he exploited his carelessness, he might be able to hurt him badly.
But Marcus thought that Sextus’s thinking was also intended by Caesar.
It was not reasonable for Caesar to look down on an opponent who inherited Pompey’s power, even if he was a novice.
He might not think he would lose, but that was different from being careless and exposing his weakness.
As he thought that far, Marcus could guess Caesar’s intention roughly.
‘He wants to provoke an attack. No matter how strong Caesar is, it would not be good for public opinion if he attacked Sextus first.’
The Romans had an obsession with civil war, so Caesar could not openly attack Sextus even if he wanted to.
Sextus’s attack on Gnaeus was more like a family feud than a civil war, so it was possible.
Besides, if Caesar attacked Sextus, Marcus would have a reason to support Sextus.
Even if Marcus didn’t want to intervene, the aristocratic faction would argue that they had to restrain Caesar.
“I’ll think of a way, so you just calm down for now. It won’t help you or Rome’s interests if you start a fight rashly.”
“But even if you step in, Marcus, you can’t do anything about Caesar. Anyway…”
Sextus barely suppressed the words that they were father-in-law and son-in-law.
He didn’t think Marcus would betray him and stab him in the back with Caesar, but he didn’t seem to be very supportive either.
Even now, he kept giving opinions biased towards Caesar.
Sextus felt anxiety and doubt growing in his heart.
Marcus saw through Sextus’s inner thoughts, but he had nothing more to say.
But he had to avoid civil war at all costs.
It was not only for Sextus’s sake, but also because he had a premonition that it would be dangerous to waste national power on trivial things.
If Caesar and Sextus clashed head-on, it would most likely end in Caesar’s complete victory.
But even if Caesar suffered little damage, Sextus’s power would likely face devastating losses.
The national power would inevitably decrease no matter how the civil war went.
He had to avoid conflict as much as possible until he was sure of the situation in the northeast.
If the nomadic tribes in the northeast were really dangerous, the conflict would naturally be resolved, and if not, it wouldn’t matter much to Marcus’s position if he waged a civil war.
Marcus’s goal was to suppress the dispute until the situation was clear.
Sextus didn’t seem to like Marcus’s advice, but he wasn’t stupid enough to start a fight with Caesar right away.
He thought he could maintain a precarious balance for a while.
Then Marcus received a letter from Egypt.
He quickly unwrapped the scroll with Pharaoh’s seal and spread it out.
The beautiful and delicate handwriting, Cleopatra’s handwriting, adorned the papyrus.
The first part was greetings and updates on her situation, and the main point started from the middle part.
It roughly boiled down to asking him to come and check the final results of the tasks he had requested.
‘I have to go and see the books for the library…’
Marcus had asked Cleopatra to provide the books needed for the new library before he came to Rome.
The books in the Alexandria library were so vast that it was not a matter of a short time.
He had to make copies of the books that lacked copies, and he also had to go through a separate classification process, so he expected it would take at least until next year.
He was surprised that the work was done sooner than expected, but he had to go anyway, so he thought it would be better to go quickly and come back now.
Marcus arranged a schedule to return as soon as possible and prepared a ship.
He urged Sextus not to act rashly until he returned.
He also asked Cicero to stop Sextus if he seemed to run wild.
He didn’t expect any problems from going to Egypt for a while after doing all this.
It couldn’t be helped.
Even if he was Marcus, there were things he didn’t know if he lacked information, and it was even harder to read the mind of someone in a similar position.
To avoid fighting, he had to pay attention not only to Sextus but also to Caesar.
Marcus’s mistake was that he didn’t fully consider Caesar’s boldness.
※※※
After Marcus left for Egypt, Rome’s political situation was not as unstable as expected.
Sextus planned to focus on consolidating his base while observing the situation as Marcus advised.
But the times did not allow it.
Some of the populist faction senators started blowing wind into Sextus whenever they had a chance.
Especially those who supported Pompey rather than Caesar expressed their anxiety that they might lose their position.
“Do you know that Caesar’s faction is acting suspiciously lately?”
“I’m keeping an eye on them.”
“They are acting as if the populist faction is theirs. Especially look at what Piso, Caesar’s father-in-law, said in his last speech. He subtly portrayed Rome’s political structure as a two-power system between Caesar and Marcus. The leader of the populist faction was clearly Pompey’s family.”
“That must be because I’m too young to take the lead.”
Sextus wasn’t very comfortable either, but if he showed his dissatisfaction here, things could get bigger.
But the resentment of the senators who had piled up was not resolved by a few words.
Especially Gabinius, who had risen to the governorship despite being a commoner thanks to Pompey’s support, showed his anger most fiercely.
“This is not a simple political struggle, but a matter of etiquette and respect. Do you know what they said at the meeting two days ago? They declared that they would fill more than 80% of the populist faction representatives in the next election with Caesar’s supporters. This is just ignoring us!”
“That can’t happen. I won’t let it go that way, so don’t worry.”
Gabinius was supposed to run for consul in this year’s election.
But suddenly Piso suggested that Lucius Caesar, Caesar’s cousin, should run instead.
The reason was that he needed Caesar’s relative to secure a sure victory against the representative of the aristocratic faction.
It was an outrageous thing for Gabinius.
It was not etiquette for their colleagues in the same faction.
Sextus managed to calm Gabinius down by saying that he would formally protest this issue to Caesar.
Sextus was sure that Caesar was behind all this.
‘He’s such a petty man. He keeps scratching my temper like this to see how I react. I won’t do as he wishes.’
He didn’t forget that Marcus had told him not to start a fight first.
If he kept pushing too hard like this, Caesar would only lose his populistity.
He calmed his emotions and dealt with it, hoping that Caesar would cross the line first.
But Caesar’s skill was much more cunning than Sextus expected.
Less than two days after the consul candidate selection incident, many of the populist faction’s figures were accused en masse.
The charges were all the same: unjust enrichment.
Sextus didn’t think this had anything to do with Caesar at first, because the accuser was a plebeian tribune of the aristocratic faction.
But something was strange when he looked closely.
Six of the populist faction’s senators were accused, and they were all people who supported Sextus.
But it wasn’t a false charge either, and they had actually embezzled money.
The evidence was so clear that he could see the outcome without waiting for the verdict.
The aristocratic faction used this as an excuse to criticize the morality of the populist faction, and Caesar’s faction expressed doubts about Sextus’s leadership.
They matched their breaths as if they had planned it together.
“Could this be Caesar’s attack on us with the aristocratic faction?”
Finally, someone uttered a word of doubt that couldn’t be picked up.
“…Surely not. It must be a coincidence. It’s true that Caesar controlled his supporters from embezzling too much money in the provinces. So there’s a possibility that we were unlucky enough to get caught. If we say that rashly, we’ll only get backlash.”
He said so, but Sextus wasn’t very comfortable either.
He sensed that Caesar and Pompey’s factions had to split up.
He had already dug a deep emotional gap, and it was beyond his ability to mend it.
He didn’t see any intention from Caesar to do so either.
No, rather, he only doubted more that Caesar was behind this.
Then one day, Caesetius, who was classified as a moderate aristocrat, came to Sextus’s mansion to take advantage of the situation.
He confessed that he had been asked by Helvius Cinna, a member of Caesar’s faction, to accuse Gabinius, the core of Pompey’s faction, of corruption.
Helvius couldn’t accuse Gabinius himself because it would be too obvious, so he asked for help from the aristocratic faction.
The condition was that he would help Caesetius win the next election for praetor.
Caesetius was tempted for a moment, but he decided that it would be irreparable if he accepted it and broke with Pompey’s faction.
So he hinted to Sextus that this was the case.
Sextus asked if he had any evidence, but unfortunately he couldn’t get any.
But fortunately or unfortunately, he didn’t need to verify the truth of Caesetius’s words.
Caesar’s faction must have judged that Caesetius rejected the offer, so they immediately hired another aristocrat and started their action.
The plebeian tribune Epidius accused Gabinius of embezzlement and unjust enrichment.
There was no need to wait any longer.
It was too much to keep being attacked like this.
If he didn’t respond, he would only lose the support of his clients.
Sextus tried to calm down as much as possible, but he was still a young man who hadn’t even reached twenty.
He forgot Marcus’s advice to avoid fighting as if it had been washed away from his mind.
Maybe Marcus’s words were also a trick to prevent him from counterattacking quickly.
He couldn’t wait any longer.
He couldn’t just take it anymore.
He decided and called his supporters to tell them his intention.
“I won’t just take it anymore when their intentions are clear. I will attack Caesar.”
None of the senators who were more angry than Sextus opposed him.
Sextus’s resolution to attack Caesar passed unanimously.
Sextus’s eyes looked at the blind northern sky.
“You made a good decision. Caesar’s army is currently scattered in all directions. If we move first, he will have to suffer severe damage no matter how strong he is.”
Gabinius’s confident voice, who had led the eastern expedition under Pompey to victory, became a devil’s temptation and boosted his confidence.
There was no hesitation now.
The previous battle with Gnaeus was nothing compared to the fight that would unfold soon.
It was a large-scale civil war that would involve all of Rome.
< 189. The Crossroads of Fate > End
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