Chapter 195: The Gallic Civil War
< 195. The Gallic Civil War >
The distance between Rome and Alexandria is over 2000 km, even if one takes the shortest route by boat.
The ancient galleys were not very fast, and their maximum speed was hardly more than 5 knots.
That means, when Marcus received the report from Alexandria, the incident had already happened about ten days ago.
Sextus started his secret actions after Marcus left.
He had decided to strike Caesar, but he did not want to act rashly and expose his tail.
He first made sure that the senators who agreed to join him were tight-lipped.
“The success or failure of this matter depends on keeping it secret from beginning to end. If anyone speaks carelessly, I will consider them a traitor, so please keep that in mind.”
Pompey’s movement was quiet but swift.
First, the senators who were accused by the aristocrats pretended to be outraged and acted as if they would solve the problem through a trial.
The aristocrats were most keen on tearing apart Pompey’s Gabinius.
Caesar’s faction also secretly passed various evidence to the aristocrats in order to get rid of him.
The reason was probably because Gabinius was one of the most talented military elders in Pompey’s faction.
But one fortunate thing was that the attention of the senators was not focused on other things because of the interest in Gabinius’ trial.
Sextus judged that this was a golden opportunity to move under the water.
“I did well to leave half of the legions in Hispania.”
He had stationed three legions there even after ending the civil war with Gnaeus, for the sake of maintaining order.
He felt sorry for the maintenance cost at that time, but now it was the opposite.
If it weren’t for the legions in Hispania, he wouldn’t have dared to carry out his plan.
He told Gabinius to be more active in the public opinion war, and then he held meetings with his colleagues every night to check his plan.
The Pompey’s senators who had decided to board the boat listened to Sextus’ explanation without missing a single word.
“The most important thing is, as I said before, keeping it secret, and then the next thing we have to pay attention to is speed.”
Sextus pointed to Britannia and Germania on the huge map spread out on the desk and looked around at his colleagues with confident eyes.
“There is no need to be afraid. I have been sparing my words to maintain security until now, but now that the time has come, I will tell you my plan. First of all, even though Caesar has ten legions under his command, he cannot mobilize all of them. Right now, Caesar has stationed two legions in Britannia for stability, and two legions in Germania.”
“Then there are six legions stationed in Gaul?”
“Yes. And those six legions are not together right now. I confirmed that at least one or two legions are stationed in northern Gaul.”
“But they will soon join forces when the fight breaks out. The arrival of reinforcements from Britannia or Germania will be quite late, but…”
“That’s why we have to finish them off quickly. If we launch a preemptive attack and inflict damage on the enemy from the start, we can gain an advantage even if their reinforcements arrive late.”
Sextus moved the pieces on the map smoothly and skillfully explained his strategy.
“We have three legions stationed in Hispania right now. And I can mobilize three more legions from Italy right away, which were used for expedition last time.
So we will launch a preemptive strike with six legions first, and then when their reinforcements arrive, we will also bring in four more legions that we have prepared. In other words, the outcome of this war will depend on how much damage we can inflict with a surprise attack at first.”
“Ah, that’s why you were so concerned about security.”
“Yes. And I have already finished preparing for the six legions that will be mobilized at first. The legions in Hispania will be commanded by Pompeonius, who served as a legion commander under my father. And I will lead the three legions formed here and march north to Gaul.”
There was a different firmness in Sextus’ voice than when he fought with Gnaeus.
After all, a lion’s cub is a lion.
The experience of leading a legion himself was a great foundation for his growth.
Even if he didn’t show it off, everyone around him could feel it.
The elders of Pompey’s party saw a glimmer of hope in Sextus’s appearance.
If he continued to grow like this, he might become a leader who could lead Rome like Pompey in the past.
What if he could win against Caesar this time?
Then he might gain a power that even Marcus, who had built an absolute prestige in the East, could not surpass.
And looking at the current situation, it was not impossible.
Caesar seemed to have no suspicion that Sextus was planning something militarily.
In fact, this was natural.
Sextus’s decision was nothing but a gamble on his future.
It was different from the case of Gnaeus.
At that time, he had a clear reason to fight against a rebel who violated Rome’s law, but this war had no such reason.
No one expected Sextus to draw his sword against Caesar.
In fact, even those who knew that Caesar was behind the political strife in Rome were few.
But on the other hand, this reasonless war could also work as a great burden for Sextus.
Gabinius, who was worried about this point, cautiously raised his hand and asked.
“I think it’s a brilliant strategy. But how do you plan to shape the public opinion of the citizens? It would look like we are causing excessive violence if we just raise an army out of nowhere. Maybe Caesar knows that and thinks we won’t move our army rashly. If we lose the people’s support, we won’t gain anything even if we win the war.”
“I’m not going to commit suicide. I’m fighting to win, not to die together. I’ll announce that Caesar tried to cause a rebellion with fake information and agitation while attacking him.
And I’ll offer a deal to the aristocratic party. If they cooperate in restoring order after the civil war, I’ll share the power with them, and I’ll take the lead in strengthening the authority of the Senate with the cooperation of the aristocratic party.”
“That’s a good idea. They have nothing to lose. If we lose, they can just condemn us and be done with it. If we win, they can cooperate and benefit from it.”
Sextus had already thought of a detailed deal.
If he offered to distribute fertile land in Gaul selectively, the aristocratic party would probably rush in with fire in their eyes.
The remaining variable was whether Caesar would mobilize the Gallic tribes to resist, but he had also prepared a way to block this in advance.
He had finished all the preparations he could do.
There was no more hesitation.
※※※
After explaining his plan to his fellow senators, Sextus began to act aggressively.
Pompey, who had crossed over to Hispania, quietly moved his legions to a position where he could invade Gaul at any time.
Sextus secretly sent his subordinates to quickly summon the legionnaires he had prepared beforehand.
If it had been normal times, a senator like Cicero who acted as an information broker would have noticed this fact.
But now he was distracted by Gabinius’s trial and had no chance to pay attention to other places.
It was because Gabinius kept stirring up political controversy by claiming that Caesar’s party was behind this incident every day at the court.
No one knew yet that Sextus was preparing for war.
It showed how thoroughly and secretly he had carried out his plan.
Cicero began to feel something strange when Gabinius suddenly changed his attitude and started to make excuses that he couldn’t attend the trial.
He had been insisting that he would reveal the truth at the court until now, but he suddenly changed his attitude.
And before the aristocratic party could say anything, Sextus summoned the Senate with his authority.
Sextus made an announcement that was like a bolt from the blue to the surprised senators.
“My dear fellow senators, I have convened this meeting for one purpose only: to expel a traitor of the state.”
“A traitor? Gabinius may have taken bribes, but applying treason to him is too harsh a punishment.”
Sextus’s expression did not waver at all at Cato’s sarcastic remark.
He even smiled at Cato and calmly opened his mouth.
“You will welcome it when you hear who I am going to name. You have been attacking him more than me.”
“What? Don’t tell me…!”
“That’s right. I will apply treason to Gaius Julius Caesar, the current governor of Gaul, Britannia, and Germania. And if he refuses to comply, I will execute the summons procedure by force if necessary. For this purpose, I intend to use my command of ten legions granted to me.”
“What kind of nonsense is that? Treason? Do you think Caesar will accept such a ridiculous accusation?”
“Why are you so surprised? You have always claimed that Caesar is trying to overthrow the Senate and ruin the republic. Anyone who tries to destroy the republic is naturally subject to treason. Don’t you agree, Cato?”
Cato’s face turned pale.
It was true that he had been warning of Caesar’s danger all along.
He was sure that he had some ambition to overthrow the republic someday.
But this was not it.
This kind of attack on Caesar would not bring anything but war.
“I can’t agree. This is just picking a fight and starting a war. Who would support such a stupid opinion?”
Sextus was the first to resort to force. He cunningly tried to make the senators who supported me lose their seats with absurd reasons. This is an outrageous slander and I have evidence that the evidence was fabricated.”
“Is that true?”
Of course it was a lie.
But Sextus foresaw that he could obtain such evidence if he defeated Caesar.
Even if he couldn’t find any traces of evidence tampering, he could just tamper with it himself.
Sextus nodded his head without blinking an eye.
“Of course. And Caesar’s intention for doing this was only one thing. To weaken the Senate by pitting the aristocratic party and the senators who follow me against each other, and then to seize power for himself. I have also secured evidence for this.”
“Then show us that evidence. We can’t agree with your claim until then.”
“I will reveal it, of course. But right now, time is too urgent, so I have no choice but to act first. This is not an illegal or arbitrary act. I have been granted the same rights as a magistrate of Rome, and a magistrate can suppress a rebellion by his own judgment when it occurs. And he must do so.”
Cicero, who had been silent, frowned uncomfortably.
“Of course, that’s true, but that doesn’t mean you can apply treason to an innocent person and harm him.”
“If I fail to present evidence later, I will accept the corresponding punishment. Everything I say here will be recorded, so I won’t be able to deny it. You’ll agree with me if I say this much, won’t you?”
Cato calculated the political gains and losses fiercely.
As Sextus said, everything that was said in the Senate was recorded by Acta Diurna as evidence.
If he said this much and Sextus expelled Caesar without proper evidence, he would also lose his position.
Of course, he could try to overthrow Rome by force, but Marcus would be back soon anyway.
Sextus, who had fought a bloody battle with Caesar, could not beat Marcus.
And even if Sextus was defeated by Caesar, it wouldn’t matter much.
Then Caesar would also suffer some damage, and the aristocratic party could swallow up Pompey’s power base that became ownerless after Sextus lost his position.
Cato argued that they should wait and see the situation while stopping Cicero from protesting.
Cicero, who hated this kind of collusion the most, objected that it was nonsense, but most of the aristocratic party thought the same as Cato.
In the end, Cicero stormed out of his seat and ran to his room to write a letter to Marcus.
Regardless of that, Sextus officially declared that he would denounce Caesar as an enemy of Rome and punish him.
At the same time, his six legions that were waiting in Hispania and northern Italy almost simultaneously pushed into Gaul.
No one could stop it now.
The small fire that had been extinguished by Pompey’s death finally flared up into a huge civil war that would reshape Rome’s power structure.
It was ten days before Cicero’s letter reached Marcus.
< 195. Gallic Civil War > End
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