Chapter 15 Maxima (Part 1)

"The light infantry is the hands, the cavalry is the legs, the heavy infantry is the torso, and the general is the head. {{" - Athenian general Iphiractes

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But these cheers still spread to the other side of the headland along the wind. Labienus heard this disgusting shout and walked to the deck of the stern. He held the sail rope and looked at Caesar and Lepidus standing on the cliff of the headland on the shore. "You have become a slave to ambition after all, Julius!"

Similarly, looking at the Pompey fleet that had just escaped from the sea, Lepidus pounded his saddle hard and said to Caesar, it is a pity that our fleet arrived so late, otherwise Pompey's army would not be able to escape even one deck today. No, "instead of letting go of an elite regiment and continuing to cause trouble for our expedition to Africa."

"Okay, my friend, the war in Greece has been calmed down. What can't be solved with swords must be solved in the synagogue - Pompey is dead. I will no longer regard him as the primary enemy. He has lost Spain. With Greece and the East, nearly ten legions have been lost. Now they can only stay in Africa with elephants, but more difficult enemies will appear. "In the sea breeze, the remaining hair on Caesar's head remained motionless, and he sighed. say.

"Who else in the entire republic can be your enemy?" Lepidah took the opportunity to ask in pretended surprise.

Caesar concentrated for a moment, and then said, "Yes, the Republic. The Republic is my last enemy."

After hearing this, Li Bida immediately fell silent. Caesar then said no more. He then asked Lepidus what he thought of his previous admonishment to the Nine Legions.

"They should have regained their strength. Both legions are in good shape now. As long as they complete the remedial training in the winter camp, they will definitely make contributions to you in the coming year."

"No, what you are actually saying in your heart is that Caesar is a two-faced man. He treats the generals one way and the soldiers another. He is unwilling to take responsibility in front of the citizen army. But why should I do this? Because the people and soldiers are the easiest They are bribed. So they are also the group of people who have the least sense of obligation and responsibility. You must keep giving and feed them into gluttonous monsters. Then when you have nothing more to give, you can only sacrifice yourself. The Republic will be long ago. If it goes bad, I hope to use my own power to turn the tide, but I don’t know yet whether this rescue itself will cause more terrible harm to it. In the end, I may become the most unconscious but also the most enemy of the Republic. Conscious enemy." After Caesar finished speaking, he smiled bitterly. Then he said to Lepidus, "But we still have to go on, don't we? Those who continue to go on this dark journey ahead and hope to control their destiny will always be foolish."

"Your Excellency, I agree with you. There is only a corpse shell left in the Republic." Lepidah suddenly continued the topic, "The smell of its corpse can even be smelled by leatherworkers in the countryside. Clearly, what will eventually fly out of this rotten body? Are they maggots with fat intestines and vicious wasps..." At this point, he stared at Caesar and whispered, "Of course I hope. Felix has risen from the ashes, Your Excellency, so please continue to lead us to fight until we have the power to reshape this country." After saying that, he made a gesture of allegiance, indicating that he would fight with the dictator. in the end.

Caesar laughed and said, "Don't you like hearing me complain less and less now? I've just started to talk and you interrupted me like this. Is it really okay?" Then he said, of course, and pointed his finger to the east, "Since the winter camp was canceled at a heavy cost, the victory in Kokculla City must be put to good use - I plan to keep the Ninth Army and the Eleventh Army. , stay and rest on this coast. In addition, Curio finally began to send a fleet to fight against the Pompeian fleet in Africa, preparing for the landing and containment. Then you and I will have four legions each, and you will continue to go to Thessalia and Macedonia. On the northern front, by the way, all the negotiation rights with Illyria, Thrace and the barbarian kingdoms of Asia Minor will be handed over to you. Your duty is to pursue the three frightened legions of Scipio and annihilate them. At Ephesus in Asia Minor Where we stopped, we then cooperated with our allies to eliminate the Bosporan Kingdom participating in Pompey's side; I took the southern route of Athens, Crete, and Rhodes, chasing Gabinus and Marcellus, and taking the The power of victory forced Ptolemy and Herod of Egypt to surrender again."

"The city-state of Cyrene has a merchant guild that I am familiar with, and they will provide you with sufficient ships and food. It's just General Diximos of the Syrian Province. He has several legions, but his attitude is always extremely aggressive. Of course, He also has good reason to sit back and watch the fight, because the threat from Parthia to the border is always there," Lepidus said, by the way, testing Caesar's tone towards Deximus.

"Don't worry, Deximus is one of the people I trust most. His hesitation is understandable. As long as my eagle flag and ships appear in Alexandria, he will come to pledge allegiance to me, not to mention his He is also a candidate for governor of Gaul next year." Caesar was ready to dispel Lepidus' doubts, but the other party was wondering why I was not given the important post of governor.

A few days later, Caesar and all his generals entered Apollonia in the north amid flowers and applause. There, a team consisting of former consul Banks and tribune Helcius, each wearing a laurel wreath and a wreath, claimed to have been collectively authorized by ten tribunes to come to Caesar on behalf of the people of the entire republic and "requested Dictator to extend the dictatorship for another six months."

"What about the election of consuls? I don't want to cause a blank period in the normal political order of the republic because of my lingering in this position." Caesar, who stood humbly by his seat, declined the request of the representative team.

But then Helcius, speaking with a strong Sicilian accent, said that the election of consuls would proceed as scheduled, and promised that it would not "interfere" with Dictator's ongoing military campaign to conquer traitors, and would only do his best to support it - once Dictator's six-month term ended, the two consuls could take over the state power, and there would be no flaws in doing so.

Caesar nodded reluctantly, and then asked everyone present about the change of governor next year. Banks said that he also hoped that the current governor would return to Rome during the winter camp and conduct a lottery ceremony under the supervision of the Senate Supervisor Si Pinzer.

"No need to be so troublesome." Caesar suddenly said, then he looked at the astonished people present, repeated this sentence, and added an explanation, "Speed ​​is of the essence in war, all provincial governors will now be appointed by Dictator!"

Then he took the bronze bar from the military slave and handed it directly to Antony beside him, "You will be the governor of the Illyrian region and continue to be responsible for the grain supervision of Rome."

The second lot was given to Lepidus, "You will immediately serve as Dictator's deputy, cavalry commander, and concurrently serve as the governor of the Macedonian province and the general manager of the expeditionary army of Asia Minor." (To be continued...)