The Mad Tycoon of Rome

Chapter 31: Major Reform 

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Major Reform

“This is impossible!”

The Senate was in an uproar over the drastic proposal that had been brought forth.

The senators, who surrounded the central podium in a semicircle, were shouting and protesting without restraint.

“It has been only 10 years since Sulla enacted the law to strengthen the authority of the Senate. Not 50 years, not even 25 years. And now you want to nullify it already?”

“Pompey! How dare you disregard the Senate like this!”

“This is outrageous tyranny. The Senate will never agree to this!”

Pompey’s expression did not change at all despite the barrage of criticism from all sides.

He even looked relaxed and confident.

He opened his mouth with a calm voice.

“My dear senators, when did I ever say that I would nullify Sulla’s reform?”

“You are doing it right now!”

“Reviving the Hortensius law that Sulla abolished means weakening the authority of the Senate!”

As if they had been waiting for this, the counterarguments poured out from everywhere. 

Pompey was not very good at speaking in front of a crowd.

But this time, he had anticipated these reactions and had an easy rebuttal.

“The core of Sulla’s reform was to increase the number of senators from 300 to 600 and to strengthen the Senate’s control over the provincial governors. To be honest, anything beyond that is more like suppressing the assembly than strengthening the Senate.”

“Suppressing? That’s too harsh a word.”

“That’s how the people feel about it. Don’t you know how the citizens are reacting right now?”

Pompey’s remark silenced the audience.

The offices of Rome were basically elective, so the senators were very sensitive to public opinion.

This was also the problem that Sulla’s reform entailed.

The system of republicanism could not stand without the support of the people.

No matter how much they suppressed the people’s rights, they could not become officials without getting their votes.

This structural problem made the senators unable to free themselves from the eyes of the citizens.

Unless they had no intention of becoming praetors or consuls at all, but there was no such senator in the Senate.

Pompey looked around the audience and continued with a triumphant tone.

“If you want to oppose me, go ahead. But the assembly is showing great interest in today’s Senate meeting, so they will hear what you say here right away. Lentulus, do you still stand by your opinion that the Senate will never agree?”

Lentulus, who had been screaming loudly just before, remained silent.

He realized that he could not rashly open his mouth here, as he was aiming for next year’s consul election.

The other senators also held back their words and looked at each other.

Metellus Pius, a veteran senator of sixty-two who had suppressed Sertorius’ rebellion with Pompey, cautiously stood up and requested to speak.

He was a member of an old senatorial family, but his personal temperament was rather prudent.

He did not see the current situation as a simple political struggle.

“My dear senators, what the consul says is not entirely wrong. We have to admit that there is some truth in his words.”

“Truth? So you mean we should pass that bill?”

“We can’t just oppose it blindly. The truth is, the status of the assembly is now literally on the ground. Regardless of the people’s dissatisfaction, this is not a balanced situation.”

Metellus’ opinion represented the sentiments of moderate republicans.

Many of the senators had a great pride in the system of the Roman state.

If the populists dominated, they would fall into a demagoguery like Athens, and if the aristocrats prevailed, they would become a common political form that could be seen anywhere.

The Roman republic was the perfect system, they believed, and they secretly resented Sulla’s reform.

They appreciated that he had strengthened the authority of the Senate, but he had also damaged the balance too severely.

Especially the senators who were well-versed in law tended to think this way.

One of them, Cicero, supported Metellus’ opinion and stepped forward.

“The right of legislation for the assembly was a tradition that had lasted for over 200 years. I think it is worth discussing to revive this tradition. I also think we should restore the jury system to its original state.”

The two essential elements that constituted the Roman judicial system were the jury system and the right of appeal.

All Romans were guaranteed the right to appeal by law, and they were sentenced by jurors in trials.

This jury was originally monopolized by the aristocrats, but it was broken by the reform of the Gracchi brothers.

The Gracchi brothers made each of the three classes of Rome, the aristocrats, the equestrians, and the plebeians, compose one-third of the jury.

But after Sulla became dictator, he reverted this system to its original state.

This was tantamount to giving immunity to the aristocrats.

Cicero, a man of law, felt a deep disillusionment with this unfair system.

He clenched his fist and continued his passionate speech.

“When an aristocrat and a plebeian face each other in court, there are many cases where they side with the aristocrat even if the evidence is overwhelming. This will cause serious distrust in Rome’s judicial system. No, the distrust of the citizens is already accumulating.”

“But what if someone like the Gracchi brothers comes out again?”

“So did those Gracchi brothers succeed in overthrowing the Senate? They both failed twice. Besides, now the Senate has more powerful authority than before. We are not in a situation where we have to be afraid.”

“But still…”

As opinions were divided even within the Senate, Pompey smiled with satisfaction.

He even submitted a bill to make each class equally compose the jury as before.

The hardliners could only boil with anger, but they could not openly oppose it.

In the end, their best option was to delay the vote until tomorrow.

Pompey threatened to tell this to the assembly and left his seat.

The hardline senators who were in a hurry burst into anger at this situation where they could not do anything.

They even grabbed Crassus, another consul, and complained to him.

“Please exercise your veto power. If this goes on, the bill will pass.”

“Heh… Are you telling me to use coercion now? That’s not possible. This is a bill that receives explosive support from the citizens. What will happen to my position if I veto it?”

“Then, are you going to sit back and watch?”

“First of all, you should raise your voice and express your opposition. Then I’ll think about it. It’s irresponsible to pass all the responsibility to me without doing that.”

Crassus had no intention of exercising his veto power on this matter from the beginning.

Although he pretended to be a spokesman for the Senate now, Crassus was actually a representative of the equestrian class.

The Hortensius law and the reform of the jury system were not bad for them either.

The only ones who were uncomfortable with this were the old aristocratic factions.

But Crassus still needed an excuse to get out of it, as he was superficially a loyal partner of the Senate.

He argued that he would have a reason to cooperate if other senators shouted their opposition vehemently.

Of course, there was not a single senator who volunteered to do so.

But the only one they could trust was Crassus.

They did not give up and demanded a countermeasure.

“You said you would check Pompey. You have to keep your promise.”

“Haha… Are you asking me to use force now? That’s not possible. This is a bill that receives explosive support from the citizens. What will happen to my position if I veto it?”

“Then, are you going to sit back and watch?”

“Calm down for a moment. When did I say that I would let Pompey go? It’s just that I have no reason to oppose the bill he proposed right now. Let’s use a strategy of giving what we can and taking what we can.”

Crassus’ proposal brought back a glimmer of hope in the eyes of the senators.

They were not the type to take a beating unilaterally.

As long as they bled, they had to make the other side at least hurt.

The consensus of the aristocrats was finally reached.

They had a fierce will to take at least some flesh from the other side if they had to give up their bones.

※※※※

The Senate changed its opinion in one day and declared that it would actively support Pompey’s proposal.

Pompey, who had pushed through his will again, was intoxicated with a sense of victory.

But the counterattack of the Senate was surprisingly painful.

The senators, who knew that the bill would pass anyway, made long speeches to gain the support of the citizens.

The speeches of the aristocrats who promised to restore the rights of the citizens were applauded by the assembly.

Taking advantage of this, former consul Aurelius came forward.

He argued that the great Pompey should deal with the chaotic southern region due to the slave rebellion.

The rebellion of Crassus had been suppressed, but the situation was not completely resolved yet.

Just counting the dead, there were more than 100,000.

Most of the slaves who fought in the battle did not surrender and faced death, so there were not many prisoners either.

Rome crucified all the escaped slaves they caught to set an example.

Aurelius especially created a sense of crisis that he had to appease the people of Sicily.

“Most of the slaves who harbored wrong intentions in the south are dead. But the aftermath of the slave rebellion did not reach Sicily and was suppressed. Sicily has always been a place where most slaves reside! We don’t know what kind of troublemakers are hiding there. But if Pompey Magnus takes charge, who would dare to harbor vain thoughts!”

The citizens, who still had vivid memories of suffering from the slave rebellion, enthusiastically agreed with Aurelius’ speech.

The praetors and consuls were sent as provincial governors for one year after their term ended.

Naturally, Pompey also had to serve as a provincial governor after his consulship.

The Senate decided his destination as Sicily.

The assembly also overwhelmingly approved this.

Pompey pretended to be calm on the outside, but he could not hide his agitation.

He had secretly planned to go to the east as his destination.

The current situation in the east was that Lucullus was pushing back Pontus with successive victories.

If this continued, Mithridates VI would not be able to resist and surrender.

If Mithridates’ Pontus surrendered, there would be no more enemies of Rome in the east.

Pompey wanted to go to the east and earn military glory before that happened.

But he had no choice but to accept it when both the Senate and the assembly agreed to send him to Sicily.

If he insisted on going to the east, he would give the impression that he was more interested in his own glory than the safety of Rome.

Pompey reluctantly suppressed his anger and gave a speech saying that he would gladly respond to the expectations of the citizens.

The senators, who had lost Sicily, were relieved to see Pompey’s frustration.

Objectively speaking, Pompey did not lose anything.

Not being able to go to the east was just a matter of his prior plan being disrupted.

But he was still not satisfied with his enough military achievements.

His goal was to achieve feats that rivaled Alexander the Great of Macedonia in the past.

He was not satisfied with just two triumphs.

“Why are you so anxious?”

“You wouldn’t know, but Lucullus’ ability in the east is incomparable to Mithridates. Considering his military talent, it wouldn’t be strange at all if he drove out Mithridates and finished him off by next year.”

“That may be true if you only look at his military talent. But you don’t have to worry about that at all.”

“What? Why?”

Lucius Licinius Lucullus was a person who had been recognized for his outstanding talent under Sulla.

He had a commanding ability that matched Pompey’s, and he was elected consul four years ago.

Just then, Mithridates VI started a war and he was sent as the governor of Sicily.

Mithridates had a powerful army, but he was no match for Lucullus, a military genius.

He was winning every battle and his victories were flying into Rome almost every day.

This was not a very pleasant result for Pompey, who was looking for an opportunity to shine.

But for Marcus, who knew how things would go from now on, it was not a big deal.

“Lucullus may be excellent in military talent, but he is clumsy at winning the hearts of his soldiers. I heard from the people who are stationed in the eastern provinces that this shows clearly. With that, he may win battles, but he will have a hard time winning wars.”

“He failed to win the hearts of his soldiers? Is that true?”

“Yes. He forbids looting even after winning and distributes the spoils too stingily. Of course, it’s not against the rules, but that won’t satisfy the soldiers.”

The soldiers of ancient Rome had a strong desire to get their share of looting.

They wanted to get some financial compensation at least after rolling around in war for years.

If looting was forbidden, the commander had to give them enough spoils.

But Lucullus neglected this. 

He only paid them according to the rules and forbade looting as well. 

This inevitably accumulated discontent among the soldiers.

Moreover, Lucullus almost monopolized the huge spoils he obtained from the rich east.

When Pompey heard this, he sneered bitterly.

“If that’s true, then Lucullus won’t last long. I guess I worried for nothing.”

“Yes. You just have to go to Sicily and appease the people there and come back to Rome leisurely. If Lucullus fails to subdue the east, then the next turn will naturally come to you.”

“Hahaha, I feel like my blocked stomach is cleared when I hear you. Yes, I’ll also send someone to check on the east. If it’s really as you say, I’ll gladly go to Sicily.”

“Thank you.”

“Thank you? I should thank you. I can see why Crassus cherishes you so much. I’ve never been envious of him before, but I changed my mind when I saw you. I wish my son had a genius talent like you.”

Despite Pompey’s generous praise, Marcus just bowed his head with a polite smile.

He was happy that things were going well, but he also felt a bit bitter.

‘A genius talent…’

How nice it would have been if Marcus really had such a thing.

Everyone around him recognized him as a once-in-a-lifetime genius in Rome, but that was different from reality.

Marcus was just wearing a mask of genius to make it look like that on purpose.

Danae, Septimus, Spartacus, and even his father Crassus did not doubt Marcus’ genius. 

It would be troublesome if they did.

He had to keep acting like this genius for a long time.

He had to be a perfect superhuman that no one could approach in order to get that much trust from his subordinates.

Otherwise, who would follow the young Marcus?

But the problem was that Marcus was not the genius he was pretending to be.

He had a good head since he had worked in various fields since he was young and had a lot of trivia, and he had also gone to school with a scholarship despite such circumstances.

But compared to the geniuses who made history, he fell short of reality.

So Marcus put in an enormous amount of time and effort, adding effort to effort.

He thought of hundreds of possible scenarios based on the historical knowledge he knew and sorted out the countermeasures one by one.

He had to consider new possibilities every day and devote himself to finding solutions, because things could go differently than expected.

The confident voice and expression he showed now were also the result of hard work.

He practiced thousands of times in front of a mirror how to speak with a more trustworthy voice and what expression to make to look more relaxed.

Of course, he did not think that this act of genius was painful.

His current act was the future he idealized.

He would continue to push through this until he became real, even if he was lacking now.

Having composed himself, Marcus exchanged greetings with Pompey and left the mansion.

Anyway, things were going as planned, so he had a set task to do.

‘Seeing Pompey worry about Lucullus, it’s certain that the time is ripe.’

Being optimistic about the situation in the east in Rome means that the price of wheat will soon plummet.

It’s an opportunity to make a fortune.