Son of Julius Caesar: Rebuilding Rome [Business/Republic building]

"We must pass the Final Decree of the Senate this very instant! Are Clodius and his thugs not gathering their men in the streets even as we speak?!"

"Hear, hear!"

As the senators shouted their agreement, Cato remained seated, quietly observing the chaos in the chamber.

Many senators raised their voices, demanding the immediate passage of the Senatus Consultum Ultimum—the Final Decree of the Senate.

One of the consuls, however, was absent from the meeting.

Gaius Julius Caesar.

He had announced that he would address the citizens in the Forum before attending the emergency session.

A speech in a crisis like this.

Cato seriously doubted a single speech could magically resolve the current situation.

But was the Final Decree truly necessary?

As Cato was lost in thought, other senators continued to shout.

"We must act immediately to restore order and protect the citizens! Consul Luceius, what are you doing?! Were you not just attacked by Clodius’s thugs in the Forum?!"

"We must first hear Consul Caesar’s opinion."

Luceius replied, sweating profusely.

The other consul’s curule chair stood empty beside him.

"Once Caesar finishes his speech and returns, we can resume the session and..."

"We do not have the luxury of waiting! To abandon an emergency session in a crisis like this—Caesar has utterly forsaken his duties as consul!"

Cato watched the panicked Luceius and muttered to himself.

"They played him for a fool."

The one who had provoked Clodius’s thugs in the Forum was Luceius. He had likely been persuaded by a few hard-line senators.

He probably assumed Caesar would support him once matters escalated this far.

But Caesar hadn’t done that. With Caesar absent, if the Final Decree were passed now, Luceius would be forced to shoulder all the blame.

"What are your thoughts, Senator Cato? You have led the opposition to Clodius more fiercely than anyone. Let us hear your opinion."

"Yes, let us hear what Cato has to say!"

At the urging of the surrounding senators, Cato slowly rose from his seat.

This was the perfect opportunity to bring Caesar down.

If the Final Decree were passed, Caesar would eventually have no choice but to join Luceius in launching an armed crackdown.

And once the dust settled, Caesar and Luceius would face blistering criticism for slaughtering citizens without trial.

Countless citizens would undoubtedly withdraw their support for Caesar.

Their aim was to eliminate Clodius and Caesar at once and seize control of the One-Year Plan for the Senate.

That was clearly what the optimates were aiming for, and the outcome would suit Cato just as well. And it was a highly favorable scenario for Cato as well.

But was it truly the right thing to do?

Cato stood in silence for a moment.

’Lucius has clashed with me at every single turn, and yet...’

He thought.

’Not once did he ever use underhanded means against me.’

Lucius could easily have mobilized his supporters to ambush Cato or stage violent protests outside his home, but he never did.

If anything, he had stepped in to save Cato from angry mobs on multiple occasions.

He had even commissioned Brutus to write a favorable biography of Cato and published Cato’s own writings without censoring them.

What was the right thing to do?

What would truly protect the Republic?

"It’s likely a futile gesture... but at the very least, I can buy Caesar enough time to finish his speech."

With a wry smile, Cato began to speak.

"In a chaotic situation such as this, we must first secure as much concrete information as possible before making a decision. If the Senate hastily invokes the Final Decree, only to discover later that it was a tragic mistake, there would be no greater failure than..."

"A mistake?! What mistake could there possibly be?! Have you not heard what Clodius’s thugs did in the Forum?!"

"Even so, we must not rush our decision. We must first ascertain exactly how many were injured in the clash, and who exactly threw the first stone, before we..."

Cato’s speech continued without pause. Only then did a few senators begin to realize his true intention.

"Don’t tell me he intends to keep talking..."

"Damn it! Cato, of all people, what on earth is he thinking?!"

There were no time limits on speeches during Senate sessions.

Furthermore, there was a strict rule that all sessions had to conclude before sunset.

Taken together, these two rules allowed a single senator to paralyze an entire session.

If a senator kept speaking until sunset, the Senate would be unable to pass any resolution that day.

Usually, senators avoided this tactic out of fear of severe backlash from their peers, but Cato was different.

"But why on earth is Cato doing this?! There’s absolutely no way he’s in league with Caesar!"

"Whatever his reasons, we have to stop him. We must pass the Final Decree before Caesar finishes his speech in the Forum!"

"But how?!"

As Cato’s speech dragged on, several senators leaped to their feet and shouted at Luceius.

"Consul! Order Senator Cato to yield the floor immediately!"

Luceius hesitated at their demands before answering.

"A consul has no authority to silence a senator who holds the floor."

"But this is not a regular session—it is an emergency meeting! To sabotage the session like this when a critical decision must be made!"

Angry shouts erupted from all sides, but Cato didn’t budge.

Even when several men approached him menacingly, he continued speaking with his customary unyielding expression.

"Just leave him be. If we drag Cato out right now, we’ll take all the blame. Even Cato can’t possibly keep talking all day long."

But contrary to their hopes, Cato’s voice continued to ring out through the chamber without a hint of fatigue.

"For hundreds of years, our ancestors have established magnificent traditions and customs. What we need at this very moment is the very wisdom our ancestors bestowed upon us..."

And at that, the clerk responsible for recording the Senate’s proceedings screamed silently in agony.

＊＊＊

"If the Senate invokes the Final Decree right now, we are all dead men! Have you forgotten what happened to the Gracchi brothers and Catiline?!"

Curio said, frantically looking around.

The street where he stood was packed with Clodius’s supporters.

The crowd was made up of thugs and criminals recruited from the slums.

Every one of them carried a club or cudgel, and more than a few had daggers hidden beneath their tunics.

"No matter how many supporters we have, we cannot fight an armed legion! That would spark a civil war!"

"And what if it does?"

Clodius replied coldly as his slaves fastened a breastplate around him.

"The northern frontier has been unstable of late. If word reaches the tribes that Rome has descended into chaos, countless Gallic tribes will be quick to act. The same is true of several allied cities. I dispatched messengers several days ago."

"But the allied cities have remained loyal to Rome—more so than ever of late!"

"Not all of them. There are quite a few who are deeply dissatisfied with Caesar’s recent temple reforms. There are always those who long to see Rome fall."

Clodius, now fully armored, turned around.

"All we have to do is hold out. We’ll occupy the major temples as planned. Once unrest spreads along the frontier, the Senate will have no choice but to negotiate. And with that, we can move our plans without any hinderance."

Curio pressed his lips together and fell silent.

This was no longer just about taking revenge on Caesar.

Deliberately plunging Rome into chaos to provoke Gallic tribes and allied cities into rebelling, and then using that crisis as leverage to extort the Senate.

Clodius’s plan was not completely without logic.

Temples made ideal strongholds. Some stood on high ground, offering a major defensive advantage during a siege, and their storerooms contained enough food to sustain the defenders for days.

But it was unimaginably risky.

"There’s no way this will work. The Senate will never accept such terms."

"When blood flows in the streets, many things change. Did Sulla not prove as much?"

Clodius retorted.

"But Caesar is the real problem. Skipping the Senate session to deliver a speech in the Forum? I don’t know what the bastard is plotting, but we have to stop him."

"But how do you intend to stop a speech?"

"Simple. We provoke a clash."

At his signal, hundreds of men began marching forward in unison.

Their destination was the Forum—the very place where Consul Caesar had announced he would speak.

The Forum was already packed with citizens.

Upon seeing Clodius’s mob approaching, the citizens gasped in terror and frantically scrambled out of their way.

Meanwhile, Caesar stood near the Rostra, surrounded not only by his lictors but also by a host of supporters loyal to him, Pompey, and Crassus.

As during the attempt on Pompey’s life, all of Caesar’s supporters carried shields.

Clodius’s clubs and Caesar’s shields.

The two factions stood face to face, glaring at one another in tense silence.

Everyone in the Forum could sense that violence might erupt at any moment.

"I get the feeling something terrible is going to happen."

"We’d better head home. If we get caught in the middle of this..."

As the heavy silence dragged on, the insults finally began to fly.

"Get out of here, you dogs of the Senate! You mean to crush the people’s demands by force!"

"Caesar and Luceius used their lictors to threaten and assault innocent citizens!"

Insults flew from Clodius’s camp. Moments later, stones and chunks of brick flew through the air.

Caesar’s men raised their shields, blocking the projectiles.

"It looks like Caesar is staying on the defensive."

"That won’t last. They’ll be fighting soon enough."

As panic rapidly spread through the crowd, one citizen suddenly shouted.

"Look over there!"

Every head turned, and jaws dropped in sheer disbelief.

Another enormous crowd was marching into the Forum.

At the sight, both factions froze in disbelief.

"They’re... women."

Women clad in tunics and stolas poured into the Forum.

Many of the women carried kites in their hands, while dozens of others were already fluttering high above the Forum.

Paying no mind to the bewildered stares, hundreds of women marched straight into the center of the Forum, right between Clodius’s and Caesar’s factions.

Even Clodius’s supporters, who had been fiercely hurling rocks and insults just moments before, were forced to stop.

"Wait, honey?! What are you doing in the Forum?"

"I came to stop you from doing something foolish, you idiot!"

"But who’s watching the children...?"

"I left them with the woman next door."

The men all exchanged shocked glances. It was common to see women passing through the Forum.

But seeing so many women gathered together in one place was rare.

Men who recognized their wives or mothers cried out in panic:

"Mother, why are you here?!"

"We all came to hear Consul Caesar’s speech."

"Are you saying you’ve come to support Caesar?"

"Some of us support the free grain bill, and some of us oppose it. But none of us wants you slaughtering one another over it."

No matter what the men asked, the women all gave the same answer.

"Is there a problem with that?"

＊＊＊

"Julia!"

I barely managed to choke out the name. I thought my heart was going to stop.

When I saw Julia leading the women into the Forum, I honestly thought I was hallucinating.

"What were you thinking, coming here?! Do you have any idea what could happen...?"

A few minutes earlier, Clodius’s mob had been deliberately provoking us.

Their goal was to trigger a brawl so the citizens wouldn’t be able to hear Father’s speech.

We had managed to hold them off so far, but the atmosphere was growing more explosive by the second.

And right in the middle of this powder keg, Julia had marched in, leading hundreds of women.

"I just came to hear Father’s speech in person."

Julia replied with a bright, innocent smile.

"Is there a problem?"

"The Forum is incredibly dangerous right now! A full-blown riot could break out at any time!"

"But you and Father are both here, aren’t you, Brother? Are you saying the two of you may face the danger, but I may not?"

I could only stare at her, dumbfounded, as Julia crossed her arms and stared me down.

I frantically searched for a logical counterargument, but nothing came to mind.

In the end, I could only let out a defeated chuckle.

I suddenly remembered Father’s prediction that the women of Rome would play a much larger role from now on.

I certainly didn’t expect him to be proven right this quickly.

In my mind, Julia had always just been my cute little sister.

"You and Father are trying to stop a fight from breaking out, aren’t you? That is exactly what we women want as well."

Julia pulled a pamphlet from her tunic and handed it to me.

I read the words printed boldly on the cover.

[Remember the Sabine Women!]

The Sabine Women. It was an ancient legend every Roman knew by heart.

In the early days of Rome, shortly after King Romulus founded the city, Rome suffered from a severe population shortage.

Or to be more specific, a severe shortage of women.

So, the Romans devised a cunning scheme. They hosted a grand festival, invited the neighboring Sabines, and used the festivities as cover to abduct the Sabine women en masse.

The Sabine women, forced to become Roman wives, later rushed between the two armies when war broke out between their new husbands and their fathers and brothers.

They knew that no matter which side won, their families would die.

According to the legend, moved by the desperate pleas of the women holding their infants, the two armies laid down their weapons and merged into a single community.

"This is just like the legend."

Muttering to myself, I looked out over the Forum.

The men who had been practically frothing at the mouth just moments ago were now shifting uncomfortably, not knowing what to do.

Whenever either faction tried to move around the women, they shifted with them, keeping themselves squarely between the two sides.

"We do not want a battle to break out here."

Julia said with a triumphant smile.

"And Roman men are always bragging about how they protect their women. Do you really think they can start a brawl when we’re standing right in the middle of it?"

"No, they can’t."

I laughed and reached out to pat Julia on the head, but stopped myself.

She had long since grown into a brilliant, capable adult who could make her own decisions.

I suppose I was the only one who hadn’t noticed.

"No matter how ignorant or bloodthirsty a thug is, he isn’t going to throw a stone at his own mother or sister."

If Clodius ordered an attack on the women, he would instantly lose every shred of political legitimacy.

"I asked the women who couldn’t come to the Forum to fly kites as a sign of support," Julia explained, pointing toward the sky.

Just as she had said, the sky above Rome was dotted with colorful kites dancing in the wind.

"I never imagined so many women would step forward. United like this, they are a force no one can ignore."

No wonder they said women wielded so much influence in Italian households.

"So, what happens now?"

"We proceed exactly as planned. Father will deliver his speech."

"Do you really think a single speech can resolve this?"

"That depends entirely on Father."

I had drafted the outline for the speech myself to save time.

But now, the ball was entirely in his court.

"But if he fails..."

Before Julia could finish, the chaotic noise of the Forum vanished in an instant, replaced by silence.

Turning my head, I saw Father ascending the Rostra.

Standing at the podium, he surveyed the vast crowd, then his gaze settled on Julia and me.

It was only for a fleeting second, but I clearly saw a warm smile grace his lips.

It was finally time. As men and women alike held their breath in total silence, Father’s voice boomed across the Forum.

"Citizens of Rome, fear has cast its shadow over this Forum. But I ask you this."

Father declared, his voice ringing with absolute clarity.

"Are you truly afraid?"