Chapter 111: Chapter 111 : KILL THEM ALL
"Kill them all!"
"Hunt down Sulla’s dogs! Don’t let a single one escape!"
"For Marius! Carry out his will!"
Rome burned around her.
Cornelia realized she was dreaming.
No, it had to be a dream.
The memories she had tried so desperately to forget were unfolding right before her eyes.
Men charged through the streets with drawn swords, while people fled screaming in terror.
The acrid smoke of burning buildings, mingled with the metallic stench of blood, stung her nose.
Cornelia walked through the streets of Rome, stepping around pools of blood.
Her father stood right in the middle of the Forum.
He was clad in armor and a general’s cloak, surrounded by a tight ring of soldiers and officers.
"Father?"
"Cornelia, you’re here. I was waiting for you."
Her father, Cinna, welcomed her with a warm smile.
Cornelia hesitated for a moment before taking a step back.
The Rostra, the speaker’s platform, was lined with severed heads displayed like grisly trophies.
Their unfocused eyes stared blankly at her.
"What’s wrong? Come here," Father said in a gentle voice.
"Father, can’t we stop this now? Too many people have already died."
"This is necessary to protect Rome, to protect our Republic. We must clean up this filth before Sulla returns from the East."
"But..."
Cornelia turned her head, flinching as she stumbled backward.
Her father’s face was no longer Cinna’s. It was Caesar’s.
He offered her a bright smile, his face smeared with blood.
"It is necessary for Rome."
***
"Cornelia!"
Cornelia jolted awake, gasping for air.
Her husband was beside her, gripping her shoulders as he shook her awake.
"You were screaming in your sleep. You’re drenched in sweat. Did you have a nightmare?"
"I think so," Cornelia murmured, taking a deep breath.
No matter how hard she tried to forget, some memories simply refused to fade.
Rome was already cloaked in darkness.
Yet the tension in the air was unmistakable.
"Any word from Lucius yet?"
"No news since last evening. You don’t need to worry."
Cornelia gave a slight nod.
"The house feels so empty without him," she said, grasping her husband’s arm.
"You have to help Lucius this time. I have a bad feeling about this."
"I was already planning on it," Caesar replied with a quiet chuckle.
He rose from the bed, brimming with his usual confidence.
"Knowing Lucius, he’ll likely sort this mess out on his own," he added.
"But wouldn’t it wrap up much faster with my help? Especially with Gaius Julius Caesar lending a hand? You have the future consul’s word."
"I’m glad to hear that. As you well know, violence in Rome always begins in the name of some grand cause. But by the time the Tiber runs red with blood, no one even remembers what that cause was."
Cornelia let out a sigh as Caesar left the bedroom.
She failed to notice how rigid his expression had become once his back was turned.
"I must do what I can as well," Caesar muttered, looking up at the great moon visible above the atrium.
***
"Didn’t Eleazar already tell us? They’ve all vanished and are hiding somewhere in Rome. It’s going to be a nightmare to root out bastards who’ve gone to ground."
Mark Antony said, swinging his arm through the air.
He gripped a wooden club in one hand, which looked, at a glance, like a leg ripped off a desk or bed.
"Shouldn’t we march into the Jewish quarter right now and turn the place upside down? That’s the fastest way to handle this."
I shook my head.
It was a very Antony-like suggestion.
"If we pull a stunt like that now, it’ll spark a massive riot. There’s no telling what an agitated mob might do."
"They’re Jews. Who’s going to care if a few of them die?"
Antony shrugged.
Just as I was about to retort, Brutus cut in.
"The problem is that many of them are freedmen and hold Roman citizenship. If we attack them without due process or proper imperium, and a citizen ends up dead, what do you think will happen?"
"Brutus is right."
No matter how much the Jews were looked down upon, a citizen was still a citizen.
Even if rumors claimed there was a plot against Pompey and Pompeia, it was still just a suspicion.
I couldn’t launch an attack on thousands of people based on suspicion alone.
Brutus looked at Antony with a smug expression.
"What would a thick-headed brute like you know? I hear you’ve been poking your nose around everywhere just because you earned a little fame for your horsemanship among the plebeians..."
"Still better than cowering in the rear because you’re afraid of a few bandits," Antony snapped back.
"So what, you want me to follow ’proper legal procedures’? Send a summons to a pack of hidden assassins and politely ask them to stand trial?"
At this rate, they’ll bicker until the sun goes down.
I clapped my hands, drawing both of their attention.
"I’ve already called on every tribe in Rome and its tribal officers."
"To think you could mobilize all the tribes of Rome so easily... I still can’t believe it."
"It’s only because the matter is so grave. I can’t pull strings like this every day."
I had recruited employees from every single tribe in Rome.
I didn’t limit my recruitment to the tribe my own gens, the Julii, belonged to.
Specifically, I had set aside recommendation slots for signalers from each tribe and made sure the selections were handled fairly.
Thanks to that, I could now ask for the cooperation of all the tribes.
I never anticipated a situation quite like this, but it worked out quite well in the end.
"But if you’re not mobilizing them to crack down on the Jews, why call the tribes at all?"
"We need to calm the tribesmen—the citizens. Simultaneously, each tribe will conduct its own investigation."
"Investigations? What exactly do you mean?" Brutus asked, tilting his head in confusion.
"If Eleazar’s words are true, the conspirators have abandoned their homes and gone into hiding. If the tribes sweep their own neighborhoods, it’ll be easy to spot any unfamiliar faces or outsiders."
"There’s a high chance the assassins are among them."
"Exactly. The assassins probably caught wind of the atmosphere as well. If they’re not found anywhere else, they’re likely hiding in the homes of their fellow Jewish collaborators."
After all, no Roman would dare ignore his tribe’s orders and keep harboring them.
"First, I’ll persuade Pompey and the citizens. Then, I’ll have the Jews themselves hunt down these assassins."
"But will they hand them over so willingly?" Antony asked. "They’re their own people, after all."
"Kin or not, they won’t risk their own necks to protect a handful of extremists."
The mood on the streets was already ugly.
Rumors that the Jews were plotting to assassinate Pompey and Pompeia had spread like wildfire, and the mood had turned vicious.
I had barely managed to keep the situation from boiling over by appealing to the tribal leaders.
While I was talking with the two of them, Felix rushed over to me.
"Young Master, right now..."
"What?!"
Felix whispered the rest into my ear, and I sprang to my feet before he could even finish.
Damn it. I hadn’t thought things would spiral this quickly.
"What is it? What on earth happened..."
"We need to get out there. Now." I said, looking at the bewildered faces of the two men. "A mob is marching straight toward the Jewish quarter in Subura."
***
I didn’t expect things to escalate this quickly.
Were my warnings to the tribal leaders completely useless?
No, they must have properly warned their tribesmen.
The fact that a mob had still gathered meant...
"It’s Caesar!"
"We’ve all come to aid you, Caesar!"
As I appeared, men all along the street erupted into cheers.
Every one of them was gripping a club or some other makeshift weapon.
Thankfully, I didn’t see any swords, but that hardly made this a good situation.
"Where are all of you heading?"
"We heard rumors that those Jewish bastards are targeting Pompey and Pompeia! So we came to help..."
"And where exactly did you hear this rumor?"
"We saw it on these flyers posted in the Forum. Didn’t you put them up yourself, young Caesar?"
The men handed me a flyer.
The handwriting and lettering were identical on every copy.
[The Jews are targeting Caesar and Pompey! Citizens, we must rise up to protect them!]
It didn’t look like these had been handwritten one by one.
Had they been stamped? Someone had copied my methods.
Who the hell did this?
They were intentionally inciting the citizens to riot. As expected, someone was pulling the strings from the shadows.
"Pompeia, Pompey, and I are unharmed! An investigation into these rumors is already underway. Therefore, you may all return to your homes."
"But..."
"Or are you saying you don’t believe my words?"
"N-No, not at all!"
The men shouted, visibly flustered.
After muttering how relieved they were that nothing had happened, the crowd dispersed.
However, the crisis was far from over.
I sent Brutus and Antony to different neighborhoods to help break up the mobs.
Then I made a beeline for the Subura.
It was one of the districts where many of Rome’s Jews had gathered.
As I ventured deeper into Subura, a loud clamor reached my ears.
Was I too late?
Fortunately, I didn’t hear the sounds of combat yet.
I followed the noise and found myself before a massive crowd.
And standing at the very center of it all...
was Father.
"My son, Lucius, wouldn’t have wanted you to do this either! So please, everyone, calm down!"
In that moment, father’s gaze shifted to me.
I gave a firm nod, and he returned it with a slight nod of his own.
That’s father for you.
"There’s my son! Now you can hear it from him directly!"
***
"I’m glad you arrived in time. Things could have turned disastrous otherwise."
"I ran into three or four mobs on my way here alone. I’ve already sent them packing," father said, wiping the sweat from his brow with the edge of his toga. "The timing is far too convenient to be a coincidence. It seems someone is orchestrating this from the shadows."
"I think so too."
I handed him the flyer one of the men had given me.
Father read it over before handing it back.
"If the mob clashes with the Jews, a bloodbath is inevitable. And in the end, the blame for that chaos will fall on your shoulders."
"But I already warned the tribal leaders. I told them there would be consequences if they defied me."
Then why the hell had so many men still gathered?
"They gathered to show their support for you. The tribal leaders probably couldn’t stop them all," Father said. "Or there may be opportunists hoping to earn your favor."
"I suppose they thought this is easier way to win my favor."
That made more sense.
I’ve received the help of countless supporters up until now.
During the bank run, my employees voluntarily donated their own money, and they all gathered to celebrate my recent wedding.
Most of them had probably acted out of genuine loyalty.
However, there had to be those acting solely to leave a good impression or to secure some future favor from me.
"They must have thought I’d be pleased if they attacked the Jews."
"Keeping one’s supporters in line is never easy." father sighed with a faint smile. "They claim to act for our benefit, then cause all manner of trouble in our name. Yet, you can’t exactly treat your own supporters poorly either."
"Even so, we can’t just stand by and do nothing."
With that, I turned my head to gaze out over Subura.
It was the district where I was born and raised.
At the same time, it was the most dangerous neighborhood in Rome—a melting pot where the urban poor, immigrants, prostitutes, and various foreign communities lived side by side.
"If they’re pulling this madness to win my favor, then I need to make it clear that this isn’t the way to do it."
"Are you planning to give a speech in the Forum yourself?"
"I have a better idea," I replied with a smirk.
There was no need for me to run all over Rome breaking up mobs myself.
I had focused on recruiting military veterans as my employees.
Many of them had real combat experience, hardened by years of training and life in the ranks.
"I have people I can trust."
***
"This is all happening because of you, Eleazar!"
"Why did you have to go to Caesar and spout such nonsense...!"
The men hurled criticism at Eleazar.
They were all Jewish teachers of the Law, just like him.
"Going to Caesar over mere street rumors! Do you honestly not realize that you brought this situation down upon us?!"
"Mere street rumors?! Didn’t we all know perfectly well that Joseph and his gang had somehow procured weapons and were hatching a plot?!" Eleazar yelled, waving his hands in the air.
"Do you fools not understand that if we let them carry out their mad scheme, all of us ordinary Jews will be blamed!"
"Caesar, of all people? You should have gone to Cicero."
"It’s no secret that Cicero despises us. Even if we had gone to him, he would have slammed the door in our faces," Eleazar retorted.
Lucius Caesar had been his only real option: a man who recruited his workers more fairly than anyone else in Rome, and who had launched numerous charities and businesses for the citizens.
He had seemed like the sort of man who would believe him without prejudice and offer his help.
But was it a mistake?
When rumors spread that a frenzied mob was descending on them, the Jewish residents hastily barricaded the doors and windows of their insula with furniture.
However, if the mob set the building on fire from outside, they would be helplessly trapped and burned alive inside.
Many Jews lived clustered together in the same district, and it was common for several families to be crammed into a single insula.
"Let us wait a little longer. Lucius Caesar gave me his word to..."
It was just then.
A low rumble of voices echoed from outside. Then one of the young men by the window shouted,
"Look over there!"
Eleazar and the elders all rushed to the window.
A group of men could be seen marching down the street toward them.
"So they’ve reached us at last."
"What do we do? Today is the Sabbath. We cannot fight them."
"Then are we supposed to accept God’s will and die?"
On the Sabbath, work was forbidden, and many among them hesitated even to take up arms.
"But we can defend ourselves. The Law may forbid us from drawing the sword first, but it does not tell us to sit on our hands and die."
"Prepare yourselves. We must get the women and children out first."
As the men debated their next move, Eleazar raised a hand and shouted.
"Wait, look at that!"
"Aren’t those... Caesar’s employees?"
"Yes, those are the uniforms of his signalers."
By now, nearly everyone in Rome recognized their uniforms.
"Why would Caesar’s men come here?"
"Don’t tell me Lucius Caesar intends to kill us all..."
"I heard he went to meet Pompey. Are the two of them coming to slaughter us?"
Eleazar shut his eyes tightly, then opened them again.
Is that truly what is happening?
Despair began to take hold while the men had already reached the front of the insula.
As the people inside swallowed hard in terror, the men formed a ring, completely surrounding the building.
Eleazar broke the silence and called out.
"Why have you surrounded our building? If you intend to threaten us..."
"Threaten? What are you talking about?"
A man in a signaler’s uniform frowned, looking utterly bewildered.
"You misunderstand. We’re here to protect you."
"You’re here to... protect us?"
Eleazar asked, taken aback.
He turned his head to look at his fellow scholars, but they looked just as stunned as he was.
"What on earth does that mean?"
