Chapter 173: Signs of Civil War
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< 173. Signs of Civil War >
“Are you saying that Pompey might be in trouble?”
Arsinoe’s voice trembled slightly without her realizing it.
She was not completely ignorant of politics, even though she was naive.
She knew how the power structure of Rome was balanced, and what it meant for one of the triumvirs to fall.
“It’s just a speculation.”
Cleopatra also looked uneasy, even as she drew a firm line.
She pointed at the map of the North African states with her finger and continued.
“But we should prepare for the worst, just in case our speculation is true. We can’t be complacent and then fail to cope when things go wrong. That would make us unworthy of being pharaohs.”
“What if we try to bluff Sextus by saying that we already know everything?”
“It’s too early for that. We don’t have any solid evidence yet. And we have to consider the possibility that our speculation is wrong. It’s just a maybe for now.”
“It’s a headache… Why did this happen right now?”
It was not a good time for Cleopatra and Arsinoe to act on their own judgment.
Marcus was staying in Antioch and not moving, and Egypt was noisy with the ascension of a new pharaoh and reforms.
‘So that’s why. He couldn’t come to the coronation because of personal reasons.’
Cleopatra understood why Pompey had been quiet.
Even if Egypt was a client state of Marcus, Pompey had received help from Auletes.
He would not ignore that, given his personality.
He would have wanted to repay the favor in some way.
“I have to send someone to Rome right away. And let’s also send a letter to Marcus. He might already be aware of the situation. Octavius, you write a letter to Marcus.”
“I already did that yesterday.”
“Good. Time is crucial in this matter.”
Cleopatra did not scold Octavius for acting on his own.
That showed how urgent this issue was.
What if Pompey really died in a few months?
She did not entertain any optimistic guesses that nothing would happen.
Pompey had a huge territory under his control.
He had the whole of Africa except Egypt, all of Hispania and Greece as his client states.
He also had the naval power that dominated the Mediterranean.
Could Sextus inherit all that without any problem?
Cleopatra and Octavius concluded that it was impossible.
Sextus had not shown any clear evidence that he could succeed his great father.
The clientela system of Rome was not legally enforced, nor was it based on loyalty.
The client states followed and supported their patronus for their own benefit.
The patronus had to have the ability to give them something in return for their allegiance.
Otherwise, they could turn their backs at any time.
Pompey had enough influence with his name alone to deter them.
Even if the populist and the optimates clashed, he could control them with his authority.
Sextus could not do that. It was doubtful whether Caesar and Marcus would even recognize him as one of the triumvirs.
Marcus might accept Sextus out of loyalty to Pompey.
But Caesar had no guarantee of doing so.
Cleopatra did not have much information about Caesar as a person.
She had never seen him directly, so she had to rely on the evaluations of others.
Marcus praised Caesar as a man with great ambition and matching ability.
He said he was the most capable person in Rome in various aspects.
If Marcus gave him such a generous evaluation, then Sextus would not stand a chance against him.
If Caesar’s ambition was really as big as they said, he would not sit still and watch Pompey’s vacancy.
“What do you think, Octavius? If Sextus becomes the head of the Pompeian family within a year from now, how will Caesar react?”
“That’s not even worth thinking about. He will definitely take over Hispania. I would be careful not to make it obvious, but my great-uncle might prefer a more direct approach, considering his personality.”
“So he won’t embrace Sextus.”
“There’s no reason for him to do that. If my great-uncle wants to, he can have both the leadership of the populist and the mines of Hispania. Why would he refuse that?”
Cleopatra nodded slowly.
It was an obvious prediction.
He would have made the same choice if he were in their position.
That was why he could not blame them.
Arsinoe, who had been listening quietly to their conversation, let out a word of concern.
“Could there be a civil war…?”
Cleopatra’s face hardened.
“I hope not, but we can’t ignore the possibility. We have to hope that the sparks won’t reach us.”
“But wouldn’t Marcus stop it if it came to that? Or maybe he could mediate if there was a war.”
“That’s naive. He is a very rational person. If there really was a war, he would try to get the maximum benefit for himself without harming his interests. He could easily annex Axum and Kush if he wanted to. Sextus is nervous because he knows that.”
“Hmm… This is really annoying.”
Arsinoe crossed her arms and frowned.
Running a country was not an easy task.
In fact, she had not felt it much until now.
She thought she only had to help out a little, since Cleopatra would take care of the details anyway.
But it seemed like she could not afford to sit back and relax.
She had been too careless.
“We can’t just wait for someone to come back from Rome. That’s a low-level strategy. We need to decide on a course of action that can handle both scenarios, whether this is our mistake or the truth.”
“Okay. What should we do then?”
“We have to finish the issues we are dealing with right now. I was going to take it easy in the long term, but that won’t work. We need to be more aggressive.”
Cleopatra agreed with Octavius.
“We have to establish our authority firmly, or else it will drag on later. The chances of idiots who see the civil war as an opportunity will also increase.”
“Yes. That’s my judgment too.”
“Why don’t we just ask Marcus for help?”
Arsinoe looked slightly anxious.
She wondered if it was a good idea to make a big fuss in this emergency situation.
But the other two had already made up their minds.
They had to calculate several times more than before, so Cleopatra and Octavius sighed deeply and discussed their plans.
In the end, their meeting did not end until late at night.
※※※
“Pompey’s movements are strange?”
“Not strange, but Crassus said he seemed a bit weak.”
Marcus, who was waiting for a chance to intervene in Egypt, was taken aback by a letter from Rome.
“Why now? It’s not time for that yet…”
“Yes?”
“No, just talking to myself. Could it be that his father mistook his lack of motivation for something else?”
“It says in the letter that there is also that possibility. But you know how psychological state affects physical health. He definitely changed after the Axum expedition.”
Marcus quickly scanned the letter he received from Septimus.
It was not only Crassus, but also his informants in Rome who sent similar reports.
At first, he only missed a few senate meetings, but lately he hardly received any guests and did not enjoy his cultural life as much as he used to.
Some wondered if he had any health problems, but he was attending the senate meetings again, which made them more suspicious.
The situation did not look good.
“Should I go back to Rome?”
“If you go back to Rome now, won’t the rumors spread faster?”
“Right. I didn’t think about it and got hit in the back of the head.”
Pompey had never complained of any health problems at this point in history.
On the contrary, he was at his peak, confronting Caesar and opposing him.
That’s why he didn’t expect him to get sick after the Axum expedition.
There was no record of him suffering from a serious illness until he died betrayed in Egypt.
‘I was short-sighted. It’s true that as you get older, your health depends more on your psychological state.’
Pompey seemed to be floating somewhere after successfully completing the Axum expedition.
He clearly lost his enthusiasm and complained of fatigue more often.
He even coughed almost constantly when he came to see Marcus off to the east.
‘I should have paid more attention then…’
Marcus looked worried.
Pompey could not leave here now.
Not only because they were close personally, but also because there was no one in the populist who could fill his gap.
And there was the biggest variable, Caesar, whose movements were unpredictable.
He was still on his expedition across the Rhine and could not communicate properly with him.
“How are the optimates reacting?”
“The atmosphere is cautious, as Pompey still attends the Senate meetings and is not bedridden yet. The populist emphasize every day that there is no problem with Pompey’s health.”
“That’s what the populist would say. But they can’t deny it forever if there really is a problem. Cicero and Cato must have noticed it by now. If there is something wrong with Magnus’s health, they will soon send a long letter.”
They say that bad premonitions never fade away.
As Marcus predicted, a letter from Cicero arrived before three days had passed.
The content was not much different from what he had expected.
Cicero had already confirmed that a doctor had visited Pompey’s mansion at dawn.
<It seems that the Triumvirate meetings are hardly held these days. When Cato and I attended the meeting on your behalf last time, Pompey did not look very sick. But he could not hide the dark circles under his eyes. And the members of the aristocratic faction, including Cato, seem to think this is an opportunity. They see it as a golden chance to pressure the populist.
Curio, Caesar’s spokesman, reports to Caesar almost every day. But Caesar is busy fighting the Germans, so he can’t receive orders smoothly. Anyway, I personally hope that Pompey will live long even if he groans in pain. If the balance of power in Rome collapses, there is no guarantee that the tragedy of Marius and Sulla’s era will not repeat itself. Civil war must never happen. I will keep you informed of the situation in Rome, so if you think something is wrong, come and help yourself.>
Cicero’s letter ended with such a request.
It was fortunate or unfortunate that there were still senators who had normal thoughts like Cicero.
But it was unknown how long Cicero or Crassus could restrain the aristocratic faction.
The aristocrats still believed that they were the masters of Rome even though they were pushed by the Triumvirate.
In this situation, if Pompey stepped down, it was easy to predict what would happen.
The reestablishment of Caesar and Sextus’s relationship was also a sensitive issue, and if the aristocrats became more aggressive, a violent clash would be inevitable in a moment.
Marcus was silent for a long time while sitting.
Septimus showed no reaction and quietly waited for his decision.
“Did you hear anything from the Karen Kingdom?”
“No. The nomads in the east have been quiet since we repelled them last time.”
“Then all that’s left is Egypt.”
“What are you going to do? Will you leave it to Cleopatra and Octavius as it is?”
Marcus slowly shook his head.
He wanted to watch how things would go as much as possible, but no matter how he looked at it, the situation was not good.
“I can’t leave any small variables alone when I don’t know how things will turn out. I wanted to let them gain more experience as much as possible, but I can’t help it.”
Marcus called Spartacus to his side.
At the same time, he gave an order to Septimus.
“Get some ships disguised as merchant vessels. Not too many, just enough to take about a thousand soldiers.”
“Are you going to Egypt yourself?”
“Yes, and as soon as Egypt’s problem is solved, I’ll go to Rome. Move secretly so that no rumors leak out.”
< 173. Signs of Civil War > End
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