Coincidentally, just as Octavian and Antony were preparing to build up their military strength, Lepida arrived from Spain, and his vanguard, some light infantry and cavalry, had reached less than 300 miles from Rome. The pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info the entire domestic situation in Rome, and suddenly became nervous. No one knew whether it was a blessing or a curse for Lepida to suddenly arrive in Rome with his troops at this time. The news that Octavian inherited Caesar's power has spread, but with the speed of Lepida, it is still too fast, from Spain to Rome, even if the cavalry runs day and night, it will take two weeks, and Lepida arrived in Rome at this time, only a little more than a week before Calpunia published Caesar's testament, everything makes this dispute complicated and confusing.

When Antony was leaving, he had Caesar's deposit in the temple of Jupiter looted, which was originally Caesar's military expenses for his expedition to Parthia, and only Antony knew about it, so when the suicide note had been published to confirm that he had no inheritance, Antony began to loot all possible assets in the city. Despite the resistance of the gods, the temple was looted and emptied, and no one, including Apis and Octavian, knew about it, except for the people who saw the ruffians attacking the temple that day.

Then, on the eve of Lepida's entry into the city, Antony quietly left Rome with two huge fortunes. On the same day, Cleopatra, who had no attachment to Caesar and left, was the queen of Egypt, with resentment and incomprehension of Caesar, and took her son born to Caesar to see that she boarded a ship from the Tiber River to Egypt. Perhaps, like Anthony, Cleopatra was saddened and disappointed that Caesar's suicide note did not mention her. Or perhaps in Caesar's mind, the reason why he didn't mention Cleopatra was to better protect her from getting involved in the political struggle in Rome, however, the queen didn't understand that she left the city, the country, with a grudge against Rome and Caesar.

……

"Appis, Lepida is about to enter the city of Rome, I don't know his intentions and intentions, in history, many generals have seized power with military power, and I fear that Lepida has the same intention and purpose in entering the city this time. Therefore, I intend to take the inheritance left to me by my father Caesar, and go south to Rome, to Brindisi and Sicily, and to assemble legions. So, would you like to follow me to the south of Italy? ”

Along with Antony, Octavian was also considering leaving Rome, and the young heir approached Apis and voiced his concerns. Appis noticed that Octavian had changed his name to his father when he called Caesar. It may be to win the favor of Caesar's soldiers, or it may be to justify his identity. But Apis had no interest in any of this, and in Apis's opinion now, he had finally come to the top, so he couldn't give up like this and follow Octavian? Then, the next journey will be the same as following Caesar, only becoming his subordinate. Apis refused Octavian's invitation in front of him, and the reason sounded so justified.

"Octavian, we are so familiar friends, but this time, I would like to say that I do not want to be involved in war again. With Lepida entering Rome and you and Antony leaving at the same time, there will be many vacancies in the Roman authorities, and although all the branches of authority have become so fragile under the military power, it still needs to be maintained and maintained for the day-to-day functioning of the country. So, I'm going to stay in Rome, and if Lepida wants to imitate Caesar through his legions, maybe I'll be able to stop him a bit. Until you return to Rome, I will defend the city for you. ”

Appis is so sincere, and it makes sense. But the clever Octavian knew that this was not Appis's heart. Lepida may be the true ally of Appis. But despite the private speculation, Octavian and Apis kept smiling and embraced as usual. The friendship between the two is enviable, but they wear masks on each other.

……

When Octavian left Rome, the trend of the post-Roman triumvirate became more and more pronounced, with Antony gathering Caesar's old ministry in northern Italy and Gaul, and Lepida occupying the city of Rome with two legions in his hands. Octavian, on the other hand, was in southern Italy, recruiting legions. Octavian was extremely young and inexperienced compared to Antony, but taking the name of Caesar and obtaining the status of Caesar's legal heir allowed Octavian to easily gain some support from Caesar's old ministry. At this time, Agrippa also unsurprisingly joined Octavian's camp. They have been best friends since childhood. Apis dug into the corners for a long time, but could not shake Agrippa's loyalty and friendship to Octavian.

Although there is a gap between the overall situation and the formation of the latter triumvirate alliance of Rome in history, after all, under the operation of Appis, a relatively stable pattern has been formed.

"Appis, what's next for you? Now that Octavian and Antony have left Rome, the situation is exactly as you expected, but we are still in a weak position. I now have only two legions at my disposal, and only the city of Rome to defend, and we will not be able to help Antony and Octavian if they try to take it again. ”

After Octavian left the city of Rome, Lepida and Apis planned for the future. However, at the moment, even if the situation is in the situation of the triumvirate separating Rome, Lebida knows very well that his own power is the weakest. Octavian owned Caesar's legacy, and Antony owned Gaul's legions. And he only temporarily owned the city of Rome, unlike Caesar at the beginning of the civil war, Lepida had no follow-up support.

"I know, so we're going to have to be between these two forces for a long time to come. On the surface, we can support either side, but when it comes to concrete action, we need to think carefully. In addition, Octavian may have known about my alliance with you, and in fact it is easy to guess that you appeared in the city of Rome too quickly, and with Octavian's intelligence, he should have guessed. But others may not be able to guess this. So, we should try to meet as little as possible, Rome is now like a withered grass, as long as a fire, it can be lit everywhere. The power of public opinion is terrifying. ”

Appis said earnestly.