"The nobles only have to lie in bed, and the people will automatically elect them." - Cicero

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Suddenly, there were shouts from the street on the other side of the courtroom, "Catilin, Catilin!" It was indeed the pale-faced Catiline who had once carried the head of the public enemy across the main square, dressed in a white robe, and walked at the front of the line with a sinister smile, followed by hundreds of supporters, who met him-for-tat.

Cicero's supporters, and Catiline's supporters, like two strong air currents, collided in front of the Grand Court, and Cicero, who was put down by the Sicilian Appeal, walked up to Catiline and said very politely: "Garba, the honorary knight of African, is waiting for you in the rest room inside the court. I hope you are fully prepared for this lawsuit and do not end up like Willes earlier. ”

"It's a pity that I don't have the wealth of Luculas to be able to vote in the town hall without going through the courts. But I'm not a person to give up easily, and I'm bound to win the position of consul this time. Katilin said.

"Catiline, you shouldn't refuse my previous kindness and let me be your defense lawyer, wouldn't it be great if we joined forces to run for election? The position of consul is two. ”

"It is an insult to the whole of Roman politics to have a knight-born man like you to serve as an archon, please give up this ridiculous idea." Catiline haughtily refused Cicero's request and headed for the courtroom.

"But! Most of you will win this lawsuit because, first, I did not serve as a lawyer for the appeal panel; Two, I also have enough confidence in your skill and eloquence. Cicero reminded Catiline's back, "But you're going to go bankrupt because of this lawsuit, and all the money you get in Africa will be thrown into it, because of the jurassians who like to take bribes." Then, you don't have the money to put into the campaign, and losing the election is almost certain, and the two of us will only make others profit. ”

Catiline paused for a moment when he heard Cicero's words, and then he added: "I will not stop myself because of a Roman inhabitant who has no political line, you have never been a Roman, and you do not love this city-state at all." ”

"Your political line is dangerous! It will take the whole of Rome to the abyss! Cicero roared with all his might, a metallic voice echoing through the open space in front of the courtroom.

But in the end, Catiline did not accept Cicero's persuasion, and with a spirit of no return, he walked in, and then disappeared into the light and shadow of the corridor.

Seeing that Langis did not appear, Calabis breathed a sigh of relief, he was afraid that if Langis was arrested as a tainted witness, he would be involved, since he was still absconding, then the whole case trial had nothing to do with him, Calabis had no interest in who was elected consul, anyway, whoever should only have a one-year term, most politicians just use this year to satisfy their selfish desires for themselves or the political group they belong to.

But when he returned to his apartment, Calabis still felt the heat of the election campaign in the city of Rome: in front of many aristocratic courtyards, there were long tables, no money was spent, even if you didn't have a ballot, you could have a full meal there, the tables and chairs were clean, the atmosphere was simple and warm, it was to give the people who came to eat a sense of commoner, indicating that the masters had put down the aristocrats' frames, and there were people who came to eat, although the food was not gorgeous, but it was very affordable, and when the gang ate to the bottom of the plate, they would find the eye-catching inscription engraved on the bottom of the plate:" Please support Catiline, to support him is to support all the civilians of Rome".

It seemed that these nobles were all supporters of Catiline, but before the free meal was over, a guy dressed as a rich man set up a tent and a latory next to him, and shouted "I am Neruda. Sequestre, citizens of Neruda, I beg you to support the candidates I support, and I promise a great price for each vote, which will not disappoint anyone - the votes of the districts of the city of Rome, each of which is a thousand cesdes; The votes of the Latin city-states, seven hundred and fifty cesthes each! Then, many of the guys who were still dining, wiped their mouths, and ran to the other place in a big way, and after the registration was finished, they began to take the small silver coins from the pottery urn on the stage.

Sequestre, Calabis also learned during this time, they are like bankers, but also like the brokers of candidates, many of them have a lot of money, and are willing to pay a large amount of money for the candidate he fancies, even if the candidate is unable to pay it back at that time, it doesn't matter, as long as you can be elected consul, these Sequestres will naturally find you and ask you for something in return - rationing rights for the expeditionary corps, subcontracting of mines, some changes in commercial policy, etc. In short, being a Sequestre for a consul candidate is a strange and rewarding deal, and of course there are risks involved, because there are only two consuls a year, and if you make a mistake, you will lose all your money.

"By the way, in my previous era, even elementary school students knew that the future overlord of the city of Rome was the emerging Julius now. Caesar, can I make a lot of money in the Warin Apartment project, and then become his Sequestre, in exchange for my own life and prosperity? Yes, yes, it's an interesting deal. Calabis secretly thought that with Caesar's current age and qualifications, he was not enough to run for consul, but when he was a city magistrate, he had won the favor of many citizens, but he was also in debt for it, so Claudia also reminded him to seize Caesar's cover, and the greater Caesar's room for rise in the future, in this process, the stronger and deeper the mutual aid relationship between him and Caesar may be—Calabis, you have a likable appearance, you are proficient in Latin and Greek languages, and you have learned to fight swords and fists. You can be more ambitious to help Caesar and enter the circle of legions and power, because the more powerful you are in this gluttonous city, the safer you are.

However, the first condition of these plans is the Wallin apartment, which is also the first big gamble of my career!

At dusk, Catiline walked out of the Grand Court with some fatigue, he won the case, he was exonerated from his crimes, but he also poured out the eight million sceths that had been scraped in the province of Africa, and he was back to the dilapidated aristocracy that had no upper and lower meals, and looked at the supporters around him who congratulated him on his innocence, and at the public buying table set up by his election opponents, Catiline smiled bitterly and wept, and then he saw a handsome young man standing by.

The young man flashed a pair of big eyes that were flattering, and said, "You want to send that knight of Langis to assassinate Galba?" This is a violation of the taboo of the city of Rome. ”

"I don't, I'm a nobleman, I can kill anyone to my face, but I won't do the trick of sending assassins. But I'm at a loss for words, I've fallen into the trap of political opponents, maybe Cicero, maybe Neruda. Catiline's pale face was filled with a pair of eyes that were about to erupt with fire.

"It's useless to guess here, I'm an eyewitness to the incident, and I can only tell you that in Langis's assassination team, there was a freeman named Calabis, who was still alive and in this Roman city, and he might know the ins and outs of the matter." With that, the young man smiled and disappeared into the crowd.

"Calabis," Catiline said word by word