Chapter 19: Yulia's Letter I

"I always value freedom and put it above money." -- Nevias.

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At this time, the great court was even more bustling, and men and women from the slums, carrying chair legs, iron rods, chisels, and other things, from the shantytowns of Mount Evandini, Subla district, and the shanty town by the Maximus sewer, rushed to the Grand Court, some of them had received a signal from Claudius's henchmen in advance, and some of them had come spontaneously to protect the future tribune, and they were not interested in the peachy secrets of the nobles' boudoirs, since Claudius could give up his nobility and become one of them, and would be willing to serve all the shackles and " The people in the "floating island" apartment are willing to give a million points of loyalty. The crowd quickly dispersed and beat the wealthy citizens who had gathered at the foot of the colonnade steps of the courtroom to watch the bustle, and then threw stones, planks, or iron-hard grain wheat relief bread into the courtroom, like a storm, and the servants had to remove the feather weaving boards or picture plates from the courtroom to resist them.

The chief trial attorney, Catullus, looked calm, while Cicero was a little frightened, he was afraid that he would not be able to return home after the adjournment, "Dear Cicero, you must know that you are the father of the nation, and that you have immunity for life, and this is the privilege granted to you by the Roman Municipal Assembly when the Catiline conspiracy was crushed, and no one dares to harm you, so don't be afraid." "Catullus was very adamant about cheering Cicero.

Cicero, regaining his confidence, led the prostitutes to a row of robed men, "Since you all say. The Knight of Calabis and his adopted son Claudius. Five hundred were consumed for each of you. Even eight hundred dinars, and a day and a night, you must know which of them is them, right? ”

The prostitutes began to scratch their ears and cheeks, and hesitate and prevaricate in front of all the men, pinching and bumping at the men, Cicero and Catullus. And Lucuras in the spectators sneered, yes, Cicero had successfully proved that the new knight Calabis was lying.

What awaited Calabis was a beating of the rod and a fine of ten thousand ceses.

The beating was carried out on the spot, and Calabis knelt in front of the colonnade, right in the internal and external spheres, and the scene of his execution was clearly visible to both the jury and the onlookers. The stick slammed down and hit him on the back. Although it was only ten strokes, it was also a bloody scene, and the cheers and sympathetic cries of the mob outside were overwhelming, and they regarded Calabis, who had come out for Claudius, as a well-known hero.

Claudius, who returned to the patio of the dome, looked at Cicero with a gloomy face and a terrifying look in his eyes.

Cicero was also a little annoyed, he really didn't believe that this young man, who had been born and died for himself in Catiline's conspiracy, and who respectfully came to his house from time to time to ask for rhetoric and oratories, had been very fond of Haode young man, who was actually a whore scum who had seduced his wife in private, and was the ghost of the world that remained after Catiline's death.

So Cicero decided to kill the killer and destroy Claudius completely, and he summoned a witness to Zuihou, a neighbor on Palatine Hill and Claudius's sister, Claudia.

Cicero then frantically attacked Claudia, and he brought in a slave girl from her ex-husband's family to testify that she had an ambiguous relationship with her own brother: "At the age of fifteen, Claudius still shares a bed with you in the name of fear of the dark, and all the Romans regard the scandal of your siblings as an appetizing dessert on the table." ”

"I heard that your nickname is Little Copper, and your mistress promised to give you a bag of silver coins, but you opened it and saw that it was full of copper."

"You have promiscuous sex with those swinger brothers, not only on Beye's yacht, but also in all parts of the city of Rome, in the hidden backstreets, at the dirty crossroads, and you sell yourself like a prostitute at any time if you think that the objects of your flesh are of use, and you seduce the noble men who sit in the first fourteen rows of the theater to moral corruption, but you hang out with lowly commoners on the bed, and you even seduce the young people who are still playing the walnut game, Hurt their vitality and virginity! ”

"You talk to people in the most vulgar language, you corrupt the atmosphere of the Roman city, and you want to win the rights of women in the social arena, your brother is a good example for you to educate, not only will I let your brother be punished for violating the high priest's mansion this time, but I will also disqualify him from running for tribune."

Cicero showed no mercy, and Claudia, though she was attacked to the fullest and her brother's fierce roar rang in her ears, remained unusually reticent as if she were acknowledging, but when Cicero threatened his brother's eligibility for office, she even begged the most powerful of eloquents to open up to her family, for like the Claudius family, political future was a matter of life. Lucuras, who was in the audience, stopped laughing, looked at his ex-wife and brother-in-law, and then at his adopted son, who was lying on the spot panting after being beaten with a rod, and was silent for a while, and felt that he had had had enough pleasure in this comedy, and left his seat and went back to Villa Prima.

At this time, with Cicero's hearty victory, the noise of the mob outside became louder and more terrifying, and even the members of the jury began to tremble, "Whether your brother is qualified or not depends on Julius. His Excellency Caesar did not think it necessary to punish him, but I believe that Caesar had the wish that your brother's future would be over, and that a man convicted of a crime, as Catiline had in those days, would be automatically disqualified from running for consulship or tribune. ”

But after Luculas left, and after Cicero summoned Caesar to testify in court, Caesar did not arrive for a long time until the mob outside lit torches.

Zuihou, an old slave of the family Julius in Subura, entered the court with permission, "The master has left the city of Rome and is on his way to the post of governor in Far Spain. ”

It was like another bomb exploding, Catullus expressed his unusually puzzled, Cicero was angry, Claudius shouted wildly, and Calabis secretly sneered, "But before leaving, the master said that he did not want to make any statement on the matter, and that he himself had no hatred or hostility towards Claudius, but Caesar's wife's chastity was not allowed to be questioned, so he abandoned Pepea." ”

"Alright, the jury members are ready to vote." Catullus said angrily that it was getting late, and that he had seen enough of the farce.

After a while, a jury member stood up with a shudder, looked at the torches scattered everywhere, and began to apply to Attorney Caturlus for "vote protection" because they feared brutal reprisals when they walked out of the courtroom. (To be continued......)