Roman Contradiction

The society of Rome seems reasonable at first glance, but it has a huge contradiction inside.

It wasn't like that from the beginning.

Over hundreds of years, the system's contradictions have been deposited one by one.

Some of them have been sutured, but some remain unresolved and are slowly eating away at society.

There is from the petty problem of an unpaid lawyer laundering money with art to the growing economic dependence on slaves.

The confrontation between self-employed farmers and aristocrats over land allocation and the oligarchy centered on the Senate, which is too inefficient to govern a large territory.

Among them, the problem of decaying in 63 B.C. was related to the election system.

Rome's elected officials, the so-called honorable career, were not paid.

However, it naturally took a huge amount of money to hold elections in the order of quaestor, aedile, praetor, and consul.

Even Roman elections were based on plutocracy.

It is a structure in which anyone who is not a huge rich person has no choice but to be in debt.

Even if he was elected there, he could not receive a salary, so he had no choice but to take bribes to pay off his debts.

It was as if it was planned for those who were appointed as governors of the province to commit harsh exploitation.

The wealthy Orient was better off, but those who were dispatched to Gaul or Africa still couldn't pay their debts.

In particular, it was difficult to seize after the Verres trial because the residents frequently prosecuted the governor.

Lucius Sergius Catilina was a typical aristocrat suffering from this contradictory Roman system.

Marcus knew well because he was recorded in history as a person who had such a huge accident.

"I understand that you need funds for the consul election. First of all, I don't think it's a matter to talk about in this kind of place, so is it okay to move the place?"

"Well, yes."

He decided to postpone celebrating Caesar's election until tomorrow.

Anyway, there were so many people who wanted to say congratulations right now that he couldn't even see their faces properly.

After asking Julia's understanding, he guided Catilina back to the mansion.

Danae, who had previously been in charge of loans, brought materials about Catilina.

Catilina was nervous and said nothing.

Danae and Julia also quietly waited for Marcus to open his mouth.

They could hear only the sound of Marcus spreading the scroll in the tablinum.

"You're already in considerable debt."

Catilina, who was about to drink the wine, stiffened at Marcus' insignificant remark.

He sighed as he put down the wine glass again with a stiff movement.

"Yes...I'm a little in debt."

The debt Catilina had so far owed was insignificant, even with empty words.

Many Roman politicians had huge debts, but now the most famous were Caesar and Catilina.

However, Catilina did not enjoy a luxurious life like Caesar.

His family was a prestigious family that produced consuls, but now the family was in a difficult situation economically due to a significant decline in family power.

As a result, political activities had no choice but to rely solely on debt.

He was elected as a praetor, but he was not able to save enough money to pay off his debts because he was appointed to Africa.

"You've lost two consecutive elections to the consul election, and your debt has accumulated beyond your control. You lost in the first round. You was put on trial for abuse of power in the province and lost your candidacy."

"That was found not guilty.

"The second election was defeated in third place. So this time, you will go to the election with the determination to win."

"Yes. So please lend me some funds. If I become a consul, it will be much easier to be appointed as a governor of the East, and I will be able to pay back enough money I borrowed from you."

Catilina seemed quite urgent. He was naturally nervous because no one lent money when he couldn't hold an election without money.

But it was his own fault that he couldn't borrow money.

Creditors did not just lend him more money because he owed a large amount of debt.

Marcus spoke of the root cause of Catilina's difficulty in borrowing money.

"But can I get the money I lent you because you're going to be elected consul?"

"...what are you talking about? If you're a consul, of course you can pay it back."

"The will is more important than the ability to repay debt. Just looking at the promise you made last time, it's like that."

"Well, it's...."

Catilina narrowed his brows and turned his eyes around.

Before he could even come up with an excuse, Marcus struck first.

"Full forgiveness of debt. For creditors like us, isn't that a terrifying promise indeed?"

"It's just a pledge. What can't you say during the election?"

"I agree with that, but your pledge has a different weight. People with huge debts are supporting you with a feeling of being driven to the brink. You're in the same situation as them. But can you pretend you don't know as soon as you are elected? There will be riots right away and your political life will end."

Catilina could no longer keep his composure.

His eyes were filled with anger unique to the man who they drove to a dead end.

Originally, he was a straightforward person, and he was not a person who could not be calm even with numerous debts.

Most people are usually like this.

Caesar, who calmly asked for more money even though he was blindfolded in debt, was a rather strange type.

If you don't pay off your debts, you'll only be waiting for a miserable collapse.

Catilina's voice, he believes so, was filled with anger that he did not even realize.

"Then you won't lend me money either. Is this what you mean?"

"That's not true. However, if you are elected as a consul, I want you to write a contract that prioritizes repaying the money you borrowed from me."

"Well, of course. I will write it right here. I will pay back the money I borrowed from you first."

"All right, let's make a contract."

Marcus smiled and held out a piece of parchment.

Julia and Danae opened their eyes wide at how he kindly lent money.

Catalina also asked in a puzzled tone.

"Are you sure you're going to lend me your campaign money? Is it this easy?"

"Yes. But I hope you keep it a secret that I lent it to you. There will be many people in the Senate who want Catalina to be eliminated from the election."

"Of course. I won't do anything that could harm you at all. I'm also an honorable aristocrat, so I can't do anything to harm my benefactor."

Catilina called Marcus a benefactor.

This was by no means an exaggeration.

The reason creditors bully Catilina with words is that he still has the chance of winning.

If he judges that his political life is over, he may be immediately subject to forced collection.

That's why this consul election was more important than anything else.

If you win here, you'll have the least amount of breath.

Even the loudest creditors will keep their mouths shut if he is elected as consul.

Of course, if it falls again this time, the future is really hopeless then.

For a poor aristocrat, an election is a gamble for his life.

Still, Catilina could breathe a sigh of relief just by being able to participate in that gambling house.

After thanking Marcus several times, he turned around and hurriedly left the tablinum.

Since there was money to hold the election, it was to come up with a specific strategy.

Julia stared at Marcus' face as he saw Catilina off.

There was a feeling of incomprehension on her face.

"Mr. Marcus, are you really going to lend him money?"

"You wrote a contract. Of course I'll lend it to you."

"Of course Mr. Marcus has a plan...…."

Julia pondered for a moment but couldn't think of a reason to lend him money.

Danae also tilted her head and looked at Catilina's information once more.

"Did you decide that Mr. Catilina had the ability to repay the debt?"

Danae, who is involved in the loan business, has already researched all the famous debtors in Rome.

The wise Julia also helped with her mission. The two of them had already discussed and reached a conclusion.

Catilina, of course, has also been the subject of discussion.

The common conclusion between the two was that they should not lend money to him.

There's no way Marcus wouldn't know that.

He poured a glass of wine, which he had diluted, into his mouth.

"Of course, Catalina doesn't have the ability to pay back the money. If there was such a thing, would a person have become so shady?"

Even though they were the same debtors, Caesar and Catilina had different types.

Caesar's attitude has not changed, no matter how much debt he owes.

This is because he had firm confidence that he could repay debts at any time.

Such people don't feel much pressure, no matter how much debt they have.

On the other hand, those who, like Catilina, are deeply conscious of their debts to be repaid will inevitably become insignificant.

His personality is getting darker, and he is less confident in his words and actions.

Creditors are more sensitive to this change in the attitude of debtors than anyone else.

Most Roman creditors believed that Catilina was now slowly hopeless.

If you fail in this consul election, that's it. And they judged that the probability of losing the election also converges to nearly 100 percent.

At the same time, Julia found it difficult to understand Marcus's intention to lend money.

"If you lend money even though you know it will fail, the purpose is to debt Mr. Catilina...… I don't understand even if you say so."

'Oh, you're sharp.'

Julia's conjecture came close to the truth. But she couldn't reach the truth beyond that either.

Marcus' goal was to get Catilina into a huge debt from which he couldn't recover.

Desperate by repeated failures in history, Catilina gathers colleagues in similar situations to plot a rebellion.

At this time, Cicero's speech impeaching Catilina has been handed down as it is in modern times.

This speech is also a prestigious text that Latin learners must see at least once.

Marcus was going to intervene in history in earnest and expand his position.

As he was about to enter the Senate, he needed to make a good impression on citizens and senators.

The stage that he chose for that is the Catilina rebellion.

The suppression of the rebellion was purely to protect the order of the republic, so there was no need to worry.

There was enough justification for him to be active as he lent a large amount of money to Catilina and was unable to receive it.

It was a waste of money to lend for the election, but he could afford it if it were considered an investment for the future.

Those who did not know this plan were naturally unable to understand Marcus' decision.

It was because, no matter how intelligent Julia was, it was impossible to predict even a rebellion.

"This consul election is going to have a pretty big impact. You need to prepare in advance. Just in case, tell the people in the house to pay attention to safety as well."

"Yes, I will."

Julia smiled faintly with a puzzled expression.

She wanted to get a wise husband, but she realized she could get a headache even if she met someone too thoughtful.

Julia, who had too many things to calculate, listened to Marcus' instructions with both hands raised.

The discussion between the two couples did not end until late at night.

* * *

The situation afterward went as Marcus predicted.

Cicero, the current consul, loudly argued that they should ban Catiline's candidacy altogether.

"Senators! Catalina doesn't just want debt relief. He knows well that even if he becomes a consul, he can't pass this policy. But why did he make such a strange promise? That's because he's looking for a revolution!"

Catilina rightly dismissed Cicero's slander as groundless.

There was an atmosphere that other senators were also reluctant to ban candidates who had no reason for disqualification.

Cicero persistently insisted on blocking Catiline's candidacy, but he could not go against the trend.

In the end, the vote concluded that there was no problem with Catalina's registration as a consul candidate.

Instead, the Senate put forward two strong candidates to prevent Catalina from winning.

They were Decimus Junius Silanus and Lucius Licinius Murena.

Both were prestigious aristocrats similar to Catilina and were clearly more recognizable.

On top of that, if the Senate gave full support, there was no chance that these two would lose to Catalina.

It convinced everyone in the Senate of that.

Cicero, Cato, and even Caesar, whose political insight surpassed the two, had no particular differences.

Marcus, who knows history, was planning on the premise of that fact.

However, there are always exceptions to everything in the world.

And those cracks usually happen in unexpected places.

"The gladiator match was rigged?"

After receiving Septimus' report, Marcus lightly clicked his tongue.

"I would have been thoroughly prepared to prevent that from happening."

No matter what the game is, as long as a person plays it, the temptation to manipulate it is inevitable. Suppose a large amount of money is at stake; the temptation doubles.

Marcus has seen numerous examples of match-fixing in modern times and has prepared in advance.

Gladiators involved in match-fixing are subject to the death penalty without exception.

And the person who arranged the manipulation had their personal information disclosed throughout Rome and was put on trial.

Some aediles periodically monitored the aspects of the competition and the behavior of gladiators.

In the case of a gladiator match, it was easier to find traces of manipulation because it was a duel that risked life.

Septimus handed over a report detailing the progress of the incident and explained the situation in detail.

"I think we were caught like this thanks to your attention. Fortunately, it was caught while trying to manipulate it, so there was no damage. Rather, it can be said that the trust of the citizens has increased even more since the cheating was caught in advance."

"Yes. But what stupid human being tried to manipulate the game? Didn't you think you'd get caught?"

"It seems that the person who attempted the manipulation intentionally lost the regional competition and then tried to collect a large dividend. But he's a pretty big shot. Rumors are already spreading widely."

Marcus, who read the report quickly, frowned and sighed.

"A human who was governor of Gallia Transalpine did something like this? Oh, since he was the governor of the province, it would have been easier for him to seduce the Gaul."

Gallia Transalpine was the first Roman province of Gaul, corresponding to modern southern France.

The man who tried to manipulate the match used his influence to approach the Gaul gladiators.

And he gave the order to defeat in the way he instructed so that he would use his hand so that he would not die even if he lost the match.

However, one of the gladiators who had undergone thorough prevention training in preparation for such a situation reported it to the aedile.

The news immediately spread throughout Rome; of course, it was a mess.

However, Marcus, who somehow felt familiar with the manipulator's name, tilted his head.

"Lucius Murena? I think I've seen this name somewhere...…."

It was only a moment of trouble.

Recalling where he had seen this name, Marcus was struck with a blow to the head.

Lucius Murena, who served as governor of Gallia Transalpine, is currently the only one in Rome.

"Is this Lucius Murena the one I know?"

Septimus nodded with a puzzled face and confirmed it.

"Yes. He's the one who came out as a candidate for the consul election. Now that the rumor has spread, it should be said that there is no hope for an election."

"No, wait.... If this guy falls...…."

There is a saying called the butterfly effect.

The principle is that minor flaps caused by butterflies in Brazil may cause tornadoes in the United States.

This meant that even the slightest change could lead to huge consequences.

That's exactly the way things are now.

Lucius Murena is greedy, but he has never tried to manipulate the game in history.

No, there might have been and might not have been discovered.

However, Murena, who had her eyes set on Marcus' newly improved gladiator fights, was caught correctly.

It was almost impossible to deny since he was caught red-handed.

The aftermath of attempting to rig the match in a gladiatorial game loved by the majority of the Romans was huge.

Roman citizens ruthlessly voted to condemn politicians who had harmed them.

In the election that decided the consulship of 62 B.C., Lucius Murena was defeated, unlike the original history.

Even with the full support of the Senate, it was difficult to turn the hearts of the angry citizens.

Instead, Catilina, who had a hard time in third place, was elected as a father.

Not only the Senate but also Marcus was embarrassed by the unexpected results.

For the first time, the flow of history flowed out of Marcus' control.

The fact that it was caused by something completely unexpected made the shock all the more.

However, no matter how incredible it is, the reality that has already happened does not change.

The result of the election, which no one expected, was devastated and swept through Rome.