Three months passed quickly.
During the last few months, a large quantity of construction materials had been gathered and accumulated near the cities of Capua, Naples, and Puteoli.
Septimus planned to completely reform the three cities and turn them into three great metropolises capable of housing a population of 500,000 people.
The project was ambitious and far exceeded the productive limits of present-day Rome.
The ambitious plan would last for decades, and Septimus was willing to invest time and money to complete it.
Septimus's confidence came from the substantial profits from the sale of white sugar, alcoholic beverages, and paper.
A great number of nobles and elites were purged during the civil war, but more people rose to prominence and filled the power vacuum left behind.
Sulla was generous toward the people who supported him during his most difficult moments and had no reservations about promoting many of his most loyal subordinates.
The newly rich nobles also became extravagant in their purchases, and enormous sums of money were spent acquiring luxury products.
The spending of the new nobility in power generated a rapid recovery in Rome's economy.
Previously, many declining noble families had supported Sulla during the Pontus campaign, and after the persecution by Marius's faction they hid in Greece.
After Sulla's victory, most of the declining noble families regained their glory and occupied the power vacuums left behind by the purged noble families.
Septimus did not want to know much about the reasons behind the extravagant spending of the new nobles.
The social life of the Roman nobility revolved around banquets and sodomite celebrations filled with excess.
Septimus's mentality was not conservative, but he was reluctant to participate in massive orgies involving women, middle-aged men, and even elderly men.
On the other hand, the three legions were a great deterrent and gave Septimus enormous influence without needing to participate in promiscuous acts to strengthen social ties with the upper-class circles.
The three clone legions were divided throughout the entire region of Campania, controlling the key locations.
Due to Septimus's influence and negotiations with Sulla, the position of admiral of Campania was discreetly ceded to Septimus.
From his mansion in the city of Decapitadora, Septimus felt proud of his great achievements.
The children of Septimus and his clones were growing healthy and strong every day.
Time flies, and three years passed in the blink of an eye. Inside the city of Capua, a young 19-year-old woman named Naba walked through the streets carrying a coarse cloth bag.
Inside the bag were vegetables, grain, and a piece of meat.
Naba felt satisfied with her current life and walked calmly through the intricate streets of the city of Capua.
Previously, Naba had been the daughter of a very poor freedman family.
Naba's father was a drunken old man who had accumulated an enormous gambling debt with a local gang. Naba's mother died during childbirth.
Naba's fate was to be sold to the gang and eventually end up in a brothel for the rest of her life.
But everything changed on the day of the massacre.
A large group of legionaries wearing black armor and a sinister symbol conquered the city and searched house by house.
Politics was a subject very distant from the lower social classes, and Naba did not know the reasons behind the war.
All the men were dragged away and killed, including Naba's drunken father.
Sixteen-year-old Naba thought she would be violated by the soldiers, but to the young woman's consternation, none of the soldiers showed any intention of violating her.
In the days following the massacre, the black Roman soldiers occasionally inspected the residences of the inhabitants and took away the hidden men.
The black legionaries also distributed food among the surviving women.
Terrified, Naba hid inside her dilapidated house and only came out to receive food while waiting for her tragic fate.
Fortunately for Naba, her tragic fate never arrived.
In the following months, the black army organized a large number of marriages for the young and unmarried women within the city.
Naba was included in the first round of women for marriage.
Naba's new husband was a 20-year-old man with a determined expression and a decent appearance.
The newly formed couple barely knew each other, but they quickly got along well.
The man was named Nazzio and was part of Septimus's thousands of clones throughout the region of Campania.
Nazzio loved and respected the young Naba, and as a result, the young couple easily fell in love.
After more than a year, the first child between Naba and Nazzio was born.
Soon, the reform plan in the cities was implemented, and the construction boom arrived.
Septimus's changes mainly affected the cities of Capua, Naples, and Puteoli, and exhaustive control was necessary.
Naba remembered how gangs had previously controlled the freedmen slums.
After the purge by the black army, the gangs disappeared, and the young wives dared to wander alone through the intricate streets of Capua.
During the last few years, Naba's life had improved, and she felt very satisfied.
She had a husband who loved and respected her, along with a small child who grew healthier every day.
Food prices became more affordable, and the grain speculator merchants disappeared without daring to return to Capua.
Life was improving, and Naba felt that the future was promising.
Naba walked down the street humming a soft melody.
As she passed by a corner, a large number of soldiers were explaining new policies to a group of women.
Curious, Naba slowly approached to ask questions.
The news Naba received left her astonished.
The entire area where the slums and Naba's dilapidated house were located would be destroyed and rebuilt into new homes.
Naba was happy and hurried quickly toward her house.
Naba's happiness came from the government's offer.
The government of the city of Capua offered two options;
Money to purchase the houses in the slums or temporary housing until the reconstruction of the entire residential zone was completed.
The residential zone, unlike the overcrowded residential slums and precarious houses, was a dreamlike place for most people.
Large and comfortable three-story houses built in uniform rows.
During the last three years, the city of Capua had begun rebuilding the houses in the slums.
At first, many women were skeptical, but the new husbands convinced them to accept the changes.
Roman society was plagued with corruption, and freedmen without the ability to vote did not possess many rights.
The powerful figures in Rome would not try to gain the goodwill of a group of freedmen without voting rights or political influence.
As a future metropolis, the city of Capua would maintain order in its streets, and the intricate labyrinth-like streets would be erased.
Thousands of clones, after destroying the dilapidated houses in the slums, worked tirelessly on a drainage system and an aqueduct.
There were no construction machines, and the use of pulley machines invented by the Greeks became common throughout the region.
Septimus strove to achieve maximum efficiency and speed while overcoming the limitations of the era.
The construction boom in the city of Capua generated a boost in the local economy.
Septimus had no intention of creating a collective economy in the communist style. He had the capability, but the purpose of long-term integration required the clones to be capable of supporting themselves.