The news that Gaius Julius Caesar had completely pacified the entirety of Hispania threw Rome into an uproar.
"I heard those barbarian wretches hide in the mountains all day and only creep out of their caves at night."
"If he's achieved something of that magnitude, Caesar will definitely be granted a Triumph. It's been a while since we've had a proper spectacle!"
Every citizen in Rome was buzzing with anticipation for the upcoming Triumph.
The Roman Triumph was one of the Republic's most ancient and sacred traditions, dating all the way back to the era of the kings.
A commander who won a truly great victory for Rome was granted the right to hold a Triumph.
The victorious general would ride in a chariot drawn by four horses, parading through the heart of the city to the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus.
Normally, it was strictly forbidden for any soldier to enter the pomerium—the sacred boundary of Rome—while bearing arms. But during a Triumph, this strict rule was temporarily suspended.
"To be fair, Pompey has had far too many Triumphs lately. Hasn't he had three all to himself?"
"Didn't he try to ride a chariot pulled by elephants through the city gates once, only to get stuck?"
"Hah! If he had actually pulled that off, it would have been a sight to see."
"Wait, didn't Crassus only get an Ovation?"
"That's right. After all, he had only crushed a slave revolt. The Senate didn't think it was worthy of a full Triumph."
An Ovation was a lesser form of a Roman Triumph.
Crassus had been the one to brutally crush the Spartacus rebellion, but the Senate had ultimately handed the lion's share of the glory to Pompey.
Crassus was only granted an Ovation because defeating an army of slaves, rather than a foreign enemy state, was deemed beneath the dignity of a true Triumph.
However, the monumental conquests Caesar had achieved in Hispania were undeniably worthy of the highest honors.
"Well, looks like we're in for another grand show."
While the citizens gossiped about the impending festivities, not everyone in Rome welcomed the news.
***
"First the son, and now the father is to have a Triumph. This is an absolute nightmare."
"But we can't exactly block the Triumph. You can't deny the sheer scale of Caesar's military achievements."
"..."
Quintus Metellus and Hortensius sat in silence, lost in their own thoughts.
Ever since his son and nephew had been publicly humiliated by Lucius during the vigintisexviri elections, Metellus had been waiting like a vulture for a chance to ruin the boy.
He thought he had succeeded at the last session of the Senate.
When Lucius Caesar formally requested Senate funding for his towers, Metellus had aggressively rallied his Optimate allies to vote it down.
Yet, despite their best efforts, Lucius Caesar bypassed the Senate entirely, successfully building his towers and steadily expanding his political influence.
"You are aware of the announcement Lucius made a few weeks ago, aren't you? The boy is lavishing obscene sums on his workers."
"How could I not be? Word is that practically every capable engineer in Rome has flocked to Caesar's banner. It's become nearly impossible for anyone else to hire nowadays," Hortensius replied.
But their fears extended far beyond Caesar's expanding commercial influence.
"That ridiculous lottery thing he proposed is already in full effect. And with Lucius pouring his own wealth into the plebs... aren't we going to see a massive surge in citizens rising into the Equestrian Order?"
"..."
Unlike the ancient patrician houses whose status was determined by blood, anyone who amassed enough wealth could technically qualify to become an an eques—a knight, if he also fulfilled the required military service.
If the number of men elevated to the Equestrian Order purely through Caesar's financial patronage continued to multiply...
It would be a nightmare scenario for the Optimate faction in the Senate.
"If we just sit here and do nothing, the Julii are going to swallow Rome whole. The very foundations of the Republic will be torn apart."
"Then shouldn't true patriots like us step up and do something before that happens?"
"Like what, exactly?"
"First and foremost, we need to sever Lucius Caesar from Rome. If Gaius returns bathed in military glory and joins forces with his son, they will become completely unstoppable," Metellus replied in a cold tone.
They had to strike while the elder Caesar was still in Hispania.
"The boy is currently serving as one of the vigintisexviri. Let us use that to our advantage."
The two men meticulously began to lay the groundwork for their plot.
However, it didn't take long for an unexpected new development to emerge.
"Crassus did what?"
***
"I have publicly pledged to donate nine-tenths of my entire fortune for the benefit of the Roman citizens! After careful deliberation on how best to carry out this pledge..."
Hot on the heels of the news from Hispania, Crassus's latest announcement sent another shock through Rome.
The wealthiest man in the Republic—the man who owned more land and slaves than anyone else alive—had made an announcement no one expected.
"First, I will establish a fund of loans for our military veterans! To support our heroes who are suffering from financial hardship, I will provide money at very low interest!"
"Wait, so Crassus is going to lend us money?"
"I heard they've already set up money tables at a few of his insulae. Apparently, if you get a tribal elder to vouch for you, you can get money there."
"Is that actually true?"
Borrowing money from usurers and moneylenders was a common occurrence in Rome.
Almost every politician leveraged themselves into massive debt to fund their campaigns, and ordinary citizens frequently took out loans just to survive.
However, a man like Crassus stepping forward in person to offer low-interest loans directly to the plebeians was entirely unprecedented.
"And he's barely charging any interest?! What a truly merciful and generous man!"
"How many patricians would willingly part with their own wealth like that?"
Ever since Lucius Caesar established the first Veterans' Fund, countless politicians and Publicani—Crassus included—had rushed to establish their own public funds.
To them, these foundations were a brilliant tool for winning favor and dignitas.
"If Caesar is buying loyalty by throwing money at the masses, shouldn't we be doing the exact same thing?"
"We definitely need to strengthen our ties among the equites."
As even men like Metellus, ordinarily staunch Optimates, joined the fray, the competition to establish charitable foundations turned fierce.
They began lending money to citizens and tenant farmers, offering loans on many different terms.
In truth, practically every senator was already heavily involved in the moneylending business.
Roman law strictly forbade senators from engaging in overt commerce, and agricultural land alone rarely yielded massive profits.
Consequently, they naturally employed specialized slaves or freedmen to act as their proxies in the lucrative moneylending market.
And now, their private lending networks were being expanded and opened to the wider public.
As these loan programs exploded in popularity, a new financial order was beginning to appear.
Deposits.
Citizens were beginning to entrust their own savings to these great funds.
***
"If we don't want to miss this opportunity, we need to act immediately."
Babu handed me a thick stack of paper as he spoke.
Felix and I reviewed the numbers written on the sheets.
"Profit from deposits, then," I muttered with a slight chuckle.
Honestly, if someone from the 21st century walked in right now, they'd think they had walked into a banker's council.
"We leverage the capital deposited by the citizens to generate profit, and we use a portion of those returns to pay interest back to the depositors."
You couldn't describe the basic logic of banking any more cleanly than that.
In truth, this kind of financial system wasn't entirely alien to the ancient world.
Centuries ago in Greece, institutions known as trapezai functioned as early banks, offering both deposit and loan services.
Using these institutions, the Greeks heavily invested in workshops, shipyards, and maritime trade. The Romans of this era operated on a very similar principle.
No major merchant or patrician physically lugged giant sacks of gold coins around to conduct business.
Most massive transactions were settled through entries in account books.
"But expanding deposit and loan services to the common plebeians, rather than just the patrician and equestrian elite..."
"It is certainly unprecedented," Felix nodded in agreement.
"But just as Babu said, the profits could be enormous. Crassus and other major politicians like Metellus have already jumped into the market."
"And they've cleverly framed it as charity for the citizens," I added.
I had to hand it to Crassus.
I honestly hadn't expected him to come up with something this clever.
When he initially announced he was donating nine-tenths of his wealth, I assumed it was just mere political showmanship.
But by structuring his 'donation' as a subsidized loan program, he could aggressively buy the citizens' loyalty while still claiming he had kept his word.
Even though he was lending the money out, managing debt in this era was incredibly difficult.
Even in the 21st century, major banks frequently went bankrupt because of bad loans.
In ancient Rome, properly assessing collateral and setting viable interest rates for commoners was a nightmare to manage.
The potential for massive financial loss was very real.
Crassus must have fully braced himself for the risk before making his announcement.
"You are in a vastly superior position compared to them, sir Caesar," Babu argued, his voice thick with excitement.
"You have a system of numerals far superior to anyone else's. Other merchants are slowly starting to adopt the Caesar numerals, but our clerks are by far the most experienced."
"And we already have the insurance business running, giving us strong connections with the tribal elders."
In this era, the only viable way to run a moneylending business was to secure physical collateral or personal guarantors.
If you held collateral, you could mitigate your losses if the debtor defaulted.
If they had a powerful guarantor, you could press them for repayment instead.
Babu was right. We were in a stronger position than anyone else.
"But the answer is no. If we try to mimic Crassus's strategy right now, it would be like a snake trying to swallow an elephant—we'd tear ourselves apart before we finished."
"But..."
Babu stared at me, his eyes wide with shock, clearly not expecting me to shoot the idea down.
Felix looked equally baffled.
"I honestly thought you would immediately dive into this, Young Master."
"Me? Why?"
"Well, since you started, you haven't stopped embarking on new ventures. And banking is just making money out of money, isn't it? It seems much easier than building factories and manufacturing physical goods."
"Felix, the easier something looks, the more dangerous it often proves."
I stared down at the numbers written on the paper.
There was one thing the numbers couldn't capture: human fear.
To generate profit as a bank, you had to take the deposits your customers entrusted and put that money to use elsewhere.
"But what happens if fear spreads, and all your customers suddenly demand their money back at the exact same time?"
"That's..." Felix muttered, trailing off.
"But aren't we already taking the premiums from the insurance business and slowly investing them elsewhere?"
"We are investing them very slowly, and very carefully. And we only just started."
We were finally beginning to accumulate enough records to calculate the risks with confidence.
I had been running the insurance business as cautiously as I possibly could.
And even then, there had been a few close calls.
Unless you had the enormous liquid wealth of Crassus, attempting to run a bank for the Roman plebs was the equivalent of lighting a fuse on a massive powder keg.
You might not know exactly 'when' it would detonate, but it was absolutely guaranteed to blow up in your face eventually.
There was no reason for me to take on that kind of suicidal risk.
"..."
While Felix and Babu maintained a disappointed silence, I fell deep into thought.
I wasn't the one who set off this rush into banking.
But Crassus had launched it to keep pace with me, and now the rest of the Optimate politicians and Publicani were recklessly piling in.
With my knowledge of modern economics, it wasn't hard to predict exactly what was going to happen next.
The only question was: how do I prepare for the inevitable fallout?
"When it comes down to it, there are only two things you need to prepare the future."
I raised my head and looked at the two men.
"Gold and silver."
Hearing my answer, Felix let out a long sigh.
"I think everyone in this room knew that answer, Young Master. But the problem is how to get them in the first place."
"I won't be running a bank. But a very lucrative opportunity presented itself not long ago."
My father, Gaius Caesar, had essentially pacified the entirety of Hispania.
And through the Library in my dream, I had access to over two thousand years of geological and historical data.
In particular, I had data showing the exact locations of the most abundant precious metal deposits in Hispania.
Silver.
"I need to send a letter to my father immediately."