As the Ostia Tower officially launched its funds transfer service, a huge crowd of merchants rushed the booth in the Forum.
"I need to send this as fast as possible. How much more will it cost me?"
"I was expecting a message from Ostia today. Has nothing arrived?"
"Rumor has it the Ostia towers are going to connect to other cities soon."
"Is that actually true?"
It was no secret that other Italian cities were scrambling to build their own towers.
And the one man who held the key to all this construction was none other than Lucius Caesar.
"Are you saying you'll hire operators specifically from our tribe?"
"What exactly will the qualifying exam cover?"
"Let's go find the guys who took the test last time and ask them."
The influential figures of the allied cities bent over backward to win Lucius Caesar's favor.
They knew that connecting to Rome as quickly as possible was the only way to gain enormous profits and advantages over other cities.
And gradually, more people began to notice the change in the air.
"Sir, Hortensius. I was waiting for you."
"Is Cato inside?"
"Yes, he is waiting for you in the Tablinum."
Hortensius followed the slave into the house, running a hand through his thinning curls.
Cato's domus was so barren it bordered on desolate. It lacked the ancestral statues, ornate fountains, and lavish decorations that nearly every other noble kept before his house.
It was the physical manifestation of the mos maiorum—the ancestral customs—and his severe Stoic principles.
But it wasn't completely without flaws.
"It seems even Cato cannot resist good wine," Hortensius muttered, eyeing the numerous wine amphorae scattered around the atrium.
It was a well-known fact that Cato was helpless before good wine.
For all his temperance and frugality, he could not resist wine.
Hortensius chuckled to himself and walked deeper into the estate.
"Senator Hortensius."
"Cato, it's been a while. Have you been well?"
"It is rather difficult to be well when looking at the current state of Rome."
"My thoughts exactly."
Hortensius nodded and sat in the chair Cato offered. He stared at the austere man for a moment.
"You were unwise to denounce Metellus so openly during the last election. You bear at least some of the responsibility for Lucius Caesar winning a place among the vigintisexviri."
"The young Caesar did not blatantly buy votes," Cato retorted, his brow furrowing in disgust. "Senator Metellus, on the other hand, brazenly violated the spirit of the mos maiorum."
"And thanks to your rigid morals, Lucius Caesar is now soaring beyond restraint."
Hortensius leaned forward.
Cato was always like this. A man who proudly wore his unwavering morality and integrity like a shield, claiming the legendary reputation of his ancestor, Cato the Elder, as his own.
"Lucius Caesar is showering his workers with great wealth, effectively turning them all into his political clients. Soon enough, countless of them will amass enough wealth to rise into the Equestrian Order."
"..."
While Cato remained silent, Hortensius pressed on.
"He is essentially building a private army. What do you think will happen when his father returns from Hispania in triumph? What if Gaius Julius Caesar is elected consul?"
"What is your point, senator Hortensius?"
"the Julii is a looming threat to our Republic. For the sake of preserving order, shouldn't we apply at least some restraints?"
Hortensius spread his hands and leaned back in his chair.
"The boy built a tower connecting Rome to Ostia. Now, he's trying to expand it across all of Italy. That means information from Rome will travel to other cities almost at once."
He continued, his voice dropping to a serious register.
"Do you still not understand? It was only a few years ago that our Italian allies fought a bloody war for citizenship. What do you think will happen if the Senate passes a law that goes against their interests, and they hear the news through the towers?"
"They would march on Rome within days," Cato muttered quietly.
"Exactly."
Historically, Rome had expanded its territory by forcing conquered or surrendered cities into alliances.
In many allied cities, citizens were not granted Roman citizenship, meaning they had no voice in Roman politics.
The Social War was a devastating civil war sparked by these Italian allied cities, furious at being denied political rights.
"We crushed their rebellion, yes. But we were forced to promise them citizenship to placate them."
Granting citizenship to the allied cities and the wider Italian population was no simple matter.
Although several laws had been passed after the war, countless legislative and political issues remained.
"Young Caesar already seduced the citizens of Ostia and drew them into Rome during his own election. He will undoubtedly repeat that tactic in future elections. Only next time, it won't just be Ostia—it will be mobs from all over Italy pouring into Rome."
"...That is undeniably too much auctoritas for one individual to hold," Cato admitted, stroking his chin. "If the Caesars monopolize the goodwill of Italian cities, the balance of the Republic will shatter."
"That is exactly my point. These towers linking Rome to her allies cannot remain in the hands of a single private citizen."
"But the Senate has already explicitly rejected Lucius Caesar's request for funding. We effectively declared we would not interfere."
"That does not mean we are completely out of options," Hortensius replied, picking up a cup of wine. "But I am going to need your help to make this happen, Cato."
In the ensuing silence, Cato stared at Hortensius without a word.
***
The political assault was led by Metellus and his fellow Optimates.
"The Ostia tower has become vital to the security of the Republic! To leave it in the hands of a single individual is sheer madness!"
"But didn't our Senate already reject Lucius Caesar's proposal for funding?"
As it became unmistakably clear that the towers were far more than a simple military alarm system, the topic dominated Senate discussions more and more frequently.
"Lucius Caesar poured his own vast personal fortune into building these towers. If we ignored him when he asked for help, only to confiscate his property now that it's successful, we will set a tyrannical precedent!"
"Exactly! How would the citizens view the Senate if we engage in outright theft?!"
Surprisingly, the man who most aggressively rose to defend Caesar in the Senate was Crassus.
In stark contrast to when the young Caesar had first asked for his help in the Senate, Crassus was now his most ardent defender.
"Lucius Caesar has already sworn to prioritize all military and state communications essential to the Republic's security. If that is the case, what possible reason does the Senate have to forcibly take over its operations?"
Standing from his seat, Crassus argued his point with cold, calculated logic.
"If the Senate seizes direct control, we will have to drain the treasury just to manage it, not to mention a nightmare to manage and train the operators ourselves. Unless there is a clear necessity, there is no logical reason for us to take on this great burden."
Meanwhile, Lucius Caesar wasn't just sitting idle.
While the fierce debates raged in the Senate, several couriers departed from his estate, each carrying a sealed paper letter.
Their destinations were the houses of senators scattered across Rome.
***
"I feel like I'm coming here way too often lately."
I gazed up at the the Senate house.
I was practically sweating bullets the first time I came here, but now it almost felt familiar.
"Why do you think they summoned you today, Young Master? Especially since today's matter concerns the Ostia Towers," Felix whispered beside me. "Are they actually planning to seize them by force...?"
"That's going to be very difficult for them," I replied, shaking my head.
As the true power of the towers became undeniable, a few of the sharper senators were figuring out that my initial plea for state funding was nothing but a staged trap.
Now, they were desperate to snatch the network away from me.
"They lack the grounds enough to justify confiscation. The Senate already explicitly rejected my proposal once... and more importantly, the names of dozens of prominent senators are and will be carved into those towers."
For the past few days, I had dispatched letters to those very senators.
The message was simple: If the Senate seizes my enterprise, your names will never be on the towers.
Naturally, I had phrased it much more politely, but the underlying message was crystal clear.
As the political power of the allied cities grew, the influence of the senators whose names were attached to those towers would grow accordingly.
I hadn't kept the prestige to myself; I had distributed it to other senators as well.
The Senate confiscating the towers was the absolute last thing those senators wanted.
"Metellus's brute-force proposal isn't going to work."
"The man loses one election and turns into a spiteful little coward," Felix grumbled. "I'd rather babysit toddlers than deal with these sly foxes."
"Can't argue with you there. But you can't change Rome in one day."
"I think you can change it in half a day, Young Master."
Leaving the sighing Felix outside, I entered the Curia alone.
The hall was already packed with seated senators.
I made my way to my assigned seat.
Having been elected to the vigintisexviri, I was now permitted a place in Senate sessions as a junior magistrate.
As I took my seat, a man approached and sat next to me.
"Senator Cicero."
"Young Caesar. It is a pleasure to see you here again."
Cicero greeted me with a warm smile and sat down beside me.
This wasn't just a casual greeting.
In the Senate, every small gesture—where you sat, who you applauded—was a calculated political signal.
By sitting next to me, Cicero was publicly declaring where he stood. He was on my side.
"Hortensius was the one who called today's session," Cicero informed me. "He stated there was an urgent matter to discuss regarding your towers."
"Hortensius? I assumed it would be Metellus. What a surprise."
Hortensius.
The man widely hailed as the greatest orator and lawyer in Rome until Cicero stole his crown.
He was a staunch Optimate, just like Metellus.
Once all the senators were seated, the presiding consul stood up to officially open the session.
"The first and most pressing item on today's agenda concerns the Ostia Tower."
At that exact moment, a large group of senators stood up and relocated to sit near me.
Every one of them was a man I had promised a tower naming rights.
Like Cicero, they were making a silent wall of support around me.
Damn, this really feels reassuring.
"My esteemed fellow senators!"
A man stood up from his seat and began his address. I immediately recognized him as Hortensius.
Curly hair, mid-to-late fifties. He looked like the textbook definition of a Roman patrician.
"Over the past few days, we have been fiercely debating regarding the Ostia towers constructed by Lucius Julius Caesar."
He gestured gracefully toward me. I gave a polite nod, and he continued.
"As Senators Crassus and Cicero have so eloquently argued, for the Senate to forcibly seize a citizen's property—no matter how vital it is to the Republic's security and order—cannot be justified under any circumstances."
Oho.
So he realized his original brute-force strategy was dead on arrival.
I thought he was just going to blindly demand confiscation. I guess the rumors about him being Rome's greatest lawyer weren't entirely exaggerated.
"Lucius Caesar poured his own personal fortune into building the Ostia towers for the benefit of Rome and her citizens, entirely without the Senate's financial backing. This is an act of the highest civic virtue that deserves our highest praise!"
At his gesture, a wave of applause erupted from senators.
I stood up and bowed politely to express my gratitude.
He certainly didn't summon me here just to stroke my ego.
Here comes the real trap.
"If Rome is instantly connected to her allied cities, the security and prosperity of our Republic will increase beyond measure. The Senate should be actively supporting this endeavor, not hindering it."
Hortensius swept his gaze across the room.
"Despite his youth, Lucius Julius Caesar has already achieved magnificent things as a member of the vigintisexviri. I dare say our Republic has never seen a young magistrate manage the suburban roads with such astounding efficiency."
"Get to the point, Senator Hortensius," the consul interrupted, waving a hand impatiently.
"It is quite simple. Every man in this room knows the greatest threat to our merchants and citizens traveling the roads. The roaming bands of bandits."
Bandits?
What in the world was he talking about all of a sudden?
"Therefore, I proposed that the Senate officially mandate Lucius Caesar to personally inspect the condition of the Italian roads and conduct a thorough investigation to eradicate these bandits! In order to build more towers, we must first secure the safety of the roads they will be built upon!"
A shocked murmur rippled through the Senate floor.
"Inspect the roads personally? What is he playing at?"
"An expedition to hunt down bandits..."
"I think he propsed to investigate, not hunting them down."
Cicero muttered under his breath next to me.
"Decades ago, when the vigintisexviri was first established, that was one of their original duties. But that is an ancient, obsolete technicality."
"..."
I remained silent, staring at Hortensius.
Ordering me to personally inspect the roads across Italy.
Why would he propose something so absurd?
Wait... I get it.
They were trying to physically exile me from Rome right before my father returned from Hispania in triumph.
They were using my own magistracy to drive me out of Rome.
"The vigintisexviri is a minor magistracy. To assign him a task of that nature is..."
Just as Cicero started to argue, standing up to defend me, I slowly raised my hand.
The murmuring in the hall instantly died down.
With the eyes of the entire Senate fixed on me, I slowly opened my mouth.
"Are you saying, then, that the Senate is prepared to grant me imperium?"
Hearing my question, Hortensius's face twisted into a deep frown.
Yeah. I think I just asked precisely the right question.