"We all know the answer, don't we? We have to take care of this Caesar kid, one way or another."
"Who here doesn't know that? The problem is how."
Somewhere near the Via Appia, the road connecting Tarracina and Neapolis. Dozens of burly men were having a conversation, using the darkness and the trees as their cover.
They sat in a wide circle around a crackling campfire.
From a distance, it looked like a council of tribal chieftains.
Most were clad in rough leather armor, though a few wore heavy gear that wouldn't look out of place on a Roman legionary.
Clutching swords and axes, they spat on the ground and cursed.
"If this Lucius Caesar builds those towers, it's going to cut off our livelihood, isn't it?"
"We can't just sit on our hands. How are we supposed to survive when the coin dries up?"
These men were the leaders of the bandit factions operating in the surrounding regions.
But the word "bandit" hardly did them justice; they were highly organized syndicates.
Relying on intel from informants inside the cities, they ambushed cash convoys and merchants. Sometimes, they even took assassination contracts from merchant guilds to eliminate their rivals.
But their main source of income remained the everyday travelers and merchants braving the roads.
"Once those towers go up, security will be tight. The moment they spot our shadows, soldiers from the cities will be breathing down our necks."
The men grunted in agreement, spitting out another round of curses.
"So, killing this Caesar will stop the tower construction?"
"From what I hear, the towers are his personal project. The Senate isn't even involved."
"If we just get rid of him, it'll buy us plenty of time."
"But the kid's a Roman noble, isn't he? Won't poking him just be kicking the hornet's nest?"
"He's not just any noble. Word is he's running all sorts of businesses in Rome, raking in coin that rivals even Crassus."
At that, several men let out a hot breath, their greed flaring.
Kidnapping nobles and senators for ransom was one of their most lucrative side hustles.
The only catch was that freed hostages had a nasty habit of coming back for revenge.
"Rumor has it his father was once captured by pirates. After they let him go, he came right back and crucified every last one of them."
"Why worry about that?" the man holding an axe chuckled.
"We just take the ransom and chop his head off anyway. Let's not overthink this. We pull off one massive score, wash our hands of this life, and retire in the city, eh?"
"Fair point."
"Let's hash out a plan, then. According to my rat in Tarracina, the next city he's heading to is..."
The conversation continued in a feverish, excited pitch.
"He barely has any escorts with him. He'll be easy prey."
"We just wait at a chokepoint and jump him."
"Try to take him alive, but if things go bad, just gut him."
With their minds made up, the bandit factions began their preparations.
Including their lowest-ranking grunts, their combined numbers swelled into the hundreds.
They plotted to ambush Lucius Caesar together, take him hostage, and extort a king's ransom.
But not long after, a single piece of news threw them all into a state of sheer panic.
"Lucius Caesar sent what letter to the allied cities?!"
***
Shortly after Lucius Julius Caesar's dispatch reached Rome, messengers carrying new letters set off toward every allied city in Italy.
The contents of the letters were identical.
[Provide cavalry support to eradicate the bandit gangs threatening the safety of our roads.]
The allied cities showed mixed reactions to this demand.
"Aren't we already competing with other cities for those towers? We need to use this opportunity to dispatch our cavalry and get squarely on Caesar's good side."
"Lucius Caesar will undoubtedly prioritize building towers in the cities that send the most troops."
"It's not just the towers; there's the investment money, too. We all know how much he promised to pump into Tarracina. If we play this right, our city could secure a massive investment as well."
While one faction argued for sending as many calvary as possible to win Caesar's favor, others remained cautious.
"We don't have as much to offer as the bigger cities anyway. Let's just send a token force to save face."
"Exactly. Lucius Caesar is just a Vigintisexviri, and a young one at that. If this were a direct order from the Roman Senate, it'd be one thing, but why should we bleed our soldiers for him?"
However, even the fiercest skeptics changed their tune the moment a follow-up letter arrived.
"Lucius Caesar offered what?"
What Lucius Caesar proposed wasn't just a simple extermination of bandits.
It was a massive apprehension and punishment operation.
And "punishment" could mean many things.
"He plans to sell all captured bandits as slaves and distribute the profits according to each city's contribution..."
"This... this is basically a slave hunt, isn't it?"
"What's the going rate for a slave these days?"
"A sturdy male slave fetches about 700 denarii. If it's in prime condition, you can get up to 1,000."
"If we catch a thousand of them across Rome..."
"That's 700,000 denarii! But can we really catch a thousand bandits?"
"Who knows? Only the gods know just how many rats are crawling around our roads right now."
While the politicians were busy crunching the numbers, a new group of visitors came looking for Lucius Caesar just as he was preparing to leave Tarracina.
***
"So, you're offering me thirty percent?"
"Yes, and the allied cities that dispatch troops will receive sixty percent."
"Which leaves you with a ten percent cut."
I looked at the men sitting across from me.
Their skin was slick with fine oils, and their eyes swam with naked greed.
They were the biggest slave merchants from all over Rome.
I had only sent out the word a week ago, yet they had already flocked to Tarracina.
They must have sprinted here the second they caught wind of it.
Honestly, my announcement wasn't that complicated.
[We will eradicate the bandits plaguing the allied cities. And the profits generated from this operation will be distributed proportionally to each city's contribution.]
Profits generated from bandit eradication.
It sounded almost like a bad joke.
But in the current Roman Republic, slaves were a highly prized commodity.
With the exception of someone like Crassus, even the wealthiest patricians couldn't buy them in bulk easily.
Ironically, wiping out the bandits was a massive business opportunity.
Especially for the men sitting right in front of me.
"All of you stand to make a fortune without lifting a finger."
"We are simply providing the market necessary to process the... spoils of war," one of the merchants said, clearing his throat.
"Even if you were to sell these slaves yourself, sir Caesar, you wouldn't be able to turn a higher profit than what we can offer."
"I suppose that's true."
I tapped my finger against the table.
Well, I did need help selling the bandits anyway.
But there was one more thing I needed to extract from them.
I pointed at the map spread out on the table.
"Then, first things first. Tell me the exact locations of the bandit gangs operating in this region."
The merchants all frowned at my words.
"How on earth would we know the locations of the bandits...?"
"Over the years, countless travelers and merchants have been kidnapped by bandits and sold into slavery. Mostly shipped off to Greece or Africa, I assume."
It made perfect sense, in disgusting sense.
If they tried to sell kidnapped people within Italy, the risk of getting caught was too high.
"But I highly doubt a bunch of backwoods thugs have the sophisticated smuggling networks required for that kind of export."
"Caesar, are you insinuating that we have been colluding with bandits?!"
Instead of answering, I just gave them a smile.
Of course they wouldn't admit it outright.
But I knew the reality of their business.
And they definitely knew that I knew as well.
"This is preposterous! We traveled all this way to assist you and you treat us like common criminals..."
"You are insulting us without a shred of evidence!"
"I'm not insulting anyone. Nor am I making any accusations. I merely assumed you might have some useful knowledge regarding these gangs."
I continued in a soothing tone.
I needed to calm them down.
For now, I had to give them the impression that we were strictly business partners on the same side.
Even if the reality was slightly different.
"Think about it," I said. "The faster I wipe them out, the faster you get your hands on fresh inventory."
I leaned in slightly.
"I have no intention of dragging my feet across Italy for years. If I can't root these bandits out quickly, I'm just going to pack up and return to Rome. Once my father is elected consul, we can launch a proper military campaign. And when that happens... do you really think I'll still need your services?"
"..."
A heavy silence settled over the room as the merchants exchanged nervous glances.
Finally, as if they had silently agreed, one of them spoke up.
"Well... we have only heard this as a rumor, but..."
***
"They're coming from all sides! We're practically surrounded!"
"Just how many of them are out there?!"
"H-hundreds! Easily over a hundred!"
A hunt.
That was the only word to describe the cavalry unit led by Lucius Caesar.
"They're running that way!"
"Cut off their escape route!"
Cavalry dispatched from various allied cities descended upon the bandits' strongholds from every direction.
Caught completely off guard, most of the bandits either scattered in a blind panic or were captured on the spot.
And at the very vanguard of this operation rode one man.
"Hey, Caesar! Thanks to the stirrups, I can use both hands to throw ropes without falling off!"
Mark Antony.
He led the charge at the head of the cavalry in every single skirmish.
First, the vanguard would cut off any avenues of retreat, then the rest of the cavalry would tighten the net, squeezing the bandits into a corner.
They herded them until they were utterly exhausted, and then, out on the open plains, the real hunt began.
Antony would hurl a blunt-tipped pilum to knock a fleeing bandit off his feet, then toss a long rope lasso over him to reel him in.
"By gods, look at that."
"Every time he throws that rope, he bags another one."
Seeing his success, the other riders quickly followed suit.
Before long, dozens of cavalrymen were swinging lassos in the air, roping in bandits like runaway cattle.
"Try not to damage them too much! We can't have their market value dropping. Every bruise is coin out of our pockets!"
While scores of bandits were dragged away in ropes, a massive group numbering in the hundreds was driven toward the Aurunci Mountains.
These were the very men who had been waiting to ambush Caesar on the road between Tarracina and Neapolis.
But as Caesar's cavalry tightened the noose from all sides, they were forced to retreat into the rugged mountains where horses couldn't easily tread.
To escape the encirclement and leave the region, they would eventually have to come back down from the mountains.
"We hold our ground here! The riders can't reach us up this high!"
"Set up defensive lines so we can repel them if they come at us on foot! Hurry it up!"
The surviving bandits frantically dug trenches, set traps, and built makeshift barricades.
Meanwhile, just outside the mountain range, the Roman cavalry continued their hunt, drawing the perimeter ever tighter.
"There goes another one!"
"Tie him!"
And just like that, another bandit was caught in Antony's lasso, crashing face-first into the dirt.