"Move! Keep moving! What do you think you're doing?! Are you trying to burn the whole stack of papyrus?!"
"Sorry, sir!"
"Don't apologize, just be careful! If a fire breaks out right now, we are all dead men!"
Babu let out a heavy sigh, rubbing his bald head.
In the dead of night, dozens of men were frantically sorting through mountains of papyrus.
They were staff from both the strategic office and the insurance division. They had literally been dragged out of their beds in the middle of the night.
Despite having every reason to complain, the staff silently and diligently verified the endless rows of numbers on the ledgers.
Outside, the city was draped in pitch-black darkness, but inside, the room blazed with the light of dozens of oil lamps.
"This section is finished!"
"We still have a lot of old numerals over here! It needs more sorting!"
"Finish it as fast as you can! We need at least a rough outline of the situation before sunrise!"
Babu snatched up a sheet of papyrus and sat down to review it himself.
It wasn't just his team; even the slaves who usually worked for Metellus were currently rushing back and forth, hauling stacks of documents.
But the most surprising sight was the two men sitting at the corner table.
Lucius Caesar and Felix.
Both of them were reviewing the financial ledgers right alongside the rest of the staff.
At a gesture from Lucius, Babu hurried over. The two men greeted him with grim expressions.
"Did you find something, sir?"
"The arrow has already left the bow," Lucius replied, his tone hard and cold.
"And we don't have much time left before it strikes the target."
***
Damn it. I thought even ancient Romans would have some basic concept of risk management.
"Metellus kept a reserve ratio of barely five percent."
Hearing my words, Babu gasped, his breath catching in his throat.
"Five percent? You mean he kept a mere five percent of the deposits in actual money?"
"No wonder they couldn't pay out the merchants. They didn't have anywhere near enough coins on hand to begin with."
I tapped the papyrus in my hand.
The reserve ratio dictates the percentage of customer deposits a bank holds onto in cash.
For example, if the reserve ratio is ten percent, the bank can loan out or invest the remaining ninety percent.
Given the economic infrastructure of Rome, a safe reserve ratio would have been at least thirty to forty percent.
But Metellus had kept a measly five percent in the vault and loaned out every single sesterce of the rest.
"He wanted to lend money to as many people as possible," Felix noted from beside me.
"Because the more people who owed him money, the more political clients he gained, thereby expanding his influence."
"And now that ambition has become the noose around his neck. I'm willing to bet the other banks are in the exact same position."
Metellus's bank was actually considered one of the more stable institutions.
I didn't even need to look at the ledgers of the smaller banks to know they were already gutted.
"So, what is our next move, young master?" Felix asked, looking at me.
"The reserves these banks hold are far lower than we anticipated. Even if we help only the healthiest institutions, it will require an astronomical sum."
"Perhaps walking away is the best option here," Babu interjected, breaking his silence.
"We're like a snake trying to swallow an elephant. We are biting off more than we can chew. It might be wiser to downsize the upcoming festival and get out of this mess right now."
"..."
I pressed the heels of my palms against my exhausted eyes.
If I didn't get some sleep soon, I was going to be the one collapsing next.
Babu was right.
No matter how much cash we had stockpiled, we couldn't personally back the entire Roman banking system.
That was a job for the Republic—specifically, the Senate, who held the keys to the treasury.
After all, this catastrophe was entirely the fault of politicians and bankers who completely ignored risk management.
"But if all these banks go under, countless citizens and merchants will lose their life savings. The festival failing is the least of our worries. The entire Roman economy could be in ruins for years."
"But it cannot be helped, young master. We must ensure our own survival first if we are to have any hope of rebuilding Rome afterward," Felix argued.
A heavy silence filled the room, punctuated only by the rustling of papyrus as the clerks continued their grim work.
"There has to be a way."
I looked out the window at the dark streets of Rome.
In the distance, the Appian Way glowed faintly, illuminated by the streetlamps I had installed.
It didn't take long before the sun rose.
And when it did, a corpse appeared on the banks of the Tiber.
***
The body was discovered on the banks of the Tiber in the early hours of the morning.
As a massive crowd of citizens gathered, the corpse was hauled out of the water and onto the dirt.
The body was already bloated from the river, making the face difficult to recognize.
They had only managed to identify the man based on his clothing and the signet ring on his finger.
"A merchant named Gracchus, you said?"
"Yes. They say he deposited a large sum of money into one of the banks, and when the panic started, he couldn't get a single coin back."
Felix and I stood at the back of the crowd, looking down at the corpse.
A woman, presumably his wife, had collapsed next to the body, weeping uncontrollably.
The surrounding citizens watched the tragic scene with grim expressions.
Felix spoke up again.
"I heard the creditors who had lent Gracchus money began hounding him relentlessly, demanding immediate repayment."
"So he was driven to suicide."
I scanned the faces of the people gathered by the river.
Throwing oneself into a river wasn't a common method of suicide in this era.
Typically, people chose to slit their wrists or drink poison.
There was a possibility he had been chased down by his creditors, or outright murdered.
But with the man already dead, uncovering the truth would be nearly impossible.
If this panic continued, there would only be more victims like him.
As I turned my gaze, I spotted a very familiar face.
"Lucius. I didn't expect to see you here."
"I could say the same to you, Publius."
Publius Crassus was seated upon a litter, heavily guarded by his slaves, as his father often was.
As I approached, he stepped down to meet me.
"What brings you to this side of the city?"
"The same reason as you, I imagine."
He offered a faint, bitter smile.
"It is a truly horrific tragedy, is it not?"
"If the current situation holds, this tragedy will only repeat itself."
I observed Publius carefully.
Crassus was one of the very few men profiting from this crisis.
He had primarily lent money to the plebeians, yet ironically, his bank was the most resilient in the face of the panic.
By honoring every single withdrawal request without hesitation, he had reaffirmed his credibility.
He must have managed his reserves conservatively from the very beginning. Then again, Crassus already possessed more wealth than he could ever spend.
He had no reason to recklessly gamble with his depositors' money.
Knowing that, was he secretly celebrating the downfall of his rivals?
"We must stop this crisis from spreading any further. For the sake of the Roman citizens, if nothing else," Publius said.
"Don't you agree?"
"I do."
That was unexpected.
I couldn't tell if he was being entirely genuine or not.
I honestly thought Crassus would just sit back, wait for every other bank to burn to the ground, and emerge as the sole power in the field, as he always does.
"My father intends to lend ten million sesterces to the banks so they can give money to their clients," Publius continued.
"We can always collect on them once the panic subsides."
"Ten million sesterces. That is no small sum."
It was the exact amount he had promised me as a marriage dowry.
To an ordinary citizen, it was an unfathomable fortune.
"Of course, the exact terms and methods of repayment will need to be thoroughly negotiated. Wouldn't you agree?"
I nodded instead of answering.
He definitely knew I had visited the Metellus estate last night.
"I can also put up several million sesterces of my own. But even combined, I am not sure it will be enough to stop the panic."
Was he going to leverage this to push for the marriage alliance again?
But Publius's response was different from my expectations.
"I already promised to assist you, Lucius. And my father shares my sentiment."
He locked eyes with me.
"But we cannot simply toss our coin into the Tiber. If there is no viable way to save these banks, we must step back. If our combined wealth isn't enough to steady the market..."
"There might be a way."
I cut in smoothly.
Caesar and Crassus.
And Pompey.
In the original history, the First Triumvirate was a secret, shadowy alliance.
It was a clandestine pact between three men to carve up the Republic's power and maintain their dominance.
But there was no rule saying it had to be a secret in this timeline.
I had already been seen publicly meeting with both of them on numerous occasions, and I was officially engaged to Pompeia.
The fact that I was running an insurance empire backed by Crassus was common knowledge in Rome.
Publius shrugged slightly.
"Would you care to elaborate? I am going to need a concrete plan if I am to convince my father."
"This crisis was born from a loss of credit. A loss of trust."
Bank runs have occurred countless times throughout history even in ancient Greece and Rome.
When clients lose faith in a bank, it is only natural for them to rush to withdraw their money.
If they firmly believe they can get their money back at any given moment, no one actually bothers going to the bank.
"Caesar. Crassus. Pompey."
I said the names slowly, letting them hang in the air.
"Right now, there is no one in Rome who would dare ignore the weight of those three names."
Pompeia had told me something similar during the papyrus incident.
No one in Rome could afford to ignore the name 'Caesar' anymore.
And she was right. The moment rumors spread that I had invented a new papyrus, the market price of Egyptian papyrus plummeted instantly.
Using a name to manufacture trust.
Wait, wasn't that the very definition of advertising?
Building credibility through an established image, and leveraging that trust to drive human behavior.
That was the fundamental essence of marketing.
If that was the case, the key to solving this crisis might already be in my hands.
"We just need to let the citizens know," I said.
"We need to tell the people that the three most powerful families in Rome have joined forces to resolve this crisis."
***
"Tell the men to break camp. We march for Rome immediately."
The very day the news from Rome reached the Rubicon, Caesar stepped out of his command tent and issued the order.
"But Imperator! Weren't we scheduled to return in time for the Floralia?"
His adjutant scrambled after him, utterly bewildered.
"If the situation in Rome is truly that volatile, wouldn't it be wiser to remain here and observe the situation before—"
"No. What matters most right now is time. If we hesitate for even a moment, the very foundation of Rome will shake. At this point, the festival doesn't matter anymore."
Gaius Caesar spoke with authority.
He had stripped off his heavy armor and drawn his toga over his head, capite velato, as befitted the Pontifex Maximus.
"We leave for Rome. Right now."
"But before we depart, shouldn't we at least send word to your son...?"
The adjutant stammered nervously.
"We need to inform him so he can make preparations for our arrival."
"No, we cross the Rubicon now. Do not worry about Lucius. I guarantee you that boy is already making the necessary preparations."
Caesar vaulted onto his horse and flashed a bright smile.
"I trust my son."
***
"Right now, all we can do is trust my father."
"But the master is all the way at the Rubicon! Even if we send our fastest courier, he won't receive the message in time."
"Which is exactly why we have to trust him."
I kept my pace brisk as I navigated the streets.
Sending a messenger to consult with my father would take far too long.
By the time I got a reply, the opportunity to stop the bank run would be long gone.
What decision would my father make the moment he heard the news from Rome?
If my gut was right...
"Father will act immediately. He has always been a man of swift judgment and action."
That was Caesar's absolute strength.
No matter the circumstances, no matter the insurmountable odds, he was a man who never hesitated to throw the die.
During his elections, during the Gallic Wars, and eventually, during the civil war against Pompey.
Not just in the history books, but from what I had witnessed firsthand over the past decades, that was exactly the kind of man my father was.
"Alright, let's assume the master arrives in Rome exactly on time," Felix sighed deeply, struggling to keep up.
"How does his arrival solve this financial crisis?"
"Think about it, Felix."
I whispered, glancing at the desperate citizens gathering around us.
These people were flocking to me, hoping I could somehow save them from ruin.
"Pompey and Crassus both wield unimaginable power. But it's not just them. My father is returning. He is a victorious general fresh from a wildly successful campaign in Hispania."
And he wasn't just bringing back glory.
"He brings massive spoils of war, and the deeds to countless newly developed silver mines."
"But it would take several months before we could get any silver from those mines."
"The important thing here is how people perceive it, not the actual silver."
Felix's eyes widened in realization as he nodded.
"You're going to use that wealth to change public sentiment.."
"Exactly. If those three men publicly unite and declare they are supporting the banks, the citizens of Rome will have no choice but to believe them. All we have to do is facilitate that message."
"And how exactly do we do that?"
"I have an idea."
I reached into my tunic and pulled out a sheet of paper.
As more and more citizens crowded around, begging for an audience, I looked at Felix.
"The most important thing right now is letting as many people as possible know that the three families have joined forces to deal with this crisis."
"Are you planning to distribute flyers? Like Lady Pompeia did?"
"We have to. But pasting a few dozen sheets in the Forum and the main streets won't be enough. We need enough copies to cover the entire city of Rome."
"But even if we hired every single scribe in the city right now, it would be impossible to write out hundreds of copies in a single day."
"That would be true, if we actually had the scribes write them out by hand."
I nodded.
There was a much easier, far more efficient method.
What if there was a way to perfectly duplicate the exact same text, over and over again?
"What if we use stamps?"
"Stamps?"