Chapter 22: Grand Triumph (Part 1)
"I think that when a man in war splits against his commander, he is against his own safety." - Xenophon
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"Tell all the soldiers to shut up and say that they will be rewarded with a thousand drachmas of Greek silver coins each." Caesar ordered, arranging his hair with one finger.
"feri! feri!" Citizens, freed slaves and foreigners on both sides of the streets of Rome imitated the army's victory slogan and enthusiastically cheered the beginning of the great triumphal procession. Many people sat cross-legged on their own arcades. Men and women, old and young, gathered together, waved their hands and applauded, and threw mint petals or rose petals down.
Caesar stood up from his seat wearing a gilded breastplate, a red cloak, purple boots, and a laurel wreath made of pure gold. His extremely sparse hair was carefully combed back to cover up his severe baldness. Two capable deputies beside him, Antony drove the gold-plated chariot pulled by four white horses for him, and Lepidus held the shining Marius eagle-headed banner for him. The three of them sat in a car with a small statue of the goddess of victory holding a sword high on the front of the car. Next to the car were guards from all over the world with different skin colors, including a black-skinned man carrying a bow and arrow. There were white-skinned Medegians, white-skinned Sewefers wearing chain mail and pointed helmets, Lusitanian swordsmen wearing round hats and leather armor, and Galatians holding battle axes and carrying javelins. Each team had 300 people. This was Caesar using military power to intimidate all citizens and foreigners and declare that his position as king was unshakable. The team behind was Caesar's veterans. There were four legions participating in the triumphal ceremony this time. The Fifth Legion, the Sixth Legion, the Tenth Legion, and the Twelfth Legion. Each legion selected 400 strong and tall soldiers, and they all carried their own emblems. The most eye-catching one was the Fifth "Skylark Legion". They were the first foreign army to appear in the Roman triumphal ceremony. This could be seen from their attire and armor, with fair skin, golden hair, green eyes, and long Sparta swords. Towering colorful feathers, striped trousers and boots, all the shields were embroidered with a white elephant to commemorate their outstanding military exploits in the Battle of Thapsus.
When the Fifth Legion passed through the street leading to the Grand Forum, a jealous husband even pushed his wife off the roof of the arcade, because the woman said a lot of stupid words of lust when she saw the group of foreign soldiers. She was caught by the tall young man of the Fifth Legion, and she was still screaming happily there, so the veterans of the Tenth Legion saw this. Led by the veteran sergeant Milu, they chased Caesar's golden chariot and sang:
"Caesar had a triumph. Because he conquered all nations, but he never conquered Nicomedes; Nicomedes had no triumph, because his country was conquered, but he conquered Caesar! Caesar lay on a golden sedan chair, wearing a red pajamas, and was sent to Nicomedes' bedroom in the Bithynia Palace, just like today. The "Triumphal Arch" was passed through by countless soldiers!"
"Damn it, tell them to stop singing and raise the price to 1,500 drachmas." Caesar quickly knocked on the slave who couldn't help laughing at the wheel, and tried his best to maintain a slightly embarrassed smile, and waved desperately to the citizens who responded to the singing.
Who would have thought that just as the soldiers of the Tenth Legion had stopped singing, the soldiers of the Twelfth Legion started singing again, "How can Nicomedes compare to the cavalry commander? How can the magnificent Bithynia Palace compare to the dark alleys!"
As a result, the soldiers didn't shut up until the reward price was increased to two thousand drachmas.
Behind the legion formation were groups of prisoners of war, among whom the gorgeously dressed Juba walked in the front. All of them were pardoned, and none of them would be executed. On the contrary, after the triumphal ceremony, most of them of the right age would be sent to the Senate by Caesar. This was Caesar's attempt to bring Rome, which had been built for 700 years, into a new life. Naturally, he also hoped to gain the understanding of all clan citizens.
But the citizens just kept silent at first, and the scene gradually changed from the original joy to seriousness. But when these people saw Caesar's slave team and mule carts, carrying vehicles piled with spoils and pottery jars containing commemorative coins, they shouted again. Amid the sound of trumpets, the slaves scattered the coins inside everywhere, and the crowd scrambled to grab them. This was a silver coin specially made by Caesar for use in triumphal ceremonies, "each coin is equivalent to 25 dinars." This was the standard he set for this kind of money, but how the actual market is, probably only God knows. The front of the silver coin is divided into several types, some with the head of the Gaul chieftain, some with the head of Venus, and some with the African elephant. The back is very uniform, all of them are Caesar's current wife, Korpurnia. Although Caesar has played with women in Rome and all over the world, he never wants to lose his marriage again. Besides, this behavior will also give the citizens a stable and moral impression of him.
However, when the last few mule carts appeared in people's sight, everyone started to talk about it again. There were several huge statues fixed with ropes on them. Among them, the statues of Caesar and his wife were the largest and were to enter the Julian Hall. The two small statues at the back were unexpected. One was Cleopatra and the other was Lepidus. Caesar asked that the statues of these two should also enter the hall and "stay by his side forever."
Then, many slaves walked at the end, holding up huge mosaics with vivid colorful scenes. The vivid scenes show how Caesar and his comrades defeated the enemy on the battlefield. These scenes were enough to inspire the pride of the citizens, such as:
How 300,000 Helvetic barbarians were defeated on Mount Tihon;
How Caesar's fleet landed on British soil;
How the cavalry commander Lepidus annihilated the elite Bronze Shield Army in the snowy Amasya Valley;
How Caesar used the army and navy to destroy this great city in Alexandria;
How the Skylark Legion defeated the fierce attack of the elephants of King Juba in Africa.
But when the following mosaics appeared before people's eyes, the mood of the entire triumphal ceremony changed fundamentally. Citizens saw:
In the city of Masseria, how Dumitius jumped into the sea with the army flag, how Cato the Younger was besieged to death and chopped into pieces by the locals like a trapped beast;
How the heads of the two consuls, Alexandrus, Gabinus and Marcellus, were carried and handed to Caesar;
How Pompey wrapped himself in a cloak and sank in the Myconine Salt Lake;
How King Juba stabbed another former consul, Afranius, to death in the camp outside Zama;
How Scipio's body was salvaged and beheaded along with monkeys outside the Balearic Islands.
These pictures were so realistic that some people finally couldn't help crying, and then groups of citizens covered their faces and cried loudly.