Chapter 61: Catiline’s Rebellion 1

Chapter 61: Catiline’s Rebellion 1

“The most annoying ones in the Senate are Silanus and Cicero.”

“That’s right. Cato also has considerable influence lately, but the biggest obstacle is still those two.”

“If they die, the senators won’t be able to act so arrogantly as they do now.”

“Why don’t we just kill all the troublemakers?”

The conversation that Catiline’s supporters had was clearly a plot of rebellion.

But no one hesitated or showed any fear.

Rather, they were blinded by anger and bloodlust, and all kinds of radical opinions were rampant.

There was even a suggestion to kill all the tribunes who had veto power, following Silanus.Yôur favorite novels at n/o(v)el/bin(.)com

Catiline’s chief adviser, Eustus, tried his best to conduct the meeting calmly.

“Everyone, we need to be rational at times like this. I know you want to beat up everyone who opposes the bill. But realistically, we don’t have the conditions to do that yet.”

Catiline narrowed his eyes and bit his tongue.

“Eustus is right. In fact, killing those two is also a very risky thing to do. It’s too much of a burden to kill the tribunes as well. Besides, we need the support of the people, and assassinating the tribunes could backfire on us.”

“That’s right. So we need to discuss how to kill Silanus and Cicero for sure first.”

Manlius, who had gained a lot of experience under Sulla, nodded his head and calmed down his excitement.

“That makes sense. But how do we assassinate them? If they find out we did it, it will only give them an excuse to purge us.”

“That’s right. We have to keep the premise that we can’t be caught. If that doesn’t happen, killing them will be meaningless.”

“Hmm...”

Catiline closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then came up with a plausible plan.

“Politicians, including the consuls, always receive many visitors in the morning as a custom. Why don’t we send assassins in then? Some of them will cause a commotion to distract attention, while the others will quickly kill them.”

It was a classic but effective method.

Eustus spread out a sheet of paper and detailed the plan.

“This is something we can’t afford to fail, so we have to plan and move every action. The routes of the assassins, the methods of assassination depending on the behavior and location of the targets, the escape routes, how to deal with unexpected situations. We need to consider all these things carefully. And we also need to think about what to do in case of the worst scenario: if the assassination fails and they catch us.”

“Right. You’re right. Just in case, let’s select people who are hard to trace back to us. It will take at least three or four days to finish preparing.”

“Then let’s observe how Silanus and Cicero receive their visitors in the morning for a few days. If we can diagram their behavior, it will increase our chances of success.”

“Good. I’ll finally be able to stop seeing that annoying newcomer’s face.”

The rough assassination meeting ended like that.

It would be unthinkable to assassinate the current consul and the former consul, but Catiline’s party didn’t care.

Even if they had solid evidence, they couldn’t do anything to Catiline, who was the consul himself.

The Senate might also try to assassinate him, but Catiline always moved around with his guards and supporters.

He had stopped receiving visitors in the morning long ago.

It was the end of a crazy conversation that no one could predict what would happen next.

※※※※

In the end, Catiline’s party was able to come up with a perfect assassination plan after three days of observation.

Meanwhile, Catiline attended the Senate meeting as usual, drawing attention to himself.

The senators cursed at Catiline’s shamelessness, but they didn’t suspect that he was plotting something.

Thanks to him constantly proposing the same debt cancellation bill that would never pass.

Of course, some people doubted why he kept repeating the same action even though he knew it wouldn’t work.

But they never thought that he was planning to overthrow the country.

While he was doing that, Catiline’s party finished all their preparations.

They were confident that they could kill Silanus and Cicero successfully no matter what happened.

The assassins hid daggers and poison under their togas and headed for Silanus and Cicero’s mansions.

They were prepared to drink poison and kill themselves if the assassination failed.

But an unexpected variable occurred.

The gates of Silanus and Cicero’s houses that were open until yesterday were tightly closed.

The assassins’ plan was based on sneaking in among the visitors.

They didn’t think about the situation where they couldn’t even enter the mansion.

In the end, the assassins had no choice but to turn back in vain.

Catiline, who didn’t expect the plan to fail like this, was flustered.

To make matters worse, Silanus and Cicero seemed to have noticed something strange and immediately convened a Senate meeting.

Catiline attended the meeting with an innocent face as usual, trying to avoid suspicion.

But this time it wasn’t a situation where he could pretend he didn’t know anything.

Silanus and Cicero looked furious, not even trying to hide their anger.

Silanus raised his voice at Catiline first.

“Catiline, I received a report that some suspicious people were lurking outside my house yesterday. I heard Cicero had the same thing. Do you have any idea what this is about?”

Catiline shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

“How would I know? And isn’t it natural for a lot of people to flock to the houses of high-ranking officials? They must have come to see you and left empty-handed.”

Silanus stared at Catiline, who was lying, and shook his head.

“No. Cicero and I had already notified our clients that we would stop receiving visitors from yesterday. And we also secretly told the other senators. Everyone except you should have known about it.”

“Heh, is that so? So what, what are you trying to say?”

“Are you still denying it? Those suspicious people must have been sent by you.”

Catiline’s eyes twitched slightly. He felt uneasy because they seemed to have some evidence.

Cicero stood up from his seat and followed Silanus’s accusation of Catiline.

“Catiline, how long are you going to pretend you don’t know anything? In this situation where social unrest is worsening, who else but you, who leads the thugs behind the scenes, would want to harm me and Silanus?”

Eustus quickly opened his mouth.

“It may have leaked out, but it’s not possible that anyone here betrayed us. If the plan was really leaked in detail, the assassins would have been caught on the spot. Maybe some part of the plan leaked out during the execution.”

“That makes sense.”

“But if there is any evidence that we are involved, it will be a big problem.”

Hearing that, Manlius pounded the table with his fist.

“Then we can’t waste time like this. Catiline, you have to make up your mind.”

Everyone understood what Manlius meant by ‘make up your mind’.

He meant to start an armed uprising.

Catiline muttered in a resigned tone.

“Is there no other way...”

Manlius nodded vigorously.

The other key figures also expressed their agreement.

“Judging by the situation, there is a high possibility that Cicero’s words are not a bluff. Then we can’t just sit still.”

“Fortunately, they gave us a month of grace. That should be enough time to gather people, don’t you think?”

Catiline asked Eustus with a determined look.

“Is it possible?”

“Yes. But are you really going to do it?”

“If I confess, I’ll be ruined anyway. So I have to choose the option with the highest chance of success.”

“I see. Then I have a plan that I’ve been thinking of. Do you want to hear it?”

“Oh, you already have something in mind?”

Catiline leaned forward eagerly, having no talent for scheming.

Manlius, who was only good at commanding the army, also focused his attention on Eustus’s words.

“No matter what anyone says, Catiline is still the consul of Rome. We have to use this point as much as possible if we raise a rebellion.”

Everyone listened silently to Eustus’s words.

He looked around the audience and then spoke confidently.

“A month is enough time to gather our supporters in Tuscany. But this time, we have to be more secretive because it will be troublesome if our plan leaks out. If Catiline writes me a letter of authorization, I’ll take care of it.”

“I’d be grateful if you did that. I’ll gladly write it for you. So, after secretly bringing our supporters to Rome, what are you going to do?”

“First of all, we have to kill all the thorns in our side, such as Cicero, Silanus, Cato and so on. Then we have to secure the loyalty of the rest of the senators and convene the senate. There, we’ll appoint Catiline as dictator and restore order in Rome. Since Catiline is the consul, he can easily become the dictator if the senators agree.”

It wasn’t much different from what Sulla and Marius had done.

The only difference was whether they invaded Rome with an army or started an armed uprising from within.

It seemed reasonable in reality, so Catiline asked with shining eyes.

“Is it possible to secure the loyalty of the senators?”

“It’s impossible to capture all the senators at once, but it’s possible if we move as secretly as possible. Besides, the consul has the power to command the army. If we kill Silanus and capture some of the influential senators, we can grant imperium to Catiline. Then the rest of the senators won’t dare to rebel against us.”

“A clear-cut method.”

Manlius applauded and praised him.

Catiline and his other supporters didn’t object either.

The method was decided, and all that was left was to make detailed plans.

They entered into a discussion to distinguish who they had to kill and who they had to capture.

Silanus, Cicero, Cato were unanimously on the list of those who had to die.

Catiline also suggested Caesar as a target for assassination.

No one opposed him.

They didn’t like him for being in debt and not cooperating with them.

Then various names were mentioned without stopping.

The more wealth a senator was known to have, the more frequently he was mentioned.

As they were discussing who to kill, everyone’s attention was drawn to a name that came out of Manlius’s mouth.

“What are you going to do about Crassus?”

Catiline hesitated at Manlius’s question.

He owed him a favor, but Crassus and Catiline were incompatible as members of the senate faction.

Besides, killing him and taking his wealth would be a great help in running the government in the future.

But he wasn’t sure if he could do that realistically.

Eustus sensed Catiline’s dilemma and subtly offered his opinion.

“It’s better not to touch the Crassus family. His mansion is always protected by a huge number of guards.

According to rumors, they’re almost like an armed force. And next to Crassus’s eldest son is that Spartacus. We’d have to use most of our available forces to break through there. Do we have to take that risk just to get Crassus?”

“That makes sense.”

“Eustus is right. Let’s pressure Crassus with an army. If he gives up half of his wealth, we’ll spare him.”

“Then let’s leave Crassus alone for now.”

Finally, the list of death was completed.

They didn’t just write down the names of those who had to die, but also recorded the detailed methods meticulously.

Catiline stood up from his seat.

The day of action was three days before Cicero declared his accusation.

Catiline would personally lead the rebels.

He would stand as a dictator and put Rome under his feet.

The grand path of revolution made Catiline dream of the sweet ambition of power.

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