“Virtue clearly does want honor, nor is there any other reward for virtue. Yet it accepts that reward graciously, rather than making a strenuous demand for it.”
– Marcus Tullius Cicero On the Republic-Book 3
The declaration that Julius made spread like wildfire through the masses. Many who heard the news immediately sang songs of praise for the new supposed magnanimuos consul.
“Did you hear? The new consul ordered his lictors to ration out more food!”
“I heard that it would be HIS share to be given out!”
Some, especially those who were not present to witness his actions, declare their doubts.
“Bah! so what?! more handfuls of grain to be given to the starving, how gracious…”
“Does he think himself as Ceres?! Nothing changes!”
To them, it just seemed like a publicity stunt for the new consul to gain the trust of the people. Discourse propagates across the community, the opinion of the people are split. But one thing is certain, the name of the new consul, Julius, has already made a mark in Rome.
In the meantime, Julius and his retinue continue on their way to the curia. Having managed to escape from the large crowd he created earlier, he ponders to himself as he walks up the steps leading up to the entrance of said curia.
“Clearly, there is something very wrong with THIS Rome…”
“Almost everything has gone to s***.”
He looks up, gazing at the grand ionic order arches that line the entrance of the meeting hall. The historian within Julius could not help but marvel at such majestic classical architecture. But yet, he notices a stark contrast between the state of the curia compared to the rest of the buildings he has seen on his way there. The curia was very well maintained, first he thought that since it was the property of the senate, it would have been understandable for it to be noticeably more pristine and well kept, but the difference was for too drastic. The communal buildings and houses were all teetering on the edge of disrepair, while the curia looks almost brand new. To Julius, it was a clear sign that there was corruption afoot, he only hoped that it would not be so severe. Upon entering the hall, it did not take long for Julius to realize, that It was much worse than anything he could have imagined.
The muffled sound of laughter could already be heard steps away from the doors. As soon as the two great wooden doors get pushed open by his lictors, a cacophony of voices and sounds could be heard from all around. Resembling more of a market or plaza, the curia was no longer a place of civility, virtue, and honor in the name of politics. Instead, it was a place where the wealthy go to flaunt their possessions and gossip about their personal matters. Even the sanctity expected of such a place was broken in more ways than one, senators sat with food served in front of them, prostitutes are dancing at the center as entertainment, some, even threw themselves at the arms of certain senators who seem very wealthy.
This sight was not only appalling to Julius, it was downright disgusting and depraved. He was not a stranger to the antics of politicians, he was born in a time where politics strived like no other, but even the worst of the worst politicians in his time were leagues above in terms of decorum compared to these animals. Were it not for his understanding of the legislative nature of Rome, he would have had almost all of these men kicked out of the building, there were only a handful of individuals who still kept proper decorum. But even then, they seemed to have opted to turn a blind eye and ignore the circus in front of them, defeated at the reality they face. Among these people, one man familiar man caught the eye of Julius, leading to both exchanging gazes with one another. That man was none other than Marcus Licinius Crassus, the richest man in Rome at the time.
“Order to all dignitaries! we are in the presence of a consul.”
Crassus shouts, catching the attention of all who were present. His voice garnering a considerable amount of power, as in the eyes of the corrupt and greedy members of the senate. He who holds the most wealth deserved the most respect. This idea is not surprising considering their perspective, as garnering the favor of Crassus could lead to many future opportunities to increase one’s wealth. This respect would then lead to the individual that he wished to deem some sort of importance to, the new consul, Julius.
“Welcome to your inaugural meeting with the senate consul Julius.”
“I would like to start with wishing you luck in your term.”
Crassus follows with a dignified tone, setting an example in the eyes of Julius, to be one of the few who seemingly follows the cursus honorum. Those who were seated around him, all also bowed their heads as a sign of recognition to the new consul. Everyone else merely put a glance at Julius, some even rolled their eyes seemingly fed up with upholding their own twisted version of the cursus honorum with Crassus at the top, the new consul was being ignored. Silence filled the room for a moment, until one man laughs playfully, his laughter echoes throughout the hall. Julius looks towards the direction of the man, and recognized him as Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius.
“Ha ha ha ha, how wonderous! I welcome our new martyr into office!”
This statement perplexed Julius, he thought to himself.
“Martyr? me?”
“What does he mean by that?”
While still lost in his train of thought, the more and more people joined Quintus in his amusement, laughing and some even cheering along with him. While Crassus and those around him stayed silent. This made Julius realize that the senate was split into two parties, those who align themselves with the ideals of Crassus, and those who align themselves with the ideal of Quintus. Julius is confused at this revelation however, Quintus is supposed to be a pius man, this…thing and those who follow him are far from what one would consider as pius.
Having finally collected his thoughts. Julius opens up the forum for discussion.
“It is my honor to serve as the new consul. Let us now start with the first agenda I wish to address.”
Many thoughts went through Julius’s head, many questions he would have wished to have answered. But first, he must get to the bottom of the truth behind the sorry state of the City.
“Regarding the people-“
Julius’s words got cut off by the now familiar voice of Quintus.
“I wish to stop you right there consul.”
“You are dismissed.”
A confused Julius replied.
“Dismissed? what do you mean dismissed?”
Annoyed, Quintus begrudging told him.
“Today is your inauguration meeting, in days like these, the only agenda is to share our greetings.”
In a tone that conveyed the idea that Julius should have already known this, the words of quintus sparked more laughter from his crowd. Who all went back to whatever it was they were doing before the announcement of Crassus, tending to their women, eating their food…reverting the curia back to the market like environment it was earlier.
Silently, Crassus directed his gaze towards the bewildered Julius. Observing the rather odd new consul who seemed unfamiliar with their customs. Not long after doing so, he stood up intending to exit the rowdy environment of the hall as soon as possible. Along with him followed those people around him not too far apart from his exit, not even showing a bit of sympathy or acknowledgement to the man paralyzed at the depressing realty in front of him.
In that room, the cursus honorum no longer existed. The only person who still respects it is Julius himself…and there he was, unable to find the words to describe the situation he finds himself in. In that moment, every fiber of his being desperately wanted to condemn the people he considered as animals in front of him. He wanted to scream…He wanted to shout…He wanted…to walk up to every single one of these fat pigs and deliver his own sense of justice for the people who are suffering outside while they hold out in this building with an abundance of food and comfort. Julius now knew the reason for the horrid disparity of the buildings, he now knew what rendered the noble people of Rome into the starving hopeless people that they are right now.
In the end, he did nothing…he couldn’t do anything…he knew that anything that he did right then and there, would only serve to hurt him severely in the future. He knows how the Roman system works, and thus he kept himself from being guided by his rage. Julius turned around to exit the building, his lictors following quickly behind him. As he reaches the bottom of the curia’s steps, he looks back at the majestic building, gazing upon its beauty exterior in stark contrast to the ugly human beings it holds within. He thinks back to the people he saw earlier, to the child, even to the old man. Vindictively, Julius thinks out aloud.
“Its a shame that animals are governing a human city…”
The lictors, hearing what he said, tried their hardest to ignore it and act like nothing had happened. But deep inside, they knew that Julius had spoken the words that they never could bring themselves to say, and Julius knew…that the cursus honorum no longer existed within these walls…
