Seeing Cato, the older generation of Rome's aristocrats, who were in agony over their own corruption, were greatly encouraged, believing him to be the hope of the republic. After his term as Financial Officer, they enthusiastically welcomed him into the Senate.

Caesar was neat and fashionable, leading the trend; Cato was unkempt and slovenly. Caesar loved luxurious competitions and performances, spending lavishly, whereas Cato was very frugal, extremely harsh on himself... Both of them established unique images and won widespread recognition and fame among the people of Rome.

...

Less than a year after the peace treaty between the Nix Tribe and the Pannonians, envoys from three major Pannonian tribes once again sought an audience with Maximus, proposing a new request: they hoped to form an alliance with the Nix Tribe to jointly resist the Boyi people.

Their reasoning was: the Boyi people are powerful, fierce, and greedy. Once the Pannonian tribes are defeated by them, they will not stop their invasion. At that time, tens of thousands of Boyi warriors would flood into the territory of the Nix. Without lips, the teeth feel the cold; therefore, the Nix Tribe and the Pannonian tribes must unite to ensure the security of their own territories!

Despite the envoy's eloquence, Maximus firmly refused the Pannonians' request.

...

In 63 BC (the tenth year of the Nix Tribe), Cicero and Hibriida officially became Governor.

Immediately, a People's Guardian named Lulus proposed a radical Land Bill, demanding the large-scale distribution of land to impoverished citizens, starting with the state-owned lands of Campania.

This bill couldn't solve the current issue of the large numbers of landless vagrants in Rome, but it could ease the problem, so all ten People's Guardians supported the bill, and Crassus and Caesar were active supporters of Lulus as well.

Pompey's attitude was harder to discern.

On one hand, his military campaigns were nearing completion. With a large number of veterans needing resettlement on their return, this Land Bill might provide them with farmland.

On the other hand, if Crassus played a critical role in this plan, it would mean these veterans and many other citizens would owe him a favor, which also meant Pompey would owe Crassus a favor. Therefore, Pompey refrained from making an explicit statement.

However, many important Elders opposed Lulus' proposal. Though Cicero, who had just become Governor but had a relatively weak political foundation, saw this as a good opportunity to win them over. He delivered a series of speeches to the Senate and the people, ultimately achieving victory, leading to the abandonment of the Land Bill.

A disappointed Caesar subsequently prosecuted Piso, the recently resigned Provincial Governor of Northern Italy, but Piso's defense lawyer was Cicero, and once again, Caesar wasn't successful. However, his efforts on behalf of the people of Inner Gaul raised his prestige among the people of Northern Italy.

Immediately after, Caesar, cooperating seamlessly with one of the People's Guardians, Labienus, prosecuted an elderly and mediocre Elder, Rabirius, for killing the People's Guardian Saturninus thirty-seven years ago. Under Roman law, "the People's Guardian is sacred and inviolable," thus he was charged with treason.

Caesar, along with his distant cousin (also named Caesar), was randomly chosen to be the two judges for this case.

Rabirius was found guilty, with the penalty being death.

He was allowed to appeal to the Hundred People Meeting representing the people of Rome. Cicero and Hortensius defended him, but they seemed unable to reverse the verdict. Just as Rabirius was about to be found guilty, an incident brought the trial to an abrupt halt.

According to tradition, the Hundred People Meeting convened on the War God Square, while a sentry was placed at a vantage point on the nearby Janiculum Mountain. The sentry would hoist a red flag at the mountain's peak, allowing the Hundred People Meeting to continue their sessions and handle affairs. If the flag was lowered, it indicated Rome was in danger, and citizens would have to immediately disband the meeting and take up arms to prepare for battle. This custom persisted into this era.

Just before the Hundred People Meeting concluded the voting that would decide Rabirius' fate, the Legal Officer overseeing the meeting, Metellus, quietly sent someone to lower the flag on the mountain, causing the meeting to adjourn without a verdict.

Caesar and Labienus were both very willing to drop the investigation after the fact. Obviously, Caesar was not genuinely intending to convict and execute an aged elder. His main goal was to appear in such an important gathering, standing in line with public sentiment.

So, later in the year, another meeting of the Hundred People Meeting elected him to be a Legal Officer for the following year.

In Rome, the position of Legal Officer is one of the most important roles, second only to that of Governor. Upon the end of their term, as long as the individual desires, they are sure to receive a Provincial Governor position, which is why the competition for Legal Officer was extremely fierce. However, Caesar, who had just reached the minimum age requirement to run for Legal Officer, was easily elected, proving how popular he was among the people of Rome.

Coincidentally, in that same year, Rome's High Priest passed away, leaving the position vacant.

During Sula's rule, the power to appoint or remove the High Priest was given to the Senate, but this year, Labienus, who was closely associated with Caesar, proposed a bill that was passed to restore the old practice—namely, the position of High Priest being elected by the citizens.

Caesar was not content with just being a Legal Officer; he also wanted to run for High Priest and publicly announced his candidacy at the gathering.

The status of High Priest held high prestige and, in many respects, was considered one of the most important figures in Rome. Therefore, many influential figures and aristocrats actively competed for this position, including Catullus and Caesar's old supervisor in Cilicia, Isulicus.

Compared to these seasoned Elders, Caesar was still quite young, and no one expected him to succeed.

But during the campaign, Caesar, like the other candidates, spent lavishly, offered gifts, supported others, and sought the key figures of each tribe, and his prospects improved steadily.

Catullus felt the pressure and proactively offered: If Caesar withdraws from the election, he would give him a significant amount of money.

Indeed, Caesar was now heavily in debt. If he failed, he would likely be pushed to the brink of suicide by his creditors.

Deeply in debt, Caesar remained unfazed and instead borrowed more money, courting more tribes, with his main creditor still being Crassus.

For Caesar, this was a high-stakes gamble; he could only succeed and not fail.

On the day of the election, Caesar kissed his mother goodbye and solemnly told her: He would either return as High Priest or never return at all!

In the end, he succeeded!

Considering the strength of his opponents, this victory was quite remarkable, making him the new star dazzling on Rome's political scene!

Although the High Priest had no authority to command other priests, as the majority vote of the priesthood could overturn the opinion of the High Priest, the High Priest played a central role in many aspects of Rome's religion and rituals, elevating Caesar's prestige and reputation significantly among the people of Rome.

In addition, as High Priest, he also acquired a residence at the eastern end of the Roman Square, just a stone's throw from the Senate, further facilitating his maneuvering in the political arena.

While the surprising results of the High Priest election drew attention, Rome's citizens were more concerned with the year's end Governor election, where Catiline was making his final attempts.

He knew his chances of winning this time were slim, so he decided to take a different approach, striving to portray himself as a defender of the poor, and openly declared: There are two republics in Rome. One consists of the vast majority, powerful yet headless; the other is that of his opponents, all head and no body, as they lack genuine support from the people. He aimed to become the leader that the vast majority urgently needed.

Thus, many poor people rallied to him, including several displaced Sulla veterans, who marched through Rome several times to express their support for Catiline.

Catiline made a significant impact in Rome, even attracting some young Roman nobles to oppose their families, causing many of the Senate's Elders to turn unfriendly towards him.

On election day, to prevent any disturbances, Cicero, who supervised the election, even donned armor and led a guard to maintain the order of the election.

Ultimately, Catiline failed.

Among the two elected Governors was one named Silanuus, whose political career was lackluster, not even as well-known as his wife among the populace.

Silanuus' wife, Sevilla, was Caesar's most important lover. Their intimate relationship endured for a long time, which was rare for the pleasure-loving Caesar, not because Sevilla was stunningly beautiful, but because she was smart, well-read, ambitious, and intellectually well-matched with Caesar, making her an excellent companion on his political path.

Even though Catiline lost the election, his debts were soon to mature, yet he seemed calm and continued attending Senate meetings.

However, his followers were busy recruiting troops in the Northern Italy region.

Cicero closely monitored Catiline and received intelligence: Catiline was planning an uprising.

But due to the lack of concrete evidence and Catiline making no unusual moves, Cicero's warnings did not prompt the Senate to take any effective actions.

Until one day, a stack of letters was suddenly delivered to Cicero's house, describing "Catiline's plan to revolt and slaughter Rome's eminent nobility," and the person forwarding these accusations was none other than Crassus, who once supported Catiline.

The next day, after Cicero read the letters aloud in the Senate, Rome entered a state of emergency, with Governor Cicero being given full powers to handle the crisis.

Cicero mobilized the army to suppress any possible uprisings while convening a Senate meeting where he publicly denounced Catiline.

That night, Catiline fled Rome, claiming he chose voluntary exile to prevent internal strife within the republic.

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