"Furthermore, his two invasions of Rome set a terrible precedent, and he killed a great number of Roman nobles and equestrians. He was an absolute dictator; he does not deserve a state funeral. He was a butcher! An executioner!"
"Old bastard, why didn't you say that while Sulla was alive? You only dare to say it after his death. I think you're nothing but a complete coward!" shouted a senator from Lucullus' side.
"Sulla was a psychopathic butcher. He does not deserve a state funeral!" the senator roared angrily.
The Senate quickly filled with shouting and curses.
The noble senators hurled insults and curses at the top of their lungs.
The shouting and cursing continued for a while, and eventually the angriest senators managed to vent their emotions.
A senator stepped forward and waited for a moment of silence before speaking.
"In any case, Sulla placed thousands of Roman citizens, nobles, and equestrians on the list of enemies of Rome, which is undoubtedly a heinous crime. I firmly oppose a state funeral for him. Furthermore, I believe those exiled nobles should be exonerated, and all of them should have their property restored," the senator said in a loud voice, expressing the position of many senators.
"Let us wait for the Assembly to vote on this matter. Does our word no longer count?" Lucullus said angrily.
"Yes, let us wait for the Assembly to vote. I believe the Assembly is about to convene. We shall see who is right then," Lepidus said with a smile.
Lucullus and the others wore grim expressions.
If Sulla had not died, many Roman citizens would still have feared him and perhaps would not have dared to support Lepidus.
But now that Sulla was dead, Rome was increasingly returning to its old customs.
At the very least, the Roman citizens were extremely enthusiastic about the Grain Law and would undoubtedly support Lepidus wholeheartedly. Things were looking bad.
On the other hand, securing Septimus' support would be very difficult.
At the last meeting, many senators and nobles had noticed the growing distance between Sulla and Septimus.
Now that Sulla was dead, it was highly likely that Septimus would show no interest in the affairs of the city of Rome.
It was inevitable that the balance of power in Rome would shift in the coming days in favor of Lepidus and his faction.
Two days passed quickly.
As expected, every time Lepidus delivered a speech in the square, the crowd cheered him enthusiastically. It seemed that Sulla's faction was on the verge of suffering a complete defeat, which greatly worried its senators.
On the contrary, because of the growing popularity of the plebeian faction, some of Sulla's senators even began currying favor with Lepidus, intending to abandon the faction, which was on the brink of collapse.
This dealt a severe blow to the upcoming citizens' assembly, so Lucullus once again sent someone to inform Septimus and seek his help.
"So many people have already defected to Lepidus' side?" Septimus thought with an interested expression.
Before his death, Sulla had assigned tasks to the nobles, who mobilized citizens to travel to Rome: some contributed money, others manpower. If anyone deserted, everything would inevitably fall apart.
Could Lepidus bring back those exiled nobles and reclaim their properties?
Of course not!
Septimus was not sure about everyone else's properties, but the properties he had acquired would not be affected.
Campania's clone legions had shown no hesitation in rebelling against Rome during the civil war, and they would show no hesitation in starting another war.
Septimus had no intention of interfering.
The region of Campania stored enough weapons and military equipment to equip thirty clone legions.
The controversy in the Roman Senate spread everywhere through the *Rome Daily*. The news that Lepidus' proposal to recall the exiled nobles and return their properties was likely to win in the Assembly caused great concern.
This was especially true in the veterans' colonies established by Sulla, where the matter was already being widely discussed.
The newspaper was everywhere, in both cities and villages, carrying analyses of the situation.
Upon hearing this news, Sulla's veterans were shocked and furious.
They were the owners of those properties, and if they were returned, each of them would suffer heavy losses, with some even left homeless.
The veterans of Sulla's army organized themselves into groups and sought Lucullus' support.
Lepidus and the exiled nobles had underestimated the impact of their demands.
Throughout the Roman Republic, groups of Sulla's veteran soldiers spontaneously organized themselves to travel to the city of Rome.
The situation in Rome became heated once again, and the senators never stopped arguing, whether in public or in private.
The events throughout Rome were immediately reported by the *Rome Daily*.
Lepidus was enjoying tremendous success; Sulla had died, and the forces of the exiled nobles were now operating openly.
They rallied around Lepidus, placing all their hopes in him.
This caused Lepidus' power to grow enormously; even some members of Sulla's faction had defected to his side.
On that particular day, Lepidus was on his way to the Civic Square when the cry of a newspaper vendor caught his attention.
"Newspapers for sale! Newspapers for sale! A massive influx of veterans from Sulla's legions is heading to Rome to honor him with a state funeral!"
A crowd had already gathered around the newspaper vendor. The news was so shocking that Lepidus stood stunned for quite some time.
Thousands of Sulla's veteran legionaries had spontaneously gathered to honor Sulla with a state funeral.
Lepidus felt his heart tremble; this was a momentous event.
A state funeral could only be held in Rome. What were they planning? Did they truly want to hold a funeral, or were they using it as a pretext to march on Rome?
"Quick, buy me a newspaper," Lepidus said fiercely to one of his guards.
The guard quickly bought him a newspaper, and after reading it, Lepidus felt dizzy and nearly fainted. This was a serious development.
"Quick, let's go back and gather all our men to discuss this matter," Lepidus said, somewhat exasperated.
Inside the Temple of Jupiter in Rome, several senators were still heatedly debating whether Sulla should be granted a state funeral.
The debate had gone on for days without resolution and seemed destined to continue.
Just then, a Tribune of the Plebs burst into the chamber.
Many senators were stunned.
Although the Tribunes of the Plebs had the authority to convene and attend Senate sessions, bursting in like this was still rather discourteous.
"Something terrible has happened! Thousands of Sulla's legionaries have spontaneously gathered to honor him with a state funeral!" the tribune exclaimed, out of breath.
Upon hearing this, the Roman Senate fell silent; the senators were stunned.
"What did you say? Thousands of legionaries have spontaneously gathered to hold a state funeral for Sulla?" one senator exclaimed fearfully.
Septimus was unaware of the indirect influence caused by the newspaper's rapid and efficient dissemination of information.
News from Rome spread quickly throughout the Italian Peninsula, and thousands of Roman veterans who had benefited from the war under Sulla became outraged upon learning of the events.
Indirectly, Septimus had unknowingly helped Lucullus' side.
The senators who heard the news were stunned and fearful.
Many senators were vehemently anti-Sulla, and the massive influx of veterans from Sulla's army represented a danger to their safety.