Spare the Rod...

Oh Octavius. Yes, Octavius and not Gaius Julius Caesar for this pathetic boy is not even worthy of a name so tainted as that of Caesar. He shows his true age through his immaturity and cowardice. In his last letter to us, he spoke of danger to himself which explains why he ran in such haste to hide behind daddy's legions. However, I might point out that not a single liberator was among this “brawl” of which he speaks. Catullus was the one who was brave enough to grab the message in an effort to help weed out the corruption. The note ended up with Lucius Julius Caesar (who cannot even be suspected of harming the rightful and now late Gaius Julius Caesar) after which dear Lucius was then assaulted by our illustrious consul Marc Antony and that wretched bit of Egyptian filth of a whore-queen. I too was outraged. Outraged that this harlot whom we have so graciously allowed in our forum had the audacity to lay a single of her infectious fingers on a noble senator. And might I add that she was JOINED by Marc Antony?

But I digress, Octavius, as is typical of youthful angst, has dreamed up this danger to himself. All of Rome is out to get poor little Octavius. We allowed him to speak and vote with us, senators of age and wisdom beyond his, and he repays us by mocking our proceedings and defying our decrees. He was quick to name several things that we did not deem important. Once again, his imagination runs as wild as he does throughout the countryside (behind nine legions, I might add). However, why did he, in his greatly professed concern for Rome, not propose these things himself? No, he is not a presiding officer but as we recently found out through an intercepted communication, he clearly has ties with Marc Antony. I'm sure he could have had the issues addressed had he stuck around. Instead, he fled. Leaving his dignity and prepubescent testicles behind.

Senators, we cannot bend to the whims of this suckling child. The time for offers or incentives has passed. When we asked him to return to Rome and explain himself, we cut off any possible support we could give him. He blatantly denied our request. To bow to him at this point would be the ruin of the Republic. Let us foolishly and optimistically imagine for a moment that he will not betray us when we send him off on a campaign to increase his experience. What precedent have we set? What have we done to discourage another son of a great general to assume command of legions upon his father's death? The answer is absolutely nothing.

That being said, I propose that we ignore Octavius for the moment. He poses a lesser threat than Lepidus due to many things, one of which being that fact that Lepidus is actually a man. Lepidus left Rome in great and outspoken anger toward the Senate. Lepidus does not have his father's will to explain any of his actions. He has only his irrational and selfish motives. We cannot blame ourself for his actions. There was no need for a magister equitum so the position was eliminated. In keeping with the traditions of the republic, we voted on one matter at a time. Rather than wait around in hopes of being awarded of another office after the matter concerning Caesar had been resolved, he stole Caesar's body, burned it, and fled the city. He has left a trail of treason behind him.

I feel that we should fortify Dolabella with legions from Decimus Brutus and have Scribonius Libo campaign with her as co-general as wise Catullus has spoken of with some of us (meaning previously on the blog). Gods willing, Dolabella and Libo will have no trouble defeating Lepidus. We should then take these troops along with those defeated who previously served Lepidus and develop a strategy to confront Octavius. Hopefully, he will come to his senses and more lives will not have to be lost. However, this is Rome and nothing and no number of men is worth more than the Republic. We should not hesitate to fight for our Republic just as we have done for hundreds of years. If either Octavius or Lepidus wishes to continue to oppress the Republic, they shall have pay the consequences. Lesser men have fallen against our fair nation. They will not be the first nor will they be the last. We cannot pretend that either of these men does not present a threat to our Republic whether immediate or years from now when he returns from whatever appeasement campaign we might give him. With Octavius, the question we must ask ourselves is whether we want to deal with him now or after we give him years of military experience. Let us go deal with Lepidus so we can give Octavius the spanking that the spoiled child clearly deserves but has not yet received.