On Lepidus and Other Matters

Fellow senators, while I am happy that we have decided to rightfully declare Marcus Lepidus an enemy of the state and have begun raising legions against his possible march on Rome, I feel that we did so with entirely too much delay. As I stated in a previous meeting of our established senate, the fact that Lepidus has left the city of Rome in the company of his legion is cause for emergency! Even after this statement, our consul still felt it necessary to continue on with the issue of funeral games. I do feel that Caesar deserved honors in his death, as a general and leader of Rome, but at what time did funeral games become more important than the immediate safety of our Rome? I feel that we are allowing too many issues from the past to cloud our ability to move forward and ensure the safety of our future. I feel that Marcus Lepidus' actions should take precedence over any other matters that need to be addressed.

I know, conscript fathers, that there are some in this room who feel that the matter of Brutus and his fellow conspirators should be dealt with above all else. I believe that the only way we will be able to move past all of this is to grant a general amnesty to these men for the sake of Rome. Removing these men from their offices and creating a hole in the senate would only throw our establishment into further turmoil. In one of my earlier speeches, I suggested that the conspirators should be placed in the hands of the courts, but I would like to apologize, for I now see that I was simply putting my personal feelings in front of what is best for our city. I feel that it is in Rome's best interest to grant these men their amnesty so that we can get on with matters of our future. Senators, let us contemplate what the consequences of a trial might be. A trial would only serve to widen the ever-growing gap that already exists in our senate. Despite our personal feelings in the matter, we must not dwell on what has happened in the past, fellow senators. We must try to turn our eyes forward and look to what will be best for Rome in our present time and in our future.

With this said, I believe that we should focus all of our attention onto Marcus Lepidus. This man is unstable and rash. He did not leave Rome with a legion of men to have a picnic, senators. We must be prepared for anything, for we have already been caught unawares by letting him slip out of Rome right under our noses. As soon as his position is established, I believe that we should send troops to meet him, thereby not allowing him to get to Rome. We cannot allow this man to get back into Rome of his own will. The consequences will be devastating should he get the chance to march on Rome. We cannot let our city be thrown into another civil war, so let us take action, fellow senators. Let us not continue our pointless fighting amongst each other as it only causes more delay in actions we should be taking quickly.