Chapter 61: Julian

Rome

In the last 400 years, Rome had expanded from a city of just three square miles to a super power of over 720,000 square miles, stretching from Africa to Asia Minor. Rome had become the most powerful state in the East Mediterranean for they had conquered everything west of Greece and began to expand even further than that.

All citizens of Rome were driven by the desire to make a mark in the history of their powerful Republic of Rome. To become the wealthiest, the most celebrated and the most famous of all. Glory was the one thing all Romans wanted and this wasn't an exception for one of the brightest sons of Rome, Julian Kaiser.

When Julian had been transported to Magus Academy, he was staying in the outskirts of Rome in a green field practicing his martial capability. A beam of light happened one evening while he had been asleep and after he returned, he recognized he was in the same patch of grass where he had passed out.

The first thing Julian wanted to know was to see his family again living in the walls of Rome. From his understanding, he had been gone for seven days without anyone's knowledge, so he was sure people from his family had been looking for him.

He ran back into Rome, a very magnificent city, inhabited by more than hundreds of thousands of citizens as well as slaves. He first passed by the roman aqueduct, a marvel of human ingenuity where fresh water was transported into the areas all over Rome. After that, he entered the gate of Rome guarded by several Roman soldiers wearing a full set of legionnaire armor.

Travelling through lots of tall buildings and a wide road to accommodate the countless caravans drawn by mostly slaves, he also passed by the crowded market where a lot of merchants were aggressively selling various goods from fruits to freshly acquired slaves.

Since Julian was a descendant of a well-known family who had a strong enough influence in Roman politics, they had a sizable house where there were lots of slaves attending to their various needs. The number of slaves a person had usually showed how wealthy the head of the family was.

Julian ran quite far without stopping; he didn't feel lethargic nor even feel the need to catch his breath. This was due to having him a stronger physique after his return from the Magus Academy. With this in mind, he ran faster at the thought of immediately bringing news to his mother, who should be at home, to and tell her he would like to carry out his ambition to become the most influential person in Rome.

When he neared his house, however, he stopped in place and went to a corner of a building. There were two armed soldiers in front of his devastated house, which was never a good sign. He wanted to come before the soldiers and demand what had happened, however, he kept his mind collected and ran to one of the four walls surrounding his place of residence that had a tall tree nearby. He climbed the tree and jumped over to get inside and inspect his place of residence. All he found though were turned over tables, smashed potteries, ripped curtains, and dusty floor. Apart from the mess, the inside appeared abandoned for a long time as if no one had lived there.

Julian went out using the path he had taken and headed toward his aunt's house, located not far from here. His uncle and aunt had more influence than his father but as he also neared their place of residence, there were also two roman troops guarding the gate of the house. Just when he was about to walk away a familiar voice called out to him.

"Julian!"

He looked toward the direction of the voice and saw a hooded figure. When the person lifted the hood, Julian exclaimed, "Celia!"

The girl ran to Julian and gave him a hug.

"What's wrong? What happened here?" he asked his crying sister.

"Father and mother! They were… they were—"

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"Our family has fallen into rumbles," said another female hooded figure that appeared from a corner. She lifted her hood as well and was revealed to be Julian's aunt.

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"Tell me more, aunty," Julian asked, his voice serious.

"Let's go to a more secluded place," she replied.

The three of them walked and Julian was given a hood by his aunt. Once they were at a sufficient distance away from their former houses, his aunt broke the bad news that had happened during the ten days he had been missing.

Julian's father, who was a governor in the province of Asia Minor, had been accused of treason against Rome by their political rivals after presenting so-called evidence in the senate. The senate deemed it valid and proceeded to issue an order to execute the current head of the Kaiser family as well as the alleged co-conspirators, which included Julian's uncle as well as several other figures who had a close tie to the Kaiser family.

Most of those who were executed were the various influential figures, but they didn't include their offspring and wives, since according to the senate, the sins of the father were not the sins of their sons and daughters. They also made an excuse that in accordance with the contributions that the others had procured in years of service, the sons, daughters and wives of those who had sinned were only to be exiled. Hence, they were spared but all of their assets were confiscated and driven out of Rome.

Still, since Julian's aunt had her own connections, they still managed to stay in the city of Rome, but only hiding. She also told the story of how her husband had been dragged out of their houses, as well as other families whom House Kaiser had been friends with, in tears while they were brought before the town square and beheaded in public.

When Julian heard that, he wanted to break everything he wanted to see but did all his best to contain it. He had to be strong for Celia right now who was bawling her eyes out.

Since Julian grew up with the best education of the Romans, not only in martial way but also in science, he knew all of that 'gathered evidence' had been a sham. He knew his father's political rivals were only after the amassed fortune his father and uncle had brought from trading with those in the asia minor and they also feared the increasing political presence Julian's father and uncle were gathering. So these rivals decided it was the best time to strike before House Kaiser's influence got stronger. After all, in the politics of the Romans, the winner would get everything whereas those opponents who lose would lose everything.

Julian certainly didn't expect to be the head of the family after his return. Fortunately, even though all of their belongings had been confiscated, Julian recalled that his father had mentioned they had a secret savings with a merchant from the east, who was currently staying in the city. It was supposed to be used for a trip to a distant relative who could look after them forever but of course, that was no longer possible.

That was the first order of Julian's business as he tried to think how he would go about his and his sister's future. After finding the merchant, Julian received a lump sum of money and found a place for his aunt and sister to stay in. A small, crowded and shabby place, certainly much different from the clean and beautiful residence they had before all went downhill. In the end, Julian decided to stay in Rome.

He then handed over all the remaining savings to his aunt. "Aunty, please take care of Celia for me."

"What about you? What's your plan?" asked Julian's aunt.

"I am joining the Legion," he declared.

In Roman culture, there was no higher honor than fighting on the battlefield. Even the wealthiest merchant in the Republic of Rome wouldn't get far in politics if he had never had a record of success in warfare.

Julian's goal in joining the Legion apart from receiving a large amount of money and benefits once he retired was that only through a career in the military would he be able to redeem his family's name and keep himself and remaining relatives safe. With the benefits he had received from the Magus Academy, he believed he would succeed in achieving the highest status in the Roman military.

On that same day, Julian enrolled in one of the Roman Legions, with his family status having been revoked, Julian had to start from the lowest rank in a Legion. But it didn't worry him not one bit since every lesson he would receive starting from the bottom would serve him once he was at the top.

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