Septimus did not need to be polite with Sulla and the Senate.
"Tell Sulla my exact words, word for word, and I believe he will make the wisest decision," said Septimus with a serious expression.
Tullius and the delegation nodded, and the clone guards escorted them to the port.
In the original history, Pompey also suffered the same treatment, but his response was: "He is like the setting sun, whereas I am the rising sun." In reference to Sulla's advanced age and Pompey's youth.
Although Sulla allowed himself to be influenced by the power of Rome, he also forgot that Septimus was a reckless person who truly did not respect his position.
How many years of life do you think he has left? He has children, he has to think about their future, right? Septimus thought inwardly with a mocking smile.
Septimus did not need to be courteous with Sulla. The clone legions could melt all the iron collected during the last weeks and easily add 30 legions. Unlike a normal Roman army, the clone army had no scruples about facing all of Rome.
Betrayal against Rome represented no taboo for Septimus, and consequently the clone soldiers also had no scruples about drawing their swords against Rome.
Ultimately, Septimus gave Sulla the final decision; war or peace.
With a thought from Septimus, the clone legions began accelerating the preparations to embark at the port.
A week passed in the blink of an eye.
Sulla's residence in the city of Rome.
"That damned bastard, does he want to rebel?!" said Sulla angrily with slight unease.
"It is absolutely outrageous," said Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius with an indignant expression.
Sulla slowly calmed down, but Septimus's words echoed in his mind, causing him a headache.
Tullius observed Sulla cautiously. He knew that Sulla's rejection of Septimus's demands could start a new civil war.
On the other hand, Tullius had noble origins, but his family had been in decline for a long time, and the position of military tribune had been achieved after paying a considerable price and gaining Sulla's appreciation.
Another civil war against a powerful enemy like Septimus would mean a very risky gamble for Tullius, with great chances of losing.
"I will give him his triumphal procession and the region of Campania," said Sulla with a serious expression after calming down.
How was that possible? Metellus Caecilius opened his mouth in astonishment.
Tullius sighed in relief upon hearing Sulla's response, and his expression visibly relaxed.
"Are you joking? That bastard Septimus threatened you and all of Rome! You are the Roman dictator! And he insulted you!" said Metellus Caecilius with an agitated expression.
"It is my decision, I do not need you to interfere," said Sulla with an expression of disgust.
Metellus Caecilius regained his composure after sensing Sulla's anger and nodded with a gloomy expression without continuing to insist.
"Hurry and go to the city of Pozzuoli to inform him of my decision," said Sulla with a serious expression directed at Tullius.
Tullius nodded and withdrew from the residence.
"Why did you agree to all of his demands? He spoke such threatening words," said Metellus Caecilius angrily, unable to contain his curiosity and indignation.
"A new civil war would be harmful to the laws I am implementing throughout Rome." Sulla shook his head and said, "Besides, many people in Rome are very dissatisfied with my election as lifelong dictator. If Septimus truly marches on Rome, many people, including my own subordinates, will support him."
Metellus Caecilius looked at Sulla with wide eyes, but Sulla only had a bitter smile on his face.
Sulla could perceive the turbulent undercurrents beneath the apparent calm of Rome.
The consequences of being a lifelong dictator in a country like Rome, which had practiced a republic for hundreds of years, were terrible; he faced opposition from the majority of the social strata of the nation.
"I understand," said Metellus Caecilius with a gloomy expression.
In the clone army camp in the city of Pozzuoli, Tullius met with Septimus and informed him about Sulla's decision.
Septimus was not surprised by Sulla's decision.
Sulla was a pragmatic person who placed the interests of Rome first, and most of his decisions were oriented toward the preservation of the Roman political system.
A new civil war would destroy the recent stability in Rome, and regardless of the winner, Rome's national power would be greatly reduced.
On the other hand, Septimus knew that in the original history, Sulla could tolerate Pompey, so he should also be able to tolerate him.
The clone legions also had to be dissolved. Maintaining more than 20 active clone legions in the region of Campania consumed a great quantity of grain.
Agricultural production in the region of Campania had been optimized by the clone army, but the technological limitations prevented tolerating for a long time a large amount of manpower dedicated to combat.
The military equipment of the clone legions would be stored, and the entire region of Campania would maintain a total of three legions divided among all the cities and villages.
The purpose of the three legions would be to protect the entire region from malicious intruders or bandits.
For the triumphal procession in the city of Rome, Septimus would deploy the five clone legions with the best military equipment manufactured at the beginning of the civil war.
The five clone legions possessed weapons and military equipment crafted with more sophisticated techniques and were the clone legions with the highest combat effectiveness due to their excellent short swords capable of breaking the normal swords of this time period.
Two days passed quickly.
Septimus led the five best-equipped clone legions near the city of Rome, marching along the entire Appian Way.
It should be noted that the clone army disembarked in the region of Campania in southern Italy, clearly violating Roman laws.
A normal Roman army would face a great dilemma when mobilizing troops near Rome, but Septimus and the clone army were indifferent to the taboos of the era.
Even Julius Caesar in the original history had to use many schemes, his great prestige, and public indignation to convince his army to cross the Rubicon.
According to Roman law, without the consent of the Senate, no one could lead an army toward the Italian peninsula, from the Rubicon River in the north to the Strait of Messina in the south.
The march along the Appian Way was swift, and the clone army settled outside Rome and constructed an improvised camp while waiting for the day of the triumphal procession.
The arrival of a large army attracted the attention of many people, but Septimus's iconic banner clearly revealed his identity.
Septimus avoided entering the city. Although he did not feel bound by Roman laws, he would not violate them recklessly.
The main reason for not entering the city was because entering Rome meant renouncing his right to celebrate a triumphal procession; only after that could Septimus freely enter and leave Rome.
On the other hand, Septimus brought all of his women together with a large group of sons and daughters.
During the last years, Septimus had fathered a dozen sons and daughters, with the youngest being only one year old and the oldest barely four years old.
Childbirth was an extremely difficult activity for women of this era, and regardless of the preparations Septimus made to guarantee the safety of his women and children, a total of four women died while giving birth, and in the two most serious cases, the baby was also lost.
Septimus's children were also spreading throughout the entire region of Campania.
The clone army had massacred all the men of the region, leaving only women and children in most of the cities and villages.
The clones took the place of the murdered men, and a great number of marriages were quickly arranged throughout the entire region.
Not everything was simple, and some women who lost their husbands or sons decided to commit suicide, but those who survived accepted the cruel reality and became wives of the clone soldiers.
With time, the new families produced results, and healthy women of fertile age began showing signs of pregnancy.
Septimus jealously protected the secret regarding the great massacre in the region of Campania.
Regardless of different points of view, Septimus had no way to explain the massacre of all the men of a region and their subsequent replacement with clones.
Although Septimus did not need to give explanations, it would be inevitable for hundreds of related hypotheses to emerge.