episode_0008

[… … the die has already been cast!]

Immediately after the intermission that lasted a full 30 minutes.

Julius Caesar resumed its run on the stage of the Killigruga Theatre.

The Rubicon River depicted using stage props with magic.

Monsieur Renois, who led the legions across this place and played the role of Caesar, shouted grandly.

[If I cross this river, the human world will be miserable, and if I don’t cross it, I will be destroyed! Let’s go! To where the gods await! To where the enemies who have sullied our honor await!]

While Caesar was away on campaign, the Roman triumvirate had already fallen apart.

Crassus was jealous of Caesar’s military exploits and went on an expedition to Parthia, where he was killed.

Because Pompey secretly conspired with the Senate and completely turned his back on Caesar.

Finally, Caesar, who had led his army all the way to Rome, had to make a decision.

The Rubicon River is the final border separating Rome’s main territory and its provinces.

Therefore, there is an unwritten rule that generals returning from an expedition must disarm before this river.

Entering Rome without disarming even at the Rubicon River’s boundary, because that would mean a so-called coup d’état.

And Caesar boldly chose the coup d’état.

What happened next was the so-called ‘Caesar’s Civil War’, which marked the actual end of the Roman Republic.

In this war, he defeated his political opponent Pompey, who had the support of the Senate, and finally rose to the pinnacle of power.

[I came! I saw! I conquered!]

Vēnī. Vīdī. Vīcī!

A splendid triumphal procession featuring Caesar’s best lines.

Caesar then generously forgave his surviving political enemies and implemented wide-ranging reforms across society.

Maintaining a forward-looking perspective, he reconstructs Rome from a single city-state into the great empire remembered by modern people.

Caesar was undoubtedly a man of great ambition and lust for power.

However, he did this not for his own personal greed, but to contribute to the public good of Rome.

Caesar’s ambitions were always linked to the grand ideal of Roman reform and revival.

But the reign of such a hero did not last long.

Caesar was appointed dictator for life and gained absolute power, virtually no different from that of an emperor.

Because the senators, fearful of his reckless actions, secretly plotted his assassination.

On that fateful day, March 15, 44 BC.

When Caesar showed up to attend the meeting, he was surrounded by assassins wielding daggers.

[Decimate the dictator!]

[For Rome!]

[For the Republic!]

[Cough!]

Sharp blades pouring down ceaselessly from all directions.

Caesar is stabbed countless times and screams at the top of his lungs.

At the same time, the audience in the stands also began to scream in shock.

“Ka, Caesar!”

“What the heck! What happened all of a sudden!”

“No! Caesar! The hero of Rome!”

The audience probably thought that this time too, he would escape the plot of his enemies.

But unfortunately, the time has finally come when the protagonist’s luck runs out.

As the final assassin appeared, both Caesar’s and the audience’s faces simultaneously turned red with shock.

[Brutus… … You too?]

His adopted son, Marcus Junius Brutus, whom he favored as if he were his own son.

He appeared and without hesitation plunged his cold dagger into Caesar’s chest.

Phew!

“Gyaaaah!!”

“Oh my god!”

As blood spurted from the actor’s forehead, screams of joy were heard from the audience.

A momentary change of circumstances: Caesar’s assassination.

The audience who couldn’t accept this were left dumbfounded.

But even as time stood still for the audience, time on stage continued to flow.

[Brutus. Ah, Brutus… … ]

Caesar slowly raises his arms with bloodshot eyes.

His hand is soon placed on the face of Brutus, who has stabbed him.

But the emotion expressed on the hero’s face was not resentment.

It wasn’t a feeling of betrayal that cut to the bone, nor was it disappointment or anger.

Tears slowly began to well up in the actor’s eyes.

Caesar whispered quietly, a single teardrop flowing gently.

[sorry……]

As soon as he finished speaking, thud! Caesar fell to the marble floor.

Stabbed and cut wounds all over his body.

A huge amount of blood flowed out from it.

The audience who had been watching the series of scenes finally came to their senses.

“Ah, Caesar… … Caesar… … ”

“He really was a true hero. He even forgave the traitor who assassinated him.”

In fact, a significant amount of dramatization went into the final Brutus stabbing scene.

In reality, Brutus was not Caesar’s adopted son, and Caesar never apologized to him before he died.

Moreover, even the famous last words, ‘And you too, Brutus’, were actually made-up lines from Shakespeare’s plays.

Yet this subtle adaptation evoked two emotions that would be crucial to the unfolding story.

Respect for Caesar, who loved his adopted son to the end even after being murdered.

And the anger towards Brutus who cold-bloodedly assassinated his adoptive father.

[Citizens of Rome! Listen to the speech of Brutus!]

Finally, Brutus, who had completed the assassination, stood before the Roman citizens holding the dagger he had used to assassinate the victim.

A leader who led Rome with the enthusiastic support of the common people while he was alive.

He waved his blood-stained clothes and preached his righteousness in a mournful voice.

Why did he assassinate his adoptive father, Caesar?

Why the assassination was a saving decision for Rome.

[I loved Caesar! But I loved Rome more than Caesar, I loved the Republic more than the dictator! I killed the one I loved the most, who was about to become a dictator, with tears in my eyes!]

The Roman citizens who heard his speech were thrown into confusion.

At first glance, the logic seems very plausible.

But the people in the audience are different.

“I, I’m not even as good as that shameless person… … !”

“What are you saying now, after killing that great hero?”

“Ugh, Brutus! How dare you!”

The audience’s excitement quietly boiling beneath the surface.

It is a justified anger at losing the main character whom we cheered for and sympathized with throughout the show.

And this was the time to pour some cider to relieve that anger.

A clever imitation of the staging of the play written by the great British author, Shakespeare.

[Shut your cunning mouth, Brutus!]

A man who appeared on the opposite side of Brutus without knowing it.

It was Mark Antony, a close aide who had faithfully assisted Caesar.

[Look, people of Rome! See what our hero, Caesar, left behind in his will!]

He shouts as he unfolds Caesar’s will, which he had prepared as a prop.

Then, the extras playing Roman citizens gather together and read the text out loud.

When Caesar died, he donated all of his lands to the Roman people.

He releases his vast wealth and pays out 75 drachmas of silver to each citizen.

75 drachmas is equivalent to roughly two months’ salary for a civil servant today.

This alone was enough to reverse the mood of criticizing Caesar as a selfish dictator.

But Antonius’ speech was not over yet.

[Listen, citizens! Brutus’s three-inch tongue, which denounced Caesar as a tyrant and insisted on the legitimacy of his assassination! What is hidden beneath it?]

Brutus steps back with a bewildered expression.

Antony declared sharply, slamming him head-on.

[Ambition! Its true identity is ambition! Dirty, ugly, and pitch-black ambition!]

[Citizens of Rome! They are not liberators who have killed tyrants! They are merely murderers who have killed heroes for their own ambitions!]

Antony’s long speech instantly changed the minds of the citizens who had been wavering.

At the same time, a huge roar erupted from the audience.

“Right! Well said, Antonius-!!”

“Wow! Brutus, you vile bastard!”

“Save Caesar, Brutus! Save him now!!”

“Execute! Execute that guy right now! I’m telling you to tear him to pieces by slicing him to pieces!”

A spectacle in which everyone stood up and jeered and cheered at Brutus.

Even though most of those gathered are upper-class nobles and wealthy people, they forget about decorum and get all worked up.

If there weren’t armed guards maintaining order, it looks like they would have stormed onto the stage at any moment.

It was also a stroke of genius to request the imperial family to strengthen the stage defenses in preparation for an emergency.

‘If that hadn’t happened, the actor playing Brutus would have already been trampled to death by the audience?’

In real history, it has often happened that over-immersed audience members end up murdering actors.

In China, an audience member killed a comedian who played the villain Cao Cao in Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

That’s because in Joseon, the people killed Jeon Gi-su, who played the role of the villain Kim Ja-jeom in too well.

Anyway, fortunately, the rest of the play progressed smoothly and very quickly.

It shows the miserable end of Brutus and his men who assassinated Caesar and fled.

The story ends with the emergence of Caesar’s hidden successor, Octavianus, and his assumption of power.

[Caesar, hero of Rome! May you rest in peace!]

A beautiful laurel wreath symbolizing the Roman emperors.

The actor playing the role of Octavianus proclaimed this while wearing it on his head.

[Caesar’s achievements will be continued by this Octavianus who will become the emperor! Blessed be great Rome! May you be remembered forever, great Caesar!]

“Wow-!!”

“Great Caesar-!!”

An ending where a capable successor succeeds the unparalleled hero and completes his great achievements.

The audience, who had experienced extreme catharsis, gave a standing ovation with enthusiasm.

Of course, in actual history, Octavianus never declared himself emperor.

Rather, he called himself a princeps (first-class citizen) his entire life and declared himself to be a defender of the republic.

But in this world, Octavianus is also a product of fiction created by the playwright Phantom.

Even if you include such minor modifications, no one will say anything.

“Caesar! Caesar! Caesar! Caesar! Caesar!”

Even as the curtain call progressed and the actors came out to say their final goodbyes, the continuous chanting did not stop.

Regardless of age or gender, everyone was calling out the protagonist’s name with the mindset of We Other World.

Of course, the same goes for Rosalind, who was watching the play next to me.

However, let me point out one difference that sets them apart from the general audience… …

“Gyaaah, Phantom! Phantom-!!”

… … to the extent of applauding enthusiastically and ecstatically calling out the playwright’s name?

As I looked at that lively(?) appearance, I suddenly began to feel uneasy.

‘Wait a minute. This isn’t a situation that only the royal family should be worried about… … ?’

The senior’s eyes looked so happy that they almost seemed ecstatic.

It’s a passion that’s completely different from his usual calm and innocent attitude.

It may be an illusion, but it is to the point where even a somewhat ‘mad’ obsession is felt here and there.

What if they find out here that I’m a phantom?

How on earth did Senior Rosalind change back then?

‘I want to repay you for saving my father, Balthazar. So, don’t ever leave this cellar?’

‘Balthazar? Why do you keep trying to run away? Why don’t you just stay by my side and write for me forever…?’

‘That’s right! You don’t need legs, do you? You just need hands to hold the pen, Balthazar!’

“… … ”

Hey, I’ve watched too many movies.

No matter how extreme the fandom is, it’s not like that.

There’s no way our kind and considerate Rosalind would do something like that, right? Hahaha.

… … I guess so.