The Mad Tycoon of Rome

Kashapa had experienced the greatest tension of his life in the past few days.

When the war broke out, he was half-panicked and could not do anything but watch the situation.

He was afraid that he might be blamed as the cause of the war if something went wrong.

But maybe it was his survival instinct honed by years of trading, or maybe it was his knack for recognizing the strong.

He regained his calm and realized which side he should join.

He knew that if Satavahana won the war, he would have a hard time saving his life.

How many nobles would spare him, who had brought in the Roman merchants and ignited the war?

They would surely find an excuse to plunder the wealth that his family had accumulated.

‘If I have no future in Satavahana anyway, it would be safer to side with Rome.’

If the war went well, he could rise as a pro-Roman faction in Satavahana, or he could escape to Rome and plan for his future.

Kashapa made up his mind and contacted Surenas, who had just landed, and started to provide him with information.

He also captured some Kshatriyas who were in a similar situation as him, and even recruited some Vaisyas who were dissatisfied with the nobles to Rome’s side.

The information and goods they provided were like wings to Surenas.

Kashapa’s gamble paid off and Surenas reported his merit to Marcus directly.

Marcus stationed his army in Caliana and waited for Satavahana to fulfill its promise.

In the meantime, he heard Surenas’s report and ordered him to bring Kashapa.

He wanted to reward him for his merit personally.

Kashapa suppressed his excitement and entered Caliana under Aquilanus’s guidance.

He thought that the city would be half-destroyed by the Roman army, but surprisingly, the city looked quite peaceful.

When he asked why, he got a very unexpected answer.

“From the beginning, the plundering was not for getting resources, but for showing off to the outside. The cities that were plundered were mainly those where the king and his cronies had strong influence, and there was no plundering in the cities that would come under Rome’s influence.”

He also heard that Marcus had given some compensation from his own property to the residents of the cities that were damaged by the war.

‘Shahansha must be planning to plant his power in Satavahana.’

This situation was rather an opportunity for him.

Depending on how he behaved here, he could either leap forward or fall into a disposable pawn.

He gathered his mind once again and entered the room where Marcus was waiting.

He felt sweat on his back and hands from thinking that he could not make any mistakes.

“I am a humble noble of Satavahana. I greet you, Shahansha. My name is Kashapa. I am grateful for this rare honor of meeting you.”

Kashapa knelt down and bowed his head as he had done before Samrat.

“I have heard of your merit. You have done a great job.”

“I just did what I had to do.”

It sounded odd to say that selling information to another country was what he had to do, but Marcus seemed satisfied and chuckled and nodded.

“You can raise your head and stand up.”

“How can I in front of Shahansha…”

“It’s okay. Stand up.”

He cautiously got up on his second try.

By now, he was more careful than when he faced his own king.

“I have heard everything about you from Surenas. I did some research and found out that you traded with my merchants while keeping your integrity and trust.”

Marcus did not mention that Tadius had captured him from the beginning according to his order.

Kashapa also did not know such a fact and nodded his head.

“I just followed the laws that a merchant should follow.”

“I heard that in Satavahana, they look down on the Kshatriyas who engage in trade themselves. I would understand if they were worried about market disruption, but they say that’s not the reason. You must have had a hard time until now.”

“I was just envious of the free atmosphere of Rome.”

“Is that so? So you decided to side with Rome instead of Satavahana?”

Kashapa hesitated a bit before answering, not wanting to appear too opportunistic.

“I wanted to test my abilities in a wider world.”

“Then I, as the Shahanshah, should reward you for meeting your expectations. It is only fair that those who have done meritorious deeds receive appropriate compensation.”

Kashapa felt a surge of joy when he saw the smile on Marcus’s lips.

“Then how should I behave from now on?”

“You will have to stay in Satavahana and lend me some of your strength. Of course, I will not disappoint you with the reward.”

“That… may be an impudent question, but won’t I be in danger if I stay in Satavahana? The privileged class of Satavahana must think of me as a traitor who clings to Rome.”

Kashapa’s original plan was to cross over to Rome with Marcus and receive a noble status there.

He thought that if he took all his wealth accumulated in Satavahana to Rome, he could start a new success story there.

Of course, Marcus had no intention of using Kashapa in that way.

“I will guarantee your safety. Your family will be officially announced as Rome’s allies. I will also make it clear that harming your family is tantamount to raising a sword against Rome. How likely is it that those who have learned their lesson from this incident will repeat the same mistake?”

“That would be great, but… then can I also get citizenship?”

“Of course. I will give it to you if you want. But when you act in Satavahana, it would be better to act as an ally rather than a citizen of Rome. Keep that in mind. If you do more meritorious deeds here, I will personally help you to join the Roman nobility. If you complete all the tasks I entrust you with, I might even give you a seat in the Senate.”

Kashapa’s eyes widened at the word Senate.

Although the perception of the Senate was slightly different inside and outside of Rome, it was still regarded as a place where only the highest nobles gathered.

Being accepted into the Senate was the most solid proof that he was not treated as a nominal Kshatriya like in Satavahana.

“I will devote everything to fulfill your command. Please give me any order.”

“You have a good attitude. Then I will assign you a mission right away. Before we leave here, I plan to create an institution that monitors Satavahana’s compliance with the treaty with Rome. And I will make sure that you become the head of that institution.”

“What if Satavahana makes excuses and does not comply with the treaty?”

“Then I will give you the authority to levy money by force, so don’t worry too much. Monitoring Satavahana’s compliance with the treaty is just a secondary mission. What you have to do with that title is to create a pro-Roman faction within Satavahana and unite them.”

When this war ends, the royal family of Satavahana will inevitably fall into chaos.

Prince Sawati would naturally try to preserve his position, and some nobles who were dissatisfied with him for triggering this situation would also emerge.

There would be those who would raise their voices against Rome’s pressure, and those who would side with Rome like Kashapa and seek their own interests.

He just had to select and build a pro-Roman faction from these people.

“Do you intend to push the royal family of Satavahana into chaos… and wait for them to collapse on their own?”

“Well, if they ruin themselves on their own, it just means that they were nothing more than that level of a country. I don’t have the intention of making them fall completely. I just want to use whatever I can use.”

“What if the chaos grows bigger and a civil war breaks out?”

“Then the Roman army will have to intervene again to secure the safety of the Roman merchants and you.”

Kashapa slowly began to understand what his role was.

Marcus clearly showed that he felt burdened by directly ruling Satavahana.

Kashapa also saw that there were many problems with Rome annexing Satavahana as it was.

The territory of Satavahana was too large to swallow at once, and it was too far away from Rome physically.

This was one of the reasons why Satavahana had made a careless judgment about the possibility of war with Rome.

They thought that the Romans would not launch a massive invasion on a land that they could not even occupy properly.

Even if they did, they would just mess around and leave.

There were many optimistic predictions like that.

But Marcus had a different perception from the ancient people in many ways.

Especially, Rome had quite good conditions to realize Marcus’s way.

Rome’s policy of assimilation also had some similarities with colonialism in a broad sense.

But Rome’s way was closer to settlement-type colonialism.

Marcus had no intention of making the Romans migrate to India in large numbers from the beginning.

It was not difficult to annex Arabia, where Islamic culture had not yet taken root, but India was different.

It was better to take time and slowly make them come over than to annex them in the old way.

There was no reason or value to make them Roman territories if he could just extract the resources.

“The people at the bottom of the caste system are more likely to welcome Rome’s influence. Rome is much more free in terms of social mobility than here, so it would be seen as a land of hope for the oppressed classes.”

“That’s right. There is no such concept as nationalism now. If we throw them appropriate carrots and hopes, we can easily capture them.”

Kashapa did not know what nationalism exactly meant, but he was confident that he could make most of the residents of Satavahana his side.

He himself was a Kshatriya, but he knew how deep his resentment was.

He just had to gently scratch the desire of the Vaishyas who wanted to rise higher or the Sudras who were despised and lived miserably.

If he did that normally, he would be executed on the spot for disturbing the caste system, but Rome was behind Kashapa.

No one would dare complain unless he did it too blatantly.

Rather, Kashapa was itching to carry out Marcus’s orders as soon as possible.

‘Finally, I will see the faces of those arrogant Brahmins and Kshatriyas distorted. Hehehe.’

He would return them the same humiliation, or even more, that he had suffered until now.

His eyes were filled with expectation and excitement, and he saw the image of Satavahana collapsing into a mess vividly.

Marcus looked down at Kashapa with a strange heat in his eyes and gave him one more order.

“When you have roughly gathered your forces, spread one rumor. By the way, you have to spread the rumor not in Satavahana but in foreign countries.”

“Foreign countries? Do you mean places like Camba? Or further east?”

“Northeast. Especially Han. Tell them directly with your mouth how Satavahana lost this war and how humiliating the treaty they made was.”

The end