Bereft of options, Pullo has taken up "mortality work" for Erastes Fulmen, descending into the underworld as a knife-wielding hit man, spending his pay on prostitutes and a growing appetite for opium.

Across town, his erstwhile partner assumes his official duties as a magistrate, receiving local citizens to hear out their complaints and requests. One such request comes from Mascius, an old comrade from the battlefields, who speaks on behalf of fellow veterans. Less fortunate than Vorenus, they cannot live solely on the money Caesar has given them, and they want land in Italy. Already weary from taking on the burdens of the poor, Vorenus is dismissive, but he takes their demand to Caesar. "Is it possible they turn on me?" Caesar asks his new representative. "They'd never fight against you," Vorenus assures him. "But if they're not satisfied, those that have no other skills to employ will turn to banditry and raiding."

Caesar decides to offer them rugged land in Pannonia, and if Mascius refuses it, Vorenus is to make him a personal offer - in the hopes that he will sway his fellow veterans to accept the bargain.

Brutus is disturbed to find graffiti depicting him with a knife at Caesar's back. As he orders a servant to erase the image, Cassius arrives to tell him not to bother - the drawings are everywhere. Plebeians painted the graffiti in the hopes that Brutus would rescue them from the tyrant, Cassius tells him, ushering in liberty as his ancestors did before him. "They would not pluck a hair for liberty," Brutus sneers contemptuously. "Plebs love to see their betters fight. It's cheaper than theater and the blood is real."

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Wikipedia