Three years passed.
Since the incident of the extermination of the entire family of Licinius, Septimus' reputation throughout the city of Capua was completely destroyed. The upper class of Capua described Septimus as a demented murderer.
The political situation in Rome was turbulent, and in recent years a large number of massacres against prominent families had desensitized the upper class in Rome. They paid no attention to the extermination of a small noble family in Capua.
Only in the city of Capua did the atrocious acts against a noble family generate for Septimus a reputation as a ruthless and demented murderer.
Adding to this the banner of decapitated heads that Septimus displayed as a distinction caused many nobles to avoid having contact with Septimus. Although the upper class of Capua envied his enormous fortune, they avoided having any contact with a person they considered unreasonable and capable of sending armed men to assassinate on a whim.
For Septimus, the lack of friendship with the noble class in Capua was not very important, and throughout the three years he dedicated all his energy to building his power and enjoying various pleasures with his slave women.
Septimus now had three children, and five of his slave women were pregnant. During the three long years he had realized that he had the ability to procreate offspring in a normal way. Originally he had thought that perhaps his ability would prevent him from having children.
For Septimus, the arrival of children added a bit of novelty to his household. In total he had two girls and one small boy, who were treated as little treasures by their mothers.
Now Septimus had seven women who had previously been slaves, who were either pregnant or had given birth to his children.
The territory of Septimus also had a large number of women, totaling nearly ten thousand female slaves that Septimus had bought from the city of Naples in recent years. A large number of women were distributed among the clones to serve as wives or lovers.
For Septimus, the desire to possess a woman diminished each year. The cloning ability provided a connection of human senses that was difficult to explain among all the clones. Consequently, it could be said that every night Septimus had the experience of having sexual relations with thousands of women.
Septimus considered sex as an optional habit that he practiced for pleasure within his daily routine.
On the other hand, the construction of the villa advanced notably during the three years. A large number of clones worked with great efficiency in building walls, barracks, and various facilities within the walls.
Septimus' villa was now a very imposing fortified city with thick walls and large towers that amazed all visitors.
Septimus currently had four well-equipped legions and three thousand soldiers of light and heavy cavalry.
Currently, for Septimus only the lack of military equipment limited the number of troops he could deploy. The new military equipment he created three years earlier, together with the customization of the armor with the banner and insignia of his emblem, made it more laborious to arm a new legion.
Nevertheless, if Septimus used the classic Roman military equipment, he would be capable of equipping twice as many legions. However, considering the disparity in combat ability and military discipline between a clone and an ordinary Roman soldier, Septimus decided to maintain a low profile for the moment.
Subsequent to the massacre of the Licinius family came the death from old age of Gaius Marius, as was predestined in history.
The Roman senator Gnaeus Papirius Carbo replaced Marius and became the new consul of Rome.
Cinna in Rome, in order to maintain relations with the plebeians, had specifically promised his daughter to the young Julius Caesar.
Not only because Marius was the uncle of Julius Caesar, but also because one of Caesar's uncles had proposed the famous Julian Law of Citizenship, which granted citizenship rights to all free people of Italy, from the Rubicon River in the north to the Strait of Messina in the south. Therefore, the Caesar family was highly respected among the Roman plebeians.
Although it was a political marriage, Cinna's daughter was in love with Julius Caesar, and the young couple was considered a happy marriage. Cinna did not know that, only in terms of infidelity, there would not be many men more despicable than Caesar in the future.
It is said that Caesar had illicit relations with the wives of 13 senators. He was a hardened womanizer, fond of married women. He even cuckolded Pompey and his creditor Crassus.
After having sexual relations with married women throughout his life, Caesar ended up being deceived himself, turning the First Triumvirate of Rome into the "Triumvirate of the Cuckolds."
It is described in Roman history that on a night dedicated to the goddess Pompeia, according to custom, only women were allowed to attend. All men, including slaves and masters, had to leave their homes and visit other places. Publius Clodius Pulcher, a descendant of a wealthy Roman family, disguised himself as a woman and sneaked into Caesar's house to meet with his wife.
However, he was discovered by a slave and reported to Aurelia, Caesar's mother. The cunning Aurelia did not capture him, but simply drove him away, thus avoiding Caesar and the family of Publius Clodius Pulcher becoming mortal enemies.
Upon learning of the situation, Caesar immediately divorced his wife, declaring that his wife was absolutely disloyal. In fact, Clodius' actions constituted a blasphemy, and the Roman nobility, tired of Caesar's infidelities, expected to see the drama.
An annoyed Caesar planned to sue Clodius, but Aurelia and her slave refused, claiming darkness and an inability to see clearly at night. Caesar, to avoid humiliation, simply declared: "I was not at home; I know nothing about the matter," completely removing himself from all responsibility.
Later, Caesar not only did not become enemies with Clodius, but they later became political allies.
Caesar deceived Pompey and Crassus, yet Pompey did not become his sworn enemy, but instead married his daughter. Crassus did not hate Caesar either; later he lent him money and even supported his candidacy as governor of Hispania.
Roman men treated their wives as if they were clothing.
Septimus disliked the Roman custom of infidelity within the circle of the upper class. It was one of the reasons why he avoided socializing.
The women who had not been slaves with whom Septimus maintained a relationship were now only Fausta, Atilia, Cornelia, and Fulvia. If Septimus had the intention, he could have half of the women of Capua as lovers. But for Septimus, sex was now only an action he dedicated himself to purely for pleasure and lack of entertainment.
On the other hand, the position of prefect of Capua was won by Marcus thanks to the substantial support of Septimus and the efforts of Cornelia and Atilia. One of the reasons why the upper class of Capua avoided offending Septimus was also because he had friendship with the current prefect of the city of Capua.
Septimus could easily direct his clone soldiers to massacre entire noble families in the middle of the night, and the prefect of Capua would simply say that bandits or pirates were the ones who attacked.
Secondly, Septimus also had the support of the admiral of Campania. Half of the soldiers who served under the command of the admiral of Campania were clones whom Cinna had designated with the intention of separating Septimus from his soldiers.
Cinna did not know that for Septimus the clones were consumables that could be generated every week, and that he maintained four legions fully prepared for combat within his fortress city.
Septimus' territory covered a large amount of land outside the walls. The sale of white sugar and the incorporation of a paper workshop to trade throughout Rome generated a large amount of money that easily entered Septimus' warehouses.
Septimus earned a large amount of money monthly, which he used to buy land and build farms and villas with the purpose of giving his clones the identity of vassals of his family.
Septimus' reputation in Capua was terrible, and the upper class only knew that he was mysterious. To avoid further inquiries, Septimus entrusted Fabius with the task of negotiating with the nobles of Capua for the purchase of land near his fortress city.
The number of clones that Septimus currently had reached thirty thousand, plus nearly ten thousand slave women, for a total of forty thousand people.
Septimus needed to accommodate and give a clear identity to all those people.
On the other hand, Fabius faithfully fulfilled the task entrusted to him. Ever since Septimus ordered him to investigate the nobles who planned to attack his caravans and he failed in the mission, Fabius had been nervous for a long time.
Now that Fabius had the opportunity to demonstrate his value to Septimus, he would not waste it.
In the following three years, with the effort of Fabius, the fortress city of Septimus was surrounded by farms managed by clones with various identities who raised the distinctive banner of decapitated heads of Septimus.
For the people of the entire region of Campania, the fortress city of Septimus was known by the name "The Decapitator City" (Latin = Urbs Decollatrix).