Slander and bribery!

[Kubrick]

Manius stepped on the rostra and smiled at the people in front of him, he gave friendly nods to some plebeians up front. The people loved some personal attention. Quite a mass had assembled, most of them curious to see what the praetor of Rome had to say about the speeches given by Cotta and Diocletianus. He opened his arms to the mass of people, as if he where welcoming them. 'People of Rome! I thank you greatly that you have taken some of your personal time to be here to listen to me. It is always an honour to speak the great citizens of our magnificent city! I have come here to tell you the truth. There is a man that is lying to you and I think that's terrible, out of all persons in our dear Res Publica the people should know the truth!' He moves on the podium while talking, making emotional gestures and pointing at a random plebeian up front. 'You, dear sir, do you like to be lied to?' The man shook his head. 'No, senator, I ain't that fond of dem lyin' folks.' Manius raised his arms again. 'I thought so! And I suspect that no man, woman or child thinks otherwise! No, lying is something terrible and still it is happening. But who is this liar? Who is deceiving the people? It is someone you wouldn't expect it to be. It is the main representative of the plebeian council within our sacred senate, senator Diocletanius! Yes! It shocks me as much as it does you, my dear people!' Manius took a short break to take a fast sip of water.

'I shall tell you everything, for this man is not only a liar. No, it gets even worse! This man also tried to bribe me, your honest praetor and senator, into supporting him. He tried to buy my support! A man of my dignitas and position! One of his servants came to my house where I greeted him, I was handed a box. I opened this box and what did I find? Gold, wine, a richly decorated sword and a letter asking me to no longer support the honourable senator Cotta but instead support him! I, being a true Roman and honest praetor, refused this bribe and sent the package back to his house. I was being generous, I gave him back his goods and thought to never speak about it. We all make mistakes and I thought it would be kind to forgive him for his mistake. But then the lies came, dear people! During the speech of senator Cotta he rudely interrupted and put slander on my name by claiming impossible things!' His speech became more temperamental as he proceeded. 'There he claimed I had a gambling problem and he gave me a kind gift to pay off those debts! How dare a man make up such lies! I can assure every one of you honest people that, as a true Roman, I have no gambling history nor any debts! No, dear people, the great Aquilii Tusci still have plenty of gold to support the plebeians they love so much! And to proof the wrongness of the terrible lies of the tribune I shall now personally hand out coins from my own savings! Put it to good use and know that senator Diocletianus is no friend of the people but a liar and a criminal!' One of Manius' assistants then handed him a bag of coins and he started to throw them out into the crowd, the mass of people went wild and cheered as they dived onto the coins that scattered over the ground. Manius smiled, this speech had cost him a heavy dime but he had to uphold the truth.. and slightly alter it.

[Gandalf.]

Maximinius laughed at the display of senator Manius throwing bags of coins into the crowd.
Now that is a man that knows what he is doing Maximinius thought to himself
Diocletian has made a grave mistake, and now the tide is turned against him
Maximinius waded through the mass of people in the Rostra in an attempt to get back to his own Domus

[TheWillSter57]

Quintus watched in disgust as this snotty patrician pretended to be a people's man, he should stick to his own bunch.

[CK23]

Diocletian had finished his meeting with Senator Calpurinus and had once again heard that he was being slandered this time by Senator Tuscus. Diocletian laughed and again rode to the Rostra to defend himself from this constant assault on his reputation, despite the rumors being thrown around it was widely know that he was very popular at least, that is what the People said. Approaching the rostra he smiled and clapped on horseback diverting attention away from Senator Tuscus. "I'm glad a man such as yourself has taken the time to come out of the exclusive taverns and inns that you Patricians frequent and greet the People of Rome who you constantly insult and take down about." Diocletian slid off his horse and motioned for a one of his Plebeians to follow him placing his hand on his back and they both walked to the main platform. "Senator Tuscus would have you believe that he could give you parts of his savings but I tell you his problem is much graver my fellow people, when the box was returned to me I realized that it was notably lighter than it had been...I thought nothing of it and placed it in the safety of my room, the key that was given to Senator Tuscus had been returned and I bear that key now once again. I shall prove to you that the gold that Senator Tuscus is handing out is not his, for most of it has likely gone to his debts but the money that I lent him." Diocletian turned to the Plebeian holding the box and displayed the key used to open the lock, he then in turn opened the box to display a capped jug of wine, an ornate sword and a piece of paper tucked safely under the wine...however the "apparent" bribe was missing. Diocletian took the box and held it up high. "Senator Tuscus, I am ashamed that you would call me a liar and a briber. I merely wanted to help out someone from the esteemed Aurelli Tusci but perhaps your very close relationship with the so called Plebeian Aurelli Cotta has brought you into a state of delusion." Diocletian smiled as he handed the box back to his fellow Plebeian and nodded at him.

[Kubrick]

Tuscus laughed at the plebeian desperately to turn around the situation by lying once more. Oh the irony, usually he was the one to lie and deceive. Most of the plebeians where still busy fighting for the coins, only a few where paying attention to the tribune. He grabbed one more handfull of coins and threw them in the mass of people. His point was made, it would be best if the people never knew he was here. Still, he would defend himself. 'Dear people, why would a man of my dignitas try to deceive you by giving you coins from another man? A man like me who funded countless of bathhouses, roads, inns and brothels! You people know me for the honest caring senator I am and now all of a sudden this man comes in and throws around accusations like I do with coins! And what does an empty box prove? Why would I take out a bag of coins with the risk of making my speech worthless? No, dear people, you know as well as me that it is a weak attempt by the tribune to turn you against me!' He smiled at the people and gave some more coins personally to some people who approached him. Then he whispered to one of his lictors. The lictor then approached Diocletianus. 'The praetor wishes to remind the tribune that cases of libel and slander are accordingly punished within our dear Res Publica.' He then stepped off, paying no notion to any answers.