OPTIMATES PARTY!!!!THE REBIRTH! >:)

[Kritias]

The updated list of members of the Optimate party, plus the official badges, is here. Gaius Gracchus is no longer the leader and a member of the Optimates, so the leadership of this party fell to my hands - Voltaire, C. Optimus Decimus

O P T I M A T E S

What is an Optimas senator

I
Patrician;While we won't shut our doors in the Distinguished Plebeian families,by rule the most optimates hail from the richest echelon of our society;We take pride in our noble heritage,in our gravity and importance to the Republic.

II
A strong believer of Rome's destiny to rule the world;By definition most Optimates are in favor of expansion,without lacking the voices of conservatism;In general though Optimates are in favor of expansion for the glory of the Republic.

III
Opposites to any motion to weaken the senate in favor of the individual;Optimates wish to be depicted as virtuous and loyal supporters of the Republic,thus they are opposing any motion or other action that goes beyond the will of the Senate as a hole;Also,the Optimates are strong supporters of the current status quo; They feel that they should and do have the power to lead the people of the Republic and wish that power remain in their hands.

IV
Optimates are always in favor of mass recruitment during war-time. Legions should be levied and mercenaries should be hired so that the Res Publica will never have to worry about not having enough soldiers. Optimates also think that veterans should always be given land when they retire.

V
Optimates also believe that citizenship should not be handed out like it's worth nothing. If a peregrinus wants to become a citizen, he should earn it through hard work, loyalty, and military service. Citizenship should be awarded to an entire region only if that region shows complete loyalty and/or if it shows enthusiasm towards Roman customs, language, and tradition.

Members:
Voltaire le Philosophe - Clavdivs Optimus Decimvs
68 Powers - Aquila Decimus Cato
Maxinius Scipio - Marcvs Valerivs Corvinus

Fellow senators of other Parties;While you can read our conversations,you can't use what is said here against us in the senate;The simple reason is that if you aren't an enlisted OPTIMVS Senator,you could have no way of knowing what is being said here;Sorry,its stupid but there is no way of communicating easily with all my members and still not having to reveal our intentions to others;Act as if you don't know a thing...(Role play the ignorant!)

ps:WE CAN ALWAYS PM OUR CONVERSATIONS SO FAILURE TO COMPLY WILL BRING ABOUT PLAN B!

[Marie Louise von Preussen]

Looks good, despite the egalitarian looks of it, I sense the old Optimate spirit here.

I'll join.

Decimvs

[Kritias]

Nice advertisement line!!!" Optimates;The spirit lives on!"
reminds me of Drambuie!

ooc:While I didn't want to revive the Opties outright,I sense these principles would be very appreciated by the Noves Optimates in the past as well...

[sanada]

Ah the Nove Optimates, memories

Good luck noble Constantians! (see what I did there?)

[Marie Louise von Preussen]

Nice advertisement line!!!" Optimates;The spirit lives on!"
reminds me of Drambuie!

ooc:While I didn't want to revive the Opties outright,I sense these principles would be very appreciated by the Noves Optimates in the past as well...


Here's a little signature,if you want one...

Thanks . But I'll stick with plain text until I get bored of it .

[68 Powers]

time for the wars to begin
may i join senator?

[Kritias]

Of course,anyone can be member!Just declare here your intention to join and I will add your name!

[68 Powers]

alrighty.
I Aqulia Decimus Cato Declare my self an Optimate (Im keeping the name sorry)

[Maxinius Scipio]

May I join?

(I probably was going to join the Populares, but I like this party's beliefs. Everyone should be treated the same.)

[Marie Louise von Preussen]

Welcome, Senator Corvinvs! Our party is the fastest growing political organization of the Republic, and it will continue as so, I hope.

[Marie Louise von Preussen]

And now, fellow Senators, the campaign has begun! Don't forget to vote, and vote consciously in a reasonable solution for all:

Vote Corvinus & Decimus

C & D for Change and Development!

The Constantia solution, the ONLY plausible solution

[68 Powers]

you have my vote senator!

[Caesar Rex]

Quite the organised little mob you have going here Claudius. Seems like you are controlling more than was assumed.

[Marie Louise von Preussen]

Quite the organised little mob you have going here Claudius. Seems like you are controlling more than was assumed.

What, Senator? Never call a little patrician gathering a "mob"!

[Caesar Rex]

Well senator, we will see how you all behave and then decide on the name calling...

[Kritias]

Voltaire,you are an advertising machine!!!! If you haven't already,you should consider advertisement career!I would vote for anyone with such a motto!

Alright,to business!
As you have seen fellow Senators,our party is currently the one with the most members;Well done to us! However,if we wish to be the major political voice on the senate house we should consider what pack of ideas to promote and what to leave behind.
I understand that most members,including myself,are originating from the Optimates;That being so,I know that most members would like to see a turn towards that direction.
Though I do not promote extremeness,I would like to see what do you think we should do with the party's ideology;Be assured that every idea will be implemented somehow in the Party's policies.That is because as before,all Constantia et Concordia Members will have their chance to lead the party(because of the constant change in leadership we can change our political position from moderate to conservative and even extremist depending on who's the leader...) with the first elections being after the end of this term.
I await your proposals!

Honorable Consul,the Constantians will NEVAH be a mob!You hear me?Nevah!!!!!!!!

[Marie Louise von Preussen]

Voltaire,you are an advertising machine!!!! If you haven't already,you should consider advertisement career!I would vote for anyone with such a motto!

Thank you, Senator! You see, political slogans, especially creative political slogans that can be repeated several times and still have an impact on the minds of the voters, that is what is essential for any campaign. And of course, to be creative, you must have a bright mind open to all kinds of innovations on the style, not just the same lines of action of ever, with little variation.

I, as a member of the Constantia and Concordia, want to be sure that the party will have not only the brightest minds but the brightest ways of convincing people that we are the brightest ! Even though the Census is still restricted to a few Senators, many of them experienced enough to be decided and polarized towards their party, their candidates and their positions. I hope this changes and many new, undecided minds enter the game, so we can bring them the light of our path!

Alright,to business!
As you have seen fellow Senators,our party is currently the one with the most members;Well done to us! However,if we wish to be the major political voice on the senate house we should consider what pack of ideas to promote and what to leave behind.
I understand that most members,including myself,are originating from the Optimates;That being so,I know that most members would like to see a turn towards that direction.
Though I do not promote extremeness,I would like to see what do you think we should do with the party's ideology;Be assured that every idea will be implemented somehow in the Party's policies.That is because as before,all Constantia et Concordia Members will have their chance to lead the party(because of the constant change in leadership we can change our political position from moderate to conservative and even extremist depending on who's the leader...) with the first elections being after the end of this term.
I await your proposals!

I propose that we resurrect some bits of the old Optimate line of action; mainly, a strong militaristic position, less restrictions towards Slavery, and more restrictions towards non-Roman (barbarian and peregrinus) provinces, always leaving in mind that they can carry the burden first, if this is deemed safe, and pay more taxes.

I'm also in favor of a strong colonizing policy, but only if recruitment is set to 0 turn (perfectly possible with Roma Surrectum). Any peregrinus town deemed adequate for Roman colonization will be flooded with colonists from the areas of the Res Publica, and I'm not against demolishing old buildings and temples to replace them with Romanised buildings. Mainly, our Colonization should be focused on low density, backwards centres with strategical importance, such as the rich Bononia, now presently inhabited by naked barbarians who don't know how and don't realise why to mine their gold. We will take that, and share the gold among the People of Rome, Plebeian and Patrician alike!

That hits my last issue in this post, that of expansion. I belive Rome has a destiny, a destiny of ruling the known world! For this, we'll need a strong military as a priority, composed of the best able-bodied farmers who support the Res Publica. They are the ones who have liberty in their blood and their minds, and there will be no Res Publica without them! They shall be the ones that will fight for the supremacy and defence of all Roman territories, so that Rome lives forever!

The lesson? I'm strongly in favour of all-citizen armies. No strong reliance on mercenaries, rather a traditional heavy infantry army, with few of the capite censi as light troops, and only one or two units of supporting cavalry; although many young patricians want to prove themselves as Equites, I'm not particularly against the use of mercenaries as supporting auxiliaries, especially if their training is superior to our Roman training in these areas. But as "Auxiliaries", I mean only troops supporting the legions in secondary roles, not the heavy infantry itself. Senators, I'm firmly convinced that our abundant manpower reserves can supply us with enough legions, and contrary to the Eastern despots we neither like nor endorse, we won't have a mercenary body bigger than our own citizen army!

[Kritias]

I find your proposals to be on my liking,Senator Optimvs Decimvs,well spoken as usual!

I)I am for a strong military because:
a)Its not against the common people interests : The army is one of the few ways a Plebeian has to climb socially to the next status and thats by having spoils of war on his possession;Gold,priceless spoils,slaves etc which he can sell back home and gain money and respect.Also,a strong citizen army is the only possible way to protect the Republic from harm;something that appeals to any citizen,plebeian and patrician alike,because the Republic is there to protect the interests of the citizens as a hole,not just the interest of the ever changing ruling class.

b)A strong army can help the vision of the first free Romans come to a completion;From the times of Aeneas,of Romulus and Remus the Roman people desired to dominate in the Italian Peninsula;Anything against these lines,I believe it to be against the true Roman ideals.However,any expanding move must be based on clarity of vision and not blind hatred for a faction etc. Our motions must reflect the fact that we do what is best for Rome at the time,not what profits us more.

II)I am for the proper Romanization of non-Roman provinces because:
a)Its something that will be in the interests of all citizens of Rome,not just the privileged few.By colonization we help those Romans without property acquire some;

b)By colonization we also promote good roman ways to the world!Culture,philosophy etc should be spread through the provinces of the Republic.

[Maxinius Scipio]

These are my views on colonization:

If a region shows us no hostility, we should treat them with kindness (occupy them) and try not to send many colonists to take their farms away from them. We should only send a few colonists to show them proper Roman ways, which they will hopefully adopt.

If a region shows much hostility to our legions, they should be punished (enslavement). We should send plenty of colonists to seize their farms and jobs and to force Romanization onto them. A military governor should also be installed and a legion should be close by to protect Rome's interests.

But most importantly, I believe that our veterans should be used as colonists in most cases. They are the ones that deserve land, since they have served the Res Publica more than the urban proletariat.

[Kritias]

Excellent proposals,Corvinus!I support completely;Our veterans should have the privileges originating of their fights and sacrifices!

I will make a further step here;Each time a city is conquered,we should ask by motion the disbandment of some cohorts to form the colonization populace.