Cvria Ivlia, Consulate of Parthicus/Corvinus (II)

[Caesar Rex]

Matters that have not been finalised are:
Giving the junior consul imperium over Italy to manage all construction.
Have myself given proconsular imperium to leave to Massilia to face the gallic army.

[Grandis Latro]

Vitruvius Stands, anger is evident in his face

“You throw words around too easily Senators! Imperium by its very definition means ‘Absolute Power!’ We must, as the elected representatives of the Roman Republic, be very careful with even the use of the word! There is an old proverb, ‘Absolute power corrupts absolutely.’ To give one man complete power over our treasury is stupid and foolhardy! Not to mention lazy! We are the Senate of Rome! It is our job, OUR JOB! To decide what is best for Rome, building projects must be decided here and implemented by our elected Consul, or a man our Consul decides to appoint for the job. If our esteemed Consul wants help with the Gauls to the north, then that is for him to decide; but we do NOT grant that man Imperium! We let him go, a commander of legions, but still answerable directly to us. I will say it again, Senators, do be careful what words you use in this Curia, for words here have the power to change the lives and fates of an entire Republic of Citizens!”

[Winter]

ooc: Finally someone's said what I've been thinking...

[Xavier Dragnesi]

Well I do not object to giving the Junior Consul the abilities to build what he wants, and grant him full imperium. However, the only thing I believe he should do before he starts his building is to give us a list of what he is planning to build in each city, just so that his has the Senate's full approval on what he is about to do.

[Caesar Rex]

Spurius, I believe you misunderstand the use of imperium in the context.
Imperium for the junior consul allows him free reign to evaluate and build what is needed in each city.
Trying to pass a building program for one city could alone take months.
Think of the voting rules alone. in order for a motion the said decision must first be discussed.
Then only can it be voted upon.
By giving him imperium he has control and we trust in his decision.
As for the imperium required by myself, if I were just a commander which my consular status is above, I would not be able to levy troops if needed and would ultimately be under the control of the governer of that town.
With Imperium I have full access to the province and its resources.

[Philos Sophos]

"Well I agree with spurius,its the senate of rules not one man.If we would give one man too much power,the senate would be without power and the republic would disappear."

ooc:damn you americanski,you know engrish too good,I wish I was so good at engrish

[Caesar Rex]

You forget Tiberius, you served under my imperium in Africa.
And it was you who earlier this year asked for imperium yourself to go against the greeks.
I think both of you have been reading to much history and have imperium mixed with dictatorship.
No one here wants to be king.
Imperium is bestowed upon any senator who must lead an army or govern a province.
Surely both of you know this...

[Philos Sophos]

"Yes,I forgot that,thank you for remembering me."

ooc:lets say my character has a nice hangover

[Maxinius Scipio]

Marcus Valerius is a man known for his short temper. Small and trivial things infuriate him, and cause his face to turn a hellish red due to the amount of anger and hate going through his veins. Yet, no matter how angry he was, he maintained a calm face, a calm attitude, and a calm voice. His voice did not alter from its usual volume, and he spoke as he usually does.

"I suppose then, should I be given power to supervise immense construction projects on Italy, I will explain what I intend to construct. I wouldn't want to be called a tyrant or a dictator...

To begin with, I will address the problems of over-population and squalor. I plan to make the same adjustments I made in Sicily, when I governed the island. Better sewage systems and aqueducts will be built, and I will discourage growth in our larger cities, and encourage the Capite Censi to move to the towns and suburbs in the countryside and around the city. Should the proletariat disagree with this, they will have more space to operate in and the streets will be free of filth and smell.

Next, to the Plebs disfavor, I will increase taxes back to their normal level. Before you yell that I am not allowed to do this, I will remind the observant Senate that my brother reported that the taxes coming into our treasury were very low. It seems the Quaestors and Praetors (the npc ones), have lowered our preset taxes in order to gain popularity. Taxes will, like I said, be set back to their normal level, they will not be raised any higher than that.

Finally, after all of that is said and done, I plan to construct buildings to promote our culture and our yearly income. Forums and markets similar to ours will be constructed in the major Italic cities, in order to Romanize the Italians even further. This will also increase our income from taxing trade, since merchants will be eager to sell their products and wares in our new, luxurious forums. And, do not think I will neglect the eternal city. I plan on building a huge forum, one bigger than we have ever seen. Possibly one twice the size of ours. More stores and shops will be built, and the Curia itself will be even larger and magnificent than it already is.

The great road that the late Brutus constructed, the via Brutia, will be extended to Tarentum. As of now, it only connects our Latin allies to our city, but after I am finished, it will grow towards Tarentum, so our legions will be able to swiftly move across Italy should an uprising occur. I do not plan to extend the road North, since I have trust in the loyalties of the Etruscans."

ooc: And Grandis, how could you be confused with what a Consulare was? Have you not read my sig?

[Grandis Latro]

(heh uhh oops )

[Xavier Dragnesi]

Junior Consul, after hearing what you plan to do, I must say that I almost fully agree with your plans. However, I shall just remind you about the time it would take to build all those buildings. We don't want to be waiting all that time for the buildings to finish building while issues of war are happening elsewhere.

ooc: what I'm basically saying is that you should put on the buildings on the queue, then post the save on again, so that they can build while we continue wars and battles. Otherwise, we'd have to waste quite a few turns waiting for the building to finish.

[Winter]

I don't see why you guys can't just vote on those proposals.

[Caesar Rex]

ooc: which proposals?

[Philos Sophos]

ooc:winter,we are just too n00bish to make polls

[Winter]

ooc: @ Caesar - The JC's plan for construction.

Anyway I'll stop interrupting.

[Maxinius Scipio]

ooc: Of course, Xavier. I'm not going to keep pressing end turn until the buildings are done.

===================================================================

Capva; summer villa of Marcus Valerius Corvinus

Marcus threw off his heavy boots and lifted his helmet off his head. His slaves stripped him of the rest of his armor, and he headed towards the center of his house to greet his family. His wife sat at the dinner table, with his son and daughter surrounding her. His mother, who looked as if she had been roaming the deserts for days on end with sleep, sat near his wife, while not paying much attention to the huge platters of food laid out on the table. She was a miserable wreck, ever since her husband died.

"Cornelia, dearest, it always breaks my heart to be away from you for so long," says Marcus as he lays a kiss on his wife's cheek,"And Valeria, I hope young Brutus hasn't been too rough with you, haha!"

Valeria covers her mouth and giggles, while Marcus turns his attention towards his son, Publius.

"Son! I see that you haven't neglected my advice on asking for military leave for the summer, taking orders from Publicola can take a toll on any man's nerves!" jokes Marcus as him and his son embrace.

Once Marcus notices the depression of his mother, his face turns pale and the smile on his face disappears.

"Mother...I am so sorry. I know you and father loved each other very much, his death hurts me deeply as well," says Marcus as he sits down and takes a goblet of wine from one of his slaves.

Seeing the Consul act as if he had no work to do caught Scipio's attention. He was a loyal and strong Republican and Roman, and he did not like to see laziness.

"Consul, I will remind you that the Senate is expecting a report on the status of your grand construction projects. There is not much time for idle chat and food," says Lucius Cornelius Scipio, one of the Junior Tribunes for the year.

Marcus liked to see a youth with such determination and work ethic. He would have usually just put off his work for the last minute, but in this case, he made an exception.

"You're right, Scipio. If all goes well, I want you to travel with my report in the morning."

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The Senate doors creak open, and a young man enters the chamber. He wears the armor that his father wore, the armor that his father's father wore before him. His was a family of tradition and pride, something that was rare in the current days of the Republic. For corruption and wealth trickled through the hands of the elite class, and most men would become tainted by such good fortune.

"I am Military Tribune Lucius Cornelius Scipio, and I bear a report from the Consul." said the young man as he read from a scroll.

Salve, friends and fellow Senators! This is but a brief report, for you see, I awoke late this morning from my nightly exertions.

The first thing I did, as I said, was stop the colonization efforts put in place by Pyrrhus when him and his army of dogs took control of Tarentum. These efforts were causing over-population in Tarentum and the towns around it, and I felt they must be stopped.

Next, colonies and newer, Romanized smaller towns are being constructed around our major cities. All citizens and peregrini have been encouraged to move to these villages, where they will prosper from the small farms they have been given. I hope to see things return to the ways they were before enormous latifundia were present in Italia.

The large urban centers I mentioned are being increased in size, to accomodate the cramped civilians living in them. These cities will rival the grand, white-walled cities of our Hellenic cousins.

The Via Brutia is being extended. It will start in Latium, and go through Campania, Samnium, Apulia, and finally Calabria where it ends at the gates of Tarentum.

Our Forum will be enlarged. It will be much bigger than our ancestors ever dreamed of, and it is much larger than the forums in our Italic cities. The Curia we meet in will be much larger too. The ceiling will be higher, and the walls will be farther apart.

This has taken a toll on our treasury, but we should receive more denarii over the next few months.

Consul Marcus Valerius Corvinus

[Xavier Dragnesi]

Thank you Junior Consul. It seems that if have chosen fitting constructions to make for the benefit of the Republic and it's people. Hopefully, we shall see the toll on our Treasury when our censor gives us his report. It is so nice to see that almost all our cities are gaining population again instead of losing it like it was only a little while ago.

[Caesar Rex]

I write this from Arretium.
I have stopped here overnight on my way to Massilia.
I do not know if the senate is in session with elections so close but the situation with the greeks is not a good one.
I have heard from members of this town that they are causing more havoc in our new provinces than they should.
We should be weary and send word to their commanders to leave our provinces.
I will write next when I am in Massilia.
Ser. Labienus

[Xavier Dragnesi]

These Greeks.... I thought they would be trustworthy as a civilised people, but it seems that they are still just like barbarians, with nothing on their mind except conquering more. Senators, this looks threatening. We should enlist another legion or two from the regions in the north just in case the Greeks renew hostilities.