Cvria Ivlia, Consulate of Habitus/Ulpianus (II)

[Caesar Rex]

The Consulate of Habitus and Ulpianus



Senior Consul Spurius Vitruvius Habitus
Junior Consul Tiberius Octavius Ulpianus

Praetor is Quintus Marius Parthicus

Tribunes elect are Servius Labienus the younger and Marcus Lucretius Falco

New senators that have joined the senate are Commodus Flavius Aelius and Caius Pontif

[Pontifex Maximus]

Congratuations all around. Also, Thank you for having me.

[Philos Sophos]

Tiberius enters the senate hall and says.

"The Princep Senatus for this term will be Manius Velius Octavius
The Censor for this term will be Commodvs Flavivs Aelivs.

And I recommend to put Marcus Aurelius Triarius as the Pro-Praetor of Corsica and Sardinia."

Tiberius walks to his seat and sits down.

[Caesar Rex]

Just then Servius Labienus the younger who is already seated on the tribune bench is handed a scroll by a messenger.

He stands to read it aloud.

'I have here word from my father, Servius Labienus Africanus.'

He unravels it and begins his first speech here in the curia.

I arrived in Massilia after three days of hard riding.
The gauls not being very good at keeping people out as much as keeping people in.
This allowed me safe entrance into the town.
The praetor running the town was the man I left behind after my second liberation.
A good man, he managed to avoid his troops loosing morale.
He was glad to see me although what a sight I must have been.
Lucky enough I had my silver cuirass and equipment in storage at the city.
After a good nights rest I was on the walls at the crack of dawn.
These barberians were not like others.



They were not moving.
They had no intention of taking the walls.
Obviously they had heard of what happened the last time.
Their aim was to starve the city out.
Around breakfast I gathered the tribunes and centurions and laid out my plan.
We would sally forth and meet the horde head on.
How long has it been.
Two years since I had last been here.
After the assembly was sounded I spoke to the legion from the mount of my favourite horse, Achilles.
Filing out the gate we faced the enemy on the battlefield.



Caught them by surprise we did.
This was the last thing they expected.
With a volley of arrows and well placed pila we reduced there numbers before the hand to hand fighting started.



My sword was the one that struck down the leader.
Silly man trying to come up against my legions.
I would say he died heroically but he was lodged under his horse and had soiled himself.





We crushed them without lifting a finger.
One hundred and sixty-eight loses compared to two thousand six hundred.
The townsfolk spent the next two days digging mass graves hundreds of feet away just to bury their dead.
I will not say my legions hailed me Imperator.
Instead it should be the senate who does so.
I have proven beyond a doubt that my skill as a leader of men is of the highest accord.
I ask that the legio VI Ferrata is sent to assist in the province as soon as possible.
In Massilia I will remain and only ask that the senate grant me the title of governer and proconsul of Transalpine Gaul.

Ser.Labienus Africanus

He rolled up the message and sat down.
Now he would see how the senate observed his father.

Servius Labienus 'the younger' (31)
Senator of Rome

[Philos Sophos]

"Oh yes,those idiotic Gauls.They just send their men to be killed by our legions.But there are alot of Gauls in the forest and Servius Labenius can't hold on forever with only 1 legion.We should send the Legio VI Ferrata to assist him."

[Maxinius Scipio]

Marcus Valerius enters these hallowed halls that he has been in so many times. So many years of debate, arguing, and oration. Most of those times, he would walk into the halls with a toga praetexta or some sort of laurel or robe showing his rank and position. This time, however, he would walk in with the ordinary robes of a Senator.

Gray hairs were sprouting from his head. He was not as youthful and energetic as he used to be. His age is truly showing now. And, to add to that, his son will soon enter the ranks of the Senate. Marcus Valerius is becoming an old man, and his father did not live long enough to see it.

"A superb victory, one that will be remembered in this chamber and city for months to come. I am amazed with the amount of casualties taken on our side when your father leads our battles for us, Servius. It would appear that he is truly a cautious and conservative general, and I commend him for that.

Yet, I do not think a triumph should be granted. While it is true that the main force of Gauls have been repelled, we do not know how many remain. Plenty of chieftains and petty, young nobles will look at Massilia as an opportunity for glory and riches. We have, probably, only faced the first of a series of ferocious attacks and campaigns that will be launched on our allied city-state.

Therefore, I support Labienus' request to become a temporary governor in the region. While not going so far as organizing Massilia and the area around it into a province, I propose a motion granting Servius Labienus the Elder Proconsular Imperium over Massilia. If we do not launch offensive campaigns against the Gauls, then we will face constant warfare for decades. Many of the wiser men in this chamber plea for peace, and this is the only way to receive it. War must be made in order to establish peace.

And when he returns from Gaul with hundreds of slaves, thousands of denarii, and client kings a-plenty, you can make your decision on giving him a triumph or not."

[Caesar Rex]

Marcus Valerius.
My father has always spoke highly of you and I thank you for your kind words.
It is true what Marcus Valerius says.
Gaul will continue to be a thorn in our side yet we must not forget the greeks on our opposite border.
They still hover in our lands and cause much chaos with their huge armies.
I will support the motion to have my father seated as governer of Massilia.

Servius Labienus 'the younger' (31)
Senator of Rome

[Kneißl]

He walks into the Cvria not knowing what the Senaotrs would think
he looked around and saw Tiberius. At least the Junior Consul may be on my side. He took one last breath than began.....

Salve Conscriptii,

We as Romans know little of the world outside Italy. When I say this I
mean to the east. Past Greece and Towards Egypt. We don't know if these rulers are hostile towards Romans. We know too little about them to make that judgment. I say we fix that. I propose we send diplomatic envoys to the east. Egypt, Armenia ,The Sulucids just to name a few. We should get map information and trade rights to further our treasuries riches. Senators if you have any ideas feel free to speak them now.

[Philos Sophos]

"Yes,I agree with your Idea Commodus.The trade in the east would bring us much money which is importnant in maintaining new legions and constructing new buildings in our cities.I'm sure they wouldn't be against a trade agreement."

[Maxinius Scipio]

In response to Senator Aelius' suggestion, Marcus rises from his seat and speaks his mind.

"Saying something is a lot easier than doing it, as we have seen through the ages," says Marcus as he makes his way towards the center of the chamber, "While I cannot oppose a motion that grants our Republic increased trade and wealth, I can say that sending our most experienced Senators eastwards for a few weeks would be a waste of their time."

"Let us take a look at the nations in the East who we want to trade with. First, there's Armenia. Armenia is well-aware of us almost assisting Pergamum. Were I the king of that nation, I would not allow my merchants to converse with peoples of a hostile country. It is true that we bluntly refused Pergamum's request for help, but it is also true that we would have accepted their request if it was not for them trying to bribe my brother.

Next, there's the fertile lands of the Nile and the descendants of Alexandros. The Pharaoh of Egypt and the Basileus of Seleukeia have been warring each other for decades. By now, I am positive that Egypt has taken control of Seleucia's Syrian lands, thus ending trading possibilities with Seleucia. Or, both kingdoms could be at a rough stalemate. If this is true, this means that both nations have exhausted their resources and, therefore, they have nothing to trade.

Pontus, of course, has been wiped off of the face of the Earth. If I remember correctly from our maps, Armenia has crushed Pontus and has added it to their empire. Any other nations in the East would be impossible to trade with, since our merchants could not travel that far by both sea and land."

[Gaius Julius Civilis]

Egypt does own the fertile Nile Valley, and the magnificent city of Alexandria. Trade with Egypt is still a good idea.

[Kneißl]

"Senator Corvinus" He began.
" This is not JUST for trade, but for map information and possibly alliances if the Senate wills it, map information should help us picture what the east looks like " He paused " Envoys to the east can also help further relations with the countries there. As well as bring in trade." He awaited the Senators response.

I can say that sending our most experienced Senators eastwards for a few weeks would be a waste of their time."

"Then We shall send others, it does not have to be the consuls. Perhaps the newly elected Praetor? Maybe even myself?"

[Caesar Rex]

Looking to the east could bring us the money we need to ensure our legions are paid.
We always need extra grain coming into the city in case of droughts.
So I support this motion.
However I do not feel sending praetors and consuls to gather trade rights is required.
This could be done by any respectable diplomat.

Servius Labienus 'the younger' (31)
Senator of Rome

[Maxinius Scipio]

"When I said that we should not send our most experienced Senators eastwards, I was not talking about the Consuls, or the Praetors. In the past, we have sent our most influential Senators as diplomats, and I assumed that we would be doing the same here, should the motion you proposed be passed."

[Kneißl]

"Ahh, I see now Senator. I misunderstood you. Who do you propose we send?

[Caesar Rex]

I propose Marcus Aelius.
Even thought the junior consul has requested he should be sent to govern Sardina and Corsica.
I believe his talents could rather be used for this.

Servius Labienus 'the younger' (31)
Senator of Rome

[Kneißl]

Just one?We can't just send one it would take longer for him to travel everywhere. I am thinking three diplomats, one for each of the three places: Asia Minor,Northeastern Africa and The Middle East.

[Caesar Rex]

Its a round trip by boat if you think about it.
At least thats what my father used to say.
From here to egypt, then to asia and middle east.
Quiet an expedition but less than a year at sea.

Servius Labienus 'the younger' (31)
Senator of Rome

[Philos Sophos]

"Hm..sending 3 diplomats or just one...I think we should send 3 because that will take less time and the money comes sooner to us which is vital as the bloody Greeks are knocking on our door."

[Kneißl]

I haven't thought of that, Sounds good to me
The bill shall look like this:
Envoy To the East:

• - Marcus Aelius Boards a fleet and travels to in this order: Egypt, Asia Minor, Middle East.
• - At each place he shall engage in diplomatic activities and ask for map information and trade rights
• - When he comes back he must give a report on extremely helpful countries and extremely unhelpful ones.
• -Extremely helpful ones will be noted and may henceforth be asked to be Allies of Rome.
• - Unhelpful countries may be considered for war in later years