Rising to the podium, Quintus Marius rearranges his toga as the senators around him mutter and whisper. Once he is ready, his raises his hands for silence:
Tiberius Julius,
I think you should listen to the words of Marcus Lucretius Falco Felix with more attention than you have up to now. He is a seasoned senator, and knows the strengths and weaknesses of the Greeks from the battle after battle that we have fought with them. He also knows the determination and impetousnes of the Gauls from the various fights with them as the governors of Massilia struggled to prevent any Gaul from stepping onto Italian soil. He knows, from reading the reports, and so do I, from first hand experience at the front, that the Gauls are not the pushovers they used to be with their warbands and dogs (ooc: RTW Vanilla). They have trained men in new ways and gained strong new weapons that have resulted in them having troops that could take down two or more legionaries for each of their own dead! (ooc: RS) Trust me, I have seen and known!
So though you might think the Gauls are inferior to the Greeks, I would think that you should reconsider that opinion. The Greeks have a fairly uniform way of fighting - phalanxes or hoplites plus a few units of cavalry for support. This makes them easier to fight as their tactics are fairly predictable. However, with the Gauls, you never know what they could bring up, as they now have such a diverse troop range that if they bought forward a full army of Celtic Armoured Swordsmen, their elite and bravest troops that I have marvelled at in battle, even the best commander would be hard-pressed to win. They are surely not the barbarians many of us Romans think them to be stereotypically, that is, until we see them at first hand in battle.
So, young Tiberius, though I have to respect your conviction and forceful way in which you state your ideas, you have to admit you are somewhat of a newcomer to the Senate, and because of that, I suggest you look up to your elders, listen carefully to what they say and learn the easy way what many of us older men have had to learn the hard way: seeing brave Romans die under our very own eyes with the swords of the very Gauls that you mock in their bodies.
Thank you
Quintus Marius sits once more.