Curia Hostilia, Consulate of Ahenobarbus/Celsus

[Snowball]

Marcus rose, calmly, with a determined look on his face. Though a supporter of needless war he certainly was not, he could not bear to hear this foolishness.

My dear Marcus, I shall give you the benefit of the doubt on this occasion, for you are new here, and seemingly ignorant of the real circumstances of this, i will therefore forgive you for your words, and instead of scolding your rash tongue, i shall seek to enlighten you.

Marcus coughed politely

The Greeks, have attempted to assassinate a military tribune in Sicily. Have an army at the border to our city in Sicily, poised to strike.

They have declared war on this most glorious republic. They have made their intentions perfectly clear, and while i am the last one to support needlessly sending young plebeians to fight and die for the republic, believing war to be the greatest evil upon young men. And that is is to be undertaken with great seriousness and purpose.

These greeks, have acted in a manner so honor less, so pathetic, so utterly cowardly that i almost deem it beneath me, to even discuss any any suggestion for a peace with them, before we have shown them that we Romans are not to be trifled with.

Truly, their cowardly actions do not speak of men with dignity and honour!? Mere trash of men fitted with daggers and sent to decieve, to lie, and to kill from behind. That is the nature of the assasin, and i tell you now i consider them trash! As do i the greeks who stood behind the decision to do this!

Some of you, and (usually) rightly so, oppose further war. But let not your eyes be blinded by trade, or that good feeling of being "nice" I am not one to advocate being a slave to ones pride, for pride is the downfall of great men, and nations!

But Honour, Dignity, Courage! Those are virtues! Virtues we Romans so often claim to have, Virtues the Greeks have shown they lack, with this cowardly display!

I ask you Romans, leaders of state, wise men of Rome! Is this not the time to show all that we truly have those virtues!?

However, i will agree to offering them a peace before we commence in utter war against thier cities! For we should show ourselves as the greater men in this. I say we offer them one chance to redeem themselves of their actions, Should they accept then i say we forgive them their transgressions, and in such a manner claim the moral victory i see no better end to this.

Should they refuse then i see no other course, than to march on their cities, kill their men in the fields, storm their cities, and show the world, the supremacy of Rome!

it is, on this basis, that i ask you all to endorse the motion of Ahenorbus. For it includes both the actions that ought to be taken, but also the order in which to take them.

Marcus sat down, feeling slightly drained.

[Winter]

Redeem themselves? And how, good sir, should these Greeks of Sicily redeem themselves? What justice can be wrought of an apology when the crime is attempted assassination?

You speak of virtue, but your plan is an abandonment of it!

[Snowball]

If they accept a peace treaty, then i have no problem with us showing ourselves to be the better men. And letting the matter drop, no blood has yet been spilt, and if they seize this cowardly act, no blood will need to be either.

[Winter]

It is cowardice on our part. It seems as if Mighty Rome is incapable of swatting a fly, or so the world will see. We must not be a nation that cowers before armed thugs, mercenaries, and pirates. The world should see their are consequences to violating Roman sovereignty.

[Snowball]

Naturally, however sometimes in this world, a compromise is necessary. The tribune mentioned that he could be more inclined to review his veto after an offer of peace had been offered the greeks.

[Winter]

It is not compromise, senator. It is tantamount to capitulation...

[Xavier Dragnesi]

It is cowardice on our part. It seems as if Mighty Rome is incapable of swatting a fly, or so the world will see. We must not be a nation that cowers before armed thugs, mercenaries, and pirates. The world should see their are consequences to violating Roman sovereignty.

However, Senator Lepidus, the Greeks are none of these. A fly they are not; they hold power in Greece, have colonies all across the Mediterranean, they have been places we have barely heard of and can only dream about, have defeated armies of Persia, armies who's size we can only imagine. Though they have been put down somewhat by the Macedonians, the Greeks are still a force to be reckoned with. If this is Rome swatting something, it is more a passive lion that a mere fly.

The Greeks are not thugs, it was they who first began true civilisation, who taught theory, created writing, thought philosophy and developed military tactics. They are not mercenaries. Their armies are made up of citizens and their own people, just like our own. Rarely have I heard of any Greeks selling themselves to others for the pure sake of making war and money. And pirates? The Greeks have not taken a single naval action against us. There would be more sense in you accusing the Carthaginians of being pirates, than the Greeks.

I believe that such an advanced civilisation should be offered a chance of peace. They are not the unwashed, unknowledged barbarians of the north. They are not strangers from some far foreign land. They are developed people, much like ourselves I am sure that with discussion, they can see sense just as much as we could. Their attempted assassination could well have only been a one off act of foolishness. Give them a chance. If they refuse it, then they have brought it upon themselves.

[Snowball]

It is as i have said, offering them a chance to accept peace, is not a cowardly act. It shows we are the greater men.

[Galerius Priscus]

Do we want to seem as agressors to the rest of the world? For that will happen if we simply attack, without even trying to settle with a treaty.

We cannot immediately attack the Greeks and throw away Roman lives, simply to show who is stronger! If we propose a treaty, it does not even have to be accepted by the Greeks! If they accept, then lives are not thrown away! If they decline, then we can show what it costs a nation when they try to attack Rome!

[Gaius Julius Civilis]

But Gentlemen, we need satisfaction! They have made a cowardly attempt to take an esteemed Roman's life. We know that the Greeks on Sicilia sent him, they are practically honouring the culprit as were he a God. The Greeks must make some payment to show that this behaviour will not go unpunished and that it most certainly will not go rewarded.

If we grovel before them and ask for peace, we must demand some form of payment. A mere peace treaty will not do, will never do. Remember your Tribune, Senators, remember your Tribune...

[Galerius Priscus]

Of course they must give some kind of payment, indeed they must pay some fine!

I never said that we should crawl on our hands and knees to them and beg for peace, we have our pride, Roman pride!
We are a mighty nation, we must show the world that no one can do us harm or even try to do us harm without being punished. But that does not mean that we have to take their cities and murder their people without trying to reach some form of treaty!

[Xavier Dragnesi]

We are not grovelling for peace. We shall present the Greeks with the terms of a ceasefire with our backs straight, head high, and with every inch filled with Roman dignity. We are not begging them to stop the war, we are giving them an offer to save themselves before the Roman storm breaks upon them. It is just as much in their best interests to accept, as it is in our best interests to offer the ceasefire. We seek peace not in defeat, but in fairness.

[Snowball]

Marcus stood after Ahenobarbus had spoken and applauded.

You have caught my meaning perfectly! I could not agree more.

[Junius]

I suggest that we offer the Greeks a peace treaty, with them paying us a tribute of 400 denarii per year (100/turn) for two years, so that they understand that they cannot just walk away from this assassination attempt without any punishment. I think it should be made clear as well, that we will go on the offensive if this treaty is declined.

[Elendil of Númenor]

A message was delivered to the House from Croton.

"We have trained a diplomat and he is ready to encounter the Greek envoy. Training was funded by the State Treasury. A minor expenditure. Shall we proceed?"

[Junius]

Time is of the essence. If there is any objection to my suggestion for the treaty, let the senators who have them speak now. We must send this diplomat our orders before it is too late.

[Snowball]

I support it.

[apple]

You have my full support in this.

[Galerius Priscus]

Support granted. Any Senator who refuses this treaty, is a warmonger and a fool.

[Elendil of Númenor]

The messenger walks in baring only one scroll.

"The Greeks have laughed at us. They have arrogantly declined the peace treaty. Now we must show them how wrong they are to do so!"

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