Curia Hostilia: Consulate of Barba and Celsus

[Celsius]

Praetor Felix rushes into the curia and takes the center floor
"Gentlemen. Patricians and Plebeians alike. I carry grave news. A few days, I myself lead a force to Cannae to prevent a possible attack, or aid in a possible alliance. I regret to inform you, that the Republic of Rome, has been attacked, by its strained allies in Cannae."
A soldier hands Felix a scroll
"The battle took place outside the small town of Aternum, near the river that bears the same name. We were camped, but were on guard. A lookout saw a large force, which we latter counted as over 10,000 men, had taken the field against us. I organized the troops to take defensive positions on a hill nearby. They were tired when they reached us, but they had numbers. Our Velites threw their spears as soon as enemy cavalry was in sight. They then moved back behind our Principes. The Hoplites they had would cause us damage. Our regiment of Triarii protected our flanks from cavalry.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Felix took a breath
Our Triarii killed the enemy commander. But we had an inadequate force. Along side me was General Aulus Maxentius. He died in the battle.
Felix looked at the ground and then at the Senators
"We were defeated. Out of our 8,990 soldiers, 6,650 were taken by the Gods. Out of the 11,000 estimated men, we killed 5600. We were taken by surprise, and for this defeat, I take full responsibility. I did what I could with what I had. I only regret that our men were slained by enemies such as this.
Felix stood, waiting a response from the Senate

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[Xavier Dragnesi]

As the Senate erupted into a cacophony of noise at this unfortunate turn of events, Camillus slowly stood to speak:

"Senators, this defeat is also partly my problem. I obviously underestimated the Calabrians' numbers, and therefore didn't commission enough troops in my motion for the Praetor to command. It seems we should have paid greater heed to the words of Aventinus, and if this is not enough to reassure you all of his good intentions, then shame on you, I say. At least we now know their true intentions laid before us as clear as day, though at the cost of thousands of dead Romans, and no one can blame us for treating them with the contempt they deserve if and when we defeat them. However, it is this if and when we must worry about now. Their forces have been greatly reduced, but are still at liberty to cause vast amounts of damage to our countryside if they should want to, and could threaten our consular armies. What are we to do? If you have any retorts to make, Aventinus or any other senator, pray save them for later. This is not the time for arguing. We need a reliable, efficient plan, and quickly!"

OOC: Remember, multiply battle figures by 10 for more realism.

[chaplain118]

Pallas stood and took center stage in the Curia. His position of power no doubt secured now. As his falcon grey eyes swept through the sacred chamber, resting upon the eyes of each senator that had once opposed him, they grew sharper.

Are there any doubts left in the hearts of any who had called for my crucifixion or for a return of my exile? Let them stand forth and voice that opinion. Let them come forth and proclaim that I was an agent of Cannae, intending on destroying the virtues of the Republic when they have done it so well with their foolish trust in the Calabrians. Senators, we have found ourselves backstabbed by the very men who had promised assistance to us in this war against Pyrrhus. As for the Pontifex's warnings against treason, I only see traitors in those who called for an alliance with the Calabrians. Understand that this is no time for us to devote our energies to a second purge of the enemies of the Republic, but to focus our energies on destroying the enemies beyond our borders.

Our consuls, recall them and send them forth to Cannae and storm the city so that no trace of this betrayal can be ever found again. The return of Pyrrhus is naught compared to the new threat that has emerged in Cannae. They stand but a few months march away from Rome, time that we can ill afford to lose. The consuls must prevail in their mission to rid us of this thorny problem. Thus, I propose a motion.

Consultum Senatum Pallasis
I. Both consuls are to be immediately recalled from their current mission and attack the city of Cannae at once
II. When Cannae has fallen, its populace shall be placed to the sword for their treachery and those who remain shall be relocated to distant lands to prevent another such uprising (i.e. Relocate Populace/Exterminate)
III. Calabrians shall never be allowed to hold the status of Citizens
IV. All Calabrian resource are to be devoted to the war effort against Pyrrhus, no matter the cost of human life

I think this is more than fair. After all, they have betrayed us, senators. To argue for mercy against an enemy as treacherous as the Calabrians would be tantamount to desecrating the tombs of thousands of Roman soldiers who had fallen. Is that what so many of you wish? Do you want to taint the blood that noble Romans spilled upon the ground to defend your decadent lifestyles? Believe me, Senators, when the betrayal of trust on such a heavy portion of our society reaches the Mob's ears, they will demand for justice. Do you dare to go against these people, who would personally tear down Cannae brick by brick? Senators, we must avenge our fallen soldiers.

But simultaneously, we have the issue that there are members of the Senate who chose to ignore such sincere warnings and as a result have led to this disastrous defeat. These men, you know who they are, should be held responsible. Thus, I propose a second motion.

Poenas Pallasis
I. The Pontifex Maximus shall be stripped of his title for his misleading of the entire Republic
II. All Senators who had so fiercely defended the Calabrians shall be investigated by the quaestor for irregularities in their finances.
III. In the event that a senator is found to have received money from the Calabrians, he shall be stripped of all powers and placed under House Arrest
IV. Offices stripped of holders shall be replenished by means of a suffectus.

I think, that in the light of such events, my proposals are quite fitting. We can ill afford to take chances of dealing with possible traitors amongst us. We must bring the light of justice among us.

Applause rose from the senators that agreed with Pallas while roars of indignation rose against him from those still opposed to him. Pallas merely smiled his cold, calculating smile. Oh the dissenting voices shall be silenced soon enough. And when they become silent, no man will dare stand against him.

[Raglan]

Aulus Statius jumped to his feet after hearing this man speak, the smugness clear on Rutulus' face.

So you are proven right, the one time that your agression is correct, you dare stand there and tell us that it is not yet time for another purging.

You see senators, by his own words, he admits that he will repeat his crimes, by his own words he stands and talks of traitors, by men who simply make judgesments that are different to his. Of course now that they have proven their treachory i will no longer defend them. But am i truely a traitor for my previous judgements. Forget not what he has done before, done before when it was only he who believed something.

I will stand here now, and i will invite the Queastor into my home, for i am no agent of Cannae. But for him to suggest that all who DISAGREED with him are...

Remember what happened to those before that disagreed with him.

I will support the proposition about Cannae, they have earned no more. But the second proposition, i will resist that. This term is no where near over, how does he know that the PM was lying, perhaps something will happen later, perhaps the prediction has been proven in Cannae's treachory.

[Celsius]

Aventinus, you have no regard for human live. You were right this once. It wasnt we didnt believe the letters, we just didn't believe you. And why we would considering your past. You think that just because you were right one time, that will give you power. This Senate knows your intentions, and I intend to reveal them.
Felix stood, and left

[Ciisar]

Augustus is a very sad and he says.
Dear Senators now we have two problems! We need quickly new legions and decent and powerful Generals! Where is our consuls? Where? We need to win now or we are gone,our Rome and people is gone.We need to crush them all with no mercy!! It is time to revenge,it is time to kill them all for our fallen soldiers! Who is with me?

[Crozimodo]

There is no doubt Rutulus that the Calabrians need punishment but your second motion will be met with nothing but a veto by myself, you seek only to remove your enemies in the senate. Tell me, were it that it was I who returned from banishment arguing that a town presumably allied to us had conspired in foul play with an enemy what would you do? You would throw me from this house, accuse me of plotting and treachery, if you were merciful perhaps you'd give me a death in the Forum Bovarium, not before of course parading my guilt to every man or woman who'd lend you their ears.

What should we do with you Rutulus, what do you the all-wise believe you deserve? Amnesty for your help in this situation can be negotiated but you cannot expect to fall straight into our good graces. In truth I am surprised that the Praetor did not uphold your banishment and have you removed.

Your first proposal I see nothing wrong with, our people will demand recompanse from Cannae, their people are nothing but dogs but I'm not sure whether our people would rather have Calabrian women as their whores and their children as their slaves that have a pile of corpses that we cannot do anything with. The consuls should head straight for Cannae and take it with the greatest haste, the booty from the city can be used to retrain our soldiers and send force a fresh army to destroy Pyrrhus and throw Tarentum to the ground.

Now your second proposal. Investigation by the quaestor would mean none of these men could run for office in the next election, now the senators who defended the Calabrians did so under the belief that they were our allies, why should they change their mind for a criminal holding questionable documents? We can assume these men acted in the best interests of Rome, why should they be punished for that? If these men who acted in the best interests of Rome which I would assume we all are are investigated, then you are in effect removing over half the senate from attempting office. Have you stopped to consider the effects of that, this place will be at a standstill, nothing will move forward and the people will suffer.

That is why I as Tribune of the People VETO your second motion, I trust those in the senate with a decent mind will back me up in this! Festinius' voice rose to a crescendo as he passed his judgement, but worry gnawed at him, he had killed a Tribune before, what made Festinius safe?

[chaplain118]

Pallas looked at Festinius with a sardonic smirk on his face. When the rabble had died down, his eyes pierced Festinius' and he tilted his head just enough so a loud, audible CRACK was heard. Still smiling, he began to speak.

So, my motion to investigate the men who are, in effect as of now, traitors of the Republic shall be vetoed. So be it, Festinius. But do not think that this is over. There are further hardships ahead. If the debates that have been initially made were correct,

HAND ME THE SCROLLS OLD MAN

Pallas snarled at the old scribe as he forcibly ripped the scrolls that documented all the debates in the Curia and he began to peruse them.

Ah, then our consuls would be in for quite the nasty surprise if they attempt to double back from Croton and Tarentum. The paths returning shall place them in enemy territory in southern Italy, complete with forests suitable for ambushes. The clear path back would take an unnecessarily long time and the Calabrians could already be clawing at our gates by the time our, ah, esteemed consuls return.

As for you, Felix.

Pallas' unblinking gaze rested upon the Praetor

I am going over these scrolls of the most recent debate and you seemed to have taken an army to Cannae without even informing the Senate. What, did you think a paltry 9000 men would've been enough to check the actions of Cannae AND Pyrrhus? Why did you not ask the Senate for more troops? Why did you not ask for a diversion of men from the North. After all, I believe that the quaestor had alloted troops to be diverted from the North. Did you think that you could bring victory by your foolish march?

True, you had the authority of the Senate to go forth to Cannae, but you didn't even THINK about asking for assistance from the Senate! I would've vocally supported your bid for troops had you but open your mouth and asked or even to inform us of your leaving. But instead, you charge recklessly from these halls, directly into the embracing arms of the enemy!

Your hubris has cost Rome heavily, and justice WILL be dispensed upon those who spurn it.

[Xavier Dragnesi]

"The praetor was authorised to do what he did. By the time he left, the motion was passed, and I'm quite sure he didn't just pick up 9000 men out of thin air to march with him. He most certainly took them from the north. The plan intended in the motion did not work because the Calabrians caught him by surprise, though whether this was due to their own skill or to the praetor's lack of vigilance, I do not know. Otherwise, he would have marched down to the First Consular army in accordance with the plan and together the two armies would have beaten the Calabrians easily. It only remains to be seen what was the cause of the surprise. The praetor's troops were never ordered to directly attack the Calabrians."

[Ozy]

ooc: Just to show the main facts correctly: The Praetor was supposed to help the Calabrian army in case Pyrrhus came North, and keep an eye on the Calabrians. Meanwhile, Celsus would march to Croton and Barba would stay in the Apenines to lock Pyrrhus between the two armies when he tried to go after Celsus (at least that was the idea in the plan). Then, the Calabrians turned on their Roman allies, and destroyed the Praetor's army, not really giving them a chance to join forces with the Consuls.

ic:

"Senators, let's not start looking after someone to be blamed for this mess!" yelled a senator. "The Praetor did as ordered, and did not expect the Calabrians to turn their back on him, not like this, out of nowhere! If you warnings fell on deaf ears, Rutulus, it is only you who is to be blamed for that, and to go as far as to accuse anyone who has shown disbelief or enmity to you and your words just goes to show how eager you are to destroy your enemies here rather than those of the Republic! You are so quick to jump on other's back once you get a good position to strike... one could almost suggest that you planned all of this to get rid of your enemies in Rome."

The man paused, his words causing some whispering among the Senators,

"You have regained some of our trust with this events that prove the truth of your words. The intention you had when you said them, however, does not seem as noble as you want us to see it, not to me, not to many of us."

[-Aquila-]

Senators, Senators. Why do we forget all that has happened before just because a wrench is thrown into our works? Why would the Calabrians suddenly turn on us if they did not have backing from Prryhus for they are not stupid enough to open to fronts! Prryhus is the only victor here if we recall both Consuls, he will have achieved what he needed, time. The more time we give him the stronger he will get, the Greeks will soon flood to his side as all we have done is sit around and watch him!
The Calabrian betrayal only tells us one thing, that more and more states are turning to Pyyrhus' side! Soon we will have the entirety of Southern Italy and Greece against us!
We can not allow Pyyrhus to remain in Italy a moment longer.
Both Cannae and Tarrentum must be placed under Roman authority as soon as possible, Italy must be secured so nothing like this can happen again!

[apple]

Marcus quietly nodded from the right upper corner, Cato was right Pyrus was the real treat.

[Ozy]

An other senator rose at the left side of the room,

"But Senator, who is supposed to defend Rome and our territories from those traitors if our legions are at the South? The Calabrians have shown us that they have an army large enough to invade us if they feel like it, and we most certainly do not have enough troops to defend Italy, not in the North! We MUST call back the Consuls, it is the only short term strategy to defend our land now! Then we must start recruiting more troops NOW as well!

As for Phyrrus, he needs troops from across the Sea, he needs their supplies, if we destroy his fleet, he will have no way to sustain this war! Let us build a fleet large enough to contest that of the Greeks! Let's destroy their ships and finish the war without losing more time!"

[-Aquila-]

and what if Pyyrhus and the Calabrians join forces while we besiege Cannae utterly trapping us? We can't let another disaster happen on the battlefield otherwise more and more of our allies will betray us and join with Pyyrhus!
We must leave a force capable of defending against Pyyrhus behind, if we send one consul to attack Tarrentum at all hast then we can remove this threat once and for all before turning on the remaining Italian states.
I propose that one Consul continues on with the plan and attacks Tarrentum, while the other returns and regroups in Samnium on the border with the Calabrians territory with other garrison units around central Italy to prepare a defensive line along our borders until Tarrentum is under control. At which stage the Consul in the south will regroup with the army in central Italy for an attack on Cannae.

For only Pyyrhus has left his territories looking for expansion whereas the Calabrians have only attacked us in their territory, to me the aggressor that is Pyyrhus must be destroyed first!

[Philos Sophos]

Octavius stands.

"I would like say as well, that the most important thing right now is to secure the defense of Rome, the city which we all live in. I agree with senator Licinius's plan to have one of the consuls move back to defend Rome and to let one consul continue to attack Tarentum. Also, we should quickly start building ships so we could cut the escape route for the Greeks and destroy them so that not a single Greek should ever try to set his foot on our land.

As to senator Rutulus, I suggest him not to throw out charges that are not reasonable."

[Ozy]

The same senator as before rose again,

"But how will an army just defeat Pyrrhus you fools?! Last time I heard Celsus had lost a lot of men in his first campaign in Cannae and Barba's men had died by thousands just defending themselves from Pyrrhus's first offensive! They do not have the man power to sustain such a war against the mighty Epirote armies, and at the same time have enough troops to defend the North from the Calabrians! I say we call everyone back to the North, to protect our homeland! They have a greater duty to OUR people! Once the Calabrians are dealt with, we will take Pyrrhus!"

[Raglan]

Senators, a strategy comes to mind. One that i think deserves some consideration.

First we must know what our objectives are. They can be summed up like this, first the protection of Rome, this is our most important goal. Next is the presivation of lives in the Consuls armies, for we must not forget that they are citizens and even on campaign should not have to give their lives lightly. Thirdly is to punish Cannae, since they are closer than Tarrentium or Croton, this city is more important. And finally is to push the Epiots out of the south.

Now how to achieve these goals?

To me the best way of keeping Rome safe is to attack, since then it is their lands that get damaged, their people that suffer the horrors of war.

for our next goal, to preserve lives from unnessicary death. I believe that we must use both armies together, and attack Cannae. If both are used in cohession, then Cannae's forces will fall, especially if we move swiftly, they will not have time to be reinforced by Pyyrhus. Once we have battled with Cannae, one of two things will occur, either our strength will be bested, and we will then have to retreat and hold the southern cities, or hopefully Cannae will be contained to their own city, at which point we can divert some troops away to guard the paths against Pyyrhus. And this as well serves the third goal

It matters little if they fall immediatly, or after a seige, for they're numbers will have been negated, and that will remove the most immediate risk to Rome while making the other goals much more achievable

[Ciisar]

Augustus clap his hands.
Senator Aulus Statius I agree with you,I am with you.
Finally, we have one good senator, who is thinking correctly.
We would need to get things moving finally.Why We stand for a long time?
We need to do so what Aulus said. Wake up Senators. Lets fight them and crush them all!

Censors,consuls,praetors,Quaestors wake up!

[Celsius]

"This is the Senate Augustus. Nothing ever is done fast."

[Elendil of Númenor]

A messenger ran in. He bowed to the House, and gave a tablet and a bundle of scrolls to the Praetor, who was now the highest authority in Rome. The tablet contained only a short message:

Croton conquered. Traitors punished. Army retrained. Sets sails for the Epeirot homeland. The war will end soon.

As for the scrolls, they contained other, more detailed information about the battles and the aftermath: