Consulate of Aventinus and Poplicola - 542AVC

[dragoon47]

CURIA HOSTILIA, ROMA, ITALIA.
DXLII AB VRBE CONDITA





Ave, leading men of Rome! The Curia is open for it's first official session of the Year!
Censor
Term: 542AUC-543AUC
Spurius Geminius Scaeva([100]jplay.TGC)
Consuls
Term: 542AUC - 543AUC.
Pallas Rutulus Aventinus(Chaplain118)
Lucius Valerius Poplicola(Dragoon47)
Praetor
Term: 542AUC - 543AUC.
Titus Cassius Gerges(Crozimodo)
Tribune
Term: 542AUC - 543AUC.
Aulus Licinius Caldius(War Lord)
Provincial Governors
Term: 542AUC - 544AUC.
Gnaeus Asinius Longus(Misterchief)- Sardinia et Corsica.
Flavius Julius Corvenus(Maiar93)- Hispania.
- Macedonia.
Sextus Silius Octobrianus(RomeModder)- Sicilia.



I declare this session of our sacred Senate... OPEN!

[Maiar93]

Titus enters the Curia as one of the first. He finds his seat and sits down, eagerly awaiting the other senators to arrive.

[chaplain118]

Pallas enters the hall and finds his curule chair. At last, he attained the consulship, the post that his father never held, the post that would redeem his family. The Senate wants peace in the west do they? Then they will open the world up to him. He will give them a gift far richer than Carthage's mines.

Conscript fathers,

At the end of last year, we saw the beginnings of a glimmer of peace. The destruction of Carthage's powers in the west. Of course, we lost our treasured friend Septimus, but we have gained an entry into a richer world, a world that will answer to the Senate and People of Rome. But we have left a very vulnerable position in the east. And in doing so, we tempt the children of Antigonus to lead attacks towards us. How long, Conscript fathers, will we tolerate the abuses and insults of the Antigonids? How long will we let our allies in Dyrrhacium live in fear of Macedonian sieges? How long before the enemy roll forth their full armies and land in Italy?

Our first war against Carthage proved to us that the enemy could strike by Sea, and that is why we've pushed into Sicily. This war with Carthage, still unconcluded, showed us the porous nature of our borders, the fickle nature of our allies, and the dangers of a demagogue from within, and our perilously sacrilegious lives. These issues have all arisen, abroad, at home, in Spain, and in Greece.

That problem still persists in Greece. We are beset on three sides in Greece. Mountain passes to the east, open plains to the north, and rolling hills to the south. We are in a state of constant siege in Greece. And finally, Conscript Fathers, I would wish to address an issue that I witnessed in Greece that had been left unanswered for months. That was the reason that I became consul.

The issue is the threat of an invading Macedonian force. Let us recall that a spy was seen near the city borders and that a scouting force was soundly beaten back by our troops. What does this all mean? These men were not horsemen, they were spears, they had little mobility on the field of battle. They were not a reporting scout unit.

Now recall the story of how proud Ilium fell. A small force, aided by deceit, the art of spies, enters a city. And when the opportune moment arrives, they open the gates of Ilium to an incoming army. That, Conscript Fathers, is precisely what I believe the Macedonians are attempting to do. They intended to use both the spy and the scout force to establish a foothold in Dyrrhacium, from then they could mount an assault with a far better prepared army. The scouts that I defeated were armed with iron that have been aged and purified for years, with shields whose inner sides were made of the finest oak, with spears that were of the hardest ash, and with armor whose quality and worksmanship are beyond anything we can hope to create here. What does that mean? You ask?

The Macedonians are sending a regally outfitted army, not unlike that of Alexander's himself, against us. In short, Conscript Fathers, we are looking at a war whose very magnitude will shake even the foundation of the earth. Conscript Fathers, we are looking at the formation of a new Great War. The Hellenistic gods are urging their subjects against us. An unprecedented field army marches towards us, the children of Alexander marches against us. We must drive them back. The souls of our fallen allies and soldiers demand the blood of Macedonians. Our harassed ports, our molested allies, our endangered citizenry, all demand the blood of Macedonians!

Our Roman gods, demand the blood of Macedonians! They demand to tear down the false temples of worship in Greece, they demand the surrender of Macedon! The voices of Mars cry out to us!

Conscript Fathers, deus io vult! The war god wills it! The war god wills it!

[Maiar93]

OOC: Nice opening speech ^^

Titus listened quietly from the back of the Curia, occassionally nodding and shaking his head. Still, he found nothing to say against such a speech, and he bowed to Aventinus and said:

The things you say are, sadly, true. Titus sighed. Still, your speech left me with a handful of questions. First off to react quickly enough to the Macedonian threat, shouldn't we fortificate mountain passes and find out from what direction the army is coming from? Should we send the allied legion to sail still further to Macedonia? Who shall lead this campaign against the Macedonians? Now Titus sat down and looked around him, to check were there any other senators.

[dragoon47]

Lucius limped into the Curia, his leg had regained much of its use but was still hampered. He appeared flush with fever but determined to make his way to his seat by his own power. As he sat he dropped a note from his pocket and a young senator picked it up and attempted to return it to Valerius but he pushed it away.

Read it...

The senator was honored to have the chance to be heard by so many and he immediately started to work out how to say the words on the page in his face until he turned a sickly shade of gray.

I couldn't read it at first either, nothing to be ashamed of...Lucius coughed heavily. Go ahead and give it back to me.

The senator handed back the letter with reverence and whispers could be heard but were indiscernible.

It's alright, I'll be alright...Lucius stood and slowly crept to the center of the Curia.

What this letter reads should shock many of you, I could barely believe it myself upon hearing of it but when my servant Vibius arrived back from Spain he brought with him reports from the legions with emphasis on the legions that were transferred under Septimus' command and were previously under my own.

His next words were as a man mourning a lost son or daughter, the emotion in his voice was powerful and his voice crackled more and more near the end.

It reads...the legion of Romans, conscripts from this very city, citizen-soldiers all...has been annihilated as a combat unit due to the misplaced fervor and negligence of their previous commander...only 30 at the most of every 100 men remains...

Septimus murdered these men that I fought with. Men whom I grew to know, men whom I grew to love as I love the republic, men whom I preserved and handled with as much care as I would a live bird in my hands. These men fought for the republic, they fought at Trebia, Trasimene, Arretium, the Baleares and Cathargo Nova with minimal losses. In one term in office the Septimus/Scaeva administration has murdered those men, perverted our military, inverted our policies. They have split the military into sub-districts with no central management nor command functions, just individual cohorts marching across Italy for no greater purpose...

For what..? For worthless land in Southern Spain? Was Gadir worth 20 of 100 men? Was Tingi worth far more? I did not even endure such loss against their greatest general-king Hannibal nor his son, not at Trasimene, not at Arretium and not at Genoa. The loss of these men is by negligence and foul spirit alone, the gods' punishment for choosing our magistrates poorly, for committing unforgivable sacrilege against the Senate and People of Rome and her allies, for committing illegal warfare the gods have not debilitated but utterly erased our ability to make war in the West.

Again I say, for what? Tingi is rebelling, the soldiers are too few...Gadir is rebelling, it is lawless...Macedon is planning an invasion, where are the unit commanders and governors? Senators gone for a vacation in Sardinia rather than facing death or glory in Macedon where their lives may be at risk. Sicily is unprotected, what of that ambitious tyrant prepared to take revenge at a moments' notice for our inactivity and dishonoring of our alliance with the Greeks?

Our men in Africa are about to be surrounded and annihilated and where is our navy to save them? Of course, Septimus and our lacking allies felt it would be better to put together their own personal armada to save their own skins and not leave behind even a single flotilla to bring our troops home. They left them there to die senators, it is murder and it is crimes of war!

Lucius turned to Scaeva, the mark of a tear running down his cheek from a torn tear duct gave him a sickly mark of anger.

By the time your term is over, there shall be a reckoning against those who have wronged Rome and her people, may the table of the eighth guide us in those dark days, I surely hope you can agree with our laws and customs this time Geminius, else I should pray to the gods to protect you from yourself. I'm done talking.

Lucius slowly limped back to his seat and read the scrolls of what had been discussed before he had arrived.

There's only one person fit to go who understands the situation. I propose that Pallas should go, but that all extra cohorts not adhering to the legionary codes be disbanded or added to the new order of battle of the second allied legion proposed last year and our veterans of Arretium be withdrawn from Africa and be granted replenishment in Rome as they are of no further use there and neither are we. We've broken our backs senators, no use in tearing the flesh as well.

Lex Valeria De Re Militari, passed in 541AVC is now in effect for all legions, no exceptions by senators who believe themselves "superior tacticians" that profess to "love the legions" that end up getting them all killed in pointless battles against inferior enemies.

[War lord]

Slow clapping.

How touching Lucius,not a dry eye in the house!


Suddenly speaking rapidly in a monotone.

Now,the Carthaginian Senate are stalling for time,they're up to something,what that is I don't know but they're probably in contact with the Macedonians,Carthage itself is near deserted,they fear that a Roman invasion force is going to come marching out of Tingi soon,myths about this army are widely believed in the city,that Rome has units of masked killers who can hide in plain sight and then suddenly strike under her command,that we use hounds to tear our enemy to pieces and that we raise men from the dead to fight for us.Anyone who can has already fled to the East.

[chaplain118]

So then, shall I take our armies, march them to the East and crush the proud Macedonians? Shall I endeavor to secure our borders in the East just as Septimus, as Scaurus, and as others have done in the West?

The war god wills the war, but does the mortal Senate will it?

[Maiar93]

As Lucius is not yet the same man he was, Titus throwed an understanding look towards Poplicola, the responsibility falls towards Pallas. I agree with sending him to Macedonia; but i propose that we recruit spies and scouts to move with him.

[chaplain118]

I require neither spies nor scouts. The Macedonian land is a familiar one for me. At least the areas surrounding Dyrrhacium. The presence of spies may even alert the enemy to our plans and could possibly result in dire consequences. I would, however, require the deployment of two consular armies. The Italian garrison currently stationed in the fort in Northern Italy and Rome as well as the Consular army returning from Hispania. With that and the future establishment of an allied state government in Dyrrhacium, we should see a powerful strike force to crush the children of Alexander.

[dragoon47]

I support this proposal, and request the senate to sanction the recruitment of the rest of the army that is necessary to adhere to a proper Allied legion and to replace the losses the one coming to our shores took in the Baleares.

[Nota']

*Spurius remains seated.*
Do we have a fleet transporting the Roman legion back to Rome? I thought it was still in Africa. I do agree that we need more than one legion if we are to take Macedonia. Perhaps we should use the old defense legion, seeing as it has lost its purpose since Lucius' reforms. Has it even undergone the reforms that were made law by the senate? Perhaps one of the consuls should see to that? And what of Pallas' temple law, I have noticed that those building projects have ceased in Rome, and I've heard this is the same for the other Italian cities. Senators, we must not leave the laws un-enforced, or there would be no point in making them at all!

OOC: Update sig pictures.

[dragoon47]

I find your last statement ironic Scaeva given your past history with such laws, leaving mine unimplemented and erasing another entirely. I see you made full use of my absence, although I'm not one to talk as I would have probably done the same in your position. Last I had checked, most of the temples in the bill were low-level to slowly embed ourselves in our allies culture, and were therefore constructed quite quickly. I'm sure Pallas must have kept a keen eye on it.

I propose that the unit of Triarii Septimus or rather the legate of the allied legion left in Spain be...I'm sorry senators, I suppose I should make this more formal.

I. The Allied Triarii in Cathargo Nova be sent back to Italy and rejoined with its fellow soldiers.
II. The Allied legion previously mentioned be sent with speed to Illyria under the command of the Consul Pallas Rutulus Aventinus to launch a campaign against Macedon.
III. The second Allied legion under reformation be sent as further reinforcement once said reformation is completed.

As a separate motion or addendum to the previous motion I also propose this.

IV. The Consul Pallas Rutulus Aventinus shall also be given a free hand during an extended campaign against the Macedonians.

That addendum would also require a unanimous vote, therefore I have it tabled separately though part of the same bill.

I also propose another motion which I believe is no more than a formality at this point, preparations are already underway for its implementation.

I. The Roman legion in Tingi is to be evacuated.
II. The legion will be stationed in the Campus Martius undergoing physical training and reformation.
III. A standardized form for a defensive legion shall be drawn up for the garrisoning and retaking of Gadir upon its rebellion.

Garrison/Defense Legion Composition

1 General 1 Equites 5 Cohorts 1 Triarii 2 Velites

The defense legion allows for quickly being formed up into a consular army should one of ours be defeated and gives enough power to recon in force if necessary and can be used for limited actions under praetorian imperium, allowing us to deal with the rebels and local tribes of Hispania.

I also propose another motion, I hope this august body is keeping track.

I. An expedition shall be sent through Spain.
II. Its objective will be to establish relations with the local tribes and to survey the landscape.
III. The last location it shall visit is the united tribes to the Northwest and attempt to establish trade relations with them.

You may title these motions how you wish but I assure you each one has great potential in serving this republic and her interests in the same fashion as our ancestors.

[Nota']

I have no issue with any motions apart from the one involving this clause:

III. A standardized form for a defensive legion shall be drawn up for the garrisoning and retaking of Gadir upon its rebellion.

Why are you amending Lex Valeria De Re Militari so soon? It as if you did not intend to keep the 1 Tribune, 2 Equites, 10 Cohorts, 3 Triarii, 2 Velites, 2 Mercenaries(At commanders' discretion)/Campanian Cavalry(Allied Legion Mandate) composition at all? What happened to the clause 'IV. Until we face a greater threat or Rome must adapt to survive, no changes will be made to the structure to maintain easy unit replenishment and supply.' I hardly see this as a great threat seeing as we are in a good enough position to launch a large offensive into Macedonian territory. If you never intended to stick by the law for more than a term or two, then why on earth did you institute it? Perhaps this small, 'half legion' should not be refered to as a legion at all, and thus be exempt to the laws affecting the legions?

I support the other motions.

[Maiar93]

Poplicola, you seem to want to change a lot of things... most of them I support, as i see them good.

[chaplain118]

These will be put to vote.

But a word of warning, Conscript Fathers. Our presence in Hispania is incredibly perilous. Having extended ourselves across the peninsula, we are now looking at the possibility of a larger northern front. Reinforcements to Hispania must be recruited, even if it must be amidst the local populace.

[Maiar93]

We could..use these settlements, in many ways.
Titus took his usual position when he speaks, and addressing his fellow senators he said:

Even against our enemies.. and not to worry about that front again while Carthage suffers. Even radical acts may be necessary now when we must face a full, destructive war or a successful war against Macedon..

[Nota']

I say, form Roman colonies in Spain, give our veterans land there having served the republic well. This will give us a good pool of recruitment, allowing us to draw on the sons of veterans, and giving a roman populace to help civilise the natives. Show them the benifits of civilisation, so we can call on them to defend it. There are poor and homeless in Italy, perhaps we could offer free relocation for a new chance, after all, Spain must have many markets left empty since those Carthaginian merchants have left.

[Maiar93]

We should send our veterans to the cities first to be the core of people there and also being loyal to rome.

[dragoon47]

Ahh, Scaeva, normally you would be correct but this is not an amendment but an addendum, for garrison forces under the command of the governors themselves. Lex Valeria De Re Militari was for matters of the state and not the governors, this law is made to regulate the armies that governors themselves may draw up with room for them to decide to add upon it should they need or wish it at the behest of the senate. This allows for maximum flexibility and quick mobilization of forces in a specific area if the manpower around Rome is unable to be called upon.

I would also remind this senate that those veterans of Rome have not yet finished their terms of service and are therefore going to be part of the newly reorganized First Consular Army.

[Nota']

Ah ok. I still stand by what I said many terms ago after the italian rebellion. These men have served Rome like very few men before them, and it is my opinion that they should be released from service, for they have surely earned it.

OOC: Are we not in the time that citizens were only called up into the army for specific operations and emergency, not a standing army?