Consulate of Merula and Poplicola - 486AUC

[Tazgrent]

Strabo nods in agreement.

Indeed. This is a course of action I can support. However, I do think that we should seriously discuss the possibility of taking Syracuse as a next course of action. Regardless, blessings of Mars upon your campaign, Consul.

[Merula]

Marcus takes the floor once again after drafting his bill,

Senators, here is the proposed bill for the levy of the second legion.

Lex Dilectu Secundae Legionis

1. The Second Legion shall be levied to fight in the war against the Poenii.
2. It shall remain levied until the end of the war.
3. It shall be recruited from Roman citizens only.

I trust that it is fitting to all of your proposals so far?

[Tazgrent]

This meets with my approval as well. You can count on a second, Senator.

[CK23]

"Perhaps the Quaestor can shed some light on the financial situations and explain to us if we could afford another Legion, it is not worth driving ourselves into debt and defeat by debt." Faustus supported the motion internally, but knew that the Senate was high on their finances, it was something they cherished so dearly....after all it was limited.

[Tazgrent]

I suspect that if our conquests are successful, the legions could very well pay for themselves through loot. Sicily has a reputation for wealth, as I'm sure you are aware.

[Nota']

I too support the consuls motion. We need a second legion before we can even consider a counter attack.

[Maiar93]

I support this motion.

Senators, i don't think we should madly run after them. While the second legion goes around via boats to take Sardinia, the first legion takes Messina and secures Syracuse. At around the same time, Sardinia is taken and the second legion is setting sail for Lilybaeum, thus avoiding any possible traps the punics may have laid.
He sat down, eyeing the senators but the Consul particularly. He smiled to him.

[Tazgrent]

Strabo stands.

Finally, an idea worth discussing! We can catch the Punics off-guard and out them!

[Kubrick]

Caius rushed into the curia, carrying a pile of scrolls. He had not even stopped when he started shouting. 'Senators! After the crisis I went to investigate our finances to make the republic ready for a long term war with Carthage. However, the damage done by quaestors before me has been far worse than I imagined.' He stopped, took a few seconds to catch his breath and continued.
'Let me just sum up a few things I have noticed. In Bononia the governor has full control and can do whatever he wants, he's basically a king! Under the banner of the Republic! And in Arminium the messenger to lower the taxes never arrived, the people there are still being taxes on a very high rate and for some reason two Roman units disappeared from Praetor Scaeva's funded legion to guard the northern frontier. But that last one does not pressure Res Publica's finances. Anyways..' He holds out the pile of scrolls, a scribe gets them and starts handing them out.

'My proposal requests to clean up the mess and also requests the senate to agree on temporarily war taxation. I believe this will be quite a long and bloody war, we need all the money we can get to get more men into the battles.'

Lex Geminii de re Tributa

I. In Bononia the king status of the governor will be removed, the Republic will lead Bononia as an allied city.
II. In all cities, including Rome, taxes will be set to high. Excluding cities where there is civil unrest or war.

OOC: Bononia was on auto-manage and the taxes of Arminium where never changed. Sloppy consuls, sloppy quaestors!

[Merula]

A dusty messenger arrives at the Curia, he looks absolutely exhausted, his eyes not focusing properly. He barely manages to hand the letter over to the Consul, with a quick, M-message from...from Rhegium... before he collapses in an exhausted heap on the marble floor, until he is dragged away from the Curia by some guards.

Marcus opens the letter and reads the contents to the Senate before passing it around for verification.

The Senate,

Dear sirs, I am writing to inform you that Rhegium has been successfully defended against the Poenii horde. The good Consul Poplicola had yet to make an appearance, no doubt he was still marching, but the Carthaginians attacked anyway. They had quickly built a ram to batter down the gates, and promptly assaulted the walls yesterday afternoon. Their army (as I found later upon viewing the dead) were mainly mercenaries from the Poenii colonies, mixed with militia from the African mainland. My force was, as I have told you before, only my guard and the local Greek militia. They outnumbered us about 3:1 and I did not think that we would see the next dawn.

When they came flooding through the destroyed gates I had the men pull back to the streets near the forum, and in those confined spaces the Greek militia held the Poenii off, as only 10 men could fight at once. They tried to outflank us by taking another street to the forum, but I took my guard with me and destroyed that unit. As it happened their leader was present in that force, so the enemies morale dropped significantly. At this point I saw a vague opportunity for victory; the main Poenii force was bottled up in the main street, so I took my depleted guard around through another street and came on them from behind. What insured can only be described as a massacre. They routed almost instantly, and my Greek militia cut swathes through the running Poenii in vengeance for all their fellows who had died. In the end none escaped us. I have also included a report filed by my attendants as to the precise nature of the battle, numbers etc.



But I will say Senators, the Carthaginians are still massing over the strait, and we cannot hold them off a second time. I hope that the Consul Poplicola will arrive soon.

Governor Marcus Julius Caesar.

Spoiler for OOC: 

I played this battle myself, only because I wanted to save us from losing our hard earned mines that would have been destroyed if the city had fallen. But I really did not know that I would win it until I had won Hence the lack of pics. If I was actually meant to autoresolve this thats fine, just delete this post, but i will be a bit pissed off haha

[dragoon47]

A letter arrives bearing the Valerian seal.

Conscript fathers,

As you may have heard the governor of Rhegion has annihilated the enemy forces with dispatch before our forces arrived. The situation has stabilized but that's as far as it goes. There is a superior force still waiting across the straits and I fear our merchants have been paid off by Punic coffers as they made no attempt to stop the enemy army from landing. While the enemy force is superior I only ask this.

Allow me a recon in force of the enemy to gauge their strength and allow me the authority to make an on-site decision as to whether we can oust them from Messana in decisive engagement. I know their most experienced cavalry numbers only eleven men, if there are other units as badly battered as they then we might have a possible foothold for striking the rest of Sicilia. I await your reply.

With sincerity,
Consul Lucius Valerius Poplicola.

[Tazgrent]

Senator Strabo rises in response.

Clearly, the favor or Mars is on our armies. The Punics could not have anticipated this outcome. I say: Yes! Strike now with all due speed! I propose the following:
I. Consul Valerius shall be permitted to recon in force the enemy defenses at Messana
and
II. If, according to the Consul's assessment it is in-fact takeable, he shall move into the city with all the force required.

[CK23]

Faustus had left the Senate to speak at the Rostra and had given evidence that Praetor Scaeva had indeed broken the law by fabricating evidence and intimidating the witness to confess that she was guilty, this evidence was indeed powerful and sparked an intense break in tensions between the Patricians and the Plebeians. Faustus stood before the Senate and spoke boldly. "Senators! A traitor to the People and the Republic stands among us!" Faustus spoke as he turned to various Senators. "Praetor Scaeva has fabricated evidence against a Plebeian women and intimidated her to tell the truth! Senators, do not let this injustice stand, Consul Merula, please do not let this injustice stand." Faustus slammed a clinched fist in his open palm. "Senators, the voice of the people has called for justice...it would be wise to give it to them." Faustus knew the Senators would think the voice of the people was the mob...but it wasn't, it was Faustus.

Damnatio ad lex praetor
I. Praetor Spurius Geminius Scaeva be removed from the Office of Praetor and the immediate challenger replace him.
II. Upon removal of Praetor Spurius Geminius Scaeva, he is put on trial for treason, fabrication of evidence and intimidating witnesses, as well as straying from his moral duties as Praetor.

"Senators, the voice of the People will not appreciate it if you do not pass this." It felt odd referencing himself, but no one else would ever know.

[Merula]

It is a grave time when the embodiment of justice in the Res Publica is himself called before the courts....This is indeed quite an accusation you present here Tribune, I would like to think that no man in Scaeva's position would ever abuse his power, but the accusation still stands. If you wish to bring him before a trial, the motion must be passed, but I do not think the motion should judge guilty before a verdict is given, therefore I propose you change the first line to;

I. Praetor Spurius Geminius Scaeva shall step down from the Office of Praetor and the immediate challenger replace him whilst he faces trial. If innocent he shall be reinstated as Praetor and serve out the remainder of his term, though if he is guilty he shall be promptly stripped from office to face the punishment given by the jury.

The rest of the motion I have no qualms with.


ooc: sorry Maiar, thanks for picking up on that, edited now

[Maiar93]

Only stripped of office?

A traitor's punishment, in my books, is always a death. But i understand if the Republic has different measures.

[Kubrick]

A small laugh escaped Caius' mouth. That pleb who only thought about war was going to bring down the richest man in Rome? If they ever got in court it would be a great opportunity to use his law-skills again. But it was the best to avoid court. He rose. 'Tribune, on what do you base these accusations? You shout and you point but I have never seen you deliver proper proof. And when asked about it you seem to simply leave and ignore the questions. Noble senators, I think the tribune is jealous and aims for the praetor's position and wealth.' He sat down again, that would stir it up a bit.

[Maiar93]

Manius, without further hesitation, stood up, knowing that he'd regret it.

A traitor is to be stripped of his position - of his wealth - and of everything he had, even his life. I don't see how would the noble Tribune gain wealth from that. Moreover, wouldn't it be too plain and also very uncommon in modern politics for a senator to bring down a man for just to steal his position?

He gazed around nervously, and sat down, thinking of his words.

[War lord]

What we see before us gentlemen, is the twin vices of Greed and Jealousy. Imperious, who believes himself to be King in the slums, is Jealous of the wealth and prestige of Sceava, and wishes to capture the unquestioned obedience of the people. I say that it would barbarous to allow a man who has done nothing for our Republic damage the good name of one who has done so much!

[Maiar93]

I don't think Scaeva has done anything for our republic neither... save perhaps defeating a few raiders. Imperious, on the other hand, has struggled to keep the plebeians's rights..

Manius had again lost his temper.

Damn, Manius, learn to shut up..

[Tazgrent]

Strabo stands to respond to the arguments.

"Are you children, to bicker so? Ye gods, what dastards walk these hallowed halls. You sling insults and accusations like accensi, offering only the vapors of proof. Behold what you appear to be! Are you Romans!? Is it the Roman way to trade blows wrapped in words? No, I say! It is the Roman way to be forward, to present the virtuous truth for all to see. I call upon all of you... prove your virtue, if not by evidence then by deed. Present to the Senate, to the People, and to our holy gods your Roman virtue! I see fair little of it here today. I call upon every last accuser that poisons these sacred walls with your filth, bring the evidence to the public! If it is so damning, so debauched as you claim, then surely the people will wash over those accused like the waters of Neptune's fury! And if not: then silence your tongues, dogs! It is the place of the child to accuse without proof. So I say to each of you: bring the evidence you so endlessly call on and bring and end to this madness, or I swear by The Greatest and Best Jupiter himself that no foreign land will be safe from your nation's wrath!"