Cvria Ivlia (I), Dominate of Flavius Claudius Decimus (Rome) - *IBFD*

[apple]

I will as already stated stay in Rome.

[Lord Stanton]

Bran steps forward, nods to Aelius, and leaves for home.


OOC: G'nite

[chaplain118]

Turnus speaks softly, his eyes cast to the floor.

Rome will fall, I'm certain of it.

Suddenly, he looks up with an intensity never before seen in the senate house

But Rome will NOT fall unattended. Rome shall not go down without a fight! To retreat now to Ravenna, is to turn your back to the city! To turn your back to the city is TREASON!

There can be no treason among us, we will stand and fight the Goths to a bloody standstill if we must. For every step they take, they will pay with ten of their own men. For each Roman soldier they kill, they will pay in the hundreds.

Roman valor has conquered the world before, and Roman valor shall do it again. We fear not the coming hordes. This is our civic duty to Rome, take up your weapons and defend our city!

Vergil has taught us:
"possunt, quia posse videntur"

And now, we shall fulfill that very statement!

[Xavier Dragnesi]

A sudden rustle in one of the centre rows of the Senate house. A middle aged man in a toga washed so clean not a spot could be seen on it, of medium build, but who carried the solemn face of a man who had seen many deaths, carried the scars of many battles, yet in his eyes, held a sharp twinkle that denoted experience, knowledge and intelligence. Marcus Appuleius Saturninus stood before the senators, an image of a true Roman.

Senators,

Hundreds of years ago, our beloved city of Rome came under threat from the Gauls invading from the north. At the reknown battle of Alia, our armies were disastrously defeated by the Gauls because of the commander's incompetence, and the inability of the Senate to make a proper decision. Two hundred years after that, the Teutones and the Cimbri launched an invasion of Italy to find new lands for settlement. The esteemed commander Gaius Marius, given five consecutive consulships by the Senate, drove them back with tremendous victories, even after the defeats of previous consuls. These are both examples that we can learn from.

Now, the Visigoths are at the gates of Rome, and what are we doing, but squabbling inside a senate house, and a gigantic split of views between us. This stupid arguing will get us nowhere. We learnt from the battle of Alia that indecision can only result in defeat. Then from Marius, we learn that the nomination of a militarily competent man can turn the tide of war against the enemy, provided that he is given the necessary resources and power. This shows us that if we do the right thing the Visigoths can be driven back and the strength of the Western Roman Empire can be retained and restored!

So from what I see senators, we now have three options to choose from:
1. Continue to squabbling in here, waiting for the Visigoths to come here and brutally murder all the Roman citizens.
2. Act quickly, allowing the Emperor to choose a very competent commander, or nominating one for his approval, then giving him what he needs to defeat the barbarians.
3. Flee to another city and build our forces there, preparing ourselves for a further offensive against the Visigoths.

Personally I would take the second option. The first is obviously unthinkable, unless all you Romans in here wish to die without a fight. The third, though a practical course, has too many liabilities for failure, plus a great number of dangers. We may be ambushed along the way, our Emperor may be killed and many of us may die as well. The city we flee to may in time be besieged and sacked as well, and in my opinion, our city of Rome, our mother for close to a millenium, does not deserved the fate of being sacked, burnt and destroyed just because we as senators do not have the guts or vallantry to face the horde of invaders!

So I ask of you senators, nominate a worthy general to lead our armies against the barbarians, deal them a crushing blow, and watch them scurring back to their northern wastelands like a beaten cur with their tails between legs! Let this indecision continue no further!

After this passionate speech, Marcus Appuleius retakes his seat.

[Philos Sophos]

Gaius Octavius listentened and began to speak.

"Senators!Do you not remember what our ancestors did in the past?They destroyed many Greek stacks with a few legions in the Greek war!If they did it with a few legions then so can we!This city will not fall,we will defend it and if the city is going to fall,then we can be proud that we tried to defend our sacred city!I pray for our city and hope that our god will defend us..."

[Gaius Julius Civilis]

Buteo stands up again, sarcasm fills his words once more.

"Let the 'braves' fend for themselves I say. If they do not wish to stand by their emperor and therefore they do not wish to stand by their senate only to save some ancient provincial town, then let them. They can show their bravery and stubbornness to the holy saints and martyrs who were stubborn before them. Meanwhile the wise Senators can flee and mount an effective counterattack from under the protection (and perhaps with the aid of) of the Emperor's personal Palatine Legions. Our 'Augustus' has spoken, and who are we to leave the Augustus waiting?"

[Starvin Marvin]

We must move to Ravennna or to somewere else.

don't think of it as just simply surrendering the city to the Vizigoths, but as a tatical retreat, then we can muster up an army. and take back what is ours

[Grandis Latro]

Vitruvius stands, he has lost his smile

"The Emperor does not explicitly state that nominating a commander is against his wishes! That being said, we are Senators of Rome! We must take control of the situation any army regardless of its size can be defeated! Hannibal Barca proved that many many years ago. You men sit arguing about who goes and who stays as if those are your only choices... we have a third! We can fight, we can punish every last one of those unwashed barbarian scum for ever setting foot in Italy! I say gather every man we can and fight!"

[Gaius Julius Civilis]

Buteo stands up, a sarcastic smile crosses his features.

"My good nephew, you are full of nice words and good intentions, but what have you got to show for it. Why don't you fight and show what your words actually amount to..."

[Grandis Latro]

Vitruvius' eyes narrow,

Of course I will fight dear uncle, unlike some men I know, I CAN fight...

[Gaius Julius Civilis]

Buteo tightens the grip on his cane in anger.

"I suffered for Rome! I fought Goths! I... You... FINE! Let's just compile a list of nominees, shall we?"

[Starvin Marvin]

growing more angry, Fabius says"If we fight , we will be throwing roman lives away, i'm glad that the new emperor can see that and i'm glad he has the final say."

[Pontifex Maximus]

While I would not willingly leave the city, if it is the will of Augustus, who am I to question it? Surely, he must have our best interests at heart. If the emperor desires to give the senators a legion or two, it could almost be guaranteed an end to the threat.

[Maxinius Scipio]

"Exactly, Senator Scipio. Our Dominus wishes us to leave this city and regroup behind the safe walls and marshes of Ravenna. We are simple aristocrats and administrators, we cannot go against his wishes. I, myself, will eagerly depart with my fellow loyal senators to the capital city when we are all ready.

Do not think that our Augustus will do nothing to avenge the city and the brave souls who stood defending it. The Visigoths will fall by the blades of the legions in due time."

Considering this the perfect moment to retaliate, Gnaeus turns to Rutulus.

"You stand there screaming at your equals and betters in this chamber that they are betraying the empire and Rome, Rutulus, yet you are willingly ignorant of the fact that going against the Emperor's wishes is treason itself.

To turn your back on our Dominus is treason, fleeing a besieged city to regroup is not."

[Philos Sophos]

"Well,If I that is treason to stay in this city then well,fine,I will leave...but I expect the city taken back as soon as possible.The more time that we wait,the more the Visigoths will destroy."

[chaplain118]

He has not given us the order to retreat yet, and until he does, Rome is our priority.

[Gaius Julius Civilis]

Oh, but he has, young Rutulus. When Rome falls we are ordered to go to Ravenna, but as we cannot be sure we will survive a fall of Rome, we must take precautions and move to the imperial capital of Ravenna as soon as the Goths move to attack Rome.

Should the Eternal City fall, I will wish the Senate to assemble here at Ravenna behind the marshes and before the sea.

[chaplain118]

But senators are speaking of retreating now, BEFORE Rome has even fallen.

[Gaius Julius Civilis]

Yes, some want to flee now, some want to flee when the Goths attack, and some want to stay in Rome whatever the risk and they will most likely go to Ravenna after Rome has fallen, but they most likely go to heaven as she falls...

[chaplain118]

Then I shall await my destiny before the Pearly Gates. After all, the Emperor said he WISHED the senate would join him at Ravenna. He did not order us. He is no Octavian, my dear Buteo. He does not carry the same auctoritas (ooc: used here with actual Roman intent) that our Empire's first Prinicpes carried. The senate does not tremble and bow before him at his slightest breath. He was appointed by the Senate after our previous Emperor fell to the blade of his own guards.

If we die here, fighting for Rome and for God, we will be remembered as martyrs. If we survive and lead Rome to victory, we will be remembered as heroes. And if we flee and do the same, then we are still heroes. Either way, we will be immortalized in the scrolls of history.