Pallas ascended the Rostra, his body growing heavier with each step. He remembered the last time he was here, stripped of his Praetorship while the newly appointed suffectus damned him to an exile that he did not deserve. It had all been a pretense on part of the Senate, but unfortunately for him, the public bought it and so well did they buy it that he heard the jeers and hiss of the people as he ascended the rostra.

Oh, you lot.

Pallas enunciated every sound of the words, making sure the people heard the disgust in his voice.

Five years ago, I stood on this very spot, defending myself in front of you lot against a Senate that was too near-sighted to see what dangers I had purged from this City.

A roar went through the crowd, Pallas shouted them down.

Oh I heard you the first time, five years ago! You disgusting filthy animals. Did you imagine for a second there that I forgot? I remembered every insult possible. Though the most interesting one was probably Pallas Thanatos, it had a nice ring to it. Our Republic was beleaguered by men who had attempted to sell her out to foreign powers. There were men who were responsible, and those men were punished accordingly. You remember the heads nailed upon pikes in these streets. You cheered as you watched the executioners nail their bodies upon crosses. Yet, when it came your turn, your patriotism and obedience to the Mos Maiorum disappeared.

The second I began prosecuting members of Plebs who had allied themselves with those publically executed men, you screamed that I had initiated anarchy in the City, taking advantage of the fact that the consuls were not there. But we were at war! Arretium and Ariminum were not going to fall without heavy assaults. Yet there were men within the Curia who had argued that those cities be spared while we should focus purely upon Rome. Tall orders from short-sighted men. They did not understand that Rome was expanding far beyond these ancient walls from the times of the Kings. They did not understand that our growing population required more land, more living space. They did not understand that we needed to conquer for you. No, they argued against it, mobilized their own secret factions within the City to undermine the efforts of the consuls while they were abroad. I had merely attempted to sustain a well kept home front. The proscriptions were necessary. Rome's safety was at risk, and I could not sit idly by letting fools run our City into the ground so that other nations could conquer us.

Yes, I executed hundreds of men during my duty as Praetor, broken up thousands of families, but do you not see the results? Rome now control lands previously unimagined. We hold nearly all of Italy, and it was precisely because those men who had been so opposed to it had been executed and their bodies now feed the carrion birds! Those men were against Rome, they were TRAITORS!

Pallas roared the last word, which rang across the forum. People did not dare challenge him. They were too enthralled by what he said to dare challenge him.

But now, now we have the same situation before us once more. In Southern Italy, a great enemy has reared his head and his bloody crest nods even now in the sunlight. The poisonous adder of Epirus has came slithering from its hiding hole in Greece and taken southern Italy. We are at war, and you know that. But what you did not know was that the Senate has entered into an agreement with the Calabrians, who are known ALLIES of EPIRUS! They had sent messeners to the Senate to dupe us, to put us to sleep with their words. They hoped to lure us into a false sense of security and to let OUR men fight on behalf of THEM. Indeed it would seem that they had nearly succeeded. The first clash between Rome and Epirus had already occured, with terrifying losses. We had charged headlong into the fray outside of the gates of Cannae, with the Calabrians promising us their aid in our endeavor to save them. They promised us soldiers and supplies.

But did those soldiers come? Did the supplies reach us? If the Calabrians had given us the aid so promised, then why is it that Pyrrhus is still rumored to be alive? Why is it that the Epirotes have marched another massive army into Italy? If those aid had came to us, why is it that our legions lay battered at the feet of our enemy? Cannae remains untouched, it has shed not a drop of blood defending itself. How insidious of them, duping us into an alliance and then using us in their dirty work! We fought Pyrrhus, not them. Yet we did not fight Pyrrhus in our territory nor his. No, we fought in Cannae's land, and we bled for Cannae!

Tell me, did you send your fathers, your sons, your brothers, and your husbands to war so that they would fight and die for Rome or for Calabrians? Did you send your loved ones to face the tusks of Epirote elephants so that Rome would secure herself or so that Cannae might prevail? Did you send the men of Rome from the city to claim southern Italy or to help establish a strong kingdom for the Calabrians? For me, the choices are obvious. But to the men in the curia, men who are flocking to the defense of Cannae, men who are even now, arguing for more Romans to be sent to the slaughter against Epirus on BEHALF OF CANNAE, their choices are not so clear. They are moving in open support of Cannae, going as far as attempting to bestow the inhabitants of that city the rights to bear the toga and become CITIZENS!

CITIZENS, can you belive that? They are ready to award Cannae the proud badge of Roman citizenship, which is a right enjoyed exclusively by US, Romans who were born in Rome. They are ready to let the people of Cannae become the same rank as you! These Calabrians, who are not even in open support of our Republic, these Calabrians would become the same as YOU who drove out the Kings, who defeated the Gauls that dare sack our city? Can you not see just how traitorous these men in the curia are? Can you not notice their obvious ties to Cannae?

Do not deceived by these men and their proclamations. They will only draw the veil of deception before your eyes, and before you can react, that veil will become a noose around your neck and they will strangle you. These men who are speaking on behalf of Cannae are TRAITORS of the Republic! They strive to destroy everything that our ancestors fought for. They strive to destroy all that YOU fight for.

Show them that you are made of sterner stuff, that you have the virtues demanded of a true Roman. Take up your swords and march against both Epirus and Cannae. Do not trust the foreign powers. More importantly, do not trust the men who are sending your family to die as mercenaries to foreigners. Romans! To arms!