De Re Bello Senatuque
The Sun was beginning to set over the City. News of Celsus' victory over the Epirotes had spread like wildfire across Rome. THe people were ecstatic and their murmurs were like the tide of the ocean washing against a pale shore. Pallas ascends the rostra and speaks.
Romans.
He paused before raising his fist high into the air as he bellowed:
VICTORY!
The Rostra erupted in cheers as chants of ROMA VICTRIX rose from all sides. Basking in the glow of victory, Pallas smirked before continuing
Now you're probably wondering why I am here to speak with you. After all, I am not running for an office nor do I have particular many friends in the curia that I would like to speak on behalf of. No, no, I'm also not here to insult others. No, Romans, I am here to narrate to you the circumstances behind our victory.
Silence palled over the forum as people pricked up their ears to listen.
A year ago, I had stood here and warned you about the dangers from a single city: Cannae. Oh you hated me then. You screamed at me, called for my execution, and even turned to the other magistrates to put me in my place. But look at our situation now. We are at war with Cannae, they have stabbed us in the back, murdering thousands of good Romans, your sons, brothers, and fathers, along the way. I suppose that I deserve a little bit more respect than before. You have seen how the Senate has reacted when the news of such betrayal became public. No longer did the damning evidence that I presented to them appear as forgeries made by a madman. No, those letters should've been warnings that saved thousands of men's lives. Letters that would have delivered us from certain defeat.
Yet those letters were not trusted by those men in the Senate. Do you know who those men are? Aulus Statius Cueollus and Decius Festinius Bibulus. Men who have risen from your rank and made it into the senate. Tribune candidate and current tribune. They were the most adamant against me when I presented those letters and see how their hatred against me has been rewarded!
Wasted Roman lives. WASTED! ROMAN! LIVES!
Pallas' voice rang in the silent forum. He saw some people's heads nodding in agreement.
Oh it was a trying time indeed. Our Republic had just found itself against two enemies. The mighty Epirote empire to the south and East, and the city-state of Cannae with barbaric men ready to devour us whole. And I'm sure you know what has happened since then. The power of the Epirotes are broken, shattered to pieces while their homelands burn. They have but one pathetic city in Italy, and it will be taken soon! Romans, you have seen what Marcus Julius Celsus had managed to do with this one single stroke. But you have not seen the reactions within the Senate. Oh no, the men in the Senate, namely Statius and Bibulus, those men who are your future tribune and current one, called for Celsus to return, branded as a traitor. Can you imagine? The savior of the Republic, a TRAITOR! Those two men call for the entire legion of Celsus to be tried as traitors and CRUCIFIED! Those two men sought to kill the very legion that has secured our future, the very legion that has crushed the enemy!
Romans! These two men are not to be trusted! They can ill afford to hold offices again! Have you not seen with your own eyes, heard with your own ears of their despicable acts? Even now, they call for punishments to be heaped on to Celsus' head when we should be granting him a Triumph or an Ovation! They want to punish the man who saved Rome, the man who saved you!
Romans, can you not see the lies, the deceit, and the harrowing faults of those men? They do not hold Rome's interest in their blackened hearts, only their own. THAT is unacceptable! Romans, they sought to kill ME when I warned the Senate and YOU about the dangers of Cannae. Yet what was I doing but serving Rome? What was I doing but being a good son of our beloved Republic!?
And it is in that vein that I will reveal something else to you! I will reveal to you whose plan it was to send Celsus to Epirus to crush their capital and save our Republic.
It was me. It was me the entire time. I had urged Celsus to strike the enemy. I had lit the fire of reason in his mind. I put the thought of severing the lifeline of Pyrrhus. I shall read to you now the very letter that I had written to him and personally delivered to ensure that he would carry out what was necessary to protect you.
Pallas reached into his toga and extracted the letter that he had written to Celsus. As the setting sun cast a blood red stain upon the sky, he began to read
Folding up the letter and tucking it into his toga, Pallas began speaking again.Consul Celsus
I understand that you have little reason to trust my words and rest assured that I intend to not waste your time nor mine by attempting to sway you to my side. Of course, that is invariably the full intent of the letter so I'll cut to the chase. As you no doubt realized, the Calabrians had betrayed us. Granted you'd have to trust someone to be betrayed and I had never held a drop of trust for the Calabrians so it was of little surprise, at least to me, when they struck against the Praetor's reinforcements. Then again, I also presented the evidence of possible betrayal to the Senate and they immediately attacked me for my sincere attempt at protecting Rome. I know that you are a man who only holds Rome's interest in your heart and not your own so you are a man whom I can confide with and perhaps even trust. What I ask of you will require sacrifice beyond measure, causing you to become a hunted man in the eyes of the Senate. But realize that what you do is to be done in the interest of Rome. Are you prepared to make a sacrifice on your political career? Is your advancement upon the cursus honorum so important that you might throw away the future of Rome? Consider what I am about to suggest to you carefully, consul, for it is of the utmost importance and gravity.
Now, there are mutterings in the Senate regarding a possible attack upon the city of Cannae, an operation that both of us will no doubt agree with. However, there are also voices calling for the destruction of Pyrrhus' holdings in Italy first before attacking Cannae. What I intend, however, is a much more daring plan and believe me, it shall be a plan that will bring this war to a swift finish.
I need you to invade Ilyria and take the Epirote capital. Send a private dispatch to the northern cities and prepare a small force of assault ships. Prepare the men in your legion to strike. Ilyria presents a much more important step than to simply assault further in Italy. These actions in Italy are but motions we carry out to triumph in battles, but the taking of Ilyria shall be one that ends the war. Think, as our forces land on the other side of the Adriatic, Pyrrhus will have no choice but to pull his forces back in an attempt to retake his capital. But at that point, there will have been enough military buildup in Italy to completely crush his forces in one fell swoop. With this plan, we will have crushed the Kingdom of Epirus, winning us the war and securing all of Italy.
Rome's future lies in the balance here, we need to perform these surgical strikes and bring the war to a close quickly. A war of attrition is a war that we can ill afford at the moment. I know you must understand these.
Romans, Celsus did not disappoint me, nor did he disappoint you. He has brought the war to a reachable end when the denial and inaction of Statius and Bibulus had done no such thing. Celsus and I have acted outside of the Senate's orders, yes, but we have acted to save Rome. Can you stand idly by and let men such as Statius and Bibulus, who has done NOTHING to save our Republic, execute the two men that have so faithfully served this City that we love? Can you let such an injustice go unpunished? Can you live with yourselves, knowing that the men who had done nothing but be good servants to the Republic shall be placed on the cross, moaning their lives away while men who had done nothing but suckled from the Republic like parasitic worms go unpunished?
The crowd roared. They were beginning to become agitated. Pallas held his hand up, and silence returned. He whispered in the silence punctuated only by the sound of the occasional bird flitting across the sky
Romans, I have been right twice now about the course of the Republic and they want to punish me for it. I have twice propelled the Republic down the forward path and they want to crucify me for it.
Romans, now I ask:
Shall there be justice or madness?
The roar erupted again in the forum. Pallas smiled and leaned back as he watched the crowd whip itself up into a frenzy.
And all it took was a couple pieces of parchment and a few drops of ink.
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Anyway...let the riots begin!!!
