Trial of Publilus Sempremonius Lucullus

[The Stig]

Praetor: Sextus Tuccius Alexander

Prosecution: Quintus Valerius Vospiscus

Defense: Lucius Claudius Libanus

A sizeable crowd was gathered in the forum as the Praetor made his way to the trial. Trials were considered quite the spectacle by the people of Rome, and political scandals in particular were very popular. The mod screamed and jeered as the officials entered, as they were eager for the skillful and poetic oratory that the trial would involve.

[The Stig]

The Praetor arrived, flanked by lictors. As he took his place the assembled Romans let out a great yell. They were excited and could hardly wait for the trial to begin...

[Pontifex Maximus]

Claudius Libanus arrived surrounded by constituents raised for the defense of Lucullus. He took his seat facing the tribunal and waited to be allowed to speak.

[Rhapture]

Senator Quintus Valerius arrives and waits for the Praetor to begin the proceedings

[The Stig]

"The prosecution may make their opening statement."

[Rhapture]

Thank you, Praetor.

Quintus nods his head, then continues:

I am here today to show to this court that Publilus Sempremonius Lucullus has has shown mismanagement in his term as proconsul of Graecia and Asia. We readily acknowledge his role in defeating the pirate bandits, however that is now almost two years in the past. The prosecution aims to show in those two years, Publilus Sempremonius Lucullus, has done nothing as governor. We are not looking elaborate temple complexes to Jupiter, or the building of a vast new harbor, but some kind of initiative for managing his province. But the proconsul lazily collected his salary, then decided to raise another legion. He already has three legions doing nothing in his province, what is one more? Shouldn't he had been at least paying his other legions their fair wages? As he did not do in the years 98 and 97BC. I am sure the people of Rome would be thrilled to now that we pay our Senators to take vacations in Greece while they struggle in their day to day lives.

[Pontifex Maximus]

The Consul rose, and elegantly moved to the center of the Basilica. This wasn't the first case Lucius had taken, but it certainly was the first in many years. How he missed the expectant looks of the crowd, the thrill of thunderous applause after a particularly brutal speech.

Lucius paused for effect, then drew a deep breath and began.

We are here today to show, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that all of the accusations leveled against the Pro-Consul of Asia, the benefactor of votive senatorial offices, the saviour of the east has done nothing wrong, has not mismanaged his province, and is above reproach. We are not here to dwell on other, lesser, trifling political behaviors that could otherwise undermine political institutions in Rome. We will not discuss, for example, gross misconduct regarding proposing legislation to the Consilium Plebis without the support or approval of the Tribunes, or being ejected for unruly behavior from the Senate for an entire year, or receiving fines from the Censor for behavior unbecoming a senator.

I find it highly amusing, however, that Quintus Valerius, the recipient of all of these other, lesser advertised senatorial honors, has the gall to accuse others of moral crimes. I wonder, has he any clue how to behave and what to expect in others? Furthermore, on what grounds does the honorable Quintus Valerius level these charges? There are no laws that mandate a governor to petition the Senate for funds for so called "improvements to the province" whatever that may mean. Moving on to the charges of mismanaging the legions by refusing to pay them, not only can the defense produce irrefutable proof that Lucullus did in fact pay his troops, but that peace in the east would be impossible without their pay. When the Third Hispania went without pay for a year in 99 BCE, many of them deserted or began to riot. There have been no such disturbances in the east, no widescale desertions or revolts. While I am not privy to the undoubtedly manufactured evidence presented by the prosecution, it must be laughably thin and utterly false.

[Rhapture]

Quintus rebutted

I however am not on trial, but since the Consul seems to have a short memory, I am sure the people will remember the games I have thrown, the help I have given them when grain was low, the sewers I had rebuilt, all things a good governor would do.

Quintus paused briefly

Savior of the East? who did he save it from? A handful of pirates? who somehow killed more legionaries in a battle , than legionaries killed pirates. Running down a small fleet of undermanned pirate vessels? Hardly worthy enemies. And it only took him three years to do all this. I am so glad the good proconsul is so meticulous. I am glad you brought up that there are no laws that mandate a governor petition funds from the Senate. That is correct because the proconsul has imperium, he can raise taxes in that province for improvements, he can use his own funds, he can sell slaves; there are a few ways to get denarii for improvements. But our proconsul did nothing for the past two years! Just sat around with his legions collecting his pay. We give imperium to protect and manage our provinces. There has been no management at all! The legions can be used in times of peace to help build roads or aqueducts or whatever is needed, the legions have the best engineers around with them to provide solutions. I am sure some of the trails in Greece and Asia could be upgraded to roads. Having roads would help protect those provinces, who knows when some wild tribe from inner Anatolia will come down to raid the coast of Asia? But where is the proconsul ? Out inspecting the provinces? Seeing where our defenses would best be placed? Perhaps improving trade by upgrading harbors?
Oh that is right, our proconsul was in Rome, at Libanus' house half of last year. I am sure he can manage his province easily from there.

[Pontifex Maximus]

This is simply ridiculous! The prosecution admits that the Pro-Consul has broken no laws, but still insists on wasting time in court and for what purpose, to complain about the policies of a governor who has otherwise done nothing illegal? Furthermore, it would appear that Quintus is unaware of what imperium actually empowers and obligates an individual to do. How would command over legions obligate someone to build roads? Our legions are for war, not for civil service, laboring as slaves! The same pirates that not only cut off all trade with the east, and robbing taxes making their way to Rome, for which the Pro-Consul received an ovation, he wishes only to attempt to trivialize these accomplishments. Perhaps this is due to his own ignorance of war, having never held imperium himself or leading any soldiers in any capacity. While Quintus has been sitting in Rome enjoying circuses, others have been on the frontier, maintaining order. This entire trial is a farce, the prosecution has no real charges to levy.

Lucius turned on his heel and addressed the Praetor

As the prosecution has no proof to show the court of mismanagement and since the charges carry no force in law I would like to move for the immediate dismissal of this case.

ooc: The time the Pro-Consul was in Rome was a timewarp, you can't really take that into consideration

[Rhapture]

I am not here to argue about the war and the proconsuls roll in it. I am here on account of his latest two years as proconsul of Asia.
Perhaps we should define mismanagement. Or even management. I would say management is the organization and coordination of the activities of an enterprise in accordance with certain policies and in achievement of defined objectives. So mismanagement would be the lack of management, the lack of organization and coordination. Sitting in your province and doing nothing certainly seems like mismanagement to me. Oh I know about mismanagement, I was in Spain before you arrived, Consul Libanus, so I have seen it firsthand. Even if the proconsul sent a letter to the Senate informing of anything in the province, that might be something, at least that would be something. And the legions are being paid, they can certainly do work if there is no war to fight, nothing incites unrest like restless soldiers. But of course the proconsul underpaid them for two years, so perhaps he could not get them to do anything.
If you would like a formal charge, the please look at the Lex Cornelia de maiestate, which states a governor can not leave his province during his time in office, but he was here last year. Neglecting and mismanaging his province.

[Pontifex Maximus]

ooc: waiting for the Praetor to make a decision to end the trial, or keep it going

[The Stig]

Sextus stood, and an expectant hush fell over the crowd.

"I declare Publilus Sempremonius Lucullus innocent of mismanagement of a proconsulate. I have seen no evidence that he has not paid his legions, a Pro-Consul is not bound by law to improve his province, and the time he spent in Rome was for an ovation."

[Rhapture]

ooc: you get your ovation when you return to rome after running your province - you don't get in the middle
and I didn't say he didn't pay them, I said he underpaid them

"Negative Effects:
For every week the demands of the mob are not met, the available points shall be added to the Public Discontent meter. The negative effects shall be as follows:

-2 points: All upkeep for legions increased by 5%"

for 98 and 97 BC it was -2 pts. therefore underpaid.

[Sonke]

I am already innocent. Case closed. Ovation was in timewarp.

[Lucius Malfoy]

It did say that the Ovation was in timewrap. Ponti says in the second post:

*this is a timewarp to the beginning of the term. Sonk'e been out ill so he didn't have time to do it along with the other thing he has volunteered to do for us, like RP the Allobroges*

Not every post is literal...each week is one term, thus one year. So he could've appeared in Rome, got his Ovation, met with people and went back to his post during a timewrap.

No more OOC after this post.

[Pontifex Maximus]

Pro-Conuls have no effect on popularity meters, and are not responsible for it. The bill was footed by the state treasury. No legions were underpaid.

[Rhapture]

Pro-Conuls have no effect on popularity meters, and are not responsible for it. The bill was footed by the state treasury. No legions were underpaid.

this is not stated anywhere. rules just say all legions pay is 5% higher.

As for ovations - they come when your term as governor/ proconsul is up.
So he is not time warping since we don't know how long he is going to be there. He also stopped by Libanus' house. So it either way he left his province, when the law says he can't.

I am not asking to change the verdict. I'm just bringing up some loose ends.

[Pontifex Maximus]

That's a clearly established time warp. In either case, we've had a ruling.