The Curia (93 BCE)

[Pontifex Maximus]

The Curia, Rome

The Curia of 93 BCE is now in session.

Magistrates

Consul

Gnaeus Claudius Tranquilus et Sextus Tuccius Alexander

Censor

Vacant

Pro-Consul of Graecia et Asia

Publilus Sempremonius Lucullus

Pro-Consul of Iberia

Lucius Claudius Libanus

Pro-Consul of Sicilia et Africa

Gaius Marius Aquila

Pro-Consul of Gallia

Maximinius Regulus

Aedile

Vacant

Quaestor

Vacant

Tribune

Caius Domitius Nerva

Praetor

Vacant

Events

Egypt cuts off the grain supply to Rome. Slow starvation is occurring in the city as a result. The Senate must take action to prevent the plebs from rioting within a year due to lack of food.

Plebian Roll

City Improvements (3 points). The plebs demand an improvement to infrastructure within the city.

Plebeian Approval Rating: 4

Pressing Matters

• The war in Spain continues. The Proconsul has conquered half the territories of the Cantabri but no deciding engagements have been fought
• Several magistracies must be filled
• Civil unrest is imminent with the grain supply being cut off from Egypt

[Pontifex Maximus]

Gaius Primus enters the Senate and wastes no time with beginning discussion

Noble Senators, it has come to my attention that the ports of the Republic are woefully small. Due to this we have become over dependent upon foreign imported grain from larger commercial centers. The result is that when they decide to cut off our supplies, as Egypt has done this year, we are left without adequate food stocks. We must work to rectify this situation.

[Lucius Malfoy]

Decimus, once more representing his nephew, steps into the Curia and nods at Gaius's words.

I wholeheartedly agree, Senator. I must ask if the funds allocated to the Pro-Consulate of Gallia have been sent to my nephew so that he begin improvements upon the northern provinces.

[Lord Damien]

Tribune Caius walked into the Curia. He had just spoken to a group of Plebs who had asked him to pass a law for city improvments and to fix the grain shortage. He had enough sleep to work during the night. As he took his seat he had came in on the speech by a senator. he listened but decided not to say anything yet

[Shadow141]

Manius enters the Curia and sits next to Avitus.

[Shadow141]

"As I see that there is no Quaestor I would like to take the responsibility on me I was Quaestor and Pro-Consul."

[Okmin]

A senator by the name of Titus Flavius Scipio stands to read a letter from Proconsul Aquila.

Noble Senators,

Upon my arrival in Sicilia, I heard the news that the Egyptian ports had been closed to Rome. I do not know why this happened, and as far as I could learn, neither does anyone but the Pharaoh himself. I trust the Senate will look into this inexplicable turn of events, especially to determine whether Egypt bears Rome any ill will. They are causing our city to starve, and we cannot simply ignore that.

Now to deal with the pressing matter of getting more grain to Rome. I noticed that while the city may be short on grain, that is not true of the wider Republic. Specifically, the farms here report excellent harvests, and my own estates in Italia should be producing crop as usual. I believe the same can be said for other senators.

Therefore, I request the senate provide funds to expand the port of Sicily (Carthage is closed for reasons beyond my control) to facilitate exports to Rome, improve the roads and enlarge the granaries in the provinces to allow faster transport, and I'd possible to purchase any surplus grain from farmers here. I and my aides estimate all this will cost up to 100,000 denarii, although roughly thirty of those thousands are to allow for purchasing grain, and since we do not know exactly how much is needed or available we were unable to make more than avery rough estimate; most of that thirty would probably be returned to the treasury. Also, we will obviously need to send ships to Sicilia to make shipments, so I volunteer my five liburna in addition to whatever ships the Senate or individual Senators see fit to provide.

If there is still a shortage of grain after the Senate takes action, I will be releasing the first harvest from my own farms to feed the people. I would encourage other Senators to do the same.

Gaius Marius Aquila

[Pontifex Maximus]

The Consuls will address the issue of filling vacant offices.

Gaius motioned to the Consuls

Aquila's letter only reinforces my belief that the ports of the provinces and Ostia should be expanded. Clearly we are wasting valuable resources from the provinces due to a lack of easy transportation.

[The Stig]

"I agree Gaius. Cordus, I doubt any will object to you acting as Quaestor. I also praise Pro-Consul Aquila for his quick thinking during this crisis. All Romans would do well to follow his example. I propose the following..."

1. The Senate will release the 100,000 denarii requested by the Pro-Consul to upgrade the ports of Sicily.
2. The Senate will look into the status of ports in the rest of the Empire and determine if they require improvement.

[Okmin]

Scipio speaks. "I second the motion."

[Rhapture]

Why don't we split that amount and upgrade two ports? Like Sicily and Massalia, 100,000 seems incredibly high to upgrade just one port, just the other year we upgraded Ostia for less than 100,000.

[Pontifex Maximus]

Yes, I agree with Quintus. It makes more sense to improve as many ports as possible rather than just make one port impressive on a massive scale. I believe we should release more, however. Let us use 150,000 denarii to improve Sicily, Massalia, and Greece.

[Lord Damien]

Tribune Caius nodded his head in agreement.

" Yes I also agree with you Senator Quintus. I believe that we should split that amount and upgrade 2 ports instead of one. That makes more sense and it overall will help the Republic. so prehaps 50,000 Per port should be enough to upgrade 2 ports ?. I will change the motion currently on the floor to make for the Neccessary changes "

Upgrade portus Sicilia et Massalia

1. The Senate will release the 100,000 denarii requested by the Pro-Consul to upgrade the ports of Sicily And Massalia. 50,000 Denarii will be used for each port.

[Dark Storm]

"I agree with Gaius, I would suggest a further ammendment to that bill to include a 50,000 improvement to the ports in Greece."

[Sonke]

''I agree with this suggestion. Ports in Greece are important as well.''

[Pontifex Maximus]

Well, shall we reconcile the two bills?

[Okmin]

"Of course. I propose this:"

Lex Portus

I. The Senate will release 50,000 denarii to the Proconsul of Sicilia et Africa to expand the port of Sicily.

II. The Proconsul of Gallia will be granted 50,000 denarii to upgrade the port of Massilia.

III. An additional 50,000 denarii shall be released to the Proconsul of Graecia et Asia to improve the ports of Greece.

IV. Shipments of grain from the provinces, especially Sicilia, to Rome shall begin as soon as possible to alleviate the food shortage in Rome this year.

[The Stig]

"I second the bill."

[Lucius Malfoy]

I second the bill...and I believe the Proconsul is still awaiting the 35,000 denarii for other improvements upon the provinces. I had asked this earlier, but received no response.

[Okmin]

I second the bill...and I believe the Proconsul is still awaiting the 35,000 denarii for other improvements upon the provinces. I had asked this earlier, but received no response.

"The Proconsul of Gallia, you mean?