A life that is not well thought out is not worth living. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

- Plato (one of the greatest philosophers and thinkers of Western culture)

As soon as Oscar had taken control of the situation in the ancient city of Syra, he sent the light cavalry sent by Luquis back to Lilibal, bringing with him the latest orders; Oscar asked Luquis to hand over the defense of Lilili to Antio and his army of Samoneh, and then have Luquis take Theophanes to Syracuse immediately.

In addition to the orders to Luquis, Oscar also sent orders to Quintus in Messina; Oscar had Quintus put all of Messina's armies under the command of their respective commanders, and the Second Army, which he personally commanded, was also placed under the command of Raqqa, the lieutenant general of the First Army.

There is no way, who let the lieutenant general of the Second Legion, Narsi, lead the light infantry under Oscar's command? After the handover of these legions was completed, Quintus' task was to immediately arrive at Syracuse with the heavily armed First Legion.

The reason why Oscar summoned all Luquis and Quintus to Syracuse in a hurry was the next most important event for the Augustan family; This major event not only requires Oscar's decision, but also the strong support of Luquis and Quintus.

In Oscar's view, Sardinia has always played a crucial role in the previous development of the Augustan family; It is no exaggeration to say that without the existence of Sardinia, the Augustus family would not be where it is today!

However, as the scope of Augustus' rule expanded, so did the number of provinces belonging to Augustus; Such rapid development has made Sardinia's position more and more awkward.

In terms of population and development potential, Sardinia is not a suitable place to base itself; Even with Oscar's mass migration, the population of Sardinia was still not very large, and not even as large as the newly occupied province of Betica.

You must know that this is an early era of cold weapons, and even the popularity of iron tools has not been long, and the underground production capacity is conceivable; In such an era, the role of population in the development of power is crucial.

Why have barbarians been suppressed by civilized races? It is not because of the low social standard of living of the barbarians that the survival rate of newborns is low; Its total population is far inferior to that of civilized races, and coupled with the disparity in weapons and equipment, how can it not be suppressed?

It is no exaggeration to say that a barbarian race with a population of 500,000 can definitely easily destroy a civilized race of 100,000 people; This is due to the limitations of the times, and the fundamental strength of the two sides is still measured by the total population.

This means that even if Sardinia had the convenience of maritime trade, it could not be the most solid foundation of the House of Augustus; The best potential for Sardinia is to become a maritime hub for the Augustan family.

In comparison, Sicily has an advantage; In terms of population, Sicily has three provinces, each with a population of at least 400,000. In particular, the Greater Sicily, where Syracuse is located, has a total population of more than 500,000; In this way, the whole island of Sicily has a population of almost one and a half million!

With such a large population base, Sicily's development potential is far better than Sardinia's; In addition, Sicily is located in the center of the entire Mediterranean, with the Eastern Mediterranean to the east and the Western Mediterranean to the west, making it easier to ship by sea.

If Sicily is the core, it is easy to link the maritime trade of all the maritime countries of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Western Mediterranean; This is the geographical advantage that Sardinia cannot match!

In addition to these economic and potential considerations, Oscar had a more important consideration, which was the key to Oscar's desire to abandon Sardinia and the reason why Oscar wanted to move the family capital to Sicily.

That is, the area of Sardinia is too small! Sardinia is divided into one province because its overall area is too small to be divided into more provinces; This greatly limits the strategic position of Sardinia.

If you consider it only in terms of size, there are too many provinces in the world that are not as large as Sardinia; However, the crux of the matter is that while the provinces are land-based, Sardinia is a maritime province.

It's like Rome itself, which is not very large, but is divided into six provinces; These six provinces are not very large in terms of area alone, but their strategic position is much higher than that of Sardinia, which is the value of strategic depth.

If an enemy army crossed the Rubicon and entered the Apennine Peninsula, the first thing it would have to face was the northern provinces of Rome proper; In the event that the two northern provinces of Rome were unable to resist, the four provinces in the rear of Rome could quickly gather forces and organize their armies for the next wave of resistance.

Even if the Latin province where the city of Rome was located fell, the Roman Republic could still organize an army to fight back in the three southern provinces further south; As long as the Roman nation has not perished, they can always persist in resisting and counterattacking.

Such a strategic advantage is something that Sardinia does not have, and Sardinia is just an island hanging out of the sea; As soon as a large army of the enemy lands on Sardinia through the fleet, Sardinia is in danger of being captured at any time.

Unless the House of Augustus had a strong enough army to drive all the invading enemies out to sea, Sardinia would fall to the enemy; The consequences of the fall of the capital of a power to the enemy are unimaginable.

Therefore, if the Augustan family has always insisted on having Sardinia as its capital province and Calaris as its capital; The House of Augustus, then, had to maintain a large army on Sardinia all the time to ensure the safety of Sardinia.

Such a move was not worth the loss for the Augustan family; Not only will it not allow the Augustan family to gain more space for development, but it will greatly slow down the development speed of the Augustan family.

In view of this, Oscar actually had the idea of moving the capital in his heart; Perhaps none of Sicily's major cities are suitable for capital cities, but they are always more suitable than Sardinia.

Judging from the current situation of the Augustan family, the next major strategic direction should be North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula; In the case of the Iberian Peninsula, the Augustus family already has the province of Betica as a springboard, and this matter will not affect anything at all.

The North African strategy is different, the Augustus family does not have a suitable springboard on the North African continent, even if it is a so-called ally, it is just a union of interests; Once the Augustus family decided to personally intervene in the melee on the North African continent, it is still two to say whether the alliance between the two sides can be maintained!

With this in mind, Sicily's influence on the North African continent is far greater than that of Sardinia; Sicily can gather more troops, prepare more military supplies, and build more weapons and warships.

In other words, the House of Augustus, if based in Sardinia, would not have had a significant influence on the situation in North Africa; This will directly lead to the Augustan family not being able to get a piece of the pie in North Africa.

However, if the House of Augustus had its roots in Sicily, then the situation on the North African continent could not have escaped the influence of the House of Augustus; The Augustans could even be the last beneficiaries on the North African continent!

All of this was a factor in Oscar's desire to abandon Sardinia in favor of Sicily as the foundation of the Augustan family; It's just that moving the capital is not a trivial matter, and there are still too many things that need to be involved, and it is impossible for Oscar to make a decision.

Of course, the Oscars are still very advantageous; At least the Augustan family is not the kind of family that has accumulated power over the years, and Oscar is not the kind of successor who inherits the ancestral inheritance, which is why Oscar dares to move the capital.

Before Oscar succeeded to the leadership of the House of Augustus, the House of Augustus was, at best, a family attached to the House of Maxentius in Rome; Although it has the nickname of the fifth family of Rome, it is more witty than practical.

Since Oscar inherited the position of family leader, Oscar personally led the Augustan family out of Rome and began the road of real rise; Whether it was the initial occupation of Sardinia, the later capture of the Balearic Islands and the province of Betica, or even the current battle to eliminate Hannibal and unify Sicily, these are all great achievements of the Augustan family led by Oscar.

From this point of view, without Oscar, there would be no House of Augustus today; Coupled with the various initiatives of the cult of personality carried out by Oscar, there is no doubt that Oscar is the god of the House of Augustus.

All this allows Oscar to have power that other family leaders can't imagine; The entire Augustus family is almost Oscar's word, and other family members have the right to make suggestions, but the final decision is all in Oscar's hands.

However, for something as big as moving the capital, Oscar still needs to listen to the advice of the main members of the family; Otherwise, everything is decided by himself, and Oscar is also afraid that one mistake will lead the Augustus family into a place of no return.

Whether the concentration of power is a good thing or a bad thing is a matter for the wise to see the wise and the benevolent to see the benevolent; As a modern person, Oscar has too many examples from history books and reality, which is why Oscar likes to hold a family meeting to discuss everything.

Perhaps, Oscar has already made up his mind for a long time; Or maybe Oscar really wants to hear the advice of his family members. In short, Oscar's habit is to listen to other people's opinions and make his own decisions; For the major event of moving the capital, Oscar will naturally not be an exception. (To be continued.) )