Strategizingpuòsolovinceremigliaiadimiglia (Strategizing to win a thousand miles)

- Cicero (ancient Roman statesman, orator, writer)

On July 16, 270 BC, the second Senate meeting of July was held in the Senate. In addition to the 600 senators, there were the High Priest of the Republic, Cecius Maxentius, the Procurator Sevus Maxentius, the Consul Marcus Maxentius, the State Attachor Julianus Maxentius, the Administrator Caisso Maxentius, the Treasurer Aulus Brutus, and the Oscar Augustus Leader of the House of Augustus, the Adjutant General of the Legion of Gaius Scipio of the House of Scipio, and the Adjutant General of the Legion of Vibius Iurius of the House of Julius, Leader of Carlle Carters of the Carters family and Charles Richard leader of the Richard family.

Today's Senate meeting was completely free of the noise and noise of the past, all the senators sat quietly in their seats, and the eleven participants also sat motionless in the temporary seats specially prepared for themselves; Even the nobles and citizens of Rome, who used to gather in front of the Senate to chat and laugh, and who were waiting for the latest news, are still quiet in front of the Senate today.

Originally, there would not be so many big figures present when the Senate held a regular meeting every six months, so even the chief senator, who had to speak in advance every time, did not dare to come to the front to speak easily this time. An eerie silence put the Senate, and indeed the entire city of Rome, in a state of great unease. The words of the Archon Marcus, who had been at Augustus' mansion last night, were already known this morning, and were said to have been uttered casually by a drunken drunkard the previous night; As for who it is, it is indeed impossible to verify.

But, in any case, rumors of an imminent invasion of the Republic by the enemy have spread through the streets of Rome; No one knows if it's true or not. Some say that the Gallic barbarians have defeated the legions of the House of Julius and slaughtered the entire Etruscan province, some say that the Greeks have captured the Aprian province of the House of Brutus and sold all the Romans into slavery, and others say that the Gauls and the Greeks are joining forces to march on Rome and will be under the city of Rome in less than three days.

In short, the present city of Rome is in a state of great panic; The slightest disturbance can cause commotion and unrest throughout the city. And the regular meeting of the Senate that is being held suddenly rises infinitely, and the people need the senators to come out and announce the pleasing news, and the officials need to come out to clarify the rumors and punish the rumors. However, from eight o'clock in the morning until it has been almost half an hour, there has been no movement in it; The whole city of Rome has begun to be restless and restless, and there is always a sense of crisis that the mountain rain is about to come and the wind is full of buildings.

Finally, after nearly half an hour of silence; His Excellency the High Priest of the Republic walked up to the central podium in the Senate with a scepter of the gods, a symbol of supremacy. After sweeping the whole circle with his eyes, Lord Decius mustered up all his strength and said to all the senators:

"The fathers of the republic (the senators of the senate are also called the fathers of the republic), and now the republic is indeed facing many crises; However, it is by no means alarmist as those on the outside. The situation in the republic is still under control, and the enemy's army is still in its tents, and all we have to do now is to prepare for war before the enemy, and then we will be the first to attack while the enemy has not yet attacked.

Last night I prayed to the gods of heaven in my capacity as the high priest of Rome; And raised his doubts to the gods about this war. And the gods gave me only one reply, and that was to win the battle! Victory belongs to Rome! Be it Gauls, Greeks, or Carthaginians; Anyone who dared to fight against the Romans would eventually submit to Rome, and it was the will of the gods. Rome will win! “

Under the leadership of the high priest, all the 600 senators stood up and frantically shouted the slogan of Rome's victory; The earth-shattering shouts were heard clearly by the nobles and citizens outside the Senate. Everyone seemed to feel the power of the gods in such a shout, and so wave after wave, and finally the whole city of Rome was crying out one after another; The shouts soared into the sky.

After the speech of the high priest, the atmosphere in the Senate became noticeably warmer; The elders were talking to each other, as if the Republic had won the war that followed. At this time, His Excellency the Consul, who had already discussed last night, stepped up to the central podium and raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet. After everyone stopped whispering, Lord Marcus said solemnly to all the senators: "The blessing of the gods is the blessing of our republic, but the necessary preparation is also essential; There are three bills in today's meeting that need to be voted on by the senators. First of all, let's move on to the first bill, the Arms Expansion Bill: After urgent consultations, our four families hope to expand five new legions and complete training to deal with the current situation within three months, so please start voting on it. “

Needless to say, the crazy rumors from last night to the present have made all the patriarchs feel a mortal crisis; Therefore, the motion was unanimously passed. The next step is to introduce the second bill, which Marcus continues:

"Today's second motion is the result of the plea of the House of Augustus, who wish to lead the Legion of the Wolves and a new legion to attack Carthage on Sardinia by the end of September, in order to prepare for the entire republic's operations. I would like to invite the elders to vote on this. ”

As soon as Marcus finished speaking, some of the elders present began to discuss in low voices; In addition to the patriarch of the Maxentius family, who had been informed in advance, everyone including the representatives of the other three families was shocked. Last night, it was clearly discussed to gradually start suppressing the Augustan family, why did this give them another legion?

The helpless three looked at most of the senators in the Senate who belonged to the Maxentius family and the expressionless officials of the four major republics next to them, and finally signaled with their eyes that the senators who were close to their own family voted in favor. This time it was unanimously approved, but it was a bit unexpected.

After the successful passage of the first two bills, the third article on the foreign war plan of the three major families and the plan for the senate to prepare for immigration were also successfully passed. This was followed by the announcement of the Fiscal Officer, His Excellency Olus, who had made reasonable financial arrangements after a night of sorting out last night:

First of all, 500,000 war coins were spent from the Republic's treasury, of which 200,000 gold coins were used for the formation of the five major armies and a year's military expenses, 150,000 gold coins were used to mobilize at least 60,000 immigrants from the Republic, and 150,000 gold coins were used to order weapons and equipment and warships from the Carters and Richards. If the war does not end as planned, the Senate will levy a war tax of one million gold coins in the Republic in half a year to ensure the supply of the front.

This well-arranged plan was well received by everyone, and the Carters stated that they would do everything they could to provide the Republic with weapons and equipment for at least two legions in the next three months, and that they would only make a profit at cost without earning a single gold coin; This is the limit of the Custer family, and the elders present also praise the Carters family for their generosity and efforts.

As for the Richards, they said that in the next three months, they would also provide the Republic with a full thirty double-lined warships and ten three-lined warships at cost price, and did not provide the Republic with a hundred transports for the Republic's cross-sea operations! This is another great gift to the Republic, and even the representatives of the four major families who have secretly decided to eradicate these two families have to admit that the performance of these two families is indeed worthy of recognition.

After all the bills and arrangements have been passed, the parliament declares it closed; A special speaker will announce to all the Roman nobles and citizens a new plan to expand the army, in order to calm the hearts of the Romans and pave the way for the next step of civil service and emigration.

As soon as the council ended, Marcus came to Oscar's side, and without waiting for Oscar to speak, he was the first to speak: "Oscar, don't ask why, come to my mansion after returning from the Wolf Legion garrison in the afternoon, I have something to tell you." After speaking, he quickly walked away without waiting for Oscar to speak, and walked towards the representatives of the three major families who were waiting for him not far away.

"I already said it last night, why did you change your mind again today? Aren't you really afraid of raising tigers? Seeing Marcus coming, Gaius asked impatiently. Marcus was not surprised by the incomprehension and indignation of the three major families, but said indifferently:

"You and I both understand that even adding another legion to the Augustan family will not allow them to reach our heights; Moreover, this is still a brand-new recruit corps, and the highest combat effectiveness is only equivalent to two or three brigades in the five major legions. As for last night, we had only decided together on the republic's plans for foreign warfare; For the Augustus family, we Maxentius family have our own strategies and practices, so you don't need to worry about it. ”

"Humph! Someday you'll reap the consequences! In the future, we will not interfere in the affairs of you and Augustus, so you can do it yourself! The disgruntled Gaius brushed his sleeves away. Vibius, who was on the side, comforted Marcus: "Gaius is this temper, our four major families have been in the same breath for hundreds of years, and they are still our own people after all. Next, we all have to prepare for war separately, and you will also coordinate all the things in the rear in the Senate, and I will go first. ”

Looking at the two people who left one after another and the stubborn Marcus, Aulus, who had been quietly listening to the arguments of the three, showed a satisfied smile; Then he walked to Marcus's side with a restrained smile, patted Marcus on the shoulder and left. No one stayed long, and Lord Marcus followed his father towards the Maxentius family mansion.

Oscar, who attended the Senate meeting for the first time, did not feel any majesty and solemnity, and the entire Senate was basically a high-level mouthpiece controlled by the four major families. However, the sudden outpouring of support from the Maxentius family for his family did come as a surprise to Oscar. No matter what the four families want to do, as long as they have a firm foothold in Sardinia, the Augustus family will no longer be a role to be slaughtered. As for a new legion, now that it's under his command, there's no reason to go back!

Thinking of this, Oscar's footsteps to go home were a little brisker; This afternoon, I have to go to the Wolf Legion station in the east of the city to have a look, this is the first time I have seen a regular Roman legion in person since I crossed over! It's a little exciting to think about it!