Guerraabbandonerà solounvigliacco, nonguerrieri (War forsakes cowards, not warriors)

- Anacreon (ancient Greek lyric poet)

In recent years, the once wise and wise Decius has gradually begun to become dim; even adopted two adopted sons by his side. You must know that the adoption of an adopted son is generally only available when the family has no heirs, and the Maxentius family has no shortage of heirs. Whether it is the mediocre heir of the family, Sevious, or the capable second son Marcus; They are all descendants of Lord Decius.

In this case, he chose to adopt two adopted sons, which is undoubtedly destroying the unity within his own family; Therefore, more and more people feel that Decius has lost the grace of his time as a high priest and has become a dumb and incompetent layman. And today, the performance of His Excellency Decius has once again upended everyone's perception of him; He hasn't become stupid, he's still the wise and martial Roman high priest!

Decius was pleased with the reaction of the senators, and deliberately glanced at his two sons, who were obviously shocked; Decius continued his wise analysis: "Except for Carthage, the chief enemy; The Republic also needed to be on guard against the bullying of the northern Gaul barbarians and the ill-intentioned intentions of the Macedonian kingdom on the Greek peninsula. The contradiction between the Republic and the Gauls is not a day or two, and the Gauls have always wanted to invade the Republic in the south; The Republic also wanted to expand northward.

However, because the two sides are evenly matched on the border; Plus the vast majority of the energy and strength of the republic has been placed on the Carthaginians. Thus, this led to a long-term confrontation between the Republic and the Gallic barbarians. Now the republic has suffered such heavy losses; Once the results of the decisive battle spread. The Gallic barbarians in the hills, the Gallic legions of Lugotorix, and the governor of Epredoricos, must have taken the opportunity to invade the republic; At that time, it would be absolutely impossible for the strength of the Julius family alone to resist the southward movement of tens of thousands of elite troops of the Gallic barbarians.

As for the Kingdom of Macedonia, their king Antigone was always thinking about recovering the vast territory laid down by his ancestor Alexander the Great; Unfortunately, neither the Greek city-states in the south nor the Seleucid Empire across the Channel were anything he could provoke. And now there is such a big crisis in our republic; He won't let go of this opportunity. The attack from the Kingdom of Macedonia was already basically a foregone conclusion. ”

The analysis of Carthage, Gaul, and Macedonia by the Lord Decius is indeed based on practical considerations, and is the most plausible analysis; At least in Marcus's view, it shouldn't be too far from the truth. Naturally, the patriarchs nodded yes one after another; At this time, Marius raised his own dissenting opinion. According to Marius, the Republic has a potentially more threatening enemy; That's the Greek city-state!

Although the Greek city-states had previously reneged on their alliance with Hannibal and instead launched an attack on Hannibal with the Republic; However, the crushing defeat of Armageddon would make the Greeks fear Hannibal and dare not fight him again. The Greek city-state of Greater Sicily had essentially become Hannibal's possession as much as the Upper Sicilia of the Republic; What if Hannibal didn't occupy Greater Sicily in the Greek city-states?

With the wisdom of Hannibal, it is not difficult to see; The geographical location between the Greek city-states and Carthage meant that there was no conflict of core interests between the two countries. If Hannibal had wisely chosen not to occupy the Greek city-state of Greater Sicily, and by conditionally returning Great Sicily to the Greek city-state; In exchange for compensation for some aspect of the Greek city-states and joining forces with Hannibal against the republic?

With the mercenary virtues of the Greeks, they would have easily agreed to Hannibal's terms; After retaking Great Sicily, he launched an attack on the Republic mainland with Hannibal. When the time came, the Greek city-states were united with the Carthaginian navy; All they had to do was take control of the sea and send Hannibal's legions to the Republic itself, and that would be a real disaster for the Republic.

Marius's remarks caused a heated discussion among the senators; Some senators thought that Marius was alarmist and that the Greek city-states would not be so short-sighted. But more patriarchs still think that what Marius said makes sense; The Greek city-states, with their strong commercial atmosphere, were prone to such stupid things. Nor did they want to think that once Hannibal had completed the conquest of the Republic; Will he allow the Greek city-states to share the fruits of their victory with him?

In any case, Marius's opinion gave the senators a warning; That is, it is not easy to feel that this crisis can be easily solved, and the real crisis has not yet come. Once a crisis strikes, there are too many unpredictable factors; The republic must prepare early. Decius, after listening to Marius's opinion, pondered for a moment; Then he said to Marius:

"Marius, since you can think of these possible crises; Then you must have a lot of other ideas of your own. Say all your thoughts, as long as they are useful to the Republic; We'll definitely think about it. ”

All the senators turned their eyes to Marius after Decius's words, and Marius stood up without humility or arrogance, and said: "I do have some thoughts of my own in the face of the present crisis of the Republic; Some of these ideas are even more unreasonable and even out of line. However, I think these ideas are really the best way to resolve the crisis of the republic at this time; I hope the patriarchs listen carefully to what I have to say and don't mind. ”

Marius's humble gesture made the senators feel fully respected, which greatly satisfied the vanity of the senators; The elders have said that His Excellency Marius's method must be a good plan, and we naturally don't mind. After all the patriarchs had quieted down, Maleux cleared his throat and said slowly: "I myself think that in this Armageddon; The reason why the huge numerical superiority of the republican regiment was not brought into play was largely due to the fact that the corps structure implemented by the republic was no longer as flexible as Hannibal's army. Therefore, all of our newly formed regiments should use the new establishment system; Even the military conscription system is problematic.

The times have changed, and it is not the time when thousands of people could decide the fate of a city-state; The battle for supremacy, which takes tens of thousands of troops, has come, and the legions of the republic can no longer take charge on the battlefield. Moreover, more and more people do not have the financial resources to afford the weapons and equipment they need to enlist; The armament of the legions has long been borne by the republic, and the compulsory conscription military system has ceased to exist in name only.

So, my first thought was to reform the military system of the republic; Then recruit 12 legions in the new military system, and form a new republican ** team with the remaining three legions. For only five legions were no longer enough to shoulder the heavy responsibility of defending the republic; Even the number of ten legions would not be enough for the Republic to survive this difficult time.

Only an army of at least fifteen legions can ensure the safety of the republic and its future expansion; Expansion is not necessarily for the sake of wealth and territory, but rather for the elimination of threats. If there had been no Gallic barbarians in the north of the republic, the Greek peninsula would have become a province of the republic; Then the security of the republic is safe and secure.

Of these fifteen legions, I propose: at least four legions should be transferred to Sardinia, in order to threaten Hannibal's legions in Sicily on the flank, so that Hannibal would not dare to act rashly; At least four legions were transferred to the north to confront the Gallic barbarians, at least to completely resist the southern invasion of the Gallic barbarians. Of the remaining seven legions, two were to garrison the Latin provinces, and two were to garrison the south; The last three legions formed an expeditionary corps to attack the Apollonian city-states in the Epirus region.

We must burn the flames of war to the Greek peninsula itself; Thus, if the Macedonian kingdom and the Greek city-states wanted to launch an attack on the Republic, they had to destroy the Republic's expeditionary corps. We can mediate with the enemy on the Greek peninsula; In this way, the safety of the Republic itself is protected. The flames of war will not reach the Republic itself, and we can engage the enemy on the one hand; On the other hand, they are more actively preparing for war. “

At this point, Marius paused to see the reaction of the patriarchs; The vast majority of the senators were satisfied with Marius's plan for arranging the army. However, the reform of the corps military system was not so easy to accept; It's a huge undertaking. Moreover, there are various interests involved; It's not that fast to do. Seeing that the atmosphere at the scene was a little awkward, Sevious had to come out to play for his brother-in-law and said: "Your Excellency Marius's plan for arranging the army is indeed reasonable, let's gather the army from tomorrow onwards; Let's start preparing for war first. For the rest, we will recall Oscar, Quintus and Lucques as quickly as possible; At that time, we will discuss the issue of reforming the military system of the corps. Of course, His Excellency the Administrator Marius can also make a plan in advance; Let's take a look at the situation. Now, is there anything else Marillus would like to say? “

The performance of the senators greatly disappointed Marius; He had long wanted to reform the Roman military system, and the plan had already been made. I thought that this time I could take advantage of the crisis of the republic to carry out my own military reform, but I didn't expect to be pushed back; I hope that the three people who will come back from the battlefield will be able to support themselves. So, holding back the unhappiness in his heart, Marius continued: "I do have another idea, which is what the Republic needs most at the moment; It is also the best way to resolve the current crisis in the republic. The crisis of the republic is, in the final analysis, caused by the disunity of our families; In order to be able to fully exploit the strong potential of the republic. I propose that the Senate, by the highest vote, elect a supreme dictator to lead the Republic out of the present crisis! “

Marius's first two sentences already meant to attack the elite of the entire republic, and everyone, including Decius, felt uncomfortable; And after Marius said his last sentence, the entire conference hall immediately fell silent. Elect a dictator? Dictator! For a moment, the elders who reacted were discussing fiercely as if they were crazy; Even the father and son of the Maxentius family looked at Marius dumbfounded.

At this time, it is as if cold water has been poured into boiling hot oil in the huge conference room; Boiling and intense.