Res Publica: A Quest of Ancient Rome
- Thread starter Telamon
- Start date
- Original Historic
- Pronouns
- Male
[X] Plan Weather Eye
- Location
- Abu Dhabi or Manila depending on the time of year
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Plan Weather Eye
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
[X] Plan Coming Man
Hi everyone!
Of the two leading competitors, "Coming Man" is the political plan in which we activate old political contacts and start positioning ourselves to run for tribune, whereas "Weather Eye" is the one that puts our household in order and starts work on a spy network. I thiiink I support "Coming Man," though I'm honestly torn.
Hi everyone!
Of the two leading competitors, "Coming Man" is the political plan in which we activate old political contacts and start positioning ourselves to run for tribune, whereas "Weather Eye" is the one that puts our household in order and starts work on a spy network. I thiiink I support "Coming Man," though I'm honestly torn.
- Location
- nz
[X] Plan Coming Man
May I ask why not?
Tasoli
Life is for Living
- Location
- Behind the Keyboard.
Ironically enough I think it is actually too early. I think we would get more bang for our buck if we did that after some military campaign and our soldiers melted back in to the population. That way there is synergy.
Also having some military background is a must. Almost all movers ans shakers of the Rome had military at their back. The likes of Cicero were Legends of their own right but despite that without military they could never stop the likes of Ceasar.
So we should probably go with military enough so when we start political manuevaring we don't get hammered by it.
Also Slave rebellions are not good enough to get a thriump but it might get us a Ovation which would look real good on our resume if we decide to go for Striped Tribune.
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You're not going to get as much of a synergy boost there as you're thinking. Roman soldiers at this time are drawn mainly from the capite censi, who are essentially utterly disenfranchised, in practice if not in theory. (And if we're in a position to endow them with sufficient wealth and property to move up to the Third Class or higher, then pretty much by definition we have a huge electoral machine already.) Now, they're not entirely useless - they can talk us up and, if worse comes to worst, we have a ready made street gang. But civilian clients can do the former across a broader swathe of society, and the latter comes with a host of attendant problems.
Now, while we're on the topic of synergy, I'd like to talk about how Advocacy synergises with Never Too Early. Advocacy is explicitly looking for the less prestigious cases to raise our profile. Those cases are going to involve the exact same class of people we're going to be targeting with Never Too Early. Which means that we're going to be winning prestige and clients at the same time that we're going to be building an organisation to harness our existing prestige and clients to win more prestige and clients. The more clients we have and the greater our reputation, the better the cases we can take on, etc. etc. They feed into one another very nicely, IMO.
As for the military background, I agree. We need one. But we're inevitably going to have one, because we're going to serve in ten campaigns before running for Quaestor, as is required, and we're a good enough soldier that we're going to get something out of it. I would just like to have a large enough network of clients established that people remember our name when we get back to Rome after our military service. (No point in doing great deeds if no one ever learns of them).
As an aside, we're definitely not going to win an Ovation with Slave Rebellion. Even if such honours are awarded for such a minor thing (they're sending out a militia rather than the legions), we're not in command. Young Marius is.
Telamon
A corvid.
- Location
- Texas
I waffled on making his Stewardship so low, but IRL Caesar was constantly in debt and fleeing his creditors. Hell, one of the reasons he invaded Gaul was to get enough loot to pay off his numerous debts back in Rome, and he kept taking provincial governments not because he had any particular desire to be an administrator, but rather because it was illegal to sue a provincial governor for debts or prosecute him.
Now, I'm not saying one of history's greatest men won his fame by stumbling into his greatest deeds while frantically trying to avoid loan sharks, but I'm heavily implying that.
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I remember seeing someone describe Caesar's career as that of a man committing a series of increasingly impressive and audacious crimes so as to avoid the consequences of the crimes he had previously committed.
Not entirely true, IMO, but there's a hint of fact behind the flippant quip.
ThatGuyWithIdeas
Treize died for our sins
- Location
- Romania
[X] Plan Weather Eye
- Location
- USA
Now, I'm not saying one of history's greatest men won his fame by stumbling into his greatest deeds while frantically trying to avoid loan sharks, but I'm heavily implying that.
I recall one way a podcaster had described Caesar's choice of patrons later on in life:
He was a frequent customer of the First Bank of Crassus.
To be entirely fair to Gaius Julius, so was a considerable portion of the Senate.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
Well, to be fair to Gaius Julius, low Stewardship was a very common vice of the Roman elite. Senators weren't supposed to be doing business after all, they were supposed to have other people to do it for them.
Get an elite upper class of mostly-hereditary nobility who are socially expected to engage in massive competitive displays of wealth and decadence and generosity. Do so in a city that has grown rich beyond the dreams of avarice thanks to having swollen its treasuries with the loot of most of the Mediterranean world.
Then make sure that their upbringing actively anti-selects for business acumen. Teach them that handling money is for peasants, that business and investment are likewise degrading to a true nobleman, and that the only valid source of income for a true elite is land ownership.
You end up with a lot of nobility owing money to the handful that actually know how to run a business, and hating them for it.
Get an elite upper class of mostly-hereditary nobility who are socially expected to engage in massive competitive displays of wealth and decadence and generosity. Do so in a city that has grown rich beyond the dreams of avarice thanks to having swollen its treasuries with the loot of most of the Mediterranean world.
Then make sure that their upbringing actively anti-selects for business acumen. Teach them that handling money is for peasants, that business and investment are likewise degrading to a true nobleman, and that the only valid source of income for a true elite is land ownership.
You end up with a lot of nobility owing money to the handful that actually know how to run a business, and hating them for it.
Claytonimor
WE WILL TAKE JERUSALEM
- Location
- Loudon, TN
[X] Plan Coming Man
Cybandeath
Lord Darkness, and Representative of Mad Science
- Location
- The United States of America
[-] Plan Foundations
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The Sandman
So Zetta Slowpoke
- Location
- Wherever I am, which isn't where I'm not
Well, presumably you would know.
I've been waiting for something like this.
Edit: Look, I'll just say that that description could, just possibly, have originated with Cato. Maybe.
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Telamon
A corvid.
- Location
- Texas
Coming Man and Weather Eye are currently tied, with 'Gaining Experience' trailing significantly behind. I'll wrap up the vote later tonight, and pick the one with the best arguments for it if the tie isn't broken.
Remember: I consider well-formulated and well-thought-out arguments in favor of a plan almost as much as I do votes.
Remember: I consider well-formulated and well-thought-out arguments in favor of a plan almost as much as I do votes.