- Location
- Anatolia
Atellus the Grave Maker.
Res Publica: A Quest of Ancient Rome
- Thread starter Telamon
- Start date
- Original Historic
[X] Plan Optimat Politics
- Location
- Home
...Not sure if Atellus is reading Merlin wrong or if you're just unfamiliar with Garden of Avalon.
Always Late
Lacking in coffee, sleep, and brains
- Location
- Ohio
I was mostly pulling from the original Fate/Stay Night VN at the time of writing, a few bits from Fate/Apocrypha, and a spash of F/GO's oh-so-punchable meme-lord. If Merlin got written to be more reasonable or less of a jerk in Garden of Avalor, sorry. I have indeed not read it. That's my end of things. As for Atellus' side of things, given the aforementioned frame of reference, I think it's not unreasonable he'd have objections to Merlin's decisions and how it turned out. As a de-facto emperor and a 'father', what Arturia learned from Merlin really went against Roman traditions and were instrumental in Camelot's fall. To Atellus' mind, fitting his Servant container's central myth, Arturia needed to act more like a 'Roman man'. Not a woman and not an inhumanly disconnected demi-god.
In the context of Atellus' being in Chaldea for Grand Order... at that point it's 75% a comedy, and so should be taken with a pinch of salt and a dash of humor.
- Location
- Home
Yeah that's the part I kind of have a problem with. Nothing too bad or anything, just feel a bit sorry for that dumbass, Merlin.
Maybe if you have some free time you can watch this?
Garden of Avalon is a 7 chapter novel that was released with the blu-ray of UBW where the various nasu version Arthurian characters talk about their version of the legend, including Kay, and this version is a Drama CD too so you might find it interesting. I'd like you to atleast watch tracks 4 and 8.
XX: Vir Triumphalis
- Location
- Texas
[X] Plan Optimat Politics
-[X] Write-In: Discipline. It is said soldiers ignored Sertorius and his officers' commands to cease during the sack. There must be a punishment for such insubordination. You have the pay of all men who ignored orders heavily docked. Gold speaks louder than blood.
-[X] Write-In: Memorial. Have a stone monument erected outside the ruins of Nola, with an inscription in large letters, high enough off the ground that a man cannot easily reach it. "Here stood the city of Nola, spurning the outstretched hand of Rome. Here came the sword of Rome, in the year of Flaccus and Marius. Here fell the city of Nola."
-[X] The Cult of Mars: You attempt to solidify your small cult, turning it into an organization which may survive the transition from military life to civilian. Having brothers bound by bonds deeper than blood in the killing fields of the Senate may prove useful.
-[X] Expand Journal: You begin expanding your journal to include more than strictly military matters, such as political happenings or philosophical musings.
-[X] Make Connections: Ever aloof and arrogant, the aristocrats of the equtii, the knights of Rome, have come to respect you as a leader to look up to over the course of this campaign. You could try to make some deeper connections that might serve you well in the city.
-[X] Write-In: Discipline. It is said soldiers ignored Sertorius and his officers' commands to cease during the sack. There must be a punishment for such insubordination. You have the pay of all men who ignored orders heavily docked. Gold speaks louder than blood.
-[X] Write-In: Memorial. Have a stone monument erected outside the ruins of Nola, with an inscription in large letters, high enough off the ground that a man cannot easily reach it. "Here stood the city of Nola, spurning the outstretched hand of Rome. Here came the sword of Rome, in the year of Flaccus and Marius. Here fell the city of Nola."
-[X] The Cult of Mars: You attempt to solidify your small cult, turning it into an organization which may survive the transition from military life to civilian. Having brothers bound by bonds deeper than blood in the killing fields of the Senate may prove useful.
-[X] Expand Journal: You begin expanding your journal to include more than strictly military matters, such as political happenings or philosophical musings.
-[X] Make Connections: Ever aloof and arrogant, the aristocrats of the equtii, the knights of Rome, have come to respect you as a leader to look up to over the course of this campaign. You could try to make some deeper connections that might serve you well in the city.
669 Years After The Founding Of Rome
The Year of Flaccus and Marius.
The days after the sack of Nola are quiet and grim. A sense of chagrin lies over the entire legion -- not remorse for their deeds, not quite, but a regret that they disobeyed their beloved commander. Sertorius is a hero to the men, and to have failed him lives a bitter taste on every man's tongue, and a shadow on every man's heart. There is grumbling about the pay cut, to be certain, but the men who are chosen to be punished are the most flagrant violators of Sertorius' edicts: those who fired the central hall of Nola, for example, or who carried on even when the rest of the legion allowed cooler heads to prevail, and their punishment is seen as just for having brought especial shame on the Sixth.
You devote a handful of funds to having a stone inscribed with your deeds here, such as they were, and raised in what was the central square of Nola. A warning, for all times and all days, of what fate lies in store for the enemies of Rome. Your nascent cult of Mars sanctifies it that same night with the sacrifice of a goat and a prayer in the darkness to the war-god, who fills your hearts and hands.
You record all of this in your journal, as well as your thoughts on it, and your own experiences of the battle. The line between man and beast is thin -- thinner, perhaps, than you might ever have imagined in your villa back in Rome. Your scribblings from the beginning of the campaign, as you look them over, seem childish, almost infantile. War is something darker than the stories tell. The stories do not speak of the hunger, or the fear, or the red tide in your heart that blurs all thought. You had called your soldiers wolves of Rome, but there is a wolf inside of all men, and he is closer to the surface than any dare imagine. The image of Nola burning, you write, will stay behind your eyes for some time.
As for the Samnites, the ruin of Nola has broken whatever spine they, as a people, had remaining. Meddix Appius, their great hero, the 'second Hannibal', lies chained in the legion's camps, and those who pledged to his name have vanished into the hills and valleys of their rocky land. As the legion marches back across Samnium, it finds a more subdued land than when it first arrived. Gone are the angry young men with hate in their eyes -- now their widows stand with heads bowed to Rome.
The clan elders of the Hirpini and the Pentri travel from their cities to pay obeisance to Sertorius at the city of Bovianum, and swear loyalty and fealty to Rome in sight of your gods and theirs. A tribute is gathered, if it can be called such -- a few carts of dirty gold and worn silver, the last of the treasures of Samnium remaining to the conquered peoples. The Samnite elders are tight-lipped and pale-faced as the last of their meager wealth is carted away, but they keep their heads low and their necks bowed. If they have any complaints, they do not spill from their lips. There is a victorious armed procession through Bovianum, where the captive Appius is paraded before your horses like a trophy -- with the equitii, the noble cavalry, leading the march, an honor you specifically levied for on their behalf.
Vae Victis. Woe to the conquered.
But though his military campaign has been an unequivocal success, Sertorius' victory is bittersweet. It has won him some acclaim in Rome, true, but his dream of establishing a power-base in Italy has been quashed. On nights when you speak with him, you find that his mind is no longer wholly in Rome. More and more, you catch him gazing off into the distance, trapped in thought. Finally, one night, he calls you to him and lays out what weighs heavy on his mind.
With Sertorius falling out of favor with the increasingly bloodthirsty Cinna and Marius, and with a vengeful Sulla bearing down from Greece, no matter who wins the Civil War, his position in Rome will be weak and uncertain. The legion, to be sure, is his -- but little else. His legions, the legions he commanded, the legions that gave him the Grass Crown and made him a living legend -- they are not in Italy. No, they are in the land he came to love during his rise to power, the land where he made his fame, the place where the very name Sertorius gained meaning and influence.
Hispania.
He lays out his plan -- to use his clout from the victory in Samnium to convince the Senate to send him to Hispania as Governor. The Roman provinces in Hispania are currently controlled by Sullan loyalists, and there will be glory enough to be won in seizing it from them, and further glory in defeating the African warlords who are even now terrorizing the southern provinces of Hispania. By the time the civil war is done, and Marius or Sulla can turn to look westward, he will have built up a solid power base in Hispania.
He is telling you this, he says, not out of political expedience (you are nobody, he says as gently as he can), but out of love for your father, who was his brother-in-arms, and because he sees many of your father in you. He could use a man like you in Hispania, at his side, commanding the legions your father once fought in.
You bring up the matter of your Tribunate and dedicated service to the Sixth, but he waves his hand as if to dismiss the thoughts. He will push to have the Sixth assigned as his army in Hispania-- and if they are not, well, there are favors he may call in to have your tribunate dismissed.
It is a tempting idea -- leave behind the struggle and politicking of Rome, and the threat of death if Sulla wins, for glory and laurels in Hispania as a client of one of the finest Romans of the generation, a man you have come to admire.
[] Accept Sertorius' offer. Scaevola will doubtless be angered by your implicit rejection of his patronage, but you will gain as a mentor a man who learned at the feet of Marius himself. You will fight in the dusky fields of Spain where your father earned his glory and his name, and learn of war at the feet of a master. Hannibal, Scipio, Sertorius -- some of Rome's most beloved and hated names have arisen in Spain. Might you follow in their footsteps?
[] Refuse Sertorius' offer. You cannot leave Rome, and you cannot abandon the ties you have already made here to follow Sertorius on some quixotic quest to Spain. There is glory enough to be gained in Rome, if you know where to look.
And at their head, in a chariot dragged by four horses, his head adorned with the grass crown, his face painted red with the sacred bull-blood of Mars, is the man of triumph himself -- Sertorius. Before his chariot is driven the carts high and heavy with the spoils of Samnium, and at the head of the carts stumbles a tall olive-skinned man in chains, who walks with his head held high. The tyrant of Nola, the Samnite Medix Appius, marched as a trophy in the city he defied.
This, then, is a triumph.
The crowds roar Sertorius' name, cheering the legion and it's commander, and their victory over Rome's ancient foes. Their shouts are almost deafening, and the sound of them seems to shake the city to the roots of her seven hills.
"Hail," the slave at the front of Sertorius' cart shouts. "Hail, Quintus Sertorius, victor over the Samnites! Hail, Quintus Sertorius, Victor over Nola! Hail! Hail! Hail!"
Behind him, a second slave, garbed in simpler clothes, leans to whisper in the general's ear periodically. You know what he is saying -- every Roman does. He whispers of mortality, of death, of a beginning and an end to all things -- finis rerum. It is the memento mori -- the reminder that you will die, that even Alexander died, that no general, no matter how great, may escape death, and that all glories must end.
It is meant to keep triumphators humble, but you cannot help but think the meaning is somewhat drowned out by the cheering crowds.
Red-haired Rufus, next to you on his horse, leans over. "Atellus, while I am...very much enjoying all the attention, question springs to mind -- Nola was not exactly a resounding victory. I was of the belief that to win a triumph, one had to, well...do something triumphant." The lawyer's words are halting, as if he is not entirely sure of the question he is asking.
"You imagined something like Scipio's victory over Hannibal?"
"Something like that, yes."
You nod. You had already asked Sertorius something to this effect earlier, and his lip had curled as he explained. The Marians, in particular Cinna and Marius, need a win. Scarcely a year ago, Marius' armies had run rampant through the city and butchered hundreds of Roman citizens. A military success, any military success, is excuse enough for them to hold days of parades and festivities capped off with a splendorous triumph through the city, led by Sertorius, the most beloved Marian after Marius. The only thing that will make Romans forget blood, Sertorius had said, is bread and circuses.
And so here you are, riding behind the triumphal chariot as the winding procession of the Sixth makes it's way through the streets of Rome to the Temple of Jove, where Sertorius will offer sacrifice to the king of the gods on behalf of Rome and her victories. It is not entirely deserved, no. But after half a year of tramping through stony hills and muddy warrens after Samnite bandits, you will not say no to adoring crowds and a good party.
You say as much to Rufus, who leans back in his horse and thinks for a moment. "Unearned or not, a celebration is a celebration. We might as well enjoy it while we can. Who knows when we shall see another of it's like?"
Blest and thrice blest the Roman
Who sees Rome's brightest day,
Who sees that long victorious pomp
Wind down the Sacred Way,
And through the bellowing Forum,
And round the Suppliant's Grove,
Up to the everlasting gates
Of Capitolian Jove.
Who sees Rome's brightest day,
Who sees that long victorious pomp
Wind down the Sacred Way,
And through the bellowing Forum,
And round the Suppliant's Grove,
Up to the everlasting gates
Of Capitolian Jove.
Once again, the bull is bound. Once again, the blade is drawn.
You and the other officers of the legion stand at the bottom of the steps of the titanic temple of Jupiter, the looming house of the almighty Jove, king of Rome and king of the heavens. The Romans are the sons of Mars, but even bloody-handed Mars kneels, in the end, to the king of the skies.
The Flamen Dialis, the high priest of Jupiter, draws the knife across the bull's neck with an expert flick of his wrist, then turns to Sertorius, who kneels before him. Even as the bull's lifeblood drains out behind him, the high priest raises a hand. Almost instantly, the teeming crowds in front of the temple fall whisper-silent. A quiet stillness hangs over the city of Rome. Streets that moments ago roared and howled fall quiet before the voice of Jove on Earth.
With Rome before him, the priest -- a tall youth maybe three years younger than yourself, with a sharp nose and dark eyes -- steps forward and speaks. His voice is quiet, yet it booms over the still crowd like a thunderbolt from on high.
"By strength of arms and strength of faith, these brave Romans have ventured against hated Samnium and returned victorious and glorious to the city of their fathers. The glory we deliver upon them today is but an echo of the glory that they have won Rome for all of time. They came before our hated foes, the Samnites, who have ever been a thorn in the heel of mother Rome! They saw the depraved treachery of the Samnites, who have ever risen up against the sons of Romulus! And they conquered at last the proud Samnite, and brought him to kneel before the king of the gods!"
The young high priest dips a finger in the bowl of blood and touches it to Sertorius' head.
"Hail, Sertorius, victor over the Samnites."
The Flamen Dialis raises his hands to the heavens.
"Hail, Rome!"
The answer from the crowd shakes the city to it's ancient roots.
"HAIL, ROME!"
"HAIL, ROME!"
"HAIL, ROME!"
Discipline
Dock Pay: 1d20 +2 (Accomplished Charisma) +1 (Proficient Command) +2 (Well liked) = 25
DC: 17
Resounding Success
The Cult Of Mars
1d20 +2 (Accomplished Charisma) +2 (Well liked) = 21
DC: 10
Resounding Success
Make Connections:
Sway the Equitii: 1d20 + 1 (Proficient Command) + 2 (Accomplished Charisma) = 16
DC: 13
Success
Dock Pay: 1d20 +2 (Accomplished Charisma) +1 (Proficient Command) +2 (Well liked) = 25
DC: 17
Resounding Success
The Cult Of Mars
1d20 +2 (Accomplished Charisma) +2 (Well liked) = 21
DC: 10
Resounding Success
Make Connections:
Sway the Equitii: 1d20 + 1 (Proficient Command) + 2 (Accomplished Charisma) = 16
DC: 13
Success
Bread and Circuses
The Romans in their triumph celebrate like no other. The Marians have thrown mighty revels indeed to distract the common people from their ever-tightening grip on Roman liberty. Days-long gladiator games, extravagant bacchanals, and mighty races all punctuate the adoring glory of the Triumph. All of Rome is indulging in a massive, week-long party -- there is simply too much for one young Roman to do. But in Rome, even festivities are political: what you do, and who you do it with, may well mark you politically. The gods Bacchus and Dionysus are supreme in Rome now, and their revels will last long.
Pick two.
[] The Feast of Mars: The soldiers of Rome celebrate a triumph in their own special way. Restricted for so long from excess and more extravagant pleasures, they release their desires in Subura, one of the seedier districts of Rome. Here, they employ women of the night, have mighty parties, and drink themselves stupid -- in the name of Mars, of course.
[] The Bacchanals: Rome's youngest and wealthiest throw their own extravagant private parties atop the Palatine Hill, great affairs of drinking, licentiousness, and all those vices which Romans have so long claimed to despise. Perhaps the eminent party of these Triumphal celebrations is that thrown by the eminent statesman Quintus Lutiatus Catulus, a renowned optimate, and his friend, Marius' nephew-in-law, Lucius Sergius Catalina. You have been personally invited to one of these celebrations by the latter.
[] The Great Games: Rome's finest and strongest young men gather to compete like the Greeks of old. There are races, wrestles, and tosses, with Roman citizens all betting on their favorites. It is said the mightiest of the Marians, Cinna, is a devoted patron of the games, and often visits to wager on his favorite athletes.
[] Blood and Sand: The teeming hordes of Rome gather in the amphitheaters of the city to watch men fight and die and scrabble in the dirt for the glory and the name of Rome. Many of the city's more bloodthirsty elite take a special delight in these festivities, and several influential Senate members often watch.
[] Revels in the Forum: When night falls, the plebs and the patricians alike join in great revels in the Forum, with wine, flesh, and food abound. The common people will love any who join them in their mad bacchanals.
[] The Bacchanals: Rome's youngest and wealthiest throw their own extravagant private parties atop the Palatine Hill, great affairs of drinking, licentiousness, and all those vices which Romans have so long claimed to despise. Perhaps the eminent party of these Triumphal celebrations is that thrown by the eminent statesman Quintus Lutiatus Catulus, a renowned optimate, and his friend, Marius' nephew-in-law, Lucius Sergius Catalina. You have been personally invited to one of these celebrations by the latter.
[] The Great Games: Rome's finest and strongest young men gather to compete like the Greeks of old. There are races, wrestles, and tosses, with Roman citizens all betting on their favorites. It is said the mightiest of the Marians, Cinna, is a devoted patron of the games, and often visits to wager on his favorite athletes.
[] Blood and Sand: The teeming hordes of Rome gather in the amphitheaters of the city to watch men fight and die and scrabble in the dirt for the glory and the name of Rome. Many of the city's more bloodthirsty elite take a special delight in these festivities, and several influential Senate members often watch.
[] Revels in the Forum: When night falls, the plebs and the patricians alike join in great revels in the Forum, with wine, flesh, and food abound. The common people will love any who join them in their mad bacchanals.
Homecoming
You are back in Rome, though not for long. As a soldier, you can only remain within the city limits for as long as the Triumphal celebrations last -- no soldier is allowed, legally, within Rome otherwise. Your old allies and friends have remained in the city in your absence, and you may find the spare time during the revels to call on them.
Pick two
[] A Soldier's Welcome: You pay a visit to your sisters at the apartment Proserpina has rented for your family in Rome. Your old servants will be there as well.
[] Mentor: You pay a visit to the Pontifex Maximus, your mentor, the old jurist Scaevola.
[] The Pen Is Mightier: You spend some time with your friends, the lawyers Rufus, Atticus, and Cicero.
[] Rent a Household: You decide to upgrade your family from their small apartments in Rome to something...bigger. An estate on the Palatine Hill is prestigious enough to require being built rather than rented, however.
--[] You rent an estate in the Subura, one of the lower-class neighborhoods of Rome. (-3 Talents a year)
--[] You rent an estate on the Aventine hill of Rome. It is said the tutelary deities of the Aventine hill are particularly fond of soldiers. (-6 talents a year)
--[] You rent an estate on the Esquiline hill, where many libraries and works of art reside. It is often called the most beautiful hill besides the Capitoline. (-10 talents a year)
--[] You rent a domus upon the Caelian hill, where some of the wealthier residents of the city reside. (-15 talents a year)
[] Seek A Wife: With your name now made as a man of some worth, you can begin making it known that you are seeking a wife. There are men of power in the city who might be willing to tie themselves to the ambitious youth who marched behind Sertorius in his triumph. Of course, these men may be in the bottom of their cups -- something that may well be to your advantage.
[] Carousing: You spend some of your nights carousing and partying with the Gauls, hoping to increase their opinions of you even further. They have been stationed outside the city proper, but they party nonetheless.
[] Mentor: You pay a visit to the Pontifex Maximus, your mentor, the old jurist Scaevola.
[] The Pen Is Mightier: You spend some time with your friends, the lawyers Rufus, Atticus, and Cicero.
[] Rent a Household: You decide to upgrade your family from their small apartments in Rome to something...bigger. An estate on the Palatine Hill is prestigious enough to require being built rather than rented, however.
--[] You rent an estate in the Subura, one of the lower-class neighborhoods of Rome. (-3 Talents a year)
--[] You rent an estate on the Aventine hill of Rome. It is said the tutelary deities of the Aventine hill are particularly fond of soldiers. (-6 talents a year)
--[] You rent an estate on the Esquiline hill, where many libraries and works of art reside. It is often called the most beautiful hill besides the Capitoline. (-10 talents a year)
--[] You rent a domus upon the Caelian hill, where some of the wealthier residents of the city reside. (-15 talents a year)
[] Seek A Wife: With your name now made as a man of some worth, you can begin making it known that you are seeking a wife. There are men of power in the city who might be willing to tie themselves to the ambitious youth who marched behind Sertorius in his triumph. Of course, these men may be in the bottom of their cups -- something that may well be to your advantage.
[] Carousing: You spend some of your nights carousing and partying with the Gauls, hoping to increase their opinions of you even further. They have been stationed outside the city proper, but they party nonetheless.
Author's Note:
Hail, Caesar.
There is now a TWENTY-FOUR HOUR MORATORIUM on all votes.
Use this time to discuss the choices available and create different Plans. As previously discussed, any votes not in plan form, or submitted before the moratorium is up, will not be counted.
As always, discussion is rewarded. (As are Omakes and Reaction posts.)
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Ghostdevil
The Devil of Ghosts
- Location
- United States
I want to go visit our sisters, family is best to meet after such a stressful campaign.
- Location
- Reno
- Pronouns
- They/Them
I think we should stay in Rome, we haven't built up our power base enough to leave yet.
Sertorius' rule in Spain didn't end well, but while it lasted, he set up a remarkably effective model for how to expand a Roman Republic across the Mediterranean, despite the administrative difficulties that were eventually solved by turning it into an Empire. (The answer: decentralized bureaucracy and local government, with a strong backbone of Roman culture to establish a common ground for non-Roman subjects).
Going with Sertorius might unlock a 'third way' forward, a way to reform the Republic without turning it into an Empire. It'd also give us more time and space to develop our talents with a genius-level general and administrator, without having to worry about the chaos going on within the city of Rome.
Yet for all that... I don't think we should go with Sertorius. Or, if we do go, we should try to make it clear that ours is a temporary assignment, not a permanent move. Sertorius shows potential in his government of Spain, but he is overwhelmed by Roman numbers and logistics and comes to a Bad End. More importantly for the sake of the quest... I like the chaos of the city, or at least I like all the potential that it gives us, and all the allies and famous names that we'll encounter while we're there. Yes, it's risky (very risky) but we seem to be doing pretty well straddling the line between Populares and Optimates, and we have a lot of strong allies in Scaevola and Cicero who can help us achieve our potential.
I'd prefer to keep in touch with Sertorius, maybe help him out and 'visit' with a political appointment or assignment to a legion, but not as a permanent measure. Plus, if we're in Rome, we might be able to offer support or use our oratory to sway Rome from going to war against Sertorius that led to his Bad End.
Going with Sertorius might unlock a 'third way' forward, a way to reform the Republic without turning it into an Empire. It'd also give us more time and space to develop our talents with a genius-level general and administrator, without having to worry about the chaos going on within the city of Rome.
Yet for all that... I don't think we should go with Sertorius. Or, if we do go, we should try to make it clear that ours is a temporary assignment, not a permanent move. Sertorius shows potential in his government of Spain, but he is overwhelmed by Roman numbers and logistics and comes to a Bad End. More importantly for the sake of the quest... I like the chaos of the city, or at least I like all the potential that it gives us, and all the allies and famous names that we'll encounter while we're there. Yes, it's risky (very risky) but we seem to be doing pretty well straddling the line between Populares and Optimates, and we have a lot of strong allies in Scaevola and Cicero who can help us achieve our potential.
I'd prefer to keep in touch with Sertorius, maybe help him out and 'visit' with a political appointment or assignment to a legion, but not as a permanent measure. Plus, if we're in Rome, we might be able to offer support or use our oratory to sway Rome from going to war against Sertorius that led to his Bad End.
Aramis
An unwilling witness
- Location
- Who cares?
Oh, I see what you did there...
- Location
- Texas
Realistically, you won't have a power base to speak of for several years. Unlike Pompey, Crassus, or Caesar, you were not born with loyal legions, an incredibly powerful uncle, or lots and lots of wealth. You're already a step above the pack by not doing what most young men of your generation are doing right now — keeping their heads down and trying to survive. The connections you form and make now will be your power base, and the men you meet on campaign may support you when you come into greater power.
By-the-by...
I've hidden something in this update. No transparent text necessary — it's in plain sight. A cookie to the first person who spots it.
What a young high priest of Jupiter that is. How could a boy be Flamen Dialis?
- Location
- Classified
Realistically, you won't have a power base to speak of for several years. Unlike Pompey, Crassus, or Caesar, you were not born with loyal legions, an incredibly powerful uncle, or lots and lots of wealth. You're already a step above the pack by not doing what most young men of your generation are doing right now — keeping their heads down and trying to survive. The connections you form and make now will be your power base, and the men you meet on campaign may support you when you come into greater power.
By-the-by...
I've hidden something in this update. No transparent text necessary — it's in plain sight. A cookie to the first person who spots it.
What a young high priest of Jupiter that is. How could a boy be Flamen Dialis?
No invisitext, he says, there's an author's note saying Hail Caesar at the very end of the update.
But yeah, that's Caesar up there. A fifteen year old boy, high priest of the king of the gods. Institutional rot at its finest.
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- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
- Location
- Europe
It's obviously Sertorius going back on his word and not only not paying the Hipirni, but having them pay for privilege of being conquered by him.
Ok, it'll be some time before I'll make a reaction post or share my deeper thoughts about the update and the choices, but I want to say that I'm really glad docking the pay worked out for us.
As far as the vote goes, I'm thinking staying in Rome (I mentioned I wouldn't want to follow Sertorius to Spain), I'm thinking visiting Scaevola and our sisters (one of whom is probably glad that with us constantly away she won't have to marry our neighbour's son), partying with the soldiers and maybe the senator option or the populares option.
Oh hey, a route to participate in Catiline conspiracy later, perhaps? Not that I particularly want to be immortalized by the way of In Catilinam, mind. And it did happen 20 years later, much can change in that time.
Edit: Also, wait, Quintus Lutatius Catulus (born Caesar) is still alive and well enough that he throws grand celebrations? I guess he decided to side with Marians here, after all.
Edit2: Or do I confuse him with his son, also named Quintus Lutatius Catulus? Not sure he would be that eminent of a politician yet, though.
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- Location
- Europe
I think you'll want correct this.
Always Late
Lacking in coffee, sleep, and brains
- Location
- Ohio
I mean, he is by Roman standards an adult. Although OTL he got elected to Pontifex Maximus in BC 63. It's abo-wait.
Am I mixing up the father and famous son again?
- Location
- Texas
As a 16-year old boy, Julius Caesar was nominated to the post of Flamen Dialis, high priest of Jupiter. Though technically he was a man and head of his family after his father's sudden death, he had no qualifications whatsoever for the post. Nonetheless, as Marius' nephew and Cinna's son-in-law, he enjoyed power and position in Rome under the Marians, and seemed set for life, on the fast track to being one of Rome's most powerful priests.
Then, of course, Marius and Cinna died, Sulla won the civil wars, and Caesar was proscribed and forced to flee Rome and join the army as a rank soldier.
Surely, he would never again reach a position of such power and prestige. Surely, this act of trite nepotism would be the height of this otherwise unremarkable man's career.
Surely.
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Always Late
Lacking in coffee, sleep, and brains
- Location
- Ohio
Huh. The first thing that comes to mind is he hasn't cocked it up in one of its most important roles, so he might've either gotten a good advisor or had a knack for it. The other is curiosity over who exactly got him the job. Marius directly, or an ally of his?
- Location
- Texas
Marius and Cinna run Rome, and Caesar is family in a time when nepotism is the order of the day. These are probably the best days of his life for a rather long time. He's married to the daughter one of the men in charge of Rome, nephew to the other, and high priest of the chief god.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
Again, it has to be said, the kid can speechify pretty good. Given that his main job is to make sure the gods stay on our side and (more tangibly) ensure that the people are convinced the gods are on their side... I'd say he's doing pretty well?
Okay, for the 'Bread and Circuses' vote, each option improves our relationships with a specific group:
As for 'Homecoming'... yikes, that's a lot of important options and not much time. I wish we could dedicate one of our 'Bread and Circuses' actions to take care of our actual friends (@Telamon, would that be permitted?)
When it comes down to it, we need to spend time with our family -- not because our sister needs us, but because we are so incredibly incompetent at Intrigue that we've been unable to communicate with our spymistress Proserpina during our campaign. We need to speak with her just to figure out a way to communicate in the future, and figure out what she tried to tell us in her last letters. So: 'A Soldier's Welcome' should be locked.
For our second option... I think we need to visit Scaevola. We served alongside Rufus, we've corresponded with Cicero, so I think our friendships are still on solid ground. But we only have a few days in Rome, and we need to pay our dues and catch up with our mentor who gave us so much. It'd also allow us to learn Scaevola's perspective on events in Rome since we were away. I don't see the point in renting a household (we can probably afford it, but it's an unnecessary expense since we won't be there making us of it for a long while yet), we're not yet high-status enough to find a high-quality wife, and 'carousing' would be just plain dumb at this point. My vote is strongly for 'Mentor'.
- 'Feast of Mars' = soldiers
- 'Bacchanals' = young & rich (primarily the Optimate faction)
- 'Great Games' = young & strong (primarily the Populares faction)
- 'Blood and Sand' = bloodthirsty elites, 'influential Senators'
- 'Revels in the Forum' = common people
As for 'Homecoming'... yikes, that's a lot of important options and not much time. I wish we could dedicate one of our 'Bread and Circuses' actions to take care of our actual friends (@Telamon, would that be permitted?)
When it comes down to it, we need to spend time with our family -- not because our sister needs us, but because we are so incredibly incompetent at Intrigue that we've been unable to communicate with our spymistress Proserpina during our campaign. We need to speak with her just to figure out a way to communicate in the future, and figure out what she tried to tell us in her last letters. So: 'A Soldier's Welcome' should be locked.
For our second option... I think we need to visit Scaevola. We served alongside Rufus, we've corresponded with Cicero, so I think our friendships are still on solid ground. But we only have a few days in Rome, and we need to pay our dues and catch up with our mentor who gave us so much. It'd also allow us to learn Scaevola's perspective on events in Rome since we were away. I don't see the point in renting a household (we can probably afford it, but it's an unnecessary expense since we won't be there making us of it for a long while yet), we're not yet high-status enough to find a high-quality wife, and 'carousing' would be just plain dumb at this point. My vote is strongly for 'Mentor'.
- Location
- Europe
Counterpoints, despite agreeing with your picks: there is always divorce and living above your means is hardly un-Roman. Besides, it's often more important to appear rich than actually being rich to climb the ladder.