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Res Publica: A Quest of Ancient Rome

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Hmmm

I want to fight for the Mariana to be frank but there adlss wholes. Sulla's a rich prick. And good ole Pompey is a Mafioso anarchist.

I dislike everyone. What if we made a mercenary actually and just on the behalf of whoever paid us the most?
 
Valkur said:
Can anyone challenge Rome despite another Roman? Steppe nomads? Proto-Vikings? Surprise Spartan army?
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The Parthians are the only empire that can seriously challenge them. Gauls are tough but not unites. Germany is the same. There are some hill tribes in Spain but not a serious threat.

The Mithridates are/were a serious threat but they were pushed out of Greece by Sulla and Marius invaded Asia. Otl Sulla repeatedly beat the Mithridates. But now we got Marius who is the most experienced general alive right now, invading and conquering.
 
Valkur said:
Hmmm

I want to fight for the Mariana to be frank but there adlss wholes. Sulla's a rich prick. And good ole Pompey is a Mafioso anarchist.

I dislike everyone. What if we made a mercenary actually and just on the behalf of whoever paid us the most?
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We are 18. No one is going to pay us to fight for them when we are only just now earning field experience. It's a civil war between already established factions. Make sure you survive this one by picking the right side, picking the wrong side and surviving exile or managing to toe that thinn line until we know from which way the wind blows.

Don't worry, if we manage we will hopefully get to a point were one of the factions in the next series of civil wars will be called Atellians or something like that.
 
Valkur said:
Can anyone challenge Rome despite another Roman? Steppe nomads? Proto-Vikings? Surprise Spartan army?
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I think there are quite a few factions capable of resisting Rome and beating Roman armies but at this time there are really few factions still able to truly challenge a "united" Rome. Maybe a Gaul that manages to unite before Caesar comes along (or faces a less skilled general) or one the larger eastern kingdoms factions under an exceptionally talented leader but even then I don't think that they could truly muster the forces necessary to "invade" significant parts of Rome.

Of course a Roman divided by civil war is another thing all together though most people would likely be happy to "nibble" at its borders rather than do anything truly massive...


And to take a look at your examples, the steppe nomads are neither united enough nor are they truly bordering roman territory so unless the Huns appear six hundred years early I would say no to that (though I certainly wouldn't want to be a roman army invading their lands either...). The proto-vikings are the germanic people and here we have the example of the Cimbrian war which happened juts a few years before this quest started during which a massive "horde" of said people beat several roman armies/legions and might have been able to successfully invade northern italy but for reasons decided to rather plunder southern france instead. In the end it was Gaius Marius who faced them on the battlefield and won a resounding victory, resulting in him being saviour of the republic (it is indeed basis for a lot of his legend and fame)... But this I think the exception and in general I don't think that unless united the Germanic people are no match for rome under most circumstances. And the time of the Greeks is over....
 
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Nurgle said:
The Parthians are the only empire that can seriously challenge them. Gauls are tough but not unites. Germany is the same. There are some hill tribes in Spain but not a serious threat.

The Mithridates are/were a serious threat but they were pushed out of Greece by Sulla and Marius invaded Asia. Otl Sulla repeatedly beat the Mithridates. But now we got Marius who is the most experienced general alive right now, invading and conquering.
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Oooh, I hope the Parthians attacks.

They're also in internal turmoil and/or civil war, and their geography makes taking the land....interesting. The mountains are a pain in the ass to deal with, but the valleys are so isolated from one another that once we take a valley, we can fortress us and basically own it.


Also, IIRC, Sulla hashed out an agreement with them before? He might try to get their support, IDK.
 
Ridiculously Average Guy said:
Oooh, I hope the Parthians attacks.

They're also in internal turmoil and/or civil war, and their geography makes taking the land....interesting. The mountains are a pain in the ass to deal with, but the valleys are so isolated from one another that once we take a valley, we can fortress us and basically own it.


Also, IIRC, Sulla hashed out an agreement with them before? He might try to get their support, IDK.
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The parthians spend more time fighting each other than foreign armies. But they are the best at Calvary in the known world right now. While I would love to take them over or liberate Babylon from them that will be sometime when we can afford the legions and the politically goodwill to get enough allies to help.
 
Fair enough.

So, I was thinking. You know how Marius' generals are shit? Any chance that, since he's alive, he's training up someone in his forces to act as his military heir?
 
Marius has both Sertorius, and his own son (also named Gaius Marius)

Do we know where Marius the Younger is? Did he go on campaign with his father, or is he still in Italy? I forget.

Thyreus said:
No we don't, because Marius was supposed to die between update 3 and 4, but because Apollo is pissed at Sulla for stealing from him he healed that old warhorse.
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Even better. Apollo was pre-emptively pissed at Sulla for stealing at him and so healed Marius because "fuck Sulla" for something Sulla was going to do later.

If we stick with my interpretation of the Greco-Roman gods' awareness and activity, the main thing that stops them from just spamming the smite button all the time is that almost everyone of any importance has the favor of one or more gods, if only something like Zeus saying "spare that guy in the kangaroo suit, he amuses me." If you're a Greco-Roman god, and some prominent mortal is pissing you off, but in a way that isn't personal, it's almost always easier to buff their enemies than to actively hurt them.

Of course, if it it's personal (e.g. directly insulting the gods), then smiting is back on the table, but they have a pretty strict code about not doing that except over extraordinary provocations. Like, more extraordinary than Sulla carting off Apollo's temple bling.

Because the last time the Greek gods got smite-happy, it set in motion a sequence of events that led to the Bronze Age Collapse. :p
 
Simon_Jester said:
Marius has both Sertorius, and his own son (also named Gaius Marius)

Do we know where Marius the Younger is? Did he go on campaign with his father, or is he still in Italy? I forget.
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I think he's still in Rome and acting his role as Consul or one of the two Consuls. I think he's also done a lot of proscribing.
 
Die Forelle said:
I prefer causing a storm of butterflies in world history when voting in historical quests. :p

Not that I don't like waifus. Though I prefer cute husbandos. :p
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Yes, on that note....



I bring more gifts for everyone else, though.

Because history memes are almost as amusing as actual history (which is far too outlandish to be believable, I say.)

 
Attelus should only take a male lover if it benefits him. Someone rich and powerful none of that true love shit like Sulla.
 
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Given how Roman culture works... Rich and powerful is only a good idea if we're planning for Atellus to draw off some of the fire Caesar would otherwise catch for "Queen of Bithynia" jokes for the rest of his life.

And it's not like Caesar would be grateful, even though he should be. :p
 
Eh, there's a important difference between 'normal' factional murder and the proscriptions. Marcus Antonius Orator was murdered* when Marius and Cinna retook Rome just before the quest started, but as we've seen his son Chalkman is freely (if probably ineptly) pursuing a political career. If he had been proscribed, neither he nor Chalkman would even be citizens, and their property would have been forfeit.

*Well, just about. The man actually managed to talk the death squad sent after him out of killing him initially, only for their captain to storm in and murder him personally when it seemed that things were taking too long. Man was charismatic.
 
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From the sound things are getting interesting in Rome. Prosbrictions picking up to pay for the new legions and line pockets. Cinna hold over the city growing ever more tenuous (At least according to Scaevolla). Pompey taking his Legions and leaving to gather support. All in all it will be exciting when Atellus returns to Rome. Presuming Sulla doesn't land in Italy while we're still dealing with the Samnites.
 
Ok here is the word of our fearless GM. He is working on the next update is his spare time but he is graduating so he hopes to be back to his usual schedule next week.

@Telamon way to go! YAY! Congratulations on graduating.
 
Well, congratulations, @Telamon!

Pensive-Nerves said:
From the sound things are getting interesting in Rome. Prosbrictions picking up to pay for the new legions and line pockets. Cinna hold over the city growing ever more tenuous (At least according to Scaevolla). Pompey taking his Legions and leaving to gather support. All in all it will be exciting when Atellus returns to Rome. Presuming Sulla doesn't land in Italy while we're still dealing with the Samnites.
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It's worth noting that Scaevola is politically rather isolated. His perspective may be less 'shrewd political commentator' and more 'grumpy old man watching the world change around him in ways he fears and distrusts.' To be fair he has good reason to fear the changes and they're not necessarily improvements, but it may impact the accuracy of what he says is going on.
 
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