Res Publica: A Quest of Ancient Rome

[agumentic]

Yeah, It's been noted several times during the war that our closeness to Sertorius - and with him, the Marians - has been noticed by different people. Getting some connections with Optimates to outweigh would probably do us good.

Given how we seem to be emphasizing our relationships with the soldiers (Cult of Mars) I expect we'll follow up on that with 'Feast of Mars'.

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On the other hand, we can and did emphasize our relations with soldiers and grow closer to them on a campaign. We can't get connections to the Senators or even common crowd there. So concentrating on things that are exclusive to our stay in Rome seems like a good idea to me.

 

[Thyreus]

In favour of visiting Scaevola and our family also speaks that we'll likely get news from the east there. Scaevola's information will likely be more biased, but emphasising that we haven't thrown our lot in with the populares won't hurt either.

On the other hand, we can and did emphasize our relations with soldiers and grow closer to them on a campaign. We can't get connections to the Senators or even common crowd there. So concentrating on things that are exclusive to our stay in Rome seems like a good idea to me.

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That's a good point. We still have around nine years of military service before us (as pointed out in this update), so visiting people who we otherwise can't meet on campaign is likely more worth than a few nights of debauchery with the common soldiers.

 

[Publicola]

@Telamon, any chance that we could adjust our 'action economy' this round? That is, instead of attending two parties and taking two personal actions, could we limit ourselves to only a single party and use the extra time to add a third 'Homecoming' action?

 

[Telamon]

@Telamon, any chance that we could adjust our 'action economy' this round? That is, instead of attending two parties and taking two personal actions, could we limit ourselves to only a single party and use the extra time to add a third 'Homecoming' action?

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Your personal actions already represent what little time you can find to do things that are not partying in-between parties, at a point in time when you and everyone you are trying to meet up with is free. The triumphal celebrations are a period of maybe three or so days, so your timescale is very limited.

I could maybe consider a quest vote that exchanges a party option for one of the personals, but be warned that this may have in-story consequences.

 

[Thyreus]

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.

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Thank God that worked out. I'll admit I was a bit nervous when voting for and defending this option. We aren't quite the bringer of coin anymore, but we are definitely the bringer of law.
I also found two mistakes there, both bolded.

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.

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I wonder where the cult of Mars will take us. Anyway, leaving grim reminders of the fate of all enemies of Rome (or Atellus, since in time that will be interchangeable) is a tradition I want to continue.

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.

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Sounds a little bit like omake bait. Homo lupus homini, should the journal survive historians will find this interesting. Maybe we should visit Cicero simply so he can read and write about it. Who knows, maybe the journal can find us some fame, both in Rome and in the far future?

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.

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There, that is the end of them. Still, we should not forget our promises to the Pentri!!!
That reminds me, our client should be in Rome now.

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.

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I'm not tempted, as we specifically wanted to stay close to Rome.
By the way, he uses the same phrase Sulla used to describe Caesar, albeit Sertorius compares us to our father and not Marius.

The sound of the drums booms like an echo through the streets of Rome. Music winds through the streets, and your horse dances nervously under you. A veritable artillery of horns sounds, shaking the city to her roots. The legion shines in the sunlight, their mail gleaming as they march, the rhythmic thump of five thousand boots quaking the very earth beneath them. The horses rear and whinny, regal in their pride as they canter before the cheering masses, their riders resplendent in crimson armor.

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.

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Hopefully it won't be our last.
Although I hope we will have worthier causes to celebrate than squashing a small uprising.

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?"

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Rufus is right, this is even more of a propaganda show than a regular triumph is. That said, soon enough we'll have our own for true conquests.

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!"

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And this is the official end of our campaign, all that's left is carousing, partying and building connections.


Don't forget the promise we made the Pentri!

 

[Simon_Jester]

@Thyreus

What actions would you propose to take, in order that we have a hope of making sure the promise is kept?

 

[Thyreus]

@Thyreus

What actions would you propose to take, in order that we have a hope of making sure the promise is kept?

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Well, obviously we don't have the necessary pull ourselves and Sertorius is going to fuck off to Spain, so he is out too.

Scaevola is likely the only option we really have as he is our only actual supporter in the senate. We could try and choose the Great Games, but Cinna hasn't cared for Samnium until now outside of putting them down and I doubt we can sway him. Blood and Sand is more likely to work out, but even there chances are slim. I doubt the senators will want to talk about rebuilding the Samnites while celebrating their defeat. (Though we might still want to choose this option for the connections we can make.)

Frankly, right now is a bad time for this, and unless @Telamon forgot about it, I imagine this is the reason we haven't gotten an option to do that. Championing rebuilding the Pentri (and maybe the Hipirni) is likely something we'll do after the festivities in letters. I wrote that part more as a reminder for us than an as an actual call to action.

 

[Telamon]

Well, obviously we don't have the necessary pull ourselves and Sertorius is going to fuck off to Spain, so he is out to.

Scaevola is likely the only option we really have as he is our only actual supporter in the senate. We could try and choose the Great Games, but Cinna hasn't cared for Samnium until now outside of putting them down and I doubt we can sway him. Blood and Sand is more likely to work out, but even there chances are slim. I doubt the senators will want to talk about rebuilding the Samnites while celebrating their defeat. (Though we might still want to choose this option for the connections we can make.)

Frankly, right now is a bad time for this, and unless @Telamon forgot about it, I imagine this is the reason we haven't gotten an option to do that. Championing rebuilding the Pentri (and maybe the Hipirni) is likely something we'll do after the festivities in letters. I wrote that part more as a reminder for us than an as an actual call to action.

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I have not forgotten, and neither has Atellus.

And neither, most certainly, have the Pentri.

 

[Thyreus]

I have not forgotten, and neither has Atellus.

And neither, most certainly, have the Pentri.

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Yes, I believe that the Pentri didn't forget the finest speech we gave until now and likely will have for some time.

So, as far as I'm concerned I'll likely vote for a plan looking like this:

[] 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.
[] 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.
[] 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.

I'm still undecided about the second party. The soldiers would be a waste since we'll have plenty of opportunity to endear us to them in the years to come and I really don't want to go to Catalina (has he killed his uncle(?) yet? Edit: obviously not by the the wording of the option...) despite the fact that it would help get us into contact with young men who will be important allies and enemies in the future.
Maybe I'll just vote to mingle with the common people to earn their love, though that will likely earn us some scorn (note that we were personally invited to the optimate party Catalina is throwing).

Edit: Damn it all to hell, the wording of the marriage option makes me think we can snatch a really fantastic bride if we roll well, but I want to know about Sulla and Marius first. Decisions, decisions...

 

[Publicola]

I really don't want to go to Catalina (has he killed his uncle(?) yet?) despite the fact that it would help get us into contact with young men who will be important allies and enemies in the future.
Maybe I'll just vote to mingle with the common people to earn their love, though that will likely earn us some scorn (note that we were personally invited to the optimate party Catalina is throwing).

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I agree that Cataline's party sounds pretty bad... but that is the only Optimate-specific party available to us, and we need to do something to shore up our Optimate credentials since we've been spending all our time on campaign with Sertorius (who is associated with the Marian/populares faction). I hate it, but I'm inclined to say we should accept Cataline's invitation, and spend our time at the party staying as far away from him as possible. Surely there are other Optimates attending who are less toxic, after all.

 

[Thyreus]

I agree that Cataline's party sounds pretty bad... but that is the only Optimate-specific party available to us, and we need to do something to shore up our Optimate credentials since we've been spending all our time on campaign with Sertorius (who is associated with the Marian/populares faction). I hate it, but I'm inclined to say we should accept Cataline's invitation, and spend our time at the party staying as far away from him as possible. Surely there are other Optimates attending who are less toxic, after all.

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We did choose a few optimate options (having written to Scaevola twice, mingling with the equiti and the officer corps), but those were lesser optimate options. So you are likely right in that we likely have to. Besides, it's a chance to get to know the future elite, even at this very un-Roman like party.

Oh, and we should not choose Cinna. He is noted to have grown more bloodthirsty and both our most important connections, Scaevola and Sertorius, won't endear us to him. A pity as I imagine we could have met more young people there and maybe even competed in the games.

Edit: Something other to keep in mind is that we are losing our most important populares connection. A Sullan defeat in the east could become our worst case scenario if we aren't working on that, despite the fact the rest of the populares are more fanatical beasts than men. Oh well, exile is a time honoured tradition among the Romans if Marius wins.

Another edit: There is also something to be said about visiting our sisters and senators as we still haven't sorted out that marriage issue from the first chapter. Hopefully we catch that coward of a senator drunk so we can outright cancel the arrangement. And who knows, maybe our sister already found a better replacement while we were away.

 

[Spacegnom]

I find myself agreeing to what has been said by @Thyreus. So, I will not go too much into my own reasoning and only add two or three thoughts of my own.
When it comes to marriage I'm still holding out for Scaevola's daughter, the OTL wife of Pompey. Picking Mentor might give us some information, whether this is even remotely possible.
I'd like to meet up with Cicero, and Rufus to a lesser degree, however our commitments to family (and Proserpina) and our Mentor take precedence. Maybe there is a chance we meet him at the Bacchanals (it would be ironic to meet Cicero at Catalina's party ) or the Blood and Sand option? From what I remember, both of these don't look too appealing to someone like Cicero, but neither do any of the other party options.
As was pointed out, we will lose our Populares connection with Sertorius going to Hispania. I don't think Cinna would be a good fit for us, so the Blood and Sand option is our best bet to find some new influential populares connection.
Thus my vote will probably look as follows:

[] Plan Roman Connections
-[] 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.
-[] 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.
-[] 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.
-[] 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.

 

[agumentic]

I really don't want to go to Catalina

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I would note that Catiline conspiracy happens 22 years later. Right now Catalina is a young man 23 years of age, not that much older than we are, and his most noteworthy achievement is distinguished service during the Social War. And even as we take his life in account, it should be noted that Cicero himself admitted that Catiline was not without virtues. Connecting with him is not the worst thing that could happen to us, especially as he does have connections to Marius and Marians, should they win the civil war. And it's not like accepting the invitation means that we are in his debt for life.

 

[Versharl]

[] 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.

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Well, this is a tough one. I was initially inclined to go with the Sertorius because it seems to be the path that'll lead to greater personal growth but that would place us firmly in the Marian camp, something we've been trying to avoid so far. I'm not sure whether we can really afford to throw our lot in so clearly with one faction over the other when the current civil war is far from decided. Sulla won historically but that seems far from certain in the quest where Marius is still alive.
If we stay in the city and Sulla wins, we're set for greater power through Scaevola. If the Marians win we can, as a last resort, seek refuge in Hispania with Sertorius, who'll likely accept us though we'll need to repair some of the damages that happened from rejecting his offer.
If we go with Sertorius now, we're burning our bridge with Scaevola. He's unlikely to intervene to save us from the wrath of Sulla which will fall on us by proxy of being Sertorius' second in command. Sure, none of that might happen if the Marians triumph, in which case we're positioned extremely well, but that's quite the gamble to take.

[] 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.

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I think Feast of Mars is a given if we decide not to go with Sertorius but the second option is harder to decide on. The Bacchanals do seem to offer a chance to make connections that'd be otherwise hard to come by, since we're not exactly part of the elite in the city. This might be one of our only chances to do this from a position of strength as a recently returned part of a triumph instead of just some low-level aristocrat with martial abilities.

[] 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.

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I'd love to talk to our friends but as I'm inclined to stay in Rome, they can wait until we deal with vital business. It's important to see our family but what we really need it to reestablish contact with our information gathering network through our servants. Of course, Scaevola will also be able to clue us into things which might avoid a misstep early in our return to Rome due to a lack of information.

 

[agumentic]

that would place us firmly in the Marian camp

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Not even that, it would firmly place us into the Sertorius camp. There's a reason he wants a power base in the Hispania no matter who wins the civil war, Marius or Sulla - Sertorius is far from being the most favored Marian, and in fact is something of an unpredictable third wheel, the one that is falling out of favor of both Cinna and Marius, as the update says.

 

[Thyreus]

[] Plan Roman Connections

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Yes, this is a plan I can get behind, working on new and old connections (too bad we can't have Scaevola teach us more about administration right now), should give us vital information a bout the ongoing war and of course leaves us in Rome.

With Sertorius falling out of favour it's entirely possible that a victorious Marian faction will not put up with his own personal fiefdom in Spain that he wants to carve out.

 

[agumentic]

With Sertorius falling out of favour it's entirely possible that a victorious Marian faction will put up with his own fiefdom in Spain that he wants to carve out.

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It's more possible than Sulla agreeing to that, I guess, but still far from certain. Especially as I'm pretty sure that Sertorius's ambitions are not limited by a fiefdom in Spain, he just wants it as a stable power base he could use to support his position in Rome.
Edit: Oh, wait, I missed that you edited a not there.

 

[Thyreus]

It's more possible than Sulla agreeing to that, I guess, but still far from certain. Especially as I'm pretty sure that Sertorius's ambitions are not limited by a fiefdom in Spain, he just wants it as a stable power base he could use to support his position in Rome.

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Yeah, I had edited a "not" in there. Sertorius's position right now is incredibly unstable. It's possible that we'll find ourselves in the a war of survival, regardless of who ends up being the ultimate victor. Which can be appealing I guess, but I have higher aspirations for Atellus.

 

[agumentic]

Yeah, I had edited a "not" in there. Sertorius's position right now is incredibly unstable. It's possible that we'll find ourselves in the a war of survival, regardless of who ends up being the ultimate victor. Which can be appealing I guess, but I have higher aspirations for Atellus.

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Honestly, if we wanted that, we should've probably voted to get Sertorius's patronage and learn war from him, because that's a path that would need a lot of epic victories to succeed.

 

[Godwinson]

...how old is Caesar's sister at this point? Because if she's a possible result, then that's worth a great deal.

 

[agumentic]

...how old is Caesar's sister at this point? Because if she's a possible result, then that's worth a great deal.

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Julia Minor is 16, Julia Major is... something, we're not sure. However, I would note that either of them, assuming Major is not married already, seems like too big of a catch for a youth with nothing but ambition and some skills behind him like Atellus is right now, and an publicly Optimate too. Like Telamon said, Caesar seems to be set for life right now, due to his relationship with current rulers.

 

[Godwinson]

Julia Minor is 16, Julia Major is... something, we're not sure. However, I would note that either of them, assuming Major is not married already, seems like too big of a catch for a youth with nothing but ambition and some skills behind him like Atellus is right now, and an publicly Optimate too. Like Telamon said, Caesar seems to be set for life right now, due to his relationship with current rulers.

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Fair. Though I'd still want to try to get a friendship going early on with Caesar.

 

[Thyreus]

catch for a youth with nothing but ambition and some skills behind him like Atellus

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To be fair, we can "trace" our ancestry back to the founding of Rome, as our "ancestor" is said to have been Romulus' bodyguard. So we are from a quite presitgious line (like Caesar, although he can trade on his lineage from Venus), but have fallen on hard times (like Caesar's own branch).

Likely not quite enough yet, but our Old Blood trait gives us a +1 bonus for dealing with Optimates.

 

[agumentic]

To be fair, we can "trace" our ancestry back to the founding of Rome, as our "ancestor" is said to have been Romulus' bodyguard. So we are from a quite presitgious line (like Caesar, although he can trade on his lineage from Venus), but have fallen on hard times (like Caesar's own branch).

Likely not quite enough yet, but our Old Blood trait gives us a +1 bonus for dealing with Optimates.

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Prestigious ancestry is well and good, but our family did fall on hard times, with our father reaching only the rank of legate, while Caesar's father was a praetor and a proconsul, his aunt married Marius and he himself married Cinna's daughter. So his branch is distinctly not on hard times anymore.

And, Old Blood wouldn't be of much help, seeing as Caesar is very not Optimate, even if he is a patrician.

 

[Thyreus]

And, Old Blood wouldn't be of much help, seeing as Caesar is very not Optimate, even if he is a patrician.

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That was more of a general point, not specifically meant for any kind of dealings with Caesar.

The whole post wasn't about Atellus' chances with Caesar's sisters, but about him. We aren't just a youth with ambition and some small skill.