Hadrian's Consolidation - reboot
- Thread starter Hecatee
- Start date
Alauna Civitas, Caledonia, May 132
Hecatee
Donor
Alauna Civitas, Caledonia, May 132
The man was clothed like a thin stripe tribune and was escorted by half a dozen soldiers, all of them mounted, and a few pack mules with their minders. Thiophorus had never seen him before, thus he must have been one of the new cadre of officers sent to replace those who’d finished their turn…
The man did not carry a helmet and looked rather old for a tribune. Probably the scion of a minor family and a career man thought the former centurion. He hailed the man : “Legatus, do you want a cup of fine wine before you go further on this road ? Maybe with some roast vegetables and a piece of meat ?”
The officer looked at him and nodded before answering : “Yes, I’d like that very much, as well as take some time to look at this impressive statio. Is this your own place ?”
Tiophorus smiled and said : “Indeed it is, built thanks to the savings from my praemia. It is the best inn you’ll find anywhere on the wall, and thanks to my neighbors I also offer the best food there is to be had. I dare say that even the tribunes often grace my establishment with their presence, I even have a room especially held for officers of your rank, sir. By the way I’m the centurion Tiophorus son of Vaxadus, retired from the first dacian cohort, sir.”
The officer dismounted and one of the three slaves Tiophorus kept to run the inn ran to take his horse’s lead and bring him into the stable while the soldiers attached their own beasts to the wall. They were guided toward the main room while Tiophorus asked the officer whether he wanted to eat and drink with his men or in the more comfortable officer’s room.
“I’ll eat in the officer’s room but I’d like you to keep me company, centurion. By the way I’m Titus Valerius Sapiens, first tribune machinatorum of the VI Victrix legion. I’m in charge of helping the legion improve things, build machines and buildings, make sieges in time of war and the province richer in time of peace.”
“A new rank in the legion ? I’ve never heard of such a thing ! It must be a great honor for you to be the first to occupy it and to create a basis that will be a legacy for centuries to come ! But what do you mean by improving things ?” said the innkeeper, curious, while his slave brought a pitcher full of his best wine and a platter of fresh bread and pickled vegetables.
“Well the Emperor, in his travels, has seen many things in some places that he did not see in others despite the fact they could be beneficial. So he’s ordered for a new kind of officers who would learn about such things and go to provinces where none knew of them, and help build them. Already on my way I’ve seen fields not cultivated in ways that could be improved upon using some methods found in Germany and described by the elder Pliny half a century ago. But I expect the same from the war machines I’ll find in the various forts along the wall. I can also offer to villagers plans to build machines that will save them time, for instance mills that can quickly turn grain in flour without needing hours of work.”
Nodding, Tiophorus answered “You’d do fine talking with David, one of the farmers in the village down the road. He’s always looking for ways to improve his farm and the village’s production, if only to prevent famine. He’s had me send letters to friends and to former officers in Rome asking for information on how to better farm, although I’ve had few useful answers.”
“Well, why don’t you send for him ? Or even better, come with me to this village after I finish this wine, to talk with him and see how his efforts have gone ?”
An half hour later the tribune and Tiophorus took horses to go to the village while the soldiers stayed in the tavern, one of them having followed the innkeeper’s only female slave to her cubicula while the others drank, played dices or simply slept. As he got closer to the village he saw it was built of around thirty buildings, most being grouped next to a square, and a larger complex standing alone at a little distance, surrounded by pastures where animals grazed peacefully. On the other side of the village a few fields showed the first signs of the coming recoltes.
Alauna Civitas had changed since it had been built six years before. The large central square surrounded by the twenty-four houses was still there, a large expense of battered earth measuring some fifty meters on each side, but new houses had been built and created streets that lead toward the square and there were now only twelve buildings, each some ten meters wide, giving directly on the square.
The sturdy construction of Tiophorus’ inn next to the military road had guided the villagers : each house was now a large rectangular 10x5 meters building with a wall protecting a garden oriented to the south and giving each plot a square plan of 10x10 meters. Every building had a ground floor built of maçonated stones with vaulted rooms inside and a staircase leading toward a wooden top floor with windows giving onto the garden. Some had also built a second staircase leading to the roof. Inside the ground was covered in planks laid on top of stones, with some owners also digging a cellar accessed through a trap and a ladder. All the walls had been covered in plaster to help fight humidity and draft.
The ground floor was usually divided in three parts : an entrance corridor with doors at both ends, the entrance door and the garden door, as well as the staircase. Then the main living area, with a large chimney on the northern, street, wall, where cooking took place and which served for heating. Finally a small space served as a reserve in prevision for cold winters.
The houses on the square deviated from the standard plan as they had been slightly enlarged so as to touch the neighboring house. They had no reserve and the space thus won was opened to the square to become small shops. Not that there was much to sell, yet… Wooden walkways had been built in front of those houses, with small roofs supported by wooden columns protecting the future customers from the rain.
Each garden held three raised beds in which vegetables were cultivated as well as up to three young fruit trees, too small yet to provide fruits but which could help later. Together the vegetables and fruits would provide a large part of each family’s food supply, while the products of the fields and the animals managed in common by the villagers would provide exports. Water collected from the roof was stored in large jars that could be used for watering the vegetables.
Three of the buildings built on the the Southern side of the square were different from the houses : one was a large food storage building, built on the model of military granaries, one was built on a raised podium and was a small temple to all the gods, known and unknown, and the third was called the basilica, serving as the meeting point of the community.
The extension of the houses around the square meant that the square was still easy to defend should the need arise, as were each of the individual compounds, even those not on the square. A total of thirty houses had been built, as some settlers had come from other villages and a two veterans had decided to retire in Alauna Civitas, making it the most prosperous of the thirty-two villages built alongside the road of the wall.
All this Varius Sapiens saw as he came to the place in company of Tiophorus. It was impressive, especially when compared to what he’d seen in the province until then. They came to the central house of the eastern side of the main square and tied their horses to one of the column before the innkeeper knocked on the door and opened it. He then knocked on the inside door leading to the living quarter, which was opened by a little boy of around six who smiled when he saw Tiophorus : “Goodday to you centurion ! Have you brought me sweets ?”
Smiling sadly the veteran answered : “no, Solomon, not this time. I need to speak to your father, where can I find him ?” “Oh he’s in the garden with mother, they are checking that the straw on the vegetables has not roten with all the rain of the last few weeks !”
The boy then ran to the garden’s door : “mother, father, the centurion is there for you with a stranger !”, making the legate smile at the youth’s energy. He himself had a son back in Dalmatia, on his family estate, and he hoped the one year old would become as nice a lad as this young boy. Solomon, and odd name…
The two men followed the boy in the garden, where David and Esther were indeed replacing the straw and putting the old on a heap in one corner of the space, clearly a kind of compost heap. The man knew what to do to help his vegetable grow… He certainly looked like a man worth talking to !
The man was clothed like a thin stripe tribune and was escorted by half a dozen soldiers, all of them mounted, and a few pack mules with their minders. Thiophorus had never seen him before, thus he must have been one of the new cadre of officers sent to replace those who’d finished their turn…
The man did not carry a helmet and looked rather old for a tribune. Probably the scion of a minor family and a career man thought the former centurion. He hailed the man : “Legatus, do you want a cup of fine wine before you go further on this road ? Maybe with some roast vegetables and a piece of meat ?”
The officer looked at him and nodded before answering : “Yes, I’d like that very much, as well as take some time to look at this impressive statio. Is this your own place ?”
Tiophorus smiled and said : “Indeed it is, built thanks to the savings from my praemia. It is the best inn you’ll find anywhere on the wall, and thanks to my neighbors I also offer the best food there is to be had. I dare say that even the tribunes often grace my establishment with their presence, I even have a room especially held for officers of your rank, sir. By the way I’m the centurion Tiophorus son of Vaxadus, retired from the first dacian cohort, sir.”
The officer dismounted and one of the three slaves Tiophorus kept to run the inn ran to take his horse’s lead and bring him into the stable while the soldiers attached their own beasts to the wall. They were guided toward the main room while Tiophorus asked the officer whether he wanted to eat and drink with his men or in the more comfortable officer’s room.
“I’ll eat in the officer’s room but I’d like you to keep me company, centurion. By the way I’m Titus Valerius Sapiens, first tribune machinatorum of the VI Victrix legion. I’m in charge of helping the legion improve things, build machines and buildings, make sieges in time of war and the province richer in time of peace.”
“A new rank in the legion ? I’ve never heard of such a thing ! It must be a great honor for you to be the first to occupy it and to create a basis that will be a legacy for centuries to come ! But what do you mean by improving things ?” said the innkeeper, curious, while his slave brought a pitcher full of his best wine and a platter of fresh bread and pickled vegetables.
“Well the Emperor, in his travels, has seen many things in some places that he did not see in others despite the fact they could be beneficial. So he’s ordered for a new kind of officers who would learn about such things and go to provinces where none knew of them, and help build them. Already on my way I’ve seen fields not cultivated in ways that could be improved upon using some methods found in Germany and described by the elder Pliny half a century ago. But I expect the same from the war machines I’ll find in the various forts along the wall. I can also offer to villagers plans to build machines that will save them time, for instance mills that can quickly turn grain in flour without needing hours of work.”
Nodding, Tiophorus answered “You’d do fine talking with David, one of the farmers in the village down the road. He’s always looking for ways to improve his farm and the village’s production, if only to prevent famine. He’s had me send letters to friends and to former officers in Rome asking for information on how to better farm, although I’ve had few useful answers.”
“Well, why don’t you send for him ? Or even better, come with me to this village after I finish this wine, to talk with him and see how his efforts have gone ?”
An half hour later the tribune and Tiophorus took horses to go to the village while the soldiers stayed in the tavern, one of them having followed the innkeeper’s only female slave to her cubicula while the others drank, played dices or simply slept. As he got closer to the village he saw it was built of around thirty buildings, most being grouped next to a square, and a larger complex standing alone at a little distance, surrounded by pastures where animals grazed peacefully. On the other side of the village a few fields showed the first signs of the coming recoltes.
Alauna Civitas had changed since it had been built six years before. The large central square surrounded by the twenty-four houses was still there, a large expense of battered earth measuring some fifty meters on each side, but new houses had been built and created streets that lead toward the square and there were now only twelve buildings, each some ten meters wide, giving directly on the square.
The sturdy construction of Tiophorus’ inn next to the military road had guided the villagers : each house was now a large rectangular 10x5 meters building with a wall protecting a garden oriented to the south and giving each plot a square plan of 10x10 meters. Every building had a ground floor built of maçonated stones with vaulted rooms inside and a staircase leading toward a wooden top floor with windows giving onto the garden. Some had also built a second staircase leading to the roof. Inside the ground was covered in planks laid on top of stones, with some owners also digging a cellar accessed through a trap and a ladder. All the walls had been covered in plaster to help fight humidity and draft.
The ground floor was usually divided in three parts : an entrance corridor with doors at both ends, the entrance door and the garden door, as well as the staircase. Then the main living area, with a large chimney on the northern, street, wall, where cooking took place and which served for heating. Finally a small space served as a reserve in prevision for cold winters.
The houses on the square deviated from the standard plan as they had been slightly enlarged so as to touch the neighboring house. They had no reserve and the space thus won was opened to the square to become small shops. Not that there was much to sell, yet… Wooden walkways had been built in front of those houses, with small roofs supported by wooden columns protecting the future customers from the rain.
Each garden held three raised beds in which vegetables were cultivated as well as up to three young fruit trees, too small yet to provide fruits but which could help later. Together the vegetables and fruits would provide a large part of each family’s food supply, while the products of the fields and the animals managed in common by the villagers would provide exports. Water collected from the roof was stored in large jars that could be used for watering the vegetables.
Three of the buildings built on the the Southern side of the square were different from the houses : one was a large food storage building, built on the model of military granaries, one was built on a raised podium and was a small temple to all the gods, known and unknown, and the third was called the basilica, serving as the meeting point of the community.
The extension of the houses around the square meant that the square was still easy to defend should the need arise, as were each of the individual compounds, even those not on the square. A total of thirty houses had been built, as some settlers had come from other villages and a two veterans had decided to retire in Alauna Civitas, making it the most prosperous of the thirty-two villages built alongside the road of the wall.
All this Varius Sapiens saw as he came to the place in company of Tiophorus. It was impressive, especially when compared to what he’d seen in the province until then. They came to the central house of the eastern side of the main square and tied their horses to one of the column before the innkeeper knocked on the door and opened it. He then knocked on the inside door leading to the living quarter, which was opened by a little boy of around six who smiled when he saw Tiophorus : “Goodday to you centurion ! Have you brought me sweets ?”
Smiling sadly the veteran answered : “no, Solomon, not this time. I need to speak to your father, where can I find him ?” “Oh he’s in the garden with mother, they are checking that the straw on the vegetables has not roten with all the rain of the last few weeks !”
The boy then ran to the garden’s door : “mother, father, the centurion is there for you with a stranger !”, making the legate smile at the youth’s energy. He himself had a son back in Dalmatia, on his family estate, and he hoped the one year old would become as nice a lad as this young boy. Solomon, and odd name…
The two men followed the boy in the garden, where David and Esther were indeed replacing the straw and putting the old on a heap in one corner of the space, clearly a kind of compost heap. The man knew what to do to help his vegetable grow… He certainly looked like a man worth talking to !
trajen777
Banned
I like how you have good mini fortresses to protect the people and important tools and livestock from warband raids .Looking forward to see what improvements in food production, storage, and transportation of goods will bring. A major problem was the cost of transport (non water) so that only the most valuable cargo could be transported. Do you have plans for extensive canal building ?
Hecatee
Donor
Well the settlement was a militarily planned zone, even if the civilians have now rebuilt it to their true needs, and they are under the more or less informal rule of a former centurion, but this town is a cross between a town and a large villa, with éléments almost kibboutz like and also some western boomtown inspired ones but around a square and not a main street... Still I think I'm rather anachronistic with this town... But its also the most extreme exemple, the other towns founded are les prosperous or radical for many reasons (less inspiring/intelligent official and community leaders, disputes between ethnic groups,...)
About canals, not really : beside the Rhein/Danube canal already described I don't plan on any at present time. But the machinatorum will do massive engineering projets, amongst other changing the face of large parts of Italy...
Hecatee
Donor
Thanks ! I do indeed try to give both the "view on the ground" in the provinces thanks to the various new or old characters, and the "big picture" with the more political updates. Right now I'm in a rather quiet period, and I'm even thinking about skipping the next emperor completely before looking at what the situation is a decade or two later, with maybe one or two intermediary chapters showing the workings of the new heir designation process. But before that I still got some groundwork to do in the Indian Ocean, and maybe I'll have a post on high culture (after all I got Suetonius working more than a decade longer than OTL for instance, with the related access to the imperial libraries : maybe he's graced us with a Roman answer to Plutarch ?
). I may also give Hadrian a late Antinoos, as the original one has been butterflied away... So as you can see I have various threads I entertwine in order to build the story you're reading and comments like yours are nice because they imply I'm doing it more or less right despite English being a third language for me
....they imply I'm doing it more or less right despite English being a third language for me
Well imho you are doing it right. And your grammar and spelling are definitely not below average, I'd even go as far as rating them above par compared to some of the stories I've read over the years.
Donald Reaver
Donor
I would like to see at least a post of the next emperor, not in first person but giving events that happened and most likely showing it as a stable and boring term, which most citizens would want.
While they wont build any Canals is it possible that they could build Dams in order to conserve water or to run massive grain mills like the one at barbegal?
Hecatee
Donor
Well the Romans did build dams OTL, for instance the Subiaco dam that subsisted until the 14th century with its impressive height of 50m. Now with the larger engineer base I do expect the romans to build more dams, but mostly to reclaim lands.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Roman_dams_and_reservoirs
Senate House, Rome, July 132
Hecatee
Donor
Senate House, Rome, July 132
Marcus Annius Verus walked into the old forum, escorted by his clients. He had a large retinue, being an influential senator wielding considerable power and riches. Next to him stood his grandson Marcus Annius Verus the younger, both excited and intrigued. He was too young to attend to senatorial meetings, but he knew the emperor himself had requested his presence at this session. His tutor had made him learn two discourses by heart, and provided him with scrolls beside so that he would not forget anything on this very important day. Alexander of Cotiaeum and Marcus had labored for days writing the text and learning it, so Marcus was confident he’d be able to remember it all despite the stress. Still a slave carried the scrolls for him, staying close to his master...
While the elder statesman carried the full regalia of an imperial senator, including the curious red shoes and the heavy woolen toga with a wide purple band, the kid wore a simple toga praetexta, the white clothe of children and electoral candidates, with his childhood bulla around the neck. He felt the white cloth to be doubly adequate as he was a kind of candidate too on this day.
The small convoy arrived at the Senate House’s steps at the same time as another similar procession, one led by Titus Aurelius Fulvus Boionus Arrius Antoninus, the future Titus Aelius Caesar Antoninus and young Marcus soon to be adoptive father.
The child had already had a number of meetings with his adoptive father and the two had liked each other. He was accompanied by his wife Faustina and their four children. The former consul had just finished a stint as proconsul of Italia and had expected another proconsulate before being summoned to the palace by Suetonius, the ever more influential imperial secretary. But instead of Asia he’d been offered the whole empire as heir to Hadrianus. He’d been appalled at the conditions set upon the position, especially the fact his children would never inherit the throne, but he had finally accepted the deal.
Of course his two sons Marcus Aurelius Fulvus Antoninus and Marcus Galerius Aurelius Antoninus, were unhappy with the new status of things. But they also knew that they had no choice and had decided to become allies to their future adoptive brother, with the hope that he’d repay them or their children later, when he would be ruling, hopefully long in the future...
Together the four Marcus and Titus all went up the steps and entered the senate, where the fact they were entering as a group was noted by many senators. They knew that the elder Antoninus and the elder Verus had been seen at the Palatine a number of time in the last few weeks, before this exceptional session of the senate had been called despite the fact most senators had to come back from their summer villas.
As former consuls the two elders sat on the first bench. While the young Marcus followed his grandfather, the sons of Antoninus went to back benches as they had not yet held high magistracies.
After a few more minutes the consul ordered silence and had the haruspice and the priests proceed to the usual sacrifices and observations : once the day was deemed auspicious and declared the the session open, immediately giving the floor to the quaestor principis who read the words of the Emperor in a religious silence only broken by the occasional cough or the rustle of cloth on the benches. Hadrian had become harsher in his dealings with the senate, especially in the last few months since the death of the heir, and their was always a degree of unease or even fear when he had letters read to the senate.
As the young quaestor on the floor read his text there were gasps of surprise, especially when he went over the passages on the conditions pushed upon the heir and again when the role of the senate was described. The logic was clear : the emperor wanted an imperial family, cut from the usual senatorial games for power, but while maintaining the traditions from the republic. Yet never had one been designed to a function before he’d made his proofs like the new princeps juventutis were to be chosen. It was clear, from the presence of the youth next to Marcus Annius Verus, who the princeps juventutis was going to be. But it raised new questions : the distinction was in theory a prerogative of the equestrian rank, and not from the senate. How would they react to the news ?
The name of Antoninus the elder was then read aloud and the whole senate rose to his feets to acclaim him until the sitting consul restored order and the quaestor could resume his reading. It was not long, as the emperor simply “asked the senator’s advice on the proposal as he had full confidence in their wisdom”.
The consul looked around the room, before asking if anyone wanted to speak. The oldest former consul rose as it was his right and spoke : “I think that the emperor has thought long before making such a proposal, and while we may long discuss details in order to do our duty to the emperor and provide him with the advices he has requested, but I think we must foremost praise his choice of heir, as we all know the great talents of our esteemed colleague Titus Aurelius Fulvus Boionus Arrius Antoninus, which I would like to be the first to call Titus Aelius Caesar Antoninus. The same talent he has certainly seen in the young Marcus Annius Verus, who I see here today next to his grandfather. Thus I would like to know what our new princeps juventutis would like to say to this august assembly.”
The elderly stateman sat down as the consul nodded in agreement. Of course the discourse had been planned by Suetonius and the consul was going to give the floor to the young Marcus. When called the boy rose and went to the center of the floor, looking at each and every senator, finishing with the two consuls toward whom he inclined his head. He’d left his papyri on his seat and began his speech.
Holding straight, in the position told by his tutors, one hand holding the hem of his white toga, the other held palm high in the direction of his audience. His voice was still very much a kids yet he radiated a kind of gravitas older men could never hope to match. “Conscript fathers, honourable senators, guardians of Rome, it is humbled that I appear before you. Humbled by what you represent by your position, humbled by the privilege of speaking in front of so many whose great deeds have made Rome so great, pushing its borders further than they’ve ever been. Humbled too by the reason I’m standing in front of you. The Augustus thinks I may become on day primus inter pares in this assembly with you and your sons and grandsons. I do not know if I have it in me to become the man our emperor sees in me, but I know I will try as it is my duty as a Roman to do my best for my country. It will require the guidance of my new father, Titus Aelius Caesar Antoninus, and it will require the guidance of you all, senators of Rome, but by the Gods I swear I shall try to be the best.”
Marcus Annius Verus walked into the old forum, escorted by his clients. He had a large retinue, being an influential senator wielding considerable power and riches. Next to him stood his grandson Marcus Annius Verus the younger, both excited and intrigued. He was too young to attend to senatorial meetings, but he knew the emperor himself had requested his presence at this session. His tutor had made him learn two discourses by heart, and provided him with scrolls beside so that he would not forget anything on this very important day. Alexander of Cotiaeum and Marcus had labored for days writing the text and learning it, so Marcus was confident he’d be able to remember it all despite the stress. Still a slave carried the scrolls for him, staying close to his master...
While the elder statesman carried the full regalia of an imperial senator, including the curious red shoes and the heavy woolen toga with a wide purple band, the kid wore a simple toga praetexta, the white clothe of children and electoral candidates, with his childhood bulla around the neck. He felt the white cloth to be doubly adequate as he was a kind of candidate too on this day.
The small convoy arrived at the Senate House’s steps at the same time as another similar procession, one led by Titus Aurelius Fulvus Boionus Arrius Antoninus, the future Titus Aelius Caesar Antoninus and young Marcus soon to be adoptive father.
The child had already had a number of meetings with his adoptive father and the two had liked each other. He was accompanied by his wife Faustina and their four children. The former consul had just finished a stint as proconsul of Italia and had expected another proconsulate before being summoned to the palace by Suetonius, the ever more influential imperial secretary. But instead of Asia he’d been offered the whole empire as heir to Hadrianus. He’d been appalled at the conditions set upon the position, especially the fact his children would never inherit the throne, but he had finally accepted the deal.
Of course his two sons Marcus Aurelius Fulvus Antoninus and Marcus Galerius Aurelius Antoninus, were unhappy with the new status of things. But they also knew that they had no choice and had decided to become allies to their future adoptive brother, with the hope that he’d repay them or their children later, when he would be ruling, hopefully long in the future...
Together the four Marcus and Titus all went up the steps and entered the senate, where the fact they were entering as a group was noted by many senators. They knew that the elder Antoninus and the elder Verus had been seen at the Palatine a number of time in the last few weeks, before this exceptional session of the senate had been called despite the fact most senators had to come back from their summer villas.
As former consuls the two elders sat on the first bench. While the young Marcus followed his grandfather, the sons of Antoninus went to back benches as they had not yet held high magistracies.
After a few more minutes the consul ordered silence and had the haruspice and the priests proceed to the usual sacrifices and observations : once the day was deemed auspicious and declared the the session open, immediately giving the floor to the quaestor principis who read the words of the Emperor in a religious silence only broken by the occasional cough or the rustle of cloth on the benches. Hadrian had become harsher in his dealings with the senate, especially in the last few months since the death of the heir, and their was always a degree of unease or even fear when he had letters read to the senate.
As the young quaestor on the floor read his text there were gasps of surprise, especially when he went over the passages on the conditions pushed upon the heir and again when the role of the senate was described. The logic was clear : the emperor wanted an imperial family, cut from the usual senatorial games for power, but while maintaining the traditions from the republic. Yet never had one been designed to a function before he’d made his proofs like the new princeps juventutis were to be chosen. It was clear, from the presence of the youth next to Marcus Annius Verus, who the princeps juventutis was going to be. But it raised new questions : the distinction was in theory a prerogative of the equestrian rank, and not from the senate. How would they react to the news ?
The name of Antoninus the elder was then read aloud and the whole senate rose to his feets to acclaim him until the sitting consul restored order and the quaestor could resume his reading. It was not long, as the emperor simply “asked the senator’s advice on the proposal as he had full confidence in their wisdom”.
The consul looked around the room, before asking if anyone wanted to speak. The oldest former consul rose as it was his right and spoke : “I think that the emperor has thought long before making such a proposal, and while we may long discuss details in order to do our duty to the emperor and provide him with the advices he has requested, but I think we must foremost praise his choice of heir, as we all know the great talents of our esteemed colleague Titus Aurelius Fulvus Boionus Arrius Antoninus, which I would like to be the first to call Titus Aelius Caesar Antoninus. The same talent he has certainly seen in the young Marcus Annius Verus, who I see here today next to his grandfather. Thus I would like to know what our new princeps juventutis would like to say to this august assembly.”
The elderly stateman sat down as the consul nodded in agreement. Of course the discourse had been planned by Suetonius and the consul was going to give the floor to the young Marcus. When called the boy rose and went to the center of the floor, looking at each and every senator, finishing with the two consuls toward whom he inclined his head. He’d left his papyri on his seat and began his speech.
Holding straight, in the position told by his tutors, one hand holding the hem of his white toga, the other held palm high in the direction of his audience. His voice was still very much a kids yet he radiated a kind of gravitas older men could never hope to match. “Conscript fathers, honourable senators, guardians of Rome, it is humbled that I appear before you. Humbled by what you represent by your position, humbled by the privilege of speaking in front of so many whose great deeds have made Rome so great, pushing its borders further than they’ve ever been. Humbled too by the reason I’m standing in front of you. The Augustus thinks I may become on day primus inter pares in this assembly with you and your sons and grandsons. I do not know if I have it in me to become the man our emperor sees in me, but I know I will try as it is my duty as a Roman to do my best for my country. It will require the guidance of my new father, Titus Aelius Caesar Antoninus, and it will require the guidance of you all, senators of Rome, but by the Gods I swear I shall try to be the best.”
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Faux ami: «assister à» translates as "attend", not 'assist to'. (And 'attend' has nothing to do with waiting, and... Sigh. English.)
auspicious
While 'seance' is used in English, it's been borrowed only in the specific sense of a meeting attempting to communicate with spirits, using a medium or an ouija board or some such. "Session" is probably the word you're looking for.
Hecatee
Donor
Thanks for the corrections, I'll change them ! The worst part is that I know all those facts, but did not see them in my re-reading of what I wrote
Best written Roman succession system post I have seen on here so far!! I think a post in north Africa with one of the new engineers would be cool helping those imperial farmers get their water sources, planning plantations etc? I always thought it was weird that the romans did not import sugar cane from India? the venetians had no issues with cultivation on Crete and other med islands in OTL no reason that this could not happen in this timeline? I bet that most people on here have heard the theory about fertility rates in Roman urban dwellers falling due to lead water pipes etc? I Personally think that the evidence does not support this (limescale inside the pipes prevented contamination, so say) , however the whole Must production thing in north africa (honey boiled in lead vessels to make sweets etc) could be proved to be unhealthy by one of these new thinkers that Rome might be starting to put out? maybe after discovering lead is unhealthy some Roman merchant brings some sugar cane back and the state goes hmmmmm maybe slave/peasant worked sugar plantation might be a sound plan? on a serious note what about accidently discovering or colonising the canaries to facilitate trade with west Africa? and so on.....
Hecatee
Donor
Thanks ! I tried to keep in line with OTL mentality-wise while also putting in this formalization of the transition of power, also bring an increased level of constitutionalism to the roman empire, something that will probably be a trend in the future and one of the way I'd like to minimise/butterfly the 3rd century crisis and the military emperors.
About sugar canes, interesting idea but right now the Romans are still importing finished products and sugar is not one of them. It could be something an adventurer could bring back from the east though, or even a jewish merchant consortium... Does anyone know if the cane can grow in eastern Africa ?
About lead poisoning, I'm not sure. On one hand a young boy has recently been born that will become famous for his medical skills : Gallienus. On the other hand he did not look at this issue... But here, with the engineer's corp I could see him develop an experience based theory of medicine closer to 18th century theories... I'll have to think about it
As for the Canary islands, I don't see the roman go west or south-west right now, in their eyes things are stable and their is no real incentive.
Thanks ! I tried to keep in line with OTL mentality-wise while also putting in this formalization of the transition of power, also bring an increased level of constitutionalism to the roman empire, something that will probably be a trend in the future and one of the way I'd like to minimise/butterfly the 3rd century crisis and the military emperors.
About sugar canes, interesting idea but right now the Romans are still importing finished products and sugar is not one of them. It could be something an adventurer could bring back from the east though, or even a jewish merchant consortium... Does anyone know if the cane can grow in eastern Africa ?
About lead poisoning, I'm not sure. On one hand a young boy has recently been born that will become famous for his medical skills : Gallienus. On the other hand he did not look at this issue... But here, with the engineer's corp I could see him develop an experience based theory of medicine closer to 18th century theories... I'll have to think about it
As for the Canary islands, I don't see the roman go west or south-west right now, in their eyes things are stable and their is no real incentive.
The third century was the death knell of the western empire! Another thing to consider with Sugar is that if they import it and form a plantation/latifunda system it could become a major export to rectify the trade imbalance with the east, if the new thinkers stumble on distillation you could export brandy/spirits, maybe stimulated by Hadrian wanting to live longer so sponsoring a proto alchemist (the OTL process was discovered by Muslim scientist types in spain looking for ways to extend lifespan), so maybe Hispania? If the super new engineers could increase the capacity of the nile/red sea canal might bulk exports of olive oil/wine be possible as well as sugar and glass? The reason that Rome was importing finished products was that it was impossible to make a profit with raw materials. I know the canary islands are Terra Nullius to Rome, but if sugar takes off the canaries could easily produce loads of sugar/citrus etc
Um if anything Sugar would be grown in the humid parts of India and SE Asia then sent to the Empire. Sugarcane grows best in a warm extremely wet environment, so unless you grow some right next to the Nile in Egypt there wouldn't be enough for export really. Especially when you consider that any demand outside the Empire will seek other sources.
The lead poisoning thing is one of those endlessly repeated popular myths everyone 'knows' which are in reality two only tangentially related facts conflated with each other - badly distorted at best, if no outright wrong or at least strongly exaggerated.
To the point: Lead pipes in the water supply crust over pretty quickly with calcium deposits and will not corrode further unless exposed to the wrong chemicals. And surprise: some legacy lead piping is till in use - today - all over the world. Laying lead service lines was common practice in the US up until the middle of the 20th century*.
At least to my knowledge, actual scientific studies (as opposed to amateur speculations about the decline and fall of the Roman Empire) did not find that Romans were collectively poisoned - though some of the examined skeletons definitely were, due to other inadvisable lead applications (make-up, wine and sauce sweetening techniques, etc.). For the purpose of this thread, this does not appear like something you would stumble over from a civic engineering perspective.
Edit: Actually, here's what you might call a genuine source on the civic engineering perspective from the 1st century BC author Vitruvius in De Architectura, Book VIII :
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* Ironically there was a lead poisoning scandal in Flint county only a few years ago when they switched water sources to a polluted river. Apparently the local GM plant refused to use the river water since it was bad enough to corrode car parts. Meanwhile city officials continued to insist that all health and safety standards were met. Consequently the water also did wonderful things to the piping, never-mind any poor wretches who actually ingested it. Capitalism fuck yeah!
To the point: Lead pipes in the water supply crust over pretty quickly with calcium deposits and will not corrode further unless exposed to the wrong chemicals. And surprise: some legacy lead piping is till in use - today - all over the world. Laying lead service lines was common practice in the US up until the middle of the 20th century*.
At least to my knowledge, actual scientific studies (as opposed to amateur speculations about the decline and fall of the Roman Empire) did not find that Romans were collectively poisoned - though some of the examined skeletons definitely were, due to other inadvisable lead applications (make-up, wine and sauce sweetening techniques, etc.). For the purpose of this thread, this does not appear like something you would stumble over from a civic engineering perspective.
Edit: Actually, here's what you might call a genuine source on the civic engineering perspective from the 1st century BC author Vitruvius in De Architectura, Book VIII :
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio said:
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* Ironically there was a lead poisoning scandal in Flint county only a few years ago when they switched water sources to a polluted river. Apparently the local GM plant refused to use the river water since it was bad enough to corrode car parts. Meanwhile city officials continued to insist that all health and safety standards were met. Consequently the water also did wonderful things to the piping, never-mind any poor wretches who actually ingested it. Capitalism fuck yeah!