Senate House, Rome, May 177 (part 2)
The Senate’s meeting had lasted until the sun fell down and it was no longer legal to keep the meeting going. Debate had been rich, with most senators, even the backbenchers, speaking at one point or another.
After showing the maps in the morning, Clodius Albinus had shown goods from all those lands and told about their local cost and how rare they seemed to be. Statues, silks, jewels, weapons of all kind, spices, precious stones and numerous other products were shown to the senators. The secret of silk making was made known, although Clodius Albinus had to recognize that he’d been unable to bring any of the precious insects home.
The riches he described and the artefacts themselves caused great curiosity and cupidity, many wondered how much the explorer had brought back home for his own use or to sell. There was no doubt that he would now have powerful bargaining tools and that those in his good favours would soon show some of these artefacts in their atrium…
In the meantime the Emperor ordered that what had been shown to the Senate would be visible to anyone : the forum of the divine Augustus would be set apart for a month to display everything, with the most precious items to be kept in the temple of Mars Ultor and all would be under the permanent guard of the praetorians. At this announcement a great shout of approbation had come from outside, surprising the senators.
Discussions kept going after the meeting’s formal end too, with groups of senators speaking about it while walking to their homes or during the whole evening, often with friends of the equestrian order who had not been present but had heard the rumors. Some already started to think about how to take benefit from these discoveries and new travelling ways…
The next morning the senate convened again. Many senators were tired from the previous evening but none wanted to miss what promised to be another exceptional session. Clodius Albinus dedicated the day to speaking about what he knew of the Serican Empire. This was eagerly expected by all as the news that an empire rivalling Rome existed had inflamed the spirit of many. As great as Rome ? Even the defeated Parthians had never been worthy of such a qualification !
Albinus described the number of cities and how many inhabited them according to the Sericans, and how he thought from what he’d seen that they were right, going on to explain how they made their census. He then described their political organization, as well as how they reckoned they had reached it. His description of the workings of the imperial court made many inconfortable, seeing how the roman court could fall into such a debasing state were it not led by good emperors such as Marcus Aurelius, but it was the description of the workings of the administration, with its mandated examinations and strict progression of positions, that made for the most discussion.
It was indeed the first time the Romans could compare their way of managing a large empire to another system working on as large a scale as theirs. The Roman Mos Maiorum had dictated the apparition of the Curriculum Vitae, at least for the senators and then for the equestrian order, until the recent reforms that had also started a path for wealthy provincials not possessing the census to enter the equestrian path. But always the election to the next level in the career had been decided by the people, the peers or the emperor, not a test or an examination. The only exception to that rule was of course the school of engineering, were one had to graduate to be able to enter the career, but that was because it was a kind of techne, of practical matter, as would be a profession, and not just administration…
The Serican system on the other hand was entirely based on those examinations, for all positions including it seemed provincial governors. Albinus had also been surprised by how many bureaucrats there were and how much of a drain on the imperial budget they must be for the Sericans.
Discussions on the topic lasted à long time, with every beneficial and negative effect of the Serican way being discussed...
