it all boils down to the same thing, too many people in Europe at the same time.
building a limes at the Urals might have helped, if they used similar tactics as the soviets did versus Nazi blitzkriegs, deep-layered defenses.
Hadrian's Consolidation - reboot
- Thread starter Hecatee
- Start date
it all boils down to the same thing, too many people in Europe at the same time.
building a limes at the Urals might have helped, if they used similar tactics as the soviets did versus Nazi blitzkriegs, deep-layered defenses.
In all likelihood, the Empire in this timeline will have a frontier border on the Elbe and the Carpathians, and will keep its border in Britain at the Antonine Wall. I would have preferred that Rome had never conquered Britain to begin with (merely keeping a client kingdom at the southeast corner would have been enough), thus freeing up more troops for the Continent, but here we are.
Awesome timeline, though! I love the work put into this.
Hecatee
Donor
Ural is far too distant, as for deep-layered defenses the issue is that they would have nowhere the strenght to really hold, each small outpost would be too distant from the others, too easy to isolate and take even with crude siegecraft. That's why Romans often used lines of defenses on natural obstacles such as rivers such as the German Limes.
Thanks
With the POD I choose the conquest of Britannia was already a fact for more than a century, nobody would have let Hadrian abandon it despite the obvious strategic interest. So he goes on to shorten borders, but the events do have domino effects and the border start to move in places he had not expected (Hermanduri lands north-east of the Agri Decumanes) while the neighboor will also start to change...
Domus Caesari, 25th of September 127 CE
Hecatee
Donor
Domus Caesari, 25th of September 127 CE
Hadrian looked at the map in front of him, lips pinched. On it were the new borders of the Empire. He’d wanted to consolidate them, but in the end he’d expended on many of them, at a much higher cost than he’d wanted. The treasure was rather empty, and he now had to recruit new men to fill the gaps in the legions. Of course the Empire now had much more land to exploit, especially the good horse land of the Iazyges. But he was concerned, for conquering those new lands had shown some deficiencies in the roman way of war, as well as some disturbing traits in his successor’s behavior. Voltinius had shown a cruelty against the western barbarians that was appalling.
Of course Hadrian himself would never shy of ordering violent reprisals. But here Voltinius had simply ordered a genocide, using the tactics the divine Caesar had used against the Eburon almost two centuries ago. The lands of the Hermunduri and those of the Marcomanni were now pillaged by roving bands of Germans from other tribes eager for plunder and slaves, invited by Voltinius himself. Part of the Hermunduri’s land had even been annexed after the legions had depopulated them, another bit of land beyond the Ister river that would have to be defended… The VIII Augusta legion had been moved from its base at Argentoratum to a new position while new roads were built from Mongotiacum, Augusta Vindelicorum and Vindobona toward the legion’s new home, called Hadriana Hermunduriana.
Further east other changes had taken place in the new trans-isterian provinces : the IV Flavia Felix had moved north to the great bend of the Tisia, where a new base had been built for them at a point where a new road for Aquincum crossed the river before going east alongside the river’s southern shore. It would be a number of years yet before the road was complete, but it would in the end go all around the Carpathian mountains, with two other legionary bases built alongside it for the VII Claudia, north of Apulum, and for the XI Claudia, mid-way between the new base of the VII and the base of the V Macedonica at Troesmis. Between those forts a limes would be built, with a large berm on the southern side of the river dominated by a number of towers and auxiliary camps to warn against any raid coming from the other side of the river.
The XIII Gemina would stay in the heart of Dacia while the I Italica would take responsibility for defending the Ister river and act as a reserve should there be troubles in the north. Still, they had a lot of lands to cover, and only cavalry would do. He’d have to raise new auxiliary units to patrol between the bases and act as a fast reaction force against raids… But the war had shown that roman cavalry did not have the skills of those tribes and would probably never have them… Reports from the front had mentioned some units doing much better than others thanks to new equipment and tactics. He’d have to look about that…
But they would need support, they would need taxes, they would need food, they would need space to train. Drain on resources… How could he succeed in developing new sources of funding ? He needed new ideas, fresh ones that would not come from the usual court sycophants. He’d had his personal slaves look for some candidates, and remembered that interesting officer, Arrianus, who’d shown some interesting ideas on fighting cavalry. Indeed he might be a good man to investigate those new tactics he’d heard about…
He’d also read report about the man that said he’d set about making his trans-danubian lands prosper, so maybe he could be of use there too. Of course that would mean promoting him to a rank of governor, something he was not really ready for. After all he had not yet held a consulship. Well of course that could alway be solved in a rather easy way, but the man was one or two years too young, that would rustle feathers in the Senate…
The fact he’d needed to move the VII Gemina from Hispania to the front was also worrying him. The Barbarians had coordinated their revolt one a very wide front, wider than anyone ever expected in Rome : close to a thousand miles had erupted in anger against the Empire. Had this revolt come at the same time as a Persian attack, the results would have been disastrous… Logistics had been stretched thin, with no less than 9 legions engaged simultaneously, more than a hundred thousand men if one counted the auxiliaries, about one third of the men under arms in the Empire.
The devastation in the Agri Decumanes had also shown the vulnerability of many settlements to the Barbarians. Had they broken through they’d have found Gaul defenseless, with few walled cities and those that were protected having indefensible perimeters as most of those walls were built for prestige more than for true defense. He’d not thought it an issue when he’d toured the region on his way to Britannia, but it was now clear it was something else he’d need to take care of. Luckily he could call on the notables’ evergetism to finance this kind of work. They’d probably compete to pay for a tower or a curtain wall, with the richest amongst them paying for a city gate with their statue alongside his own…
The issue was Raetia and the other danubian provinces, they had much less cities and less elites, so it would probably be the army that would have to secure the villages and towns with walls, additional costs and also labor that would prevent them from patrolling. This led back to the issue of cavalry. He really needed to talk to Arrianus as soon as possible...
Hadriana Hermunduriana, July 127 CE
Hecatee
Donor
Hadriana Hermunduriana, July 127 CE
The two lines of men faced each other, their faces showing determination. Culsus Atedumius stood between them, a small leather ball in his hands. Suddenly he launched the ball in the air and moved aside while the men of his turma began to fight for the ball.
The two teams of some fifteen men launched against each other, some attempting to get the ball while other protected them. The field, made muddy by the morning’s rain, had been demarcated with stone dust from the nearby stone cutting station of the legionaries of the VIII which Culsus’ unit currently supported.
The officer had decided to organise this game of harpastum as a way to keep unit cohesion and have the men move on their feets instead of the usual horses. This was the market day, and they could do with some amusement after weeks of patrols in the newly conquered territories.
Not that they’d met much troubles : most barbarians had fled by now, to be taken as slaves by their neighbors or to plead for mercy and sanctuary, which was not granted very often... No, the main trouble came from other Germans that had been invited to pillage the Hermunduri lands but had not yet understood that there was a border on the river and that going further south was to be prosecuted by the full might of the imperial army.
The building of observation towers on the river’s bank would of course clarify the situation soon enough, and in fact already did on a large part of the territory, so the patrols were becoming more and more routine. Games such as harpastum were thus needed to help keep the men in good shape.
In front of Culsus the men were now running around the field, trying to catch the ball and bring it behind the line that marked the goal of each team. The cavalrymen were hitting each other hard, trying to tackle their adversaries to the ground or to repulse them with a well placed elbow.
Their officer looked at them with a smile on his face while all around him men from other units cheered the players. He’d heard one of his fellow officer speak of organizing similar games with his own turma, while another had complained of a new way for some of the worst of his men to gamble their pay away or to scam their brothers in arms…
Interesting pair of updates also in specific the last with narrative of the rest / distension of the legionaries through the game Harpastum, that at the time of giving us some additional information brings us to the perspective of the situation on the 'terrain'.
But I think that would be so or even more interesting will be the search and then found solutions, theirs implementation from/for the Empire/Emperor.
Also the difficulties of the empire(OTL/TTL and the solutions to the new problems / difficulties (economic and military) originated in turn by the politics/military measures and actions taken to solve the Empire originals/chronic problems early and in TTL by Hadrian.
But I think that would be so or even more interesting will be the search and then found solutions, theirs implementation from/for the Empire/Emperor.
Also the difficulties of the empire(OTL/TTL and the solutions to the new problems / difficulties (economic and military) originated in turn by the politics/military measures and actions taken to solve the Empire originals/chronic problems early and in TTL by Hadrian.
The colonisation would alleviate some of the problems, especially if they send the poor Romans who were fed free grains to quell them. Instead of being a burden on the budget, they would be a source of income
Hecatee
Donor
Thanks. This last post is a kind of interlude before a large economic post that took some in depth researching. I also did not want two or three posts in the domus imperii next to each other, thus this post and the one that will be published in two weeks.
We'll come back on the issue, but indeed that could help if they were able to survive by themselves. But by now a large part of the roman plebs is pure urban scum, unable to even know how to cultivate land, much less colonize almost savage territories.
A good way to raise some quick cash is to set up (or even have a legit) Senator seemingly plot against you, kill him and confiscate all that he owns.
Opening back up the Tin mines in Northern Italy might rustle the feather of the senate who outlawed it but putting heavy taxes on it could help.
Opening back up the Tin mines in Northern Italy might rustle the feather of the senate who outlawed it but putting heavy taxes on it could help.
Hecatee
Donor
Taking a senator's assets is but a drop in the sea of the empire's budget. But for more info I'll simply offer you the next update, which dwells on this specific topic
Domus Caesari, palatine hill, Rome, 10 april 128 CE
Hecatee
Donor
Domus Caesari, palatine hill, Rome, 10 april 128 CE
The emperor’s concilium was in session. The heads of the main departments of the imperial government were seated next to some of the more powerful and loyal senators, under the gaze of Hadrianus himself. Even the caesar Voltinius was present at this meeting, a rather unusual occurrence since he’d come back from the new borders, rumours saying he enjoyed partying and drinking more than being subjected to the gaze of the man he was supposed to succeed…
The a rationibus, charged with the imperial finances, was speaking and his news were grim. While the empire was not broke yet, it sure seemed headed in that direction. Recent military operations by the Danubian and Rhenane units had generated a massive bill of some 250 millions sestertii, a 50 millions unplanned expense, or two years revenues from the rich province of Asia.
Of course the defense of the Danube had always cost much more than the provinces could actually bring in as revenues, with a deficit of around a hundred million sestertii a year for the Danubian provinces while the revenues of Gaul and the Germanies still left the empire’s budget short of some 25 millions. But here it was as if two years had been paid at once, and that represented more than 10 percent of the imperial budget…
The Empire’s income was based on three pillars that were the mines, the foreign trade and the internal taxes raised on trade, succession fees for citizens and some minor sources of income. The mines provided gold and silver for around 175 millions sestertii. The inter-provincial trade tax of 2,5% of the good’s value and the various other taxes brought some 10 millions sestertii per million inhabitant, the latest census indicating that between 50 and 60 million people lived under the sage rule of the Emperor, good for some 500 millions. The rest of the Empire’s income came from the import duty of 25% collected mainly on the eastern trade roads of silks, spices and perfumes, for some 3 to 400 millions sestertii a year.
As the army cost around 650 millions sestertii a year and the various building and restoration programs and the running of the administration cost around 350 to 400 millions, it was difficult to actually save money. The expenses of the last years were thus difficult to absorb and new sources of income had to be found.
Of course Hadrian could cancel a number of tax breaks that had been accorded in recent years, but that would cause a lot of resentment. The a rationibus argued that the emperor could also reinstate old taxes abolished by his predecessors, such as the 1% on sales, or double the existing internal trade taxes but this could also lead to marchants being less active and the border provinces being less furnished in goods, which would be bad both for the army and for the economy in general.
Two other solutions were offered by the fiscus : a tax on large estates was the first, with one sestertii a year for every jugera of land owned beyond à 100 jugera. It would probably anger a number of large landowners, especially in the Senate and the local nobles of some provinces such as Africa, but would bring in massive revenues and possibly lead to some domain being divided between more owners, who would own less slaves and would thus somewhat reduce the risks linked to large concentration of them in a single place, or it would lead some owners to reduce costs by reducing manpower and increasing mechanization in ways comparable to what could be seen in Gaul, leading to an higher productivity that would increase trade and thus revenues.
The other solution would be, added the a rationibus, to simply invest massively in the provinces that showed a deficit by settling merchants or farmers in yet undeveloped lands. But such a plan could take years and could only be seen as a long term plan, not something able to help with the current crisis.
The debate lasted for a long time, with various opinions being voiced, between those that advocated that the Empire should invade Arabia and take control of the precious incense producing trees, thus not sending large amount of silver to the south anymore, and those saying that the import tax was more interesting than the cost of securing the desert roads, between those advocating the deportation of part of the dole plebs to underdeveloped parts of the empire and those saying that the plans of the a rationibus to lower the number of slaves on the latifundiae would only cause the numbers of the urban population in need of food to swell, and many other opinions.
Finally the Emperor himself put a stop to the discussion, saying that the topic would come back to the concilium…
The emperor’s concilium was in session. The heads of the main departments of the imperial government were seated next to some of the more powerful and loyal senators, under the gaze of Hadrianus himself. Even the caesar Voltinius was present at this meeting, a rather unusual occurrence since he’d come back from the new borders, rumours saying he enjoyed partying and drinking more than being subjected to the gaze of the man he was supposed to succeed…
The a rationibus, charged with the imperial finances, was speaking and his news were grim. While the empire was not broke yet, it sure seemed headed in that direction. Recent military operations by the Danubian and Rhenane units had generated a massive bill of some 250 millions sestertii, a 50 millions unplanned expense, or two years revenues from the rich province of Asia.
Of course the defense of the Danube had always cost much more than the provinces could actually bring in as revenues, with a deficit of around a hundred million sestertii a year for the Danubian provinces while the revenues of Gaul and the Germanies still left the empire’s budget short of some 25 millions. But here it was as if two years had been paid at once, and that represented more than 10 percent of the imperial budget…
The Empire’s income was based on three pillars that were the mines, the foreign trade and the internal taxes raised on trade, succession fees for citizens and some minor sources of income. The mines provided gold and silver for around 175 millions sestertii. The inter-provincial trade tax of 2,5% of the good’s value and the various other taxes brought some 10 millions sestertii per million inhabitant, the latest census indicating that between 50 and 60 million people lived under the sage rule of the Emperor, good for some 500 millions. The rest of the Empire’s income came from the import duty of 25% collected mainly on the eastern trade roads of silks, spices and perfumes, for some 3 to 400 millions sestertii a year.
As the army cost around 650 millions sestertii a year and the various building and restoration programs and the running of the administration cost around 350 to 400 millions, it was difficult to actually save money. The expenses of the last years were thus difficult to absorb and new sources of income had to be found.
Of course Hadrian could cancel a number of tax breaks that had been accorded in recent years, but that would cause a lot of resentment. The a rationibus argued that the emperor could also reinstate old taxes abolished by his predecessors, such as the 1% on sales, or double the existing internal trade taxes but this could also lead to marchants being less active and the border provinces being less furnished in goods, which would be bad both for the army and for the economy in general.
Two other solutions were offered by the fiscus : a tax on large estates was the first, with one sestertii a year for every jugera of land owned beyond à 100 jugera. It would probably anger a number of large landowners, especially in the Senate and the local nobles of some provinces such as Africa, but would bring in massive revenues and possibly lead to some domain being divided between more owners, who would own less slaves and would thus somewhat reduce the risks linked to large concentration of them in a single place, or it would lead some owners to reduce costs by reducing manpower and increasing mechanization in ways comparable to what could be seen in Gaul, leading to an higher productivity that would increase trade and thus revenues.
The other solution would be, added the a rationibus, to simply invest massively in the provinces that showed a deficit by settling merchants or farmers in yet undeveloped lands. But such a plan could take years and could only be seen as a long term plan, not something able to help with the current crisis.
The debate lasted for a long time, with various opinions being voiced, between those that advocated that the Empire should invade Arabia and take control of the precious incense producing trees, thus not sending large amount of silver to the south anymore, and those saying that the import tax was more interesting than the cost of securing the desert roads, between those advocating the deportation of part of the dole plebs to underdeveloped parts of the empire and those saying that the plans of the a rationibus to lower the number of slaves on the latifundiae would only cause the numbers of the urban population in need of food to swell, and many other opinions.
Finally the Emperor himself put a stop to the discussion, saying that the topic would come back to the concilium…
Actually some senators were insanely rich. Their lands were the size of a country like Portugal or Belgium; but usually scattered all over Empire, not in one place.Taking a senator's assets is but a drop in the sea of the empire's budget. But for more info I'll simply offer you the next update, which dwells on this specific topic
In OTL when one of such rich senators became the emperor he was able to pay good part of the imperial expenses out of his private funds.
Hecatee
Donor
Yes, senators could be very rich, but more in lands than in numerarii so often emperors had to organize great sales of confiscated lands to actually get the money. Even Senecca's insane wealth of some 300 millions sestertii would only pay for some 4 to 6 months of army's upkeep. And few reached the fortune of Senecca ! Herode Atticus is one of a very few who I can think off, and even him does not seem to have reached that high.
Also don't forget that Hadrian already played this card once early in his reign, and this means the Senate is already somewhat hostile toward him, a new purge would probably cause instability.
That concilium seemed very economically literate, I thought the Romans had no concept of studying "the economy" as a realm separate from other affairs of men. Most incongrous to me was the mention of mechanisation improving productivity, which seems more like something someone in the 17/1800's might say. Otherwise very good.
Hecatee
Donor
Well this chapter is in large part indebted to the work of R. McLaughlin https://www.amazon.co.uk/Roman-Empire-Indian-Ocean-Kingdoms/dp/1783463813 : I took his numbers as basis for mine.
About the degree of litteracy in the council, they did have a good level of understanding the economic flows, but seem to have lacked a theoretical approach, an economic model in itself. They saw something, thought it good or bad, took a decision to correct it, not knowing it was but a epiphenomenon of a larger economic issue. But things such as tax level = trade level was well understood, as well as the fact that luxury products escaped this logic. In fact the romans even used this to their benefit on the germanic border for instance, with high duty imposed on imported goods to get back as much gold as possible from what they gifted to germanic princes.
About mecanization, this is here one the effects of the changes seen in the timeline. For instance the current heir to the throne has visited the hydraulic mills at Barbegual (near Arles, France) and understands their benefits, so this comes into the discussion because he's brought the topic back to Rome and has thought about it for his own estates, especially since he's a less well off senator that has to find ways to make his new lands, many of them in the newly conquered lands, profitable for a minimal level of investing, thus he's thought about having less slaves to care for and more machines...
I hope this answers your remarks ! (and thank you for giving me your thoughts !)
It would be interesting if the Romans pursue greater mechanisation, although admittedly I think they were fairly mechanised anyway. Haven't they found thousands of windmills scattered over the Empire? Either way, having the Caesar of the day take an interest will probably help. Thanks for the reply.
EDIT: Another interesting thing in your reply, the heir to the throne wants to improve his lands - he also probably has a fair amount of land in Britain since he conquered/pacified the modern day Scottish lowlands and probably a good amount in Dacia too. Might we see him implement a three-field system? OTL this is one factor used to explain the increase in population of Europe in the Early-High Middle Ages.
EDIT: Another interesting thing in your reply, the heir to the throne wants to improve his lands - he also probably has a fair amount of land in Britain since he conquered/pacified the modern day Scottish lowlands and probably a good amount in Dacia too. Might we see him implement a three-field system? OTL this is one factor used to explain the increase in population of Europe in the Early-High Middle Ages.
As far as I know mechanization is a product of high labor costs but it needs a certain kind of industrial base to facilitate it, the romans did not have one that could produce the equipment so that would need to develop first. The issue you have in the empire in OTL is that even though labor costs were rising, the elites reaction to it was proto-serfdom or the rise of manorilism. Now if The heir to the throne was to promote mechanization it could become fashionable to have labor saving devices on your estate meaning less tenants/slaves and more long term profit to the landowner. Never heard of the windmill thing, where did you find it? I know of extensive watermills as mentioned in the update.
the need to develop new lands could work as a driver of mechanization, the three field system in some form or other was already present in the Roman empire. Do you mean the four field or Dutch system? the major factor of population growth in that period was due to the introduction of the potato I think along with the new agricultural systems? such as enclosure in the UK?
the need to develop new lands could work as a driver of mechanization, the three field system in some form or other was already present in the Roman empire. Do you mean the four field or Dutch system? the major factor of population growth in that period was due to the introduction of the potato I think along with the new agricultural systems? such as enclosure in the UK?
Hecatee
Donor
About windmills I can't say it rings a bell. Watermill on the other hand have been found in a number of places, I've read about a few dozens of them including flour mills and sawmills for wood and for stone. I personally visited those of Barbegual (Arles, France) and Jerash (Jordan). Actually I should check if I'll see any more during my upcoming trip to Algeria and Tunisia... Anyway, their is still room for improvement. For instance the Treviri combine harvester described by Pliny the Elder and documented by sculptures (mostly in Ath and Arlon, Belgium) seems not to have been in much use outside of the northern gaul region. Their generalization alone might help cultivate larger areas.
Three field system... Could well happen, but it seems to first require improvement in plowing. But if you have first a heavy plow followed by a curious guy experimenting... Why not ?
About Voltinius, indeed many of his new lands are in Britain, Dacia and the Hungarian plain and he's interested on improving them, but don't expect wonders from him either. On the other hand there are other people in the Empire who took notice... That's mostly for the update in two weeks though