Domus Augusta, Rome, May 255
The imperial council was gathered in a large and recently refurbished room in the Hadrianic wing of the palace. Twenty men attended to the Emperor, including the two current consuls, the two censors, the heads of the various offices of the administration and six senators personally chosen by the emperor for their wise recommendations and their ability to properly convene his wishes to their peers.
The emperor was seated on a comfortable chair set on a dais, while the members of the concilium were seated on two rows arranged on both sides as if in an odeon, leaving a central space for the person who presented a point.
The Emperor’s seat was somewhat behind the seats of the other members of the concilium, so that none except the speaked in the arena could see his expression. He, on the other hand, could see by the men’s shoulder tension how they reacted to what was being said...
In front of this assembly, a large painted map of the known world. It was a great wonder that this had been painted on a series of thin iron plates coated in varnish to prevent corrosion. Small sculptures held onto it thanks to magnetised stones and two slaves stood next to it with poles whose magnetised tip allowed them to move the sculptures depending on the movements of the legions and auxiliary units.
But while the head of the imperial military concilium, the central organization that managed the overall logistics of the army and the training of the officers in the various schools of the empire, was present, the topic was definitively civilian. Money was once again the issue, especially for what related to trade.
“This is the fifth year in a row that the Serican ships have come with news of strife in that far away land and of troubles in the whole region. This time they even had to repel pirates who attacked them near the Serican coast. At the same time we have reports that the land trade through Parthia has not gained in strength, especially given the instability the Shahanshah is facing following his humbling seven years ago. Most of the fighting takes place in the north-east of his empire, where his erstwhile Scytian allies thought they could strike with impunity and took control of a number of area around the Parthian border with Bactria.”
“This is good for the security of our eastern lands, especially with the plague still weakening us in Syria and Egypt… But on the other hand this disrupt trade and combined with the plague our revenues have fallen considerably. The treasury is in a precarious situation and while the situation is much different from a century ago when the East was almost the only source of wealth in the empire and the northern provinces were only a drain on our resources, it remains that one fourth of our budget comes from the Indian Ocean trade.”
“Indeed, and some essential commodities come from that trade. It is only last week that my cook came to me with my intendant to ask whether I was ready to pay what is being asked for bunna beans !”
“Yes, those prices are outrageous, soon equestrians won’t be able to have any… And I won’t speak of the impact for the army. You know how the drink is being used to keep the vigils on edge at night or to give a boost to soldiers before important operations… Also in the administration I know of many a clerk that could work better but is now slow and looks dimwitted in comparison.”
“Oh, stop complaining. The important news I hear here is that the North and the West are no longer the drain on resources they were. How comes ?”
“Well you know that we only have detailed informations over the last sixty or seventy years, since the rule of the divine Marcus Aurelius. They show that where western cities were usually considered large when they reached 5000 inhabitants, it is now rather common to see them reach 20 or even 25 000 inhabitants. Arlesia, Lutecia, Colonia Agrippina, Argentoratum or Virunum have even above 50 000 inhabitants. Gaul and Germania had around 10 millions inhabitants in the era of the divine Marcus Aurelius, now there are around 15 millions.
Beside cities growing there is also more towns and villages, more land being used all around the West. While in the East the population is relatively stable, in part due to the war of seven years ago, but mainly because the land is already well used, the West sees an impressive growth.
But more importantly this growth has only improved the imperial budget because we have not had to create new units to defend the borders. As you know the praesidis are paid on local budget and while the new positions created by the divine Marcus Aurelius in his administrative reforms do cost a lot, they are also compensated by the overall growth in population and related trade. The growing importance of iron and coal and the opening of new canals in the western provinces have also contributed to this growth of trade.
But not all regions are equals, some remain poorer such as in Hiberia or Britannia. Another bad news if the fact that the gold and silver mines of Iberia and Dacia are producing less than a few decades ago despite having the same operating costs. Of course the steam pumps and new inventions help go dig deeper, and some mines thought empty have been re-opened, but that is truly an issue…”
“In fact the end of the trade with Serica is something of a small boon for us ! While we can trade buno beans for goods produced in the empire, and while we’ve also been able to substitute some of the bullion for the India trade, we’ve always needed silver for the Serican trade : less silver spent there means less issues for producing coins... “
“We really need to find new ways to use less silver and gold in currency…”
“Don’t go debasing the coins ! You know it is always a problem, as seen when one of your predecessor attempted it twenty years ago. And the histories show that if Athens was so strong in trade in the age of the divine Alexander it was thanks to the stable value of its coins !”
“Oh I know well enough, I remember the report that historically minded quaestor inflicted on us three years ago…”
The noise of a staff hitting the dais instantly silenced the councillors.
“As I understand it we are less dependant on foreign trade than ever before, and the further strengthening of the Western provinces will only increase that situation but we need to prevent any military adventurism and keep track of our spendings. Is that so, rationalis summarum ?”
“Yes princeps, so it is.”
“So what can we do concretely to increase the possibilities of trade in the West ? Are ports to be created, rivers to be enlarged, canals to be dug ? Or new automobile tracks laid ?”
“Some interventions might be needed, but those would be best left to evergetism and the normal action of the Rei Machinatori. What I would recommend on the other hand is to actually farm out this kind of infrastructure building for a part of the tax revenues they will bring during a given time, as was done in days of old with tax collection. And set it so that a conglomerate may buy the concession, each member of the conglomerate to share in the revenue according to his investment, likewise as is done by merchants chartering a ship or as tax were collected in the past.”