|
|
Post by Admin on May 22, 2016 17:36:41 GMT
A rabble of weary civites, Roman citizens, traipse across to eastern Illyricum, where they seek shelter at the mercy of the Eastern Augustus. The limitanei estimate ten thousand refugees or more flee in the wake of the Langobard devastation of Pannonia. The Eastern Augustus is left with only a few choices:
Let them through, but do not aid them. The refugees will head to Constantinople, where they will subsist on the Annona bread dole and other until able to return to their homelands or find other employment.
Turn them back! The refugees will be forcibly turned away by Roman border patrols, and a few may be killed in the process. The refugees will be forced to return to Pannonia, to be subjected to the whims of marauding Lombards and Rugi.
Give them land belonging to the bread guilds in Egypt. There is an abundance of state-run lands in Egypt, administered by the bread guilds. Some of this can be granted to the patrician refugees, and the more lowly may work it. The ERE will lose 1,000 Aurei a year in income, but Egypt will gain the same in additional development, and Pannonia lose it, allowing the Eastern Emperor to raise more taxes in future.
|
|
|
|
Post by Imperium Romanum (Orientalis) on May 31, 2016 21:03:10 GMT
OoC: Only just saw this post...
IC:
In light of the rising costs of maintaining the Annona, the Imperial council makes funds available to transfer as many refugees as possible to take lands in Aegyptus. This is in addition to the establishment of the Cohors Civitas and the already undertaken Annona reform.
|
|
|
|
Post by Imperium Romanum (Orientalis) on May 31, 2016 21:23:24 GMT
In addition, the Gubernatorial advisors to the King are ordered to highlight that as Roman Citizens of a Roman Province, the people of Illyria cannot be forced off their lands without following the course of the law.
To soften the blow, and so as not to appear to chastise, the advisors are to go through the law regarding appropriation and forfeiture of lands. They highlight that Roman citizens, accustomed to the rule of law, can grow extremely belligerent if they view themselves as being tyrannised, and the senate is apt to grow fractious. Should the senate withdraw its support from the Regent, the Roman military will be paralysed. This is likely to draw the aggression of the Hun, precisely the eventuality the Emeperor and the King wished to avoid.
The advisors make clear that in this situation, their hands are tied, and promise that the Emperor will do what he can to help the King achieve his aims, but that the Roman methods must be respected where Illyria is concerned.
In an aside, the King is invited to Thessalonika to see gladiatorial combat, an ancient, but sadly declining, Roman past time, and the venationes the great spectacle beast hunts.
|
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Jun 1, 2016 18:24:47 GMT
Lethuc is preceded by messengers, that attempt to offer some exoneration for Lethuc. They point out that the chaos of previous years, including the lands being of Illyria being ravaged to support a Hunnic host, had taken their toll, and much land was found vacated by its occupants. The governorship of King Lethuc has not forcibly evicted anyone from lands in Illyria, and in his own Kingdom of Pannonia he did not wilfully evict where he had other recourse. The nobles of Illyria remain as wealthy as before, and all Roman citizens still live under Roman law, with their property rights enshrined in this law. Lethuc assures the Emperor that the matter of settlement is settled, and in Illyria not a single noble may be found who did not receive ample compensation for lands settled by Lombards or Rugi. He adds that not a single man that did not leave Illyria on his own free will has been forced to leave his lands, and those that worked the lands before may work it still. The status of the refugees is more complicated, however, since vacant lands are now all occupied and the Roman land registries have been updated to reflect the realities as the Lombards found them. Lethuc is more than willing to welcome back any refugees as subjects, but there are no lands he has the power to grant them, since all public lands now belong to private individuals.
Lethuc is keen to witness gladiatorial combat, but is advised that it is no longer seen as appropriate to force Christian slaves to fight. Sparking an idea, this leads Lethuc to incarcerate the Slavic merchants that have followed his tribe since their travel through Sclavenia, and to offer them to the Emperor in return for a bounty. A small handful of the largest, most well-fed and strong, are kept to fight as Lethuc's own gladiators (the Roman nobles informing him that excess fat allows for more blood and a better show, as lean gladiators bleed only a little and die very soon).
Lethuc arrives in Thessalonika, Greece's first city, with an entourage of Roman and Lombard nobles, a thousand Slavic slaves in tow, and a dozen gladiators armed in a variety of traditional ways - some Thracians, some Samnites, a Murmillo and a few Retiarii. Lethuc is visibly excited at the thought of simultaneously engaging in a vicious blood-sport, and improving his civilized credentials. He was beginning to like being Roman.
|
|
|
|
Post by Imperium Romanum (Orientalis) on Jun 3, 2016 10:36:19 GMT
OoC: Apologies. I misunderstood the source of the refugees...
|
|
|
|
Post by Imperium Romanum (Orientalis) on Jun 3, 2016 11:36:13 GMT
The Ambassador to Lethuc tells him that his response has gone down extremely well in Constantinople. He aplogises quite candidly, stating that in an Empire as large as this, it is hard to fully gauge what is happening in the Provinces, and word of mouth often misinforms...
In Thessalonika, Lethuc Rex is greeted by the Governor and senior leadership. He is seated above the Governor at the games (as the Governor is instructed by Constantinople...) to reflect his personal seniority over others of equal Imperial Rank.
The Ambassador expresses his disappointment with the decline of gladiatorial combat. Though he is a Christian, he is dismayed at what he sees as the sanitisation of traditional Roman culture.
The Romans are suitably impressed with Lethuc's gladiators, and the Governor is pleased to spare the best fighters when they are finally defeated by a grim-faced Anatolian volunteer.
It is explained that death is rare on the arena. Typically, the best fighters are always spared, as are new fighters. He is actually unaware if volunteers can be killed, or if they are obliged to be spares, and with the proportion who are volunteers these days, that would explain the low mortality rates.
The bloodiest spectacles, other than when prisoners are used, are often the beast hunts. When inexperienced hunters come up against a fierce she-tiger, it often ends grimly... he restrains a small laugh at the thought.
After the fights and the hunts Lethuc is invited to see how the gladiators are treated. They having access to the finest care in the Empire.
|
|
