All roads lead to Roma
Posted: Sat May 08, 2010 7:18 am
This set of stories is based on a character I played in a PBM called "Beyond the Seven Hills" for Europa Barbarorum, a mod of Rome: Total War. I continue to use this character as my Belegarth persona and the picture is that of the character sheet, showing his attributes. The stories were originally composed by myself and the other members who played the game. Since our game has ended, I have taken the liberty of combining the stories and forum posts into a coherent, flowing one that reflected my character's participation in the game.
The Spoils of War - Tiberivs Claudivs Marcellvs appointed to the Senate
The horses skidded to a halt, horseshoes clacking on the cobblestone pavers, one rider standing up in the stirrups straining at the reigns to keep his balance. Though the man atop the sweat-slicked beast was an accomplished rider he struggled against being thrown as the stallion was anxiously tossing its head about now that it had caught the scent of two mares. In front of the well-dressed man and his aide was a cart, its axle snapped at the wheel; its cargo of apples littered the road. The farmer and another man, probably his brother from their shared countenance, worked hard to right the cart as a younger man worked a stout log under the cart to keep it lifted while repairs were made. These were men of the land, hard working citizens of Latium earning their daily bread by the sweat of their brow. They were peasants.
Though they shared political equality with the mounted man's family, his toiled not in the fields with the beasts of burden in dumb anguish, their skin flayed by Apollo's orb; but in the cities and towns selling what little extra these poor wretched souls could coax out of the terra firma. The mounted man's immediate family were of a slowly growing merchant class. While still considered plebeius, they were amassing amounts of denarii unheard of in past ages. While these miniature fortunes paled in comparison to those of the Patrician land owners, they made available luxuries and accoutrements above those of water, bread, and a roof.
Tiberivs Claudivs Marcellvs looked at the farmers in disdain and remarked,
"What a time for such trouble. Marcvs," he said, turning to his aide, "stay here and help these men right their cart. I shall continue on to deliver my papers to the Consul of the Legions and the Senatores in the Curia. Hmmm," he thought, "I suppose such important men would be too busy.......even for me. Perhaps I shall leave them with a Legatus or other official. At any rate, when you have finished here, give them each a days wage of a laborer for their lost time. I see some of these apples shall never earn them half a copper in the Forum. Return to me at the Campus Martius and inquire of me there." Marcvs, quite caught off guard, barely managed to close his mouth and acknowledge his benefactor; silently resigning himself to the effort at hand. It was always this way.
The farmers, startled from their labor, dropped the cart with a solid thud and glanced about at each other and the men on horseback. Catching a glimpse of a scroll tube with the insignia of the SPQR the eldest farmer clasped his hands before him and gave a quick nervous bow, stuttering,
"Aye, m'lord. We meant no inconvenience and apologize for having troubled you so. Mercvry's swiftness guide your travels to make up for our clumsiness."
The farmer batted a hand at his brother and the boy to follow his example and they unceremoniously dropped their heads and muttered unintelligble apologies. Tiberivs snorted a disapproving sound and urged his mount back to a swift run, leaving Marcvs to do the heavy work. Marcvs was a good man, a former small unit commander back in Taras when it was ruled by the Molossian. Marcvs came to be an indispensable aide for Tiberius' father fifteen years ago when he retired from military service and was hired on as the chief steward. Tiberivs remembered half-heartedly listening as Marcvs taught him about military tactics and about battles past, using olives and rocks and twigs on a table in large store room. Yes, Marcvs was capable and would no doubt distract the men from their hard work with tales of the benevolence and greatness of the gens Clavdia, in particular, that of Tiberivs and of his father.
He could see Roma in the distance sitting atop its hills, its walls and rooftops glittering in the waxing day's light. It was still a league yet to the gates and already the road was becoming more and more crowded with other farmers bringing their produce to the markets in the capitol. Tiberivs wove his way through the unwashed throngs steadily. His mount, not wholly unaccusomted to crowds and turbulence, was surefooted and snorted to make his presence known to those who would slow his master's travel. Tiberivs absent mindedly let the tips of his fingers slip to the scroll case at his hip for the thousandth time since he left Taras almost two months ago. He smiled to himself as he felt the intricate gilding of the letters"S.P.Q.R."on its face.
He remembered the overwhelming joy he felt and the look of utter pride in his father's face when the messenger from Roma had first delivered the official letter of thanks from the Senate for housing the spy sent to scout the city before the Legio I Apulia beseiged and captured it. Tiberivs was at first unsure of his father's decision to support the Romans but was now glad he did. His father was always plotting and planning new ways to advance his family's station and wealth, though, one would never know it from the outside. Yes, father was indeed a sly and cunning man - skills not lost to Tiberivs himself. In addition to the grant of citizenship to the adult male members of his family, the Senate also offered Tiberivs an appointment to the legislative body itself! Father, though tempered by the knowledge of politics that this appointment was largely symbolic - a way to help insure the loyalty of the local populace to Roma, hired musicians, ordered the best of foods, invited the lesser nobility of Taras and spent thousands of denarii on a three day feast. That was two months ago. Tiberivs left the day after the feast and set out with Marcvs to grasp the hand-up that the Senate had offered him. One day he would raise the name of his family and the gens Clavdia to the highest annals of history!
The Spoils of War - Tiberivs Claudivs Marcellvs appointed to the Senate
The horses skidded to a halt, horseshoes clacking on the cobblestone pavers, one rider standing up in the stirrups straining at the reigns to keep his balance. Though the man atop the sweat-slicked beast was an accomplished rider he struggled against being thrown as the stallion was anxiously tossing its head about now that it had caught the scent of two mares. In front of the well-dressed man and his aide was a cart, its axle snapped at the wheel; its cargo of apples littered the road. The farmer and another man, probably his brother from their shared countenance, worked hard to right the cart as a younger man worked a stout log under the cart to keep it lifted while repairs were made. These were men of the land, hard working citizens of Latium earning their daily bread by the sweat of their brow. They were peasants.
Though they shared political equality with the mounted man's family, his toiled not in the fields with the beasts of burden in dumb anguish, their skin flayed by Apollo's orb; but in the cities and towns selling what little extra these poor wretched souls could coax out of the terra firma. The mounted man's immediate family were of a slowly growing merchant class. While still considered plebeius, they were amassing amounts of denarii unheard of in past ages. While these miniature fortunes paled in comparison to those of the Patrician land owners, they made available luxuries and accoutrements above those of water, bread, and a roof.
Tiberivs Claudivs Marcellvs looked at the farmers in disdain and remarked,
"What a time for such trouble. Marcvs," he said, turning to his aide, "stay here and help these men right their cart. I shall continue on to deliver my papers to the Consul of the Legions and the Senatores in the Curia. Hmmm," he thought, "I suppose such important men would be too busy.......even for me. Perhaps I shall leave them with a Legatus or other official. At any rate, when you have finished here, give them each a days wage of a laborer for their lost time. I see some of these apples shall never earn them half a copper in the Forum. Return to me at the Campus Martius and inquire of me there." Marcvs, quite caught off guard, barely managed to close his mouth and acknowledge his benefactor; silently resigning himself to the effort at hand. It was always this way.
The farmers, startled from their labor, dropped the cart with a solid thud and glanced about at each other and the men on horseback. Catching a glimpse of a scroll tube with the insignia of the SPQR the eldest farmer clasped his hands before him and gave a quick nervous bow, stuttering,
"Aye, m'lord. We meant no inconvenience and apologize for having troubled you so. Mercvry's swiftness guide your travels to make up for our clumsiness."
The farmer batted a hand at his brother and the boy to follow his example and they unceremoniously dropped their heads and muttered unintelligble apologies. Tiberivs snorted a disapproving sound and urged his mount back to a swift run, leaving Marcvs to do the heavy work. Marcvs was a good man, a former small unit commander back in Taras when it was ruled by the Molossian. Marcvs came to be an indispensable aide for Tiberius' father fifteen years ago when he retired from military service and was hired on as the chief steward. Tiberivs remembered half-heartedly listening as Marcvs taught him about military tactics and about battles past, using olives and rocks and twigs on a table in large store room. Yes, Marcvs was capable and would no doubt distract the men from their hard work with tales of the benevolence and greatness of the gens Clavdia, in particular, that of Tiberivs and of his father.
He could see Roma in the distance sitting atop its hills, its walls and rooftops glittering in the waxing day's light. It was still a league yet to the gates and already the road was becoming more and more crowded with other farmers bringing their produce to the markets in the capitol. Tiberivs wove his way through the unwashed throngs steadily. His mount, not wholly unaccusomted to crowds and turbulence, was surefooted and snorted to make his presence known to those who would slow his master's travel. Tiberivs absent mindedly let the tips of his fingers slip to the scroll case at his hip for the thousandth time since he left Taras almost two months ago. He smiled to himself as he felt the intricate gilding of the letters"S.P.Q.R."on its face.
He remembered the overwhelming joy he felt and the look of utter pride in his father's face when the messenger from Roma had first delivered the official letter of thanks from the Senate for housing the spy sent to scout the city before the Legio I Apulia beseiged and captured it. Tiberivs was at first unsure of his father's decision to support the Romans but was now glad he did. His father was always plotting and planning new ways to advance his family's station and wealth, though, one would never know it from the outside. Yes, father was indeed a sly and cunning man - skills not lost to Tiberivs himself. In addition to the grant of citizenship to the adult male members of his family, the Senate also offered Tiberivs an appointment to the legislative body itself! Father, though tempered by the knowledge of politics that this appointment was largely symbolic - a way to help insure the loyalty of the local populace to Roma, hired musicians, ordered the best of foods, invited the lesser nobility of Taras and spent thousands of denarii on a three day feast. That was two months ago. Tiberivs left the day after the feast and set out with Marcvs to grasp the hand-up that the Senate had offered him. One day he would raise the name of his family and the gens Clavdia to the highest annals of history!