Scenes From Elsewhere (Rome) III

Over the course of Two-Seventy-Nine, Decimus Junius Brutus and his faction continued their work from Two-Eighty. The State of the Roman Republic demanded a firm hand on the tiller, even after the end of the War with Epirus, and so Brutus had run for, and achieved, the position of Consul for the year. It was highly irregular for a dictator to run for Consul after his term as Dictator was over, but not technically illegal, though there was some trepidation by the likes of Quintus Aemilius Papus and his faction. The fact that Brutus had not put forth a conspirator as Co-Consul had mollified them somewhat and allowed the work of reconstruction to continue.

While the Epirotes had been fighting Carthage the previous year in two-eighty, Brutus had taken advantage of Carthage's preoccupation with Epirus to inject itself into the Trade Networks of the Western Mediterranean. This had allowed the money to begin the Brutian Reforms of the Army, allowing Rome to slim down its forces substantially while increasing their quality thanks to things such as mandated training periods and senatorial forges.

Previously, the Legions had kept the Pre-Polybian style of training and equipping of forces, forcing Legionaries to purchase their own equipment, while only training forces in sporadic periods during times of conflict. This had led to the tripartite system of Velites, Hastati, and Triarii where Legionaries were grouped by equipment and seniority into three categories. This was now abolished, and all Legionaries would be equipped and trained to the best standard available.

This process continued through the course of Two-Seventy-Nine, while further funds were found thanks to Carthage's state of Civil War. The Roman share of trade with such places as Narbo, Massilia, Emporion, and Mauritania increased, while Numidia and Carthage, both eager for foodstuffs to feed the armies fighting in their civil war, clothing to equip the war-weary populace, and iron with which to equip their forces, eagerly devoured whatever exports Rome could spare, exports that grew as more infrastructure was being repaired in a slow, but steady process.

Speaking of infrastructure, manpower shortages were also somewhat alleviated thanks to the decree granting all Roman Socii Citizenship Sine Suffragio from the previous year, which allowed troops that would need to be used to plow fields and fix damaged infrastructure to be freed up for duty elsewhere, as the manpower of various former Socii could now be utilized to do those vital rebuilding tasks. It was not a permanent solution to the manpower shortage, as the former Socii could not spare much, but it freed up forces to combat the ongoing Samnite threat in the South, and as the year wore on, it became increasingly clear that Rome would not tear itself apart, though they may be diminished for some time, but would instead adhere closer together.

Latium finished reconstruction by September of Two-Seventy-Nine, and work began on the lands of the Sabines, Marsi, Aequi, and Vestini. The Sabines and Aequi would find their territories reconstructed by the end of the year, though the Marsi and Vestini would not be finished until April of Two-Seventy-Eight, upon which time Roman Attention would be drawn to Umbria and Etruria to finish the year out on reconstruction.

Meanwhile, for the past year, in Campania and Samnium, Samnite Rebels, which had been equipped with Epirote Steel before Pyrrhus had made peace with Rome, had absconded into the hills with their families to raid and ravage Roman tax and trade caravans traveling around Italia. For the past year, the Anemic Roman Forces, left in shambles thanks to the debacle that had been their loss to Epirus, had struggled to do much of anything about such a threat. However, the Roman Authorities had not been idle, attempting to extend the hand of Friendship to the Samnites still in their towns.

This reversal of the policies of Samnicus, which had led to the defection of the Samnites to Pyrrhus during the Pyrrhic War, had begun to bear fruit by July of Two-Seventy-Nine, in time for a small army of two Legions, numbering some twelve-thousand me under Spurius Carvillius Maximus, a good friend of Brutus' and a political ally, to arrive in Campania. This force was made up primarily of Legionaries who had been captured by Pyrrhus during the Pyrrhic War and returned to Roman hands. They were the first two to be equipped and trained to the Bruttian Standard and would utilize information gained from sympathetic Samnite Townsfolk to begin the work of pushing Samnite Rebels out of Campania.

This Divide et Impera Tactic worked well enough that Carvillius was able to bring a smaller Samnite Rebel Force of three thousand, consisting of six different smaller Rebel Warbands, to battle with Legio One 'Brutus' near the town of Minturnae, which itself had grown out of the Roman Fort of Castra Minturnae over the past three and a half decades. This intelligence had come from a Samnite Woman named Emauta, who feared her grandson Statis would be slain in the forthcoming Samnite assault on the Pay Caravan heading to the Castra of the fort to pay the soldiers there.

Regardless of whether or not any details could be gleaned from Emauta, the very fact that Carvillius' Agents were able to confirm there was a Samnite attack planned on the Pay Chest at Castra Minturnae at all was a critical victory for Roman Intelligence Gathering. On October Sixth of Two-Seventy-Nine, Carvillius hid his legion within the Town of Minturnae, and when the pay caravan came down the Via Appia and the Samnite Rebel Army boiled out of the Countryside after it, the Legio One 'Brutus' sallied forth from the town and hit the Samnite Attackers in the flank just before they reached the Caravan.

The Battle was hard fought, even with the Romans having surprise on their side, but in the end, the Samnite Rebels were put to flight, with several being captured and offered a pardon after a term of five years laboring as a slave to the Roman State. Many took this deal, and it would set a precedent for future Roman Civil Wars where the Rank And File of defeated Rebel Armies would be offered a pardon after a period of slavery for the state repairing damage done during the wars.

Of course, those who didn't take the agreement found themselves being permanently enslaved and sold abroad to fill the coffers of Rome, while any captured leaders would be executed by crucifixion, as was the traditional punishment for rebellion. However, this policy was notably far more lenient than the mass crucifixions that Samnicus had practiced and helped to further reconstruct the Roman Countryside. Seeing this more lenient treatment, with the prospect of their sons, fathers, and brothers being returned to them after their term of enslavement was over, saw the Samnite areas of Campania more willing to cooperate with Carvillius so that by the end of Two-Seventy-Nine, between the defeat at Minturnae and the lenient treatment, the Rebel Cause was waning in Campania.

Meanwhile, in Roma herself, Decimus Junius Brutus was being hailed by the Mob as the Savior of Rome. This was something that various senators could not abide. Brutus was no longer acting as Dictator, though he had been given the position of Consul for the year by his allies, and his Co-Consul for the year, Quintus Marcius Phillipus was a friend and ally of Papus', but that was not to last. On the tenth of October, Phillipus had been riding out to his estate in the Countryside to oversee some issue with the grain harvest when he had been thrown from his horse after the Horse was spooked by a wolf crossing the road. Phillipus had broken his leg in the fall and been savaged by the wolf, though he had slain the beast with his dagger in the process, however, his wounds were too severe and Phillipus had died the next day.

This led some to speculate that Phillipus had angered the Gods, especially as he had died from a Wolf Attack, the same sort of animal that had suckled the Founders of Rome, the brothers Romulus and Remus. This was not helped by a story going around that a drunken Augur had claimed that perhaps the Gods had sent the Wolf to remind the people that it was Brutus who had saved Rome from the Epirotes and that Phillipus should defer to him during their consulship on various matters instead of to Papus. Whatever the truth behind the story, this, along with the news of Carvillius' victory at Minturnar, had the Mob whipped into a sort of zealous frenzy. They wanted Brutus to remain as Dictator, at least until the work of reconstruction was done.

Papus had to act, he and the Senate called Brutus to stand before them on the fourteenth of October, Two-Seventy-Nine, and demanded he swear an Oath before the Gods that he would not seek to become Dictator again. This, it turned out, was the worst thing that Papus could have done. While Brutus was all too willing to swear such an oath, never intending to take up dictatorial powers again, the Roman Mob did not see it as anything other than an attempt by Papus to maintain his hold on power. The next morning, on the Ides of October, Two-Seventy-Nine, Papus was stabbed to death on his way to the forum by members of the Roman Mob in retaliation for what they perceived as treachery to their hero, Brutus.

This, it turned out, caused Papus' Faction within the Senate to go to ground as the next election for the Consulship dawned. This allowed Brutus to put his allies up for the Consulship, with Carvilius and Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus taking the Consulship for Two-Seventy-Eight, effectively allowing the Bruttian Faction control of the Roman State for another year. This would begin more than a decade of Bruttian Dominance of the Roman State, which would be more than enough time to complete the reconstruction and even allow for the testing of Bruttian Legions in Cisalpine Gaul some years down the line.

For now, however, reconstruction was still the name of the game, and would continue to be so as Two-Seventy-Eight dawned. . .

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AN: So as you can see, Rome is going to be under the Bruttian Faction for the foreseeable future. It is also going to be rebuilding for quite some time. This is a closer look at some of the stuff that was in the previous Rome Interlude. Suffice it to say, the Bruttians are actually pretty pragmatic by Roman Senate standards. They're less about Roman Exceptionalism at all costs and more about whatever is best for Rome at the time. Currently, that's the reconstruction of the war-torn lands of Rome and the full integration of Campania and Samnium into Rome. In the future, that will shift toward flexing Rome's muscles in Cisalpine Gaul, but it hasn't shifted that way yet.

At any rate, the next chapter will be a look at what the Ptolemies have been doing over Two-Seventy-Nine. Then we'll see what's been going on with the Seleucids.

Stay tuned. . .