Chapter 6: Governance III
"Sir, we discovered a caravan of humans to the south west. They are en route to our southern fields." A scout reported to Amulius and handed over a piece of parchment which contains the detailed report of the scouts.
"Okay, thank you. Keep monitoring them but keep hidden." Amulius then dismissed the scout. The parchment that says that there are around 300 humans that looks like refugees or a caravan. Few are armed with spears and swords but most of them are women and a few children. These people are of far eastern ethnicity, they suspect that they are people of the Hun and must be treated with caution.
Amulius called Marius to heightened the town security and he went to Cassius who used to be always beside him. Amulius and Cassius assembled a 100-man mixed cavalry and legionnaire to intercept the 300 humans.
"Shadow, what of the orcs? Any development?" Amulius asked his covert operations officer, because he wants to make sure that no external threat will surprise him.
"There is no move in the orc camp sir. However, as per your orders, we have infiltrated their fortress by the cover of the night. We noticed human slaves, some were imprisoned. We found out that there are goblins in their camps that are tending their animals and doing other jobs. We also noticed caged harpies, orc's meal. "
" Are there factions of power within the fortress? And how many fighters do they have?
"There is the chief's faction and the older brother of the chief faction. The older brother thinks that he is the righteous ruler of the orc tribe, but his younger brother was chosen by the elders due to his wisdom. Older brother has elite troops but his army is fewer compared to the chief. As of now, we did not make contact yet. "
" Okay thats good for now, keep monitoring their fortress and don't get caught. I want you to their language and write a letter to the older brother, offer him peace and alliance but don't promise anything. I want him to ask us for assistance. That's all for now. " Amulius dismissed Shadow, the orc matter is a very urgent matter. They should eliminate any threats to their growing town but Amulius is aware that to establish supremacy in the region, he needs to have superb arsenals at his disposal.
"How is our arsenal of weapons?" Amulius went to the weapon's production area that is located in the Military district. Their military arsenal are not that strong enough to provoke the orcs. They arrived here without any Roman war machine, but they are equipped with the knowledge of Roman empire.
"Sir, as of now we have already produced 80 Pilum (1), 30 bows and 500 arrows, 30 swords, 50 shields, 20 complete armor set for legionnaires, 15 complete armor set for equite cavalries, 6 scorpio ballistae (2) with 80 bolts, and 1 onager. By the following weeks, we will have double those numbers with addition of Carroballistae (3) in our arsenal. "
" That's good. I want more scorpio ballistae, carroballistae and more bolts produced. We will soon face monsters. " Amulius left the weaponry, he then took a tour on the ongoing construction of the new wall made of stones.
The stone wall that they are creating is 2 mi long enclosing an area of about 300 acres. The wall is 2.5 meters to 3 meters wide and as high as 20 feet. The walls that they are constructing is ambitious as they have just arrived in this place. More than half of the total population of manpower is allocated in cinstructing this walls, the goblins are mostly deployed in this project. They are obviously rushing this project since this place has monsters and dangers. They have made the wall very sturdy as to deter the orcs that may come rushing. Aside from the construction of this wall, the Roman scouts are also laying down traps to key areas. After checking the construction of the wall, Amulius went back to the assembled troops.
The Roman army are well-equipped as always, the 60 legionnaires divided into 2 platoon and the 40 cavalry is divided into 2 squadron. Amulius commands 60 legionnaires and 5 equite cavalry as his guards. Cassius will lead the 30 equite cavalry as a detachment force. Amulius' force will march in a normal pace, while Cassius will advance and surround them.
"Halt! Identify yourselves " upon arrival, Amulius ordered the legionnaires to surround the 300 humans. The unit of Cassius is round them up like a cantabrian circle cavalry formation. The cantabrian formation was proved to be effective in intimidating and combat. The cantabrian circle formation was adopted by the Romans from the Cantabri tribes of the Iberian peninsula after the Cantabrian wars.
The 300 people are scared to the bones that they lost their will to resist seeing the well-equipped and intimidating Roman legionnaires. Their knees were trembling and some of them just knelt for mercy. The few armed person in the group lost their strength to wield their weapons. An old man wearing a traditional oriental noble clothing came forward to meet Amulius. This old man has a scholarly noble aura, the Romans can feel it too.
When the old man spoke, they did not understand any word that he said. The Romans just read their body language. Based on their body language, they understood that they are refugees from afar and that he is their leader. The scouts' earlier suspicion was right.
"These people doesn't speak Latin. Collect their weapons, bring them back to Romavena. Also, Look for someone who speaks their language in Romavena and if there is none, learn their language. " Amulius left with his 5 equite guards after instructing the legionnaires.
On his way back, he's thinking of where do these refugees came from and how can he use these refugees considering that they don't speak Latin. He consulted his uncle as to how the Roman empire dealt this kind of issue. He knows that his uncle is experienced in this.
"Romanisation" thats what uncle Justus said to Amulius. The Roman empire has reigned supreme because they know how to integrate foreigners into their society. In Romanisation, the town should have amenities and leisure activities where they will like the Roman culture and get addicted to it. Prime minister and senator Justus adviced Amulius that he should start leisure activities such as horse racing, battle competition, and many more fun activities.
After hearing his uncle's advice, the refugees has already arrived in the town. Amulius wants to help the construction of the wall while he thinks of what to do about them later on. The integration he have in mind is a bit different from what his uncle adviced to him. His suspicion is that these refugees have more use and there is a better way in making them loyal to him. The refugees were given an accomodation in the housing district where they will feel more welcome.
"The construction of the wall is expected to be finished within 3 months considering the bountiful source we have of stones, mortars and timber." Senator Rabirius addressed in the Curia, the plan he had in mind is a stone wall that can be built in a short period of time without compromising its quality. The technique used in constructing the stone wall will be Opus quadratum, where the stone blocks sizes, the amount of mortars used, and there will be marbles in the arches and pillars used in the river so that the riverway is still covered with walls. The opening where riverflows below shall be barred with metal grills that are now being crafted by the blacksmith.
The construction of the wall took more than 3 months than they planned, but it is still considered fast because the common construction time of walls usually takes almost a year or more. The wall construction is their top priority while food supply is second and third is their military power. Within this three months, Amulius honed his skills in sword fighting, archery, horse riding and learning the language of the refugees. Also, within three months, Amulius and some of the legionnaires learned the refugees languages. By then, they started teaching them Latin until they know how to speak Latin.
Three months changed a lot of features of Romavena. The aqueduct perfectly working and delivering fresh clean water to every houses and infrastructures, the Stone Wall was finished and was named the Amulio wall, and there are more weapons, ammunitions and Roman warmachines in their arsenal. The construction of the stone wall was further hastened due to the leader of the refugees. Their leader has magical ability to compress stones, that easily finished the layering of the wall. The wall is also more sturdy and thicker than the original plan.
"Elder Varioneru, we are thankful for your help in constructing our walls. I wish for you're permanent stay in Romavena." Amulius offered Varioneru, the leader of the refugees, to permanently stay in Romavena. Amulius is curious of what Varioneru know, most specifically his magic ability.
"Thank you for your offer Lord. I have already talked to the others about the matter. However, I want you to know our story first. Before we became refugees, we live a prosperous life in a small village down south until the orc raiders pillaged our home. Our small village is the northermost territory of Nescaria Kingdom, the nearest city that we can ask for help is 330 mi. but we cannot afford to go there since it was said that the city of Everiston is under sieged by orcs for weeks. That is why we chose to go up north and it brings us here in miracle land. " Elder Varioneru is a kind man, he wants Amulius to understand their story before accepting them. Amulius should also realized the danger it entails once he accept them. The orcs are their enemies that is pillaging their lands. If Amulius took them in, the orcs may come after them or the search party of Nescaria army may come knocking on their door.
Amulius pondered on what he learned. By listening to Elder Varioneru, he is learning more of the regional set up that they are in. He became more eager to recruit Varioneru and the refugees to his camp. These people will be more useful and innovations of their technology may brought them more prosperous gains.
"Do you know where is the direction to Roman empire or Egypt, Asia minor, Danube, India or China?" Amulius became more curious of their exact location. This place is full of mystery, but if they are somewhere near the mentioned place, the elder should know where it is.
" I'm sorry Lord but I never heard a place that you mentioned." Upon hearing this from Varioneru, Amulius' ambition soared. There is no Roman empire here that will order him around, then why not make his own Roman empire in this world.
"Okay then. Stay as long as you want, but if you have decided to permanently stay, I want your loyalty and dedication." Amulius left Varioneru a letter of appointment. He wants him to be the head of bureau of investigation with the power to audit Senators and other government officials. The position he offered him is not a ministry nor will it grant him a seat in the Senate. The bureau will be under the direct authority of Amulius, he wants a non-Roman to do this job to have a checks and balances within the government. By giving this appointment letter, Amulius clearly delivered his intentions to Varioneru that they should stay and they will stay.
After Amulius left, he went to the Curia to announce the official creation of Bureau of Investigations but he will not yet name the Head official of the bureau. This bureau shall serve as their watcher as to prevent any treacherous plan and corruption that they are about to do. The Senators are shocked of the sudden announce but they welcomed it since this is a decision of Amulius.
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(1) Pilum - a 2-meter long javelin with a wooden shaft and iron shank.
(2) Scorpio ballistae - a smaller version of ballista that can be manned by one person.
(3) Carroballistae - a ballista mounted in a cart.
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