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Myronius (Myron Zhang to most of you) carissimis salutem plurimam dicit.

I would first like to note that using Latin in committee, although an excellent display of

enthusiasm for the period in which the committee is set in, will probably not be understood by the

moderators/crisis staff, so I discourage you from doing so lest your notes be returned with a no

comprendo. Personally, I only know Chinese, so any Latin and Spanish lovers out there, you’re

probably already rolling your eyes. Actually you’re all probably rolling your eyes

But welcome! My name is Myron Zhang and I will be in charge of influencing your fates in

committee, and that’s why I am incredibly excited to be running said committee – I don’t have a

God complex, but I do have a Parcae complex (I made that one up), so if you can imagine a cackling

old maniac in the crisis room evilly manipulating the horrible events happening to you all, then you

get some kind of idea of why I get a kick out of my job. I also find often find myself daydreaming

about an eternal Roman Empire… (ok, not all the time. I do have something of a life). And if you

perform well, you could help me substantiate my dream in a much closer approximation of reality!

But not to worry – I’m a very lazy Parcae type figure, so if you are ingenious about your devilish

designs, I shall not have to lift a finger to amuse myself.

More seriously, I found my first high school MUN experience to be utterly boring – I think

I still have my doodled weapons system somewhere in my collection of high school relics – but that

first impression turned me away from pursuing MUN in high school, much to my current regret.

But the past cannot be changed, so I can only hope to provide a rising generation of high school

MUNers with an exciting (perhaps overly so – overcompensation, mayhaps?) experience; of course

if you’re an old hand at this particular game, I hope you shall enjoy it as well. If you’re ever lost

about what’s going on, don’t hesitate to ask! After all, I asked myself, but the only answer I ever got

was a hurried response and a “Shouldn’t you already know this?” look. Ah, but that’s in the past. We

must turn our eyes from the that which has gone before, and focus on the glorious future, brave

Roman analogues!

Also, in case anyone’s interested, I am in Saybrook College, Class of 2016 (which makes me

a sophomore), I enjoy wacking people over the head with bamboo (kendo), giving people money

(microfinance), psychologically torturing people (MUN and… life), utilizing bad humor (this), and

eating mooncakes (various Asian American cultural activities).

No, the fates will not favor you if you decide to bring an offering of mooncakes. Although

the fates will likely eat them, if there are any (un-poisoned) ones.

I hope you learn something from this, about Rome or some other topic/aspect of your lives,

but in the end I hope you are amused. After all, if life were but a litany of dull and dreary duties,

what would be the point of it all? The fates would be very sad if your life was devoid of the little

pleasures of existence.

See you all soon!

Valete!

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TABLE OF CONTENTS History of the Committee 5 Topic History

The Shape of the State 7 Current Situation: Unraveling Dream 16

Bloc Positions: The Three Families 27 Questions to Consider 28 Role of the Committee 29

Structure of the Committee 30 List of Characters 31 Recommended Reading 40 !

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Rise of the Renovamen By the time of Commodus’s death in 933

AUC, the Senate, as it had been since the days of

Augustus, was composed of circa six hundred

members, hailing mostly from the established

families of the Italian peninsula, but with a goodly

number of provincials, promoted by merit or

patronage into the ranks of the Senatorial class.

Although the early emperors had stripped the Senate

of any kind of real political authority, the Senatorial

stripe was still a much sought after indication of

prestige and social standing among the ambitious

young descendants of once powerful men.

After the death of Emperor Commodus at

the hands of the General Maximus Meridius,

Senator Gracchus was invested by the Senate with

the powers of the ancient office of dictator,

effectively making him the ruler of the Roman world

without invoking the now toxic title of Imperator.

Unfortunately for the Senator, his idealism and

stubbornness prevented him from realizing the

fragility of his position – the Roman people,

enthused by the actions of their hero Maximus, had

politically forced the Senate’s hand, but the Senate,

filled with men who would rather see themselves at

the helm of the Roman state, did not and would not

wholeheartedly support the Senator’s designs.

And what designs they were. A Stoic along

the lines of Cato the Younger, Senator Gracchus

instituted an austerity regime that undermined the

two basic pillars of his regime’s popular support:

bread and circuses. By abolishing the free grain dole

that had been a part of Roman life since the time of

Caesar and instituting (another) ban on gladiatorial

games, Senator Gracchus had irrevocably irked the

ire of the mob in the course of a single Senate

meeting. And the Senate was only to happen to let

him do it.

With the masses openly talking of revolt and

the Senate plotting against him, it was a matter of

time before Senator Gracchus fell from grace. The

last blow to his tottering authority came when

Maximus’s lieutenant Quintus, Praetorian Prefect

and till then a loyal supporter of Maximus’s ghost,

was forced at sword point to abandon the Senator or

“resign” his position. Quintus, hoping to at least

preserve the fragile peace with the power of the

Praetorians, removed the cohorts guarding the

Senator and within days the old Stoic Senator was

found dead in his bed.

While Senator Gracchus struggled and died

for the ideals of the old Roman Republic, the other

senators had been maneuvering for political

advantage, hoping to rise high from the ashes of the

Senator’s regime. By the time of Senator’s

Gracchus’s death, a fragile power cabal had coalesced

around some of the Rome’s oldest and most

prestigious families – the Cornelii, the Fabii, and the

Valerii, along with their various allies, clients, and

some notable outsiders. With the now ascendant

consuls thoroughly in their pockets and unstoppable

voting clout on the Senate floor itself, this cabal soon

became the executive body pulling the strings of the

Roman world.

The Divided Roman Senate

History of the Committee!

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Out of such humble beginnings, from

amongst the ruins of the past, can you brave

Romans reimagine the dream that is Rome,

rebuild her empire, and create a peace that will last

for all eternity?

We Romans are rulers – master

administrators, legalists, statesmen, and

commanders, but how we rule has varied over

the course of our long and illustrious history. Now

faced again with the challenge of creating a

government in a moment of crisis, can we summon

again the spirit of innovation that has guided our

illustrious ancestors? Or shall we look to the distant

but still remembered past, searching for a time when

we Romans walked a more righteous path? Will the

ghosts of Brutus and Maximus raise again the

banner of the Republic one created and the other

hoped to restore? Will the shade of Augustus and

the Imperators who followed force the weight of

empire upon the lands of the Roman Empire,

reinstating the eternal Pax Romana? Or will the

shadows of uncertain future resolve itself into a new

path forward, bringing with it the furthering of

Roman prosperity and power? It remains for you to

decide.

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The Legend of Romulus and Remus’ Birth

The legendary Romulus, son of wolves, was

the first king to rule over the seven sacrosanct hills of

Rome, and the creator of the Roman Senate and

Rome’s social order, separating the citizens into

those of the patrician and the plebian orders. The

kings that followed in his wake were selected by the

People in name and the Senate in effect, and though

the kings commanded ultimate authority in

executive, legislative, and judicial matters, the Senate

remained the repository of sovereign authority

within the Roman state – it theoretically selected

one man to use that power on behalf of the Senate

and the People of Rome. In reality, however, the

Senate served as the king’s council and participated

in the legislative process by the side of the popular

assemblies, but it possessed little direct power,

instead depending on tradition, precedent, and

prestige to influence the governance of the state. It

was to all intents and purposes an absolute

monarchy, with the Senate having several powerful

but “soft” checks on the power of the kings.

The Roman Kingdom effectively expanded

its borders under some two hundred years of

monarchical rule, becoming a major power in central

Italia. The seventh and last king of Rome, Lucius

Tarquinius Superbus, unfortunately broke with the

tradition of stability established by the six who came

before and overthrew his immediate predecessor,

afterwards using tyrannical force to maintain his

control over the populace of Rome, without

regard to the opinions voiced by the Senate or the

People. After an incident in 244 AUC in which his

son Sextus Tarquinius raped Lucretia, a woman of

the senatorial class, four Senators including our

legendary ancestor Lucius Junius Brutus overthrew

Tarquinius Superbus, thus ending the reign of the

Roman kings and ushering in the era of the Roman

Republic.

The Roman Republic steadily evolved in the

generations following the fall of the monarchy,

taking on many forms as the socioeconomic

divisions created by Romulus began to bear

poisoned fruit. At first, the Senate simply replaced

the King with two consuls, both holding the

authority of the bygone monarch yet also possessing

the ability to veto the other. Over the first few

generations, the many powers that the Kings once

held were divided among various magisterial offices

– praetor, quaestor, military tribune, censor, etc.

These magistrates had their own individual duties –

the consul dictated foreign policy and commanded

troops in times of war, the censors were in charge of

the census (hugely important in determining the

composition of the centuries and tribes and therefore

the composition of the popular assemblies), and the

praetors acted as judges at the Forum. With

Topic 1.

The Shape of the State Topic History!

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sovereign authority effectively diluted, the Senate no

longer had to fear a repeat of the tyrannical excesses

of Tarquinius Superbus, but a new problem soon

emerged. Magistrates, though elected with the

participation of the plebeians through the popular

assemblies, could only be drawn from the

aristocratic class of Rome, the patricians; the voting

system, based on the socioeconomic division of the

Roman population into “centuries,” (the centuries

together constitute the Century Assembly) also

distinctly favored the aristocrats, who possessed a

disproportionate number of votes. The commoners,

labeled as the plebeians, comprised the significant

majority of society and bore most of the burden of

Rome’s many expansionary wars, yet had no access

to the magisterial offices and had little direct say in

the day to day governance of the Roman state. This

legal codification of Roman society into political

castes became known as the “conflict of orders” and

would come to dominate Roman politics for the next

several generations.

The plebeians came close to rebellion due to

what they perceived as the inequitable concentration

of power in the hands of the patricians, refusing to

serve in the Roman army until such time as their

demands were met. The Senate and the patricians,

unable to combat Rome’s numerous enemies

without the help of the plebeian legionnaires, was

compelled to make concessions, creating specific

offices for the protection of plebeian interests (the

Plebeian Tribunes) and opening the consulship and

other magisterial offices to plebeians. Over the

course of several generations, the plebeians gradually

gained access to the few offices that remained closed

to them, and soon some plebian families could sit

with equal splendor amongst the oldest patrician

families of the Roman Senate.

Eventually with the passage of the Lex

Hortensia in 466 AUC the practical distinction

between patrician and plebeian disappeared, and the

Senate came to be composed of a mixed patrician

and plebeian aristocracy, effectively alleviating the

“conflict of orders.” The Roman Republic had

attained its penultimate form, a complex

hodgepodge of interlocking institutions that

centered on the magistrates, the Senate, and the

popular assemblies. The magistrates functioned

mostly as executors of policy and law as well as

judges, while also sitting as Senators during and

after their term; provincial governors, known as

proconsuls, were also drawn from the ranks of

former magistrates. The Plebeian Tribunes were

special magistrates, elected only by the plebian class

and possessed of the power to veto the actions of any

magistrate or popular assembly. The Senate dictated

policy by issuing “advice” and also controlled state

finances and the civil government of Rome (as we

Romans all understand, Rome is more than just a

city, or a capital – it is the center of the Empire. It

may help to think of Rome as a city-state covering a

huge territorial expanse, although by our current

point in history this image is somewhat

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oversimplified). The popular assemblies held official

legislative power, elected the magistrates, and acted

as a court for major cases. It was a delicately

balanced system, arraigning the power of the

patricians against the plight of the plebs, dividing

the power of the kings amongst various magistrates,

all the while forging an empire that would grow

unto this very day.

Although the legal castes had been largely

done away with in effect, class remained an issue in

Roman society and so it was after the Punic Wars a

series of land and political reform bills, famously

proposed by the Grachhi brothers and designed to

take power away from the Senate and transfer it to

the popular assemblies, inflamed Rome yet again.

From 620 AUC to 665 AUC a conflict between the

populares ie the supporters of a more democratic

government, and the optimates, conservative

aristocrats that wished to maintain the status quo,

raged in the streets of Rome and the rostrum of the

Forum, but eventually a number of military

strongmen seized the reign of power, most notably

the seven time (an altogether unprecedented and

rather illegal figure) Consul Gaius Marius and the

perpetual Dictator (more illegality) Lucius Cornelius

Sulla. Although the debate of the two sides would

continue until the end of the Republic, by that point

the issue was largely moot. Political power rarely

rested in the handed of the officials in which it was

officially vested – the dominant political entity in

this period was the First Triumvirate, an alliance

between the three most powerful men of Rome that

controlled Roman policy through the official organs

of government. Soon, even the Republican organs

would be done away with, leaving only a marble

façade. In 704 AUC a series of events (one of the

most interesting periods of Roman history, but such

stories hardly fit into a summary of Roman

government through the ages) came to a head, and

Gaius Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon River,

beginning the civil war that would end the Roman

Republic. With his eventual triumph over the forces

of the Senate and his proclamation as perpetual

Dictator, the Roman Republic was dead.

Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius

Longinus believed otherwise, but the assassination

of Julius Caesar did nothing to stop the continuing

decline of the Republic. Power soon devolved to

Caesar’s adopted son and heir, Gaius Octavius, and

his fellow triumvirs, who formed the Second

Triumvirate, a formal legal entity that sat atop the

Republican superstructure and usurped all power

from the underlying institutions, directing all

policies of the now defunct Republic. With the

sidelining of one of the triumvirs, the “Republic”

was divided between two men, Marcus Antonius

(Mark Antony) and Gaius Octavius (Octavian), who

controlled the East and the West respectively. The

stage was set for a cataclysmic clash between the two

men, and with Antony’s defeat at the Battle of

Actium in 722 AUC, Octavian emerged as the sole

ruler of the Roman world.

Octavian now had to decide what shape the

new world would take. Haunted by the fate of his

adoptive father Julius Caesar, Octavian sought to

avoid any title or power that smacked of monarchical

rule, instead basing his authority upon powers

already established in the Republic. Within months

of his victory over Antony, Octavian had acquired

the power of a Plebian Tribune, which allowed him

to veto any action that ran counter to his policies;

the authority of an empire-wide proconsul,

effectively making him commander in chief of the

Roman army and the final executor of his own

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policies; and a new title, befitting his newfound

duties and powers: Augustus, the revered one.

Though the Senate and Augustus were considered

equal in power, the Imperator now entirely

controlled the reigns of the state.

Augustus, First Emperor of the Roman Empire

Emperor Tiberius (middle) and other emperors

The power of the emperors only solidified

with the coming years – the second emperor

Tiberius transferred all the electoral, judicial, and

legislative powers of the popular assemblies to the

Senate, centralizing the machinery of government in

a body that Tiberius completely controlled. The

Senate from then on served mainly as the main

administrative and advisory body of the Empire,

giving the Emperor extra hands by which he could

carry the burdens of the state, governing certain

provinces and maintaining the treasury. The

emperors gradually accumulated powers once

reserved for the magistrates and Senate of the

Roman Republic – the power of censorship, the

power to ratify treaties, and the power to declare

war. By the reign of Domitian, emperors had

become virtual monarchs, imposing their will on the

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Senate and People of Rome at a whim’s notice, aided

by an increasingly sophisticated court structure and

Imperial bureaucracy staffed by competent slaves

and freedmen, cronies of the Emperor, and

ambitious and wealthier members of the plebian

class. Some emperors, such as the “Five Good

Emperors,” did not abuse their power; some

emperors, particularly Commodus, frayed the very

fabric of the empire with their degenerate habits,

throwing Rome into the crisis that you brave

Romans must resolve.

The past is a creature of many shapes and

forms, the present is infinite, but the future can only

follow one path. Which path shall you choose?

Among a nation of consuls and imperators,

who shall rise above the rest and reign? It is an

ageless question for us Romans. In the Republic,

closely fought electoral battles determined who held

power annually, but the Imperium has no such

closely regulated and structured system. Augustus

constructed an imperial system beneath the façade of

the Republic – his power derived from the authority

of the several offices he held in combination and in

perpetuity. To transfer his power to Tiberius, the

successor that ended up surviving until Augustus’s

death, the old emperor needed to transfer his offices

piecemeal to Tiberius – in reality it was a tightly

controlled transfer of power, but it set a less than

stable precedent. There was no legal structure for

succession, no chain of hereditary inheritance, no

system, only an ad hoc passing of power and

position from one man to another.

So long as the men involved in the scheme

could keep the game running behind the façade of

the Republic, the Empire would hold together

without a single hiccup. Unfortunately, the men

who followed in the massive footsteps of Augustus

failed to live up to his example, and without a formal

system that could stand on the firm foundation of

social indoctrination, precedent, and rule of law, the

succession became the greatest source of instability

in the Roman world.

Tiberius proved to be a dark emperor, but

by the standards of his descendants he would be

considered quite benign. The details of his reign will

be explained in other histories, but two of his

actions, or rather two examples of his inaction,

would prove to be of huge and negative consequence

to the Imperial system. Tiberius by all appearances

did not want the post of Imperator, especially

towards the end of his reign; a talented general and

administrator under Augustus, Tiberius began to

withdraw from public life with the death of his son

Germanicus, the apparent successor. A few years

after the death of Germanicus, Tiberius had

completely removed himself to the island of Capri,

his vacation home, leaving power in the hands of the

corrupt Praetorian Prefect, Lucius Aelius Sejanus.

This signaled the point where the Praetorian Guard

began to metamorphose from a simple unit of elite

bodyguards to one of the most important players in

Imperial politics. The Praetorians’ experience of

holding and abusing the reigns of power under

Sejanus allowed them to pierce the veil thrown over

human civilization by the rule of law; from then on,

the Praetorian Guard realized that power, when

reduced to its most base form, rested in the

scabbards by their sides and not in the script carved

onto the tablets of law. Violence now had a foothold

on the question of succession.

Sejanus eventually fell from grace:

denounced by Tiberius and hated by the Senators he

had terrorized during his regime, the Praetorian

Prefect was quickly executed and replaced, but not

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without dragging down a large section of Rome’s

most powerful people in a series of treason trials that

severely scarred the social fabric of the Empire.

Tiberius, however, remained ensconced on his island

resort, leaving the Empire to the devices of the

formative Imperial bureaucracy, which at the very

least did not do anything to harm the fortunes of the

Empire, though it had not yet acquired the ability to

effectively react to the crises attended to by the

Imperator. More ominously, Tiberius made no plans

for the succession, an oversight that would have

dangerous implications – with no formal system

that could transfer power, the present Imperator

absolutely needed to designate a successor, lest a war

of succession break out at his death. Tiberius did no

such advanced planning, and when he died his

logical successor Caligula possessed none of the

offices that Tiberius himself had held at the time of

Augustus’s death.

Fortunately for the Empire, Caligula’s only

competitor for the throne was a teenage boy who

was speedily executed, but the ad hoc system that

Augustus had put in place were beginning to show

signs of falling apart. It was only a pruned out family

tree that prevented the succession from devolving

into another terrible civil war, and an execution was

hardly the best way to secure one’s claim to a

“throne” that did not actually exist in the façade of

the Republic. People noticed the insecurity of the

succession. Powerful people noticed, and they began

to muse. If they could become adopted members of

the Imperial family, if they could marry in, if they

could secure the support of the Praetorian Guard, if

they had but a marginal connection to the throne…

what was stopping them from become the next

Augustus? Ambition had not died with the death of

the Republic. It had simply become more poisonous,

hidden now in intrigue in bare-knuckle power

politics, and the reign of Caligula would only further

Rome’s problems.

Tiberius had been a paranoid, apathetic

Imperator; Caligula was insane. There are many

anecdotes concerning Caligula; perhaps the most

outrageous is a story concerning how he attempted

to appoint his horse consul, that position which such

illustrious men as Brutus and Caesar had held with

great pride in the past. Caligula’s rule continued the

general trend of Republican erosion; Augustus had

at least preserved a symbolic appreciation for the

Senate’s importance and power, but by the reign of

Caligula the act was wearing thin and what had been

an unofficially monarchical position became

increasingly obvious. The disappearance of the

Republic’s shadow carried down with it several

centuries of tradition and precedence, leaving only

the recent history of dictatorship, treason trials,

execution, and brutal power seizures. Such would

the regular shape of succession in the Empire for the

next few centuries. Caligula exercised his

monarchical powers with a tyrannical hand,

terrorizing the Senate and the richest and most

powerful families of Rome while spending lavishly

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on the bread and circuses so beloved by the people.

The mob loved him, but it did not take long for the

discontent of the powerful to turn to hatred and fear

to turn to action, and an assassination plot in 794

AUC left Caligula dead and the state in turmoil.

The Senate attempted to reestablish the

Republic, but the masses of Rome had long since

become used to the largesse of the Imperators and

the Praetorians found their comfy positions rather

too compelling to obey the Senate’s commands –

Caligula’s uncle was whisked away from the Senate’s

clutches and declared Imperator. With the backing

of both armed and popular force, Claudius soon

secured his position, but the Imperial system was

quickly breaking apart. In the past, the new

Imperator had always been confirmed with the

willing approval of the Senate; in the case of

Claudius, the Praetorians shoved their favorite

candidate down the throats of the Senate. The

Imperial system was being questioned – the

proposal for a return to the Republic, while abortive,

reflected a common sentiment among the Senate and

the ambitious. The masses, without the legal

mechanisms of the Republican era popular

assemblies, were exercising its power through the

threat of revolt and mob rule. The rule of law was

falling apart, replaced by a near anarchy of brutal

bloodshed and repeated crises. Force had emerged as

the clear determiner of succession.

Claudius was a welcome break from the dark

reigns previous two emperors, enlarging the

Empire’s territories and reorganizing the

bureaucracies. Of course, his reforms would have

unintended consequences on the succession – one of

the generals blooded in the conquest of Britannia

would be the future Imperator Vespasian, and the

expanded bureaucracy simply made the Senate even

more redundant, stripping it of its last

administrative and financial functions, removing yet

one more check from an already monolithic

monarchy. From this point onwards, so long as a

general possessed the necessary quorum of armed

force, he could seize the throne – the machinery of

government no longer had an interest in the

succession, and there was no institution powerful

enough to counter the brute force of the legions.

Claudius had few flaws as Imperator, but he did

have a fatal one: his wife, Agrippina the Younger, a

terribly ambitious woman who would stop at

nothing to secure power for herself, or if Roman

society chose not to accept a female, her son the

future Imperator Nero.

And so it was in 807 AUC that Agrippina

reputedly poisoned Claudius and the young Nero

was proclaimed Imperator. The course of events was

becoming depressingly repetitive. Rivals were

executed, absolute power corrupted, and the

powerless Senate and the restive and bribable mob

did nothing to check the power of the Imperial court

and the Imperator himself. Competent emperors

such as Augustus or Claudius were succeeded by

weaker, corrupt, or insane rulers, sinking the Empire

into a more and more debilitated state;

assassination, military coup d’état, and power plays

had become the norm of succession; and the very

idea of the rule of law and legitimate succession was

at best a oft-used excuse to justify the bloodshed that

accompanied an Imperator’s rise to power.

That excuse however was the only source of

stability in the Empire, and the only illusion keeping

the state from dissolving into civil war. So long as

Rome expected power to remain within the dynasty

inaugurated by Augustus, the Imperial family and

the Eternal City could be embroiled in the tremors of

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succession without affecting the Empire itself as a

whole. This last pillar of stability collapsed when a

series of events resulted in the proclamation of

Galba, a governor of an Imperial province, as

Imperator by the troops under his command. Nero’s

position began to collapse as he lost support among

the Praetorians and the members of the patrician

class, and the still young man, instead of confronting

the rebellion, fled the capital and eventually

committed suicide. His ignominious death marked

the end of the line of Imperators founded so

promisingly by Augustus.

With the dynasty extinguished, the question

of Imperial succession had reached a new low. Four

men soon became contenders of power: Galba, the

governor who had revolted against Nero’s role,

Otho, an ambitious patrician who bribed the

Praetorians to his side, Vitellius, commander of the

Germanic legions, and Vespasian, the man who had

been blooded in Britannia and had the support of the

legions of the East. The exact events are complex,

but by the time the dust settled, Vespasian was on

the throne, the other three dead. It had been the Year

of Four Emperors.

A hugely dangerous precedent had been set.

Imperial successions in the past, brutal though they

were, at least involved only a limited cast of Imperial

characters, but now the succession seemed to be

open to anyone with a large enough army. The

Roman Empire, once framed in the laws of the

Republic, was now a function of how much steel and

legions were controlled by a particular bidder for

power. If there was any vulnerability in a chain of

succession, if any family lost its monopoly on

military power, it could expect itself to be

overthrown and replaced with the next military

strongman. Rome, the once proud bringer of

civilization, had seemingly become an almost

barbaric military despotism.

Except of course that for the next century no

Imperator gained power through the use of armed

force. Even after the assassination of Domitian,

Vespasian’s second son and the last of that dynasty,

power was peacefully transferred to Nerva, an

advisor to Domitian. Nerva inaugurated a period of

history known as the reign of the “Five Good

Emperors,” during which Imperators adopted and

groomed handpicked successors. So did the Imperial

system rebalance itself? Had Nerva discovered the

key to the problem of succession by adopting the

most prominent and talented men as his successors?

Perhaps the events surrounding the end of the

dynasty of Augustus had been an unfortunate and

improbable series of events, a historical outlier. Or

perhaps not.

From the time of Nero’s death to our current

era, the Imperial system has not encountered much

substantial change. That is to say it is for all intents

and purposes it has remained an absolute monarchy

backed by an imperial bureaucracy and a massive

and well-organized army and the support of the

masses of Rome. Did perhaps the gradual

centralization of power somehow counter the

problems encountered during the slow death of the

Republican façade?

ROMA ETERNA 15

!

Or perhaps the Imperial system still contains

the systematic problems of succession exhibited by

the problems of the 8th

century AUC, and the

transition to absolute monarchy has only increased

the risks manifested by the degenerate, brutal, and

tyrannical actions of Imperators ascending to a

throne still limited by certain symbolic or political

considerations. In that case, perhaps these “Good

Emperors” are the outliers, a lucky streak of

competent men who can proficiently manage the

Imperial system.

It is not the task of this historian to fully this

answer. I urge the distinguished Senators and

magistrates to fully consider the history of

succession and decide upon a system that allows for

Rome to enjoy the posterity soon recently shattered

by the false Imperator Commodus.

If lions cannot decide peacefully who is king,

then there must inevitably be blood spilt. So choose,

brave Romans. Blood or words.

ROMA ETERNA 16

!

Unraveling Dream Rome has enjoyed the fruits of a hegemonic

peace for the last century, guided by the benevolent

hands of Imperators skilled in war but fair in peace.

The Imperium covers a vast territory, stretching

from the vast seascape of the World Ocean to the

trackless deserts of the Sahara, from the cold

northern wastes of Germania to the sunbaked

mountains of Armenia. Encircling the Mare

Nostrum, our ships sail from Byzantium, key of the

Bosporus, to resurrected Carthage, gateway to the

grain fields of Africa; our legions march from the

wilds of Caledonia, home of the last of the Celtic

tribes, to the sunbaked rocks of Masada, scene of the

Hebrew’s last resistance; and our wondrous

amphitheaters and aqueducts can be seen in every

settlement in all the lands in between. Truly, Rome

holds the entire world in the palm of her hand, and

Rome itself, the Eternal City of a thousand marble

monuments and a million living souls, lies at the

heart of it all, the city to which all roads lead.

Senator Gracchus

The successive fall of the false Imperator

Commodus and the idealistic Senator Gracchus has

shaken the Imperium at its very heart, but the

Imperium itself still stands strong, in large part

because the legions still guard the borders against

the barbarians beyond and preserve the peace in the

world within. It has been a century since the legions

last left their posts to intervene in the Imperial

succession, but a century means very little in the

grand schemes of eternity. Memories are long, and

perhaps even now ambitious generals in frontier

fronts are plotting to march their hardened veterans

from the barren edges of the Imperium to its living

rich heart, and to seize that heart for themselves.

Two centuries ago, the great Imperator

Augustus brought to an end the civil wars that had

plagued the death throes of the Republic, laying the

foundations of the Pax Romana. With peace finally

secured in the vast domains of the new Imperium,

Augustus decommissioned thousands of then

redundant veteran legionnaires, settling them in

military colonia throughout the provinces, leaving

the Imperator with some thirty legions under his

command, distributed along the borders. Although

the numbers have fluctuated slightly since the time

of Augustus with the rise and eventual defeat or

Rome’s armies, Marcus Aurelius left the Imperium

with thirty-two legions, stationed at virtually the

same positions as their predecessors two centuries

ago.

Current Situation!

ROMA ETERNA 17

!

Map of the Roman Empire, 125 A.D.

At the time of Commodus’s death, thirty

legions were posted along the Imperium’s frontier.

The following map indicates the position and

identity of each legion – although the map is rather

outdated, the legions and the borders they guard

have scarce changed in the years since.

Along with the legions, there were also

significant numbers of auxiliary forces – the

following chart gives a rough estimate of the various

dispositions at the death of Marcus Aurelius. In the

chaos of the last year, the numbers may have

fluctuated slightly due to desertion or unreported

recruitment by the provincial governors, but it is

unlikely that any single formation has been sizably

reinforced. It is to be assumed that in discussions of

“legions” auxiliary formations are also to be

included.

Command of each legion is given to a senior

officer known as the legatus, and the legions in each

province are under the ultimate direction of the

provincial governors. Originally the governors of

provinces with military forces were directly

appointed by the Imperator, but with the fall of

Commodus all provincial governors, military or civil,

are appointed by the Senator for a term that was

hastily set at one year. One of the Senate’s first

moves after reclaiming power was to recall all the

provincial governors to Rome, ostensibly to swear

loyalty to the reconstituted Republic, but many of

the military governors ignored or outright refused

the summons. No one party has yet acquired the

military force to make a bid for power, but it would

be foolish not to assume that several generals along

the frontiers have already begun forging alliances,

ROMA ETERNA 18

!

hoping to gather enough support to seize the

Imperial throne for themselves. Of the governors

who did heed the Senate’s call, most of the civil

governors, already loyal members of the Senate,

were returned to their posts without incident,

although the proconsul (a governor holding

proconsular powers and therefore elevated in rank)

of Africa suddenly decided that retirement to his

country estate seemed to be in order, while the

praefectus Aegypti (Egypt was a personal possession

of the Imperator and therefore a special governor

was traditionally appointed) suddenly disappeared

three days after returning to Rome. Given that the

governorship of Africa demanded a man of consular

rank, the leader of the Cornelli family, a man with

extensive administrative and political experience,

was offered the position; he has yet to accept or

decline the offer. The prefect of Aegyptus was

traditionally not drawn from the ranks of the

Senatorial order, and although some of the more

ambitious members of the Senate are pushing for the

termination of that tradition, a more conservative

bloc has yet to acquiesce to their colleague’s desires

– the governorship of Aegypt also remains to be

decided. The two military governors who did return

to Rome were charged with corruption and speedily

imprisoned and replaced – a member of the Fabii

family was sent to Cappadocia to take command of

the legion there, and a Valerian was given the

command in Tarraconensis.

Two of the legions, however, were not

stationed on the frontier. Legio II Italica and Legio

III Italica were raised exclusively for the bellum

Germanicum et Sarmaticum that the General

Maximus brought to a decisive end at the Battle of

Laugaricio, and were afterwards stationed at the

Rome’s port, Ostia. Those two legions, having

fought and died exclusively under Maximus’s

command, were intensely loyal even after the

general’s death, and Quintus, then still possessed of

all the authority of Praetorian Prefect, incorporated

the legionnaires into the otherwise apathetic and

even potentially hostile Praetorian Guard, bringing

the Guard’s manpower to near 10,000 active

personnel and providing him with just enough

support to survive the power transition after Senator

Gracchus’s death. Such a huge military force

obviously exerted serious logistical pressures on the

Roman supply network, but fortunately for the

prefect Senator Gracchus had appointed a

ferociously stubborn and efficient fellow Republican

named Senator Marcus Gracchus (a distant relation)

as Curator Alimentorum, who after the first

Gracchus’s death managed to maintain his position

as controller of Rome’s grain supply by reinstating

the dole. So long as Curator Gracchus controlled his

position, the Praetorian Prefect could keep his troops

fed – and so long as Praetorian cohorts wandered

past the house of the tresviri monetales (the mint

magistrate) every now and again, the troops would

also remain paid. And paid Praetorians are happy

Praetorians.

ROMA ETERNA 19

!

Traditionally, the Praetorians were the only

military forces in the capital that intervened in

politics, but that did not signify that they were not

the only armed formation in the city. Not only did

Augustus establish the Praetorian Guard (originally

simply bodyguards, the Praetorians soon became a

fully self-sufficient operating unit), but he also

commissioned three cohorts urbanae – Urban

Cohorts, trained as a paramilitary force capable of

handling heavy-handed policing actions. By the

reign of Marcus Aurelius, there were four cohorts in

the City, each numbering some 500 men, for a total

force of 2000, none of whom had any love for the

Praetorian Guard. Against the vast numerical

superiority of the Guard the Urban Cohorts

historically kept their silence and swords sheathed, a

precedent that they adhered to in the recent crisis.

Whether or not they continue to remain neutral is

largely dependent on the attitude and ambition of

the quasi-mayor of Rome, the praefectus urbi (urban

prefect) their commander – currently a young

member of the Cornelii, his predecessor having been

surrounded and lynched by the mobs at that plagued

Rome at the end of Senator’s Gracchus’s reign.

Although Rome has always primarily relied

on her legions and other terrestrial forces, the

Imperial Navy has also played a key role in the

history of the Imperium, notably at the critical battle

of Actium that confirmed the great Imperator

Augustus’s rule. In the decades and centuries after

Actium, there have been no significant naval

engagements; the Imperial Navy however has

proved its worth in numerous campaigns along the

rivers and seas at the fringes of the Imperium and

against the pirates that still oftentimes plague the

lucrative trade routes crisscrossing the Mare

Nostrum. There are a number of provincial fleets

stationed throughout the Imperium, supplemented

by provisional fleets created by commanders on site

to deal with military crises, but these fleets pale in

comparison to the four main fleets of the Imperium.

There are two “praetorian fleets”, based on either

side of the Italian peninsula and under the direct

control of the Imperator; these fleets deal with

routine patrols along the coast and also act as a

strategic reserve for the Imperial military forces. The

Classis Misenensis is based at Misenum at the

northern end of the Bay of Naples, and is comprised

of some 70 ships, of which 50 were triremes; Classis

Ravennas was based at Ravenna, nearing the tip of

the Adriatic, and included some 45 ships, also mostly

triremes. The other two main fleets of the Imperium

have more specialized roles: Classis Alexandrina (50

triremes) based at Alexandria in Aegyptus, is in

charge of escorting the massive grain shipments

from that province to Rome; and Classis Britannica

(40 triremes), based at Gesoriacum in Normandy, is

the link between the island of Britannica and the rest

of the Imperium (see Map 1 for location of these

major naval bases). These four fleets, commanded

by equestrians of the highest income and social

standing but manned by a mixture of maritime

Italians and Greeks, have thus far remained apathetic

to the conflict concerning the succession –

historically, the fleets will pragmatically support

whichever side appears to closest to victory. There is

no doubt however that even these fleets might be

enticed to support certain other political agendas

with the right incentive.

On the political front, two fractions have

begun to coalesce in the Eternal City – the

Imperialists and the Republicans. The names are

somewhat self-explanatory, but the composition of

each faction is somewhat more complex. The poorest

citizens, comprising a slight majority of the

population, miffed at the austere measures of

ROMA ETERNA 20

!

Senator Gracchus and fondly (and rather

mistakenly) remembering the excessive largesse of

the Imperators, are rabidly Imperialist, but will

likely be swayed if given the right incentive. The

more affluent plebeians, shopkeepers and minor

merchants, a quarter of the popularion, are in the

majority apathetic to the identity of their rulers, so

long as their feathers remain unruffled. Largely

unaffected by either the purges or the largesse of the

Emperors, save for the massive marble monuments

that many already take for granted, the affluent

plebeians have also long lost their taste for the

exercise of political power. If their interests are

threatened, however, they may yet find in their souls

a burning flame of self-preservation and self-

advancement, but otherwise they are more likely to

be conservative members of society. The equestrians,

or knights, are the lower order of the patrician class,

and are the primary economic movers of the

Imperium, controlling some of the largest businesses

and factors while also serving in prominent positions

within the Imperial bureaucracy. Their numbers

make up some ten percent of the city’s population.

Having benefited immensely from the Pax Romana

established by the Imperators and already in control

of many of the levers of the Imperium, the

equestrians are largely but not zealously followers of

the Imperial standard. Some of the perhaps cannier

equestrians see in the reestablishment of the

Republic an excellent opportunity to seize more

prominent positions within the state, both for their

order and for themselves. The Senatorial order of the

patrician class, though they constitute but a few

percent of the population, is politically dominant. Of

course they are mostly interested in the

reestablishment of the Republic, and with it the

return of the days when they firmly held the reigns

of the Roman state and controlled the destinies of

millions. But why should the Senators control Rome

when one Senator, or one family could do just as

well? There is a suspicion that the most prominent

members of the Senate would rather see the Imperial

system continued, so long as the Imperators hail

from the… appropriate lineage.

Of course, these generalizations hide a

hidden layer of complexity. Although elections have

been frozen and real power is rumored to be

concentrated in the hands of a shadowy group of

Senators and power brokers, the façade of the

Republic brings with it the possibility of mobilizing

the masses. The increased importance of public

support given the divided nature of the state has

meant the return of a bastardized form of the old

patronage system – simply put, politically powerful

patrons insure that their usually lower-class clients

accrue some kind of advantage in return for political

support. In the old days, the clients were expected to

mobilize themselves and their acquaintances to vote

for the correct measure – in these troubled times,

the clients may yet be asked to vote again, but

whether through ballots or clubs remains to be seen.

These personal relationships can supersede ties of

ROMA ETERNA 21

!

class, meaning that the aspiring politician has

multiple methods for wooing public support.

Of the two factions, one would expect the

Imperialists to be possessed of the simpler plan:

maintain the status quo, change nothing, and simply

decide who should succeed the quickly disappearing

shade of Commodus. The Imperial system, however,

is not without its defects, and some of the resigned

Imperialists would like to take advantage of the

tumultuous situation to enact certain reforms. The

current system, where all executive power is centered

on the Emperor and the army while administration

is left to a vast Imperial bureaucracy, leaves no room

for the Senate except as an oft ignored advisory

council. The proposals for reforming this system are

numerous, from decentralizing the Roman

bureaucracy to the provincial level to restricting the

Imperator’s residence to the city of Rome itself; the

debates over these reforms often leave the Imperial

group at the edge of implosion.

Then there are the survivors of the Imperial

family. Commodus died childless; his nephew

Lucius Verus, grandson of Marcus Aurelius and the

son of Aurelius’ late co-Imperator, Lucius is the

natural and obvious successor to the Imperial

throne. Remembered fondly as a fixture at the games

but free of the taint of Commodus’s cruelty due to

his innocent age, Lucius has become incredibly

popular with the masses, and many in the

Imperialist faction dearly wish to see him installed as

Imperator – with themselves as guardians, of course.

His mother Lucilla, however, rumored to be the

lover of the late hero Maximus, has skillfully

sculpted an image of moderate Republicanism for

the young boy. Noticeably silent during the

draconian regime of Senator Gracchus, Lucius has

since modestly indicated that he has no taste for

power and would wish to see the Senate restored to

its ancient glory. It is a pleasing song to the Senators

and generally approved of by the patrician class, who

think it simple enough to reduce the boy to a

figurehead, especially since his mother seems

perfectly content to adhere to the wishes of her dead

lover. The only segment of society who has been

noticeably cool to the young boy has been the

legions – distrustful of his mother’s influence and

aware of Lucius’s youth, there are many in the

legions and the Praetorian Guard who speak of

raising an older, more experienced man to the

Imperial purple – a man who has of course spent

time with the legions, for who else would be

experienced enough to handle the difficult task of

defending the Empire’s borders?

The Republicans would send the consuls to

command the legions – or the proconsuls. Or

perhaps it would be best to have a caste of

professional officers. Madness! They would not

interfere with the administration of the Republic!

We have not even decided how the Republic should

be administered! How can we expect the people and

Senate of Rome to govern a territory far

outstretching the limits of the city itself? What do

we do with the masses? How much power do we

accede them? None! Then what Republic do you

speak of – then what makes us better than the

Carthaginians, with their council of judges? A

Republic is not a democracy! We cannot allow the

mob to rule. Rome must again select her own

leaders, but they must be men worthy of that honor,

not the favorite of the rabble! You talk about

selection, yet I see no way to prevent the legions

from making their own selection the new Imperator!

I will die before I see another half-educated puffed-

ROMA ETERNA 22

!

up military peacock on the throne! For the Republic!

For the Republic! For the Republic!

ROMANS! I ask you this – one simple

question, and yet we have no answer: What is the

Republic?

The Republicans too suffer from the effects

of political infighting. That is why in the last few

months the Senate and the city itself have ground to

a half, embroiled in bitter factional dispute. It is one

of the reasons why there are whispers of a secret

cabal of important men who are working to find

some solution to the gridlock. It is one of the reasons

why the dream that is Rome is slowly, but slowly

faster, unraveling.

The economic situation of the Imperium is

also slowly unraveling. But one cannot understand

the process of decay without first understanding the

body – so too it will be necessary to survey the vast

scale of the Imperial economy before we proceed to

investigate its slow disintegration. Although the city

of Rome itself is a huge and sprawling urban center,

the Imperium itself is still largely rural and focused

on the production and movement of agricultural

goods. The driver of most of this economic activity

remains the Eternal City itself – with its huge

population, Rome requires the produce of several

provinces in order to keep its half-million hungry

mouths fed, and the vast trade network created by

the transshipment process makes trade one of the

key pillars of the Roman economy. Besides

agriculture and its attendant transportation

necessities, the largest economic sector in the

Imperium is mining – mining not only for the

precious metals found in Hispania but also for the

marble of Rome’s monuments and the iron of the

legionnaire’s gladius. Most of the material mined

from the earth is refined and crafted in the few

proto-industrial centers of the Imperium – Rome

and the urban centers of the East and Gaul. The rest

of the urban population is mainly engaged in the

business of maintaining the fabric of the cities

themselves – construction, distribution, service, and

entertainment. The urban poor find themselves

mired in poverty, laboring at the sweaty business of

hawking wares and smelting metal; the equestrians

on the other hand dominate the ranks of the

importers and real-estate managers, exploiting not

only the trade in agricultural produce but also in

luxury goods from the Orient, destined for the

consumers of the Senatorial class and Imperial

family. So the lives of millions are threaded together,

in a complex web of connections cemented by grain

and gold.

Given the predominant position held by

agriculture in the Roman economy, it is not

surprising that land and its distribution has been a

central economic and social issue since the time of

the Republic. Currently, there are three types of

landowners/land holdings in the large rural stretches

of the Imperium. The latifundia are large-scale tracts

of privately owned land specialized for the

production of grain, grapes, and olives – the cash

ROMA ETERNA 23

!

crops of the Roman world. Manned by masses of

slaves imported from both within and without the

Imperium, they are owned by rich equestrians,

successful provincials, and members of the

Senatorial class, and constitute a large degree of their

wealth. These latifundia are primarily concentrated

in the provinces, especially the grain producing

provinces of Sicily and Africa, breadbasket of Rome.

Although highly efficient and massive in scale, they

pale in comparison to the holdings of the largest

landowner in the Imperium – the Imperator

himself. Managed by the freedmen and equestrians

of the Imperial bureaucracy, these Imperial estates

are latifundia on a scale almost incomprehensible to

private citizens, and also constitute a strategic

reserve – it is primarily from these holdings that

Imperators dole out the land promised to veterans

who have completed their terms of service, settling

them in military colonies throughout the vast

reaches of the Imperium. These veterans are

included in the final category of landowners – small

private farmers who mainly can do more than

provide for their own sustenance and perhaps spare

some produce for the forum of a nearby settlement.

Hardworking, poor but not impoverished, these

families live and die in the soil – unaware and

uncaring of the grand machinations of Empire. From

the banks of the Nile to the plains of Campania,

these men and women seem to mold into the

continuous onward march of time, generations

cycling in their monotonously unique iterations.

They hardly stir – unless something or someone

disrupts the way of life they have known since time

immemorial.

Although some distribution of these three

types of holdings exist in all the provinces of the

Imperium, it must be noted that most

provinces are mainly self-sufficient or otherwise only

engaged in low-level regional trade – three

provinces hold the monopoly on large scale exports

of foodstuffs. These three provinces are Africa,

Sicilia, and Aegyptus – in Africa and Sicilia, the

main form of landholding is the latifundia, while in

Aegyptus and sheer number of small landowning

farmers and the legendary fertility of the Nile valley

produces a substantial surplus. If anything should

happen to the produce of these three provinces, it

may well be predicted that the citizens who depend

on the export of grain from these three provinces

will be liable to express extreme dissatisfaction with

whatever current regime appears to be holding

power. Those citizens mainly reside in the city of

Rome.

If Sicily, Africa, and Aegyptus are the

breadbasket of the Imperium, Italia and Graecia are

its quarries and Hispania, Dacia, Noricum, and

Britannica its mines. Although there are limited

mining operations in nearly all the provinces, there

are only significant reserves of mineral resources in

the above provinces, making them strategically

important – if any of these provinces were to

become separated from Rome itself, the long-terms

effects could be devastating. Noricum, Dacia, and

Britannica are the sources of much of Rome’s iron,

used both in the implements of peaceful production

and the weapons of conquest and war; Britannica

and Hispania contain most of the Imperium’s gold

mines and therefore serve as the foundation for the

Roman currency system.

The currency system itself is rather complex

and deserves mention. The two main types of coins

in circulation in the present period are the gold

aureus and the silver denarius; the former is hardly

used in transactions but instead serves as the

ROMA ETERNA 24

!

“currency of account” to which all other coins are

compared, while the denarius is the basic unit of

currency used in a Roman’s day to day life. A Roman

legionary currently makes 300 denarii a year, slightly

more than a day laborer world; Marcus Licinius

Crassus, the wealthiest man of the Roman Republic,

was worth some 50 million denarii. Currently, an

aureus is valued at somewhere near 25 denarii, but

crucially there has never been a way to enforce a

strict ration between the fluctuating silver content of

the denarius and to what is all intents and purposes

the gold standard embodied in the aureus.

Coinage takes up the vast majority of the

Imperium’s gold and river; the other baser metals

are shipped to the urban centers of the Imperium,

home not only to the workshops that make up

Rome’s industrial base but also another strategic

resource: population.

Although the Roman tax system allowed for

the “tribute” of agricultural goods in lieu of actual

specie, the urban populations of the provinces could

were still quite efficiently taxed by the

representatives of the Imperial bureaucracy, and

served as a great source of income of the Imperator.

Large populations also provided manpower –

although Rome’s armies have not resorted to

conscription in centuries, a lengthy conflict could

require the institution of conscription in order to

make up for losses among the professional legions.

Finally, urban centers are also nodes of trade.

Whoever controlled the strategic cities bestriding the

caravan and shipping routes of the Mediterranean

would be able to profit from the immense wealth

flowing through and besides their walls, and to a

great degree prevent some of that wealth from

reaching certain rivals.

So where are the urban centers of the

Imperium? Each province has a provincial capital

that represents the center of urban population in that

province, but there are five cities that deserve special

mention for their extraordinary concentration of

humanity. The first city of the Imperium is

obviously Rome itself – at the heart of Italia and

home of some half million souls, it is the preeminent

city of the Mediterranean world. Alexandria,

founded by Alexander the Great some four hundred

years ago, stands at the head of the Nile Delta and

controls access to and from the great grain fields of

the Nile Valley. Antioch in Syria serves as the

entrepot for the last leg of the Silk Road,

transferring the loads of caravans laden with the

goods of Asia to the trading ships of the

Mediterranean. Carthage in Africa exercises her

power over Mauretania and Numidia, another

sources of vital grain for the Imperium. And finally,

Ephesus in Asia Minor has emerged as the queen of

the old Hellenistic city-states, first among equals of

the heavily urbanized Aegean coast, rich in people,

production, trade, and the attendant wealth such

things bring.

Although much smaller in size, some other

provincial centers deserve mention because of their

strategic position and administrative importance.

The bases of the Roman legions shown in the maps

ROMA ETERNA 25

!

above are obviously the epicenters of Roman politics

on the frontier, but there are a number of civilian

centers which serve analogous functions for the vast

expanses of the Imperium’s interior. In Hispania,

Corduba holds sway over the plains of Andalusia

and the center of the peninsula, while Tarraco on the

Mare Nostrum coast is the link between the

peninsula and the rest of the Roman world. In Gaul,

the ancient city of Lugdunum shines as an example

of Roman urbanity in the center of the province,

while traveling south on the Rhone river will

eventually lead a traveler to the old Greek colony of

Massilia, the primary port of Roman Gaul. In far

northern Britannia, the walled city on the Thames,

Londinium, hosts the Roman governor and his

administration. Italia not only has the ports of

Ravenna and Neapolis (close to the naval fleet at

Misenum) but also the controller of the Po river

valley, Mediolanum. Sicilia is the home of Syracuse,

famed for its sailors and sculptors. Ancient Athens

still remains a center of culture and history, while

Byzantium sits at the crossroads of sea and land

routes spanning the divide between Asia and

Europa. Finally, Jerusalem in the sun-seeped lands

of Judea is the spiritual home to both a emerging

sect of religious devotees, the Christians, and a

stalwart group of old malcontents, the Jews.

Such are the cities of the Imperium, and the

general overview of the Roman economy.

And how exactly is such a massive web of

interconnections slowly, ponderously, splintering

into a thousand dying threads? Because in the end

the Imperial economy is not a monolith – it is a web,

and webs are liable to unravel. It begins with

inflation. The Imperators have continuously debased

the denarius over the last two centuries in order to

generate more currency for their own personal

projects, so that by the reign of Commodus the 300

denarii the legionary could expect in salary was

equivalent to some 240 denarii of the Augustus era.

The Imperial government has also continuously

demanded that taxes be paid in gold or silver specie,

leading to a slow reversion to a barter economy in

many of the provinces, where currency has grown

exceedingly scarce. Senator Gracchus in one of his

earliest reforms freed the provincials from the

obligation of paying their taxes in specie, instead

accepting agricultural goods – while popular with

the Imperium’s masses it also accelerated the

increasing regionalization of the economy. So long

as prices remain stable and the currency is not

further debased, inflation will likely remain steady,

but even with the Roman roads and the vast grain

fleets crossing the Mediterranean the Imperium has

seen a sharp downturn in trade and inter provincial

communication since the start of Commodus’s reign,

leading many to fear that the Empire will splinter

economically, and then politically.

Then there are the social and cultural

tensions within the Imperium. Although Rome

established her hegemony over Athens many

centuries ago, the Eastern half of the Imperium

remains highly Hellenized, especially Graecia itself

and Asia Minor. In the provinces of Syria, Judea, and

Aegyptus, indigenous cultures and civilizations mesh

uneasily with layers of Hellenization and

Romanization, creating an unstable mix of

somewhat Roman-Hellenistic elites and more

“native” populations. In the West, the populations

are all superficially Romanized, but they have no

more loyalty to Rome beyond the tips of their self-

interest. This is not the age of nationalism and there

are hardly any separatists movements based upon

ethnicity or culture, but the Imperium remains a

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conglomerate, a conglomerate that could very

conceivably split into many smaller parts without the

slightest bit of centripetal cultural opposition.

Finally, there is the slowly decaying moral

fiber of Rome. Ever since the rise of the Imperium

the population of Rome has become gripped by an

increasing disinterest in the affairs and

administration of governance. The masses still

demand their bread and circuses, that is true, and

the Senatorial elite still expect the social prestige and

influence of close Imperial connections, but the idea

of serving the Roman state, the very virtue of service

has slowly been extinguished from the minds of the

Roman people. They demand, but they do not give;

they expect, but they do not sacrifice. In the days of

the Republic, private self-interest was chaotically but

effectively unified with the interests of the Roman

state; personal glory reflected the city’s glory;

personal wealth would only be achieved by a

conquest or clever political pandering to the interests

of the people at large; and personal self-worth was

inextricably tied up with the success of the state.

Even then the masses and the politicians were

nakedly self-interested, but at least there remained a

conception of Rome – an idea, an entity worth

protecting, serving, and supporting. Now there is

just an empty word, a sullen reminder of glories

past, a façade and a mask and nothing to hide

behind but all the Senators and all the people try –

that is what Rome has become. The dream has been

unraveling for so long that it may now be too late to

try and hold all the loose threads together, too late to

salvage the battered and broken dream of history

and tradition. It may be too late; it may not be.

Rome simmers. The legions grumble at

their posts and prod their generals, the politicians

shout and debate and decide upon nothing, the ships

of trade sail to closer ports fewer times, and all across

the Imperium many forget the very essence of Rome,

what it meant, the dream behind the city that drove

it to chase eternity itself. Eternity marches onward, it

has no regard for the petty squabbles of mortals, it

cares not for politics and war and the thousand

insignificant scurrying’s of our little lives. Time will

not wait for us, dear Romans, and we are falling

behind.

The thousand myriad threads fray, and you

may yet despair of the complexity of the great beast

that is Rome. But stitch by stitch, action by action,

decision by decision, we may yet be able to slowly

heal the wounds of war and degeneracy and rebuild

the dream that was, and perhaps, against all that

stands against us, still is, Rome.

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The Three Families

As previously mentioned, there are three patrician families who dominate the Renovamen – the Cornelii,

the Fabii, and the Valerii. Over the centuries, the three families have developed certain connections and a certain

reputation with certain blocs of the Roman population.

The Cornelli have provided consuls for both the Republic and the Empire, and since time immemorial

have been one of the most respected patrician families of Rome. Noted for their elitism, stoicism, and righteous

integrity, the Cornelli are often portrayed as the heirs to a long-dead Republican tradition of governance, and as

such their prestige and influence among the Senators is especially high. They have long championed the rights

and privileges of the Senatorial class. Now that the Empire is in the throes of an existential crisis, many informed

observers have predicted that the Cornelli will be behind a concerted drive to resurrect the Republic, or at least to

expand the power and influence of the Senate in Rome’s affairs. Although the Cornelli have as of yet not made

explicit their plans and intentions, their supporters are expecting them to follow their Republican line, and would

be severely disappointed if they saw the Cornelli betray their roots - unless of course those doubting supporters

were… persuaded of the righteousness of the far-seeing Cornelli.

The Fabii have been one of the few patrician families in Rome’s history who have both demonstrated a

knack for political maneuvering and the business acumen necessary to amass one of Rome’s largest fortunes.

Possessed of vast estates throughout the Empire and with many connections to the equestrian businessmen who

dominate the industrial and commercial sectors of Rome’s economy, the Fabii are cynically expected to support

whichever person and group would best support their family’s interests. Politically ambiguous, the Fabii could be

the decisive factor that determines who wins in the contest between Republicans and Imperialists – or they could

be the dark horse lurking in the shadows.

The Valerii have produced a number of fiery populist champions since the early days of the Empire, and

they have since earned a place in the hearts of Rome’s plebeians. Always a supporter of more bread, circuses, and

land for the city’s poor, the Valerii are cordially detested by a large number of Senators but have such popular

support that they are considered critical to any solution to the crisis. Likely unwilling to give up their credibility

among Rome’s lower classes, they face heavy pressure to secure a return to the days of Imperial largesse, but more

subtle commentators believe that the so long as the Valerii are able to feed the mob the plebeians will not think too

much on the identity of the hand that feeds them.

The rest of the Renovamen have no distinctive tradition of support or expected ideological track. They

have no established base of political power and are therefore weaker than the families, but in contrast they are not

constrained by the wishes of constituencies.

Bloc Positions!

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The Journey into the Unclear Future

Who shall rule Rome? How shall they rule?

The old Emperor is dead, the dictator is dead, and the reins of power are waiting for a pair of strong

hands to seize them. But though they need not be a pair of hands, there must be hands to guide the rudder of the

ship of state, and those hands are most likely connected to a certain person or group of persons. Who will those

persons be? Who will emerge from the power vacuum and ascend to the power wielded by the kings, the consuls,

and the Emperors?

How will they rule, and over what? The Romans have seen monarchy, republic, and empire – perhaps

they shall return to these traditions. Perhaps they will strike again into the wilds of political innovation and

transform Rome into a shining vision of the future. And perhaps there shall be no Rome at the end of the journey,

or at least, nothing of the Empire that Rome ruled over.

For now, the future of Rome rests in the hands of the Renovamen, but they must now decide the shape of

that future emerging from the mists above the onrushing current of time.

Questions to Consider

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The Power in the Shadows

The Renovamen are not an officially sanctioned institution of the Empire, and therefore exercise no

official power. It is more akin to an association of highly placed individuals who are in a position to concurrently

sway the course of events in a desired direction. As individuals, the members of the Renovamen are extremely

influential and can shape the events of the government and economy, but currently ultimate executive power

remains officially vested in the hands of the two interim consuls and the larger body of the Senate, although even

their authority is restricted given the large segments of the army, the city, and general Roman society which still

support the old Imperial system. Insofar as the members of Renovamen control official positions within the

pseudo-Republican government they can exercise those officially prescribed powers on behalf of the committee.

Members are also likely to succeed to further positions as the course of events proceeds, and will be able to

exercise the powers associated with those positions on behalf of the committee. In limited circumstances, further

members may be added. As the Renovamen molds the directives of the Senate, it may vest itself with official

powers, or mutate the committee into another form that does possess official powers. In very rare circumstances,

the committee may even break apart or be otherwise disbanded.

Effectively, the Renovamen possesses enough influence to act as the secret executive council of the Senate,

but the Senate’s power is in practice limited at this juncture. It also has broad “unofficial” power derived from its

influence and connections. These powers are subject to the continued influence of the members of the committee

– if members fall from grace or are killed, the collective power of the committee will decrease.

But always remember this – the Renovamen were born to operate in the shadows, and only emerge into

the light at their own risk.

Role of the Committee!

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The Eagle’s Den

This committee is not only the supreme executive council of the Roman state; it is also a battleground for

some of the oldest rivalries in the Roman world. In its function as an executive organ, committee procedures will

function much like most other MUN committees, with one major exception – as an unofficial association of

asymmetrically powerful men, the committee has no sacrosanct constitution per se and voting rules in particular

are subject to the whims of the members. Currently, voting rules can be changed by approval of �’s of the

committee members, with the three paterfamilias holding veto power. Otherwise, resolutions and motions follow

the standard voting procedure – for now.

The committee is also a battlefield, and as Marcus Tullius once said “the sinews of war are infinite

money.” In theory, family members owe some degree of political loyalty to the paterfamilias by virtue of their

position in their family, but they are powerful individuals in their own right and are expected to operate

independently and for their own interests. The dynamic is particular noticeable when dealing with issues of

capital. The state itself has income that must be appropriated by the committee, but each family has their own

familial estates that are under the direct control of the paterfamilias. Each individual within the family also has

limited financial resources that can be increased or stripped, depending on the political climate. And of course

those members who do not belong to a family have their own considerable fortunes. Though Romans speak of

power, glory, and honor, the currency of the realm remains… currency. You’ll find that you require money to

carry out any schemes you might have.

Structure of the Committee!

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The Cornelii

Publius Cornelius Lentulus

Paterfamilias, Proconsular Rank

Age: 52

Publius Cornelius Lentulus is the current head of the Cornelii family, heir to a long line of highly successful

patrician statesmen dating to the years of the Republic. Upon the tragic death of his father, murdered by highway

bandits, the scrappy nineteen-year-old Lentulus became the embattled head of the vast Cornelii family, and

managed to survive the intrigues threatening to partition the family’s fortunes by becoming good friends and

political allies with the then still young Marcus Aurelius. Quick in mind but abrasive in manner, Imperial

patronage assured Lentulus a rapid rise in the Senatorial ranks, and he quickly leaped from quaestor to praetor,

praetor to consul, though he made a number of powerful enemies along the way. A tyrannical but excellent

manager of men and administrator, Lentulus has also served extensively in the provinces, most notably in the

prestigious post of Governor of Asia, which he was assigned immediately after his year in the consul’s chair.

Quietly retired from public offices after the ascension of the paranoid Commodus, Lentulus is still a well-regarded

elder statesmen and wields considerable influence among the large network of allies and clients he has built both

in Rome and in the cities of the Eastern provinces. A believer in the philosophy of Marcus Aurelius and a Cornelii

besides, he is a staunch Republican and has been one of the most vocal supporters of a return to Republican

tradition. He is currently considering an appointment to the governorship Africa, where he had served as an

adjutant to the old governor in this youth – but of course, such an appointment would require him to leave Rome,

at least for some amount of time.

Lucius Cornelius Rufinus

Urban Prefect, Proquaestor rank

Age: 29

One of the younger members of the Cornelii clan, Rufinus is considered the young prodigy of the line and carries

the burden of great expectations upon his thin shoulders. Never physically robust and teased since childhood

about his more bookish predilections and his love of Greek culture and drama, what Rufinus lacks in military

pomp he makes up for with a boyish charm and an easy acquaintance with his seniors and superiors, who are

usually deeply impressed by his oratorical and educational accomplishments. Well-regarded by almost all the

elder Senators, the brilliant young Rufinus was surprisingly chosen to be the urban prefect despite his relative

inexperience – he had only recently left the office of quaestor, during which he had spent most of his time helping

plan the memorial games for Marcus Aurelius. His inexperience did give him one immense advantage – having

only just recently stepped into the political arena, he is considered a political nonentity despite his Cornelian (and

therefore by default Republican) heritage and is thought to pose no danger to the established balance of power.

Now the de factor mayor of the largest city in the known world, Rufinus will need to quickly establish his

List of Characters!

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credentials with the bureaucracies controlling the actual operation of the city’s infrastructure, secure enough

support to maintain his political position with the Senate and the masses, and quickly learn the administrative and

managerial skills required to manage the affairs of such a large urban population. If he manages to succeed in his

position, he will become one of the major players on the Roman stage – perhaps even the leading player himself.

Gaius Cornelius Dolabella

Praetor, Propraetor Rank

Age: 39

Gaius Cornelius Dolabella was born under a baleful star, or so the stories say. Brash and arrogant as only a

member of the Cornelii can be, the still young Dolabella has always been burdened by a birth defect that has left

half of his face a disfigured morass of grotesquery. His natural bad temper has only been exasperated by the

shameful scorning he received as a youth, driving him to make up what he lacked in physical qualities with the

sheer force of his intellect and personality. He has since become the finest legal mind of his generation, but at a

price; in the course of many acerbic and draconian prosecutions Dolabella has managed to become cordially

despised by most of the Senators and feared by the masses, a political leper barely accepted by his own family.

Though hated, in the legal chaos following Commodus’s death there was no other man who had the credentials

and abilities to control and reform the legal system, and Dolabella was elected to the office of Praetor. The Senate

expanded upon the traditional judicial nature of the Praetorship and assigned Dolabella the task of reforming the

Roman legal code, granting him special dispensations to present new laws without amendment to the Senate and

to intervene as judge in any court case. Now finally Dolabella has attained the respect and power he has believed

himself to have so richly deserved – finally people have begun to treat him as befits one of the descendants of the

Cornelii family. But it is never enough. Nothing will ever salve the wounds that 39 years of pain and ridicule – no,

even the world is not enough. But it will do.

Sextus Cornelius Cethegus

Governor of Britannia, Proconsular Rank

Age: 44

Second-in-command of the Cornelii, Cethegus is the military mind of his generation, having served with

distinction during the recent war with the barbarians. Luckily for the then consul, Sextus was posted to contain

the northern German tribes, far enough from Maximus’s armies that he escaped the purge that accompanied

Maximus’s fall. Quickly declaring his loyalty to Commodus, Cethegus was rewarded with the Governorship of

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Britannia, a powerful post with the attendant command of three legions but also on the fringes of the Empire,

where the increasingly paranoid Emperor thought Cethegus would pose little threat. Now that Commodus is

dead, Cethegus has been caught in an awkward position. One of the few Cornelii to openly declare for the

Emperor, the Republican majority in the family regards him with faint distrust, but the Imperial partisans simply

cannot move past the Cornelius in his name and are also loath to trust him. With three legions behind him, he is

too dangerous for any individual bloc to oppose him and too important for the powerbrokers to ignore, so he was

duly invited to join the committee. Leaving his legions behind in his province as commanded, Cethegus has little

immediate military muscle but a large potential force should he be able to reach his island – military muscle that

could be used to support his family and the Republicans, the Imperialists who he had half-heartedly supported for

a few short months, or… himself.

The Fabii

Marcus Fabius Vibulanus

Paterfamilias, Proconsular Rank

Age: 57

Marcus Fabius Vibulanus is the richest man in Rome, perhaps the richest man in the world. Owner of a vast

system network of latifundia in Iberia and Gaul, the Fabian fortune is built on the backs of slaves and wine, wheat,

and the waves that carry those goods from the corners of the Empire to Rome. Now corpulent, good-natured,

even lazy, Vibulanus was once one of the keenest and most cleverly corrupt officials during Marcus Auerlius’s

reign, using his influence and political positions to secure extremely favorable tax and duty legislation for his

massive agricultural and shipping Empire. After his consulship a decade ago Vibulanus retired from public life

and ensconced himself in his massive country villa; many expected Vibulanus to remain there when Commodus

died, continuing his life of frivolous and decadent luxury, but surprisingly the man charged up from the coastal

plain and demanded a voice in the political process, ruthlessly bribing any who opposed his ambitions. No one

has yet discerned what has motivated the fatly content Vibulanus to dive back into the fray – is it latent ambition?

Opportunism? Boredom? Or ideology? Only time will tell.

Titus Fabius Vibulanus

Governor of Cappadocia, Proquaestor Rank

Age: 28

Marcus Fabius Vibulanus handed out quite a few bribes in the months after Commodus’s death – and some of

them eventually catapulted his nephew, Titus Fabius Vibulanus, to the governorship of Cappadocia. Owing his

position to a complicated political deal and corruption on a massive scale, Titus Vibulanus is thoroughly despised

by the other two families and generally considered an incompetent who has no skill save being related to his

thrice-damned uncle! During his term as quaestor Titus Vibulanus was known primarily for his party antics –

rumor tells that after being discovered in a brothel, he claimed to have been “inspecting the premises” before

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being hustled away by his manservants. Without any prior interest in political or military affairs (in fact, without

prior interest in anything beyond drinking and whoring), Vibulanus has not even left Rome since being appointed

Governor of Cappadocia. Whether or not there is hidden spine beneath the useless exterior waits to be seen.

Gaius Fabius Ambustus Pius

Censor, Propraetor Rank

Age: 51

There is a reason they call Gaius Fabius Ambustus “Pius” – unlike his distant relation Titus Fabius Vibulanus,

Ambustus is considered one of the most rigidly moral men of his generation. A devotee of Marcus Aurelius’

Stoicism but a staunch opponent of the very notion of Imperial power, Ambustus came close to being arrested and

executed many times during the course of Commodus’s reign; in fact, he came quite close to being arrested even

under infinitely more benevolent reign of Marcus Aurelius, so outspoken are his opinions and Republican

tendencies. A bit of a black sheep in his own family, Ambustus has nevertheless won the grudging respect of the

Senators and the masses. When the Senate chose to revive the powers of the censor, moral guardian of Rome and

possessed with the power to inspect and stripe Senators of their position, the impossibly integral Ambustus was

the clear choice. Immediately upon his ascension, Ambustus disgraced a group of five of the most corrupt

senators, including members of his own family, thoroughly alarming the establishment who had never imagined

that they had perhaps released a power they could not control. Apparently determined to recreate the Republic of

Cato, Ambustus will likely stop at nothing to purge the immorality and degeneracy of Rome. Except perhaps,

death.

Quintus Fabius Maximus

Governor of Germania Inferior, Propraetor Rank

Age: 55

After Sextus Cornelius Cethegus left Germania Inferior for Britannia, Quintus Fabius Maximus was sent by

Commodus to command the legions posted on the northern German frontier. With four decades of military

service, Maximus is a seasoned but relatively undistinguished soldier, having served in Africa and as a legate under

Cethegus in the recent campaigns. Thoroughly competent but never accused of brilliance, Maximus’s

appointment was the expected pinnacle for an undistinguished member of the famous Fabian family, a reward for

his long decades of service and his final opportunity for glory before being shelved in twilight appointments.

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Gruff, rustic, Maximus is often described as a “soldier’s soldier” and is well-respected by the military but fairly

unknown in political circles; those few times he has spoken in the Senate House have been to fully and uncritically

support the family’s positions. Now in a greater position of influence given the general turmoil, Maximus is

expected to continue his loyalty to the family and play his accustomed role of the unsophisticated and loyal

soldier. But soldiers have an odd tendency to become Emperor in chaotic times such as these.

The Valerii

Gnaeus Valerius Potitus

Paterfamilias, Proconsular Rank

Age: 48

There are a number of anecdotes concerning Gnaeus Valerius Potitus – but none so famous as the one jokingly

labeled the “Consul’s Wife.” Supposedly, at the age of eighteen the dashingly handsome and ferociously

personable Potitus took it upon himself to seduce the wife of an oppressive patrician consul named Lucius Gaius

Lepidus, who was known for his great cruelty against the plebeians. Potitus succeeded, naturally enough, but was

discovered by the consul, who proceeded to draw his blade – but not quickly enough. Barely past the cusp of

adulthood, Potitus became a killer. Instead of surrendering himself to the Urban Cohorts, who were under orders

to deliver a light sentence to the scion of the Valerian family, Potitus was audacious enough to flee the city to

nearby Neapolis, where he disappeared until the frustrated Marcus Aurelius declared the months-long manhunt

over and granted clemency to the young man. In the intervening years, Potitus has hardly lost the violent,

audacious streak of his youth – a firebrand and demagogue, he finds strict legal adherence ridiculous and fear an

incomprehensible concept. A fervent supporter of the power of the plebs, Potitus was exiled to his country estate

when Commodus ascended the throne but has since become uncomfortable bedfellows with the Cornellian

Republicans, but there are whispers that Potitus would prefer to see an even more radical form of government –

perhaps even that form of mob-rule known as democracy.

Tiberius Valerius Messalla Germanicus

Governor of Tarraconensis, Propraetor Rank

Age: 32

The son and grandson of legates and frontier governors, Messalla was born in the forward administrative center

of Germania Inferior, Colonia Agrippina, and is well known and fondly remembered by both the citizens and

soldiers of that province – many of them still consider his father’s governorship one of the most successful in

recent decades. Tales abound of the young Messalla running amok around town, but the young boy had a keen

eye for boundaries and never crossed them – toed them considerably, but never crossed. This devilishly accurate

emotional intuition made him one of the best dice players in the province, but all such distractions were never his

main interest in life. He spent more time in the armory than in the streets, more time reading than dicing. On his

sixteenth birthday, his father put Messala in command of a routine patrol, but the exercise in leadership soon

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devolved into an actual military situation when Messala’s men came up against a band of German raiders on the

wrong side of the Rhenus. After days of cat and mouse games, Messala cornered them against the Rhenus and

crushed the utterly. Since then, Messala has earned a reputation for both military and administrative competence

in his service in the German provinces, and his emotional intelligence has stood him in good stead since coming to

the Eternal City herself. Recently finishing a term of praetor under Commodus, the young man is considered an

up and coming provincial politician and soldier but has never been considered a contender in Rome’s much more

dangerous political game. Coming from the provinces, the senators saw no objection to sending him back to

another province, but for now Messala remains in Rome “arranging his affairs.” He’s playing a tight game – how

can he keep his unimpressive exterior but also insert himself into the power games of the Capitol? Well. He has

always been good at tight games.

Decimus Valerius Triarius

Aedile, Proquaestor Rank

Age: 36

Decimus Valerius Triarius is a bit of a black sheep when it comes to ambitious Romans. Instead of pursuing

military glory, legal mastery, political control, or oratorical domination, Triarius is interested in… architecture.

Which makes him perfect for the position of aedile, in charge of initiating and maintaining the public works of

Rome, but hardly a candidate for inclusion in the secret executive council of the Roman Empire. Triarius,

however, is not only one of Rome’s greatest civil engineers – he also possesses an incredibly talent for languages

and is an incredible mathematician besides. Well schooled in politesse, manners, and diplomatic maneuvering

(one does need a certain diplomatic skill to negotiate the right to pursue one’s odd little hobby as a serious

endeavor), Triarius has recently been recalled from the ambassadorship of the Parthian Empire, Triarius is

Rome’s greatest expert on the world outside of the Empire’s borders, and has been accepted in the Renovamen as

an integral advisory asset in these troubled and vulnerable times. The still youthful man appears completely

harmless and completely useful – he is perhaps the one man on the council who might be considered neutral. This

advantage, possessed with his numerous contacts in foreign nations, makes him a strange but incredibly strong

candidate for power – but Triarius has never sought power. So why would he start now?

Publius Valerius Laevinus

Pontifex Maximus, Propraetor Rank

Age: 41

Amongst the chaos and political convulsions following the deaths of Commodus and Gracchus, hardly anyone

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noticed the position vacated in the spiritual heart of Rome. On the day following the death of Dictator Gracchus, a

slave found the dead body of Lucius Aemelius Papus in the house of the Pontifex Maximus. In the rush of

consolidation that followed the rapid deterioration of the Imperial system, a number of minor offices were rapidly

emptied and filled with minimal examination by the Senate; somehow, the position of Pontifex Maximus,

guardian of Rome’s religious life, was included in those lists of “minor” offices. And such was how one of the

most mysterious men in Rome rose to one of the heights of Roman public life. Laevinus is an orphan – both his

parents hailed from impoverished branches of old patrician families; both succumbed to one of the many

aftershocks of the Antonine Plague. Shuttled from branch to branch within the Valerian family during his youth,

Laevinus grew up to be taciturn, severe, reserved, but also incredibly resilient. The sudden death of a bright young

quaestor gave Laevinus, then already resigned by the body of the Senate to the back benches, his first taste of

office; a few years later, a sudden illness took the life of a distinguished praetor and Laevinus was again able to

pick the fruit that had suddenly fallen from the tree of fate. Hardly anyone noticed; at least, not until they realized

that a silent specter had somehow occupied the house of the Pontifex Maximus. Now there are whispers –

whispers that the brooding and unloved Laevinus is connected to individuals whose main commodity is death.

Whispers that perhaps this shadow might hide the sharpest dagger.

Others

Lucius Sempronius Lucullus

Tribune of the Plebeians, Plebian

Age: 33

The people need heroes. They had Maximus, who fought against the terror of Commodus. They now have Lucius

Sempronius Lucullus, a former Praetorian officer, who in the turmoil following Gracchus’s death used the forces

at his disposal to disperse many of the mobs threatening the fabric of the city. Although discharged from the

Praetorian service for unauthorized military activities and despised by the more extreme and anarchic members of

the plebian partisans, Lucullus rode his military exploits to electoral victory, becoming tribune of the plebs.

Charged with representing the interest of the plebeians and possessing veto power on any magistrate, including

the consuls and other tribunes of the plebs, the Renovatem decided that at least one tribune was required on the

committee, lest their actions be blocked. Lucullus among all the other tribunes is the only one to have shown any

daring or initiative, but he is also plainly ambitious – neither megalomaniacal nor deluded, but keen to advance

his position in life. More importantly, the lack of any serious vice combined with his flair for seizing the occasion

has endeared him to the majority of the politically apathetic but security and prosperity conscious plebeian

demographic. A Republican by virtue of his position and class background, Lucullus could be well placed to secure

electoral victory in a stable Republic – but he could also ascend to high positions if he turned the power of the

center towards the Imperial camp.

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Gaius Appueius Diocles

Leader of the Blue, Plebeian

Age: 29

Gaius Appueius Diocles is a rough, cunning man, unscrupulous, charismatic in a raw and animal way, and fond of

horseflesh and women. Diolces was an orphan abandoned on the streets of Rome, doomed to an early death until

he found his way to chariot racing at the age of fourteen. Racing for the Blue faction, Diolces proved to be a

scrappy fighter both on and off the Circus Maximus, and with a well-provided lifestyle sponsored by rich

aristocratic patrons Diolces soon became one of the most successful and arrogant chariot racers of all times, living

a life of high-handed antics that only furthered his popularity with the masses. Probably the most popular man in

the entire city, Diolces theoretically possesses enormous influence but was at first ignored by the powers that be.

He had no business sticking his presumptuous nose into the affairs of Roman politics and statecraft! Stick to the

reins and leave the work of governing to real Romans. Denied a place in a political process dominated by

patricians, Diocles canvassed his vast networks and somehow managed to discover the existence of the

Renovamen. Waltzing into a secret meeting of Rome’s most powerful individuals, Diocles demanded a place at

the table; Rome’s leading families were stunned. The first immediate reaction was to call the guards to throw this

ruffian out – fortunately for the patricians some cooler heads had begun to wonder at the curious presence of a

chariot racer at what was supposed to be a secret meeting after all, and they eventually convinced their colleagues

that perhaps this chariot racer would be a good attack dog, a way to leash the masses. Diocles smiled when he

heard that the Senators had decided that yes indeed he did have a seat at the table; it was a smile that frightened

many of the rich and powerful men in that room. For a second, it was difficult to tell whether they had leashed a

good, or if the dog had perhaps leashed them.

Tiberius Claudius Chryseros

Secretary of the Imperial Treasury, Freedman

Age: 42

Tiberius Claudius Chryseros has dealt with numbers his entire life – for as long as he can remember he has served

within the golden walls of the Imperial Treasury. As a result, Chryseros never trusts anything that lacks statistical

support, triple checked and recalculated to insure accuracy. Once proved, the conclusion pointed to by the

numbers becomes the law of the universe, impossible to mold through human agency. Extreme, perhaps, but he

ROMA ETERNA 39

!

was the official bean counter of the Emperors – anything less than paranoia could have led to his execution in the

wrong circumstances. He still commands the Imperial Treasury in this new era, but he now collects revenues from

only the Imperial provinces and the various Imperial estates throughout the Empire; these revenues are then made

available as investment or potential spending. The Renovatem could hardly ignore or forgo one-half of the

Empire’s revenue, and after determining that there were no outrageous Imperialist tendencies on the part of

Chryseros he was invited to join the group. Used to dealing with powerful personalities and overblown egos,

Chryseros has found the committee less than overbearing; instead he sees the committee as an excellent

foundation for several of his own more personal projects… what those projects are, however, are still unknown.

Aulus Julius Frontinus

Representative of the Publicani, Equestrian

Age: 49

Aulus Julius Frontinus always looks hungry. Sparse and lean, descended from undistinguished equestrian

businessmen, one would never expect this spartan character to be possessed of a vast material fortune. His

townhouse near the forum is well appointed by hardly palatial; his attire is appropriate and well crafted by hardly

opulent. It is generally agreed that these curious discrepancies between Frontinus’s resources and his expenditures

indicate a profound obsession with denarii, and his current position seems to be no exception. In the Senatorial

provinces, the governmental system can no longer effectively collect taxes through its own bureaucracy; instead,

the Senate has decided to revive the old Republican system of Publicani, in which corporations bid to win

contracts that give them the exclusive right to collect taxes in a certain province. Any revenue generated above the

bid will be awarded as profit to the publicanus. Low bids have larger profit margins but are hardly competitive;

high bids may secure the contract, but at the cost of little profit or even losses. Now that the publicani play such

an important part in the state’s finances, the three families of the Renovatem decided it necessary to secure the

support of these corporations, or at least their tacit agreement. Frontinus, already the controller of the largest of

these corporations, was the obvious choice as representative. As an intelligent and influential liaison to the

publicani he is an excellent link to the outside world; as someone considered singularly obsessed with money he is

perfectly unthreatening to the vested political interests of the three families.

ROMA ETERNA 40

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Recommended Reading

Caesar, The Gallic Wars

Livy, History of Rome

Polybius, The Histories

Tacitus, The Annals

Seutonius, The Twelve Caesars

Edward Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

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