The Magnaura

[Privateerkev]

Philippos Eirinikos,

I am confident that in the long term, the money generated will more than pay for the cost to defend it. If we move soon, we will have some time to prepare and dig in.

[Northnovas]

Aleksios ek Ikoniou walks in the Magnaura with a clerk behind carrying documents and maps. He sees members of his House sitting at the designated area and then looks over to the Basileus seat and sees that it is empty. He has been told much has been happening but relieved that he is not late.

Dressed smartly in a military attire of a number one dress he bares no arms. He notices the young Caesar seated and walks before him and gives a deep bow.

“Greeting Caesar!”

The young Comes walks to the centre of the floor.

Strators, I see the debates have started and in good fashion. There has been a lot of debate and that is good to see. I see the members of my House have been busy and I encourage them to participate. For men showing enthusiasm and hard work will be rewarded in the Tamagata House. I would ask like all members in this chamber to be respectful of members with some authority and title. Just has those in authority should reciprocate the same respect.

Nobles I am in favour of Edict 1.2 because we need to look after our borders and much has been said already. I can see the need for the brothers of the St. John Order to fulfill their mandate but they must exercise patience. Such a venture could be risky on the Treasury at this time.

I would like to remind the members that there is Catholic representation by Templar Knights in the Outremer. I would favour our Order going to Antioch but not till we have prepared ourselves from our enemies at home.

Comes Markianos Ampelashas offered some sound advice in this short session. I have not had a chance to speak with him on this precise issue. Surly we can come to some compromise completing the mandate of Edict 1.2 with the option of allowing a journey to Antioch. We need something for the Megas Logothetes to have the flexibility to work with if the conditions are right that both mandates could be achieved.

This is our first session lets try to work together by cooperating and building a consensus for future session. Let’s get the talking over with so we can get to the real action in the field.

Now one of our young legal men here can form a new edict with the wording to get a consensus.

The Comes walks to his seat shaking the hands with the members of his House.

[Privateerkev]

Makedonios sees that Comes Aleksios ek Ikoniou has finally arrived. While happy at first that the Comes's presence might instill some discipline among his vassals, he is sad to hear the same tired arguments repeated yet again.

Comes Aleksios ek Ikoniou,

Since you have just arrived, I will reply to each of your points.

Why exactly should we exercise patience? We have the men, the ships, and the leaders. We can have Antioch by "turn 8" if we move now. What possible reason could there be for not moving? It's not like Outremer will become safer if we wait.

How exactly will the venture be risky on the treasury? While I refuse to do something so absurd as to "promise that it will cost zero florins", I do believe the venture will be cheap. With the plan I laid out, it will only require what is already on Cyprus.

How exactly will preparing at home get us ready to go to Outremer? I have already showed that the other surrounding rebel settlements will take years to build up. While we can have a "minor city" in just 8 "turns". I fail to see how waiting will make us more capable of taking Antioch.

There already is a compromise worked out. And that is to vote for both Edicts 1.2 and 1.4. That would put Antioch on the list of provinces the Megas can direct his early attention to. The only way to improve this compromise would be to amend 1.2 to put Antioch in to the list directly. Thus only one vote would be required.

Looking at the identities of those who have been the loudest opponents of the Order taking Antioch, it seems almost as if House Tagamata itself is against the Order. Which is regrettable. I hope we can bury our differences and work together to rebuild the Empire.

[Csargo]

Philippos Eirinikos,

I am confident that in the long term, the money generated will more than pay for the cost to defend it. If we move soon, we will have some time to prepare and dig in.

I truly hope you are right Comes Makedonios, because if not many men will die for nothing more than one man's ambition.

Philippos returns to his seat amongst his fellow house members

[Privateerkev]

I hope your not talking about our Patriarch.

I don't know if you noticed, but he just issued a proclamation to take Antioch.

This is not about "one man's ambition" and I am getting a little tired of hearing the same "red herrings" and "weasel words" over and over from members of House Takamata.

[Csargo]

Philippos sighs

[Askthepizzaguy]

Efstratios Monomachos sits bewildered by the endless bickering, trying to make sense of the sheer volume of petty disagreement. He feels as though he is trapped inside of a very hot and heavy cloth sack filled with dozens upon dozens of rabid chickens, all of whom are pecking and scratching at his ears. He stands up suddenly and shouts,

These bloodthirsty hens are trying to eat my brain!!!

Suddenly aware of the dead silence, Efstratios slowly sits down.

[The Lemongate]

Anastasios has been getting more and more restless as the discussions grew around him. Nearly getting up and leaving on many occasions, he finally bursts, unable to contain himself any longer, and walking into the middle of the Senate he intones in a clear and loud voice:

ENOUGH!!! I have heard enough of this senseless politicking! You all act as a bunch of scared and greedy old men heckling each other with base insults! You should be ashamed of yourselves! If I had only you for examples I would feel ashamed to be a Senator in this City!

You all act as though Rome was left defenseless after Manzikert! It has been nearly ten years since that terrible day and we have recovered! Have you all forgotten how over fifteen hundred years ago our ancestors began conquering the world with the forces of a single little city on the banks of the Tiber? Were has your fighting spirit of old gone? Have you suddenly all become cowardly little children even afraid to invoke the name of the O-so-mighty Turks, Normans and Lombards that have dealt us stinging blows? Where has the willpower of the Great Justinian gone?

I hear some of you say we must preserve our strength for trials to come. That our treasury cannot support so many fronts. That we should concentrate on securing a few cities close to our homes and let the rest of our glorious Empire in the hands of barbarians and heathens! Nay! Thrice nay! We are from a race of warriors and conquerors and conquering we should be doing rather then throwing worthless accusations at one another!

It is not the lack of military might I hear echo through these halls, but the fear for the personal safety of a few scared Senators who have more in common with little girls then with men of valor and courage! Since when does a Roman need to overpower his enemies two to one to win a war? Let them outnumber us two to one, three to one even! And God being on our side we shall vanquish! Have we not overcome the limitless armies of the Celts? Have we not crushed the mighty elephants of Carthage? Have we not brought about the fall of the timeless Persian Sassanids? What fear can Saracens, Franks and Normans bring to our hearts? We have triumphed over greater evils!

No it is not lack of military might that holds us back, but the will to use it. The will to take the handful of brave men we have and march strongly onto those who would defy our Emperor. To crush those who rebel against our authority and to defy any so-called foreign powers to take those cities and castles away from us. The more land we conquer, the more gold will flow into our coffers, you all know this to be true. Be it Antioch, Bari, Scopia, Smyrna. Be it Crimea or Egypt. Be it even distant Iberia. The further we extend our reach, the more powerful our armies will become and the richer our lands be. There is no need to antagonize our neighbors by walking into their lands, but there is certainly no justification into shirking away from rebellious settlements simply by fear that our might will not be enough to hold them or that our coffers will be so taxed that we will not be able to reinforce them. A city produces its own defense either in gold or through the valor of its defenders. And should one of us fall in defense of the Empire, glory to his name and his family! It should be an honor to fight and die for the Empire of the Romans and the Greeks!

Many Senators seem to have brought a political agenda into this Senate session which seems to constrain the Empire, to force us into a defensive position where we appear weak and vulnerable, where our lack of action will let our enemies grow stronger while we take only tiny steps into restoring a portion of our former glory. We should not fear another Manzikert. No! Instead we should sharpen our swords to win the next one!

I say march forth into rebellious lands Senators and bring with you your best horsemen and all your retainers and conquer in the name or Rome and her Basileos! The nay-sayers are the vilest of cowards! Blasphemous wretches who forget that God Himself, in his magnanimity has given us His Word to guide our actions. Our Lord commands us to war! Out of His mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.

And unless someone in this chamber is such a fool as to doubt our victory over rebel forces and over the foreign powers that might want to rob us of our lands, then there is no question that our soldiers should assembled at this very moment to march out towards those rebels and assure our control over them before someone else moves into those areas. From the Levant to the steppes of Hungary, from the isles of the Mediterranean to the shores of Italy, we should be the first to pacify our disgruntled subjects and reap the rewards of these conquests.

A free town cannot call reinforcements, yields taxes and is a possible outpost against further invasions. If every Roman soldier kills two enemies, who should we fear? And in truth any commander worth his rank can beat a force four times superior to his.

So are you the Senators who will lead Roman arms to renewed glory? Or are you just a bunch of robed monkeys, more apt at throwing insults then arrows and javelins?

I know where I stand.

I urge you to strike down those vile legislations that would bind all of our hands and push our Empire to its knees.

Face flushed with anger, his fists clenching nearly uncontrollably, Anastasios exists the Senate before anyone has had any time to recover from his tirade. The guards even take a step back as he passes them, sensing that the man could probably kill someone with his own bare hands should anyone challenge him at this moment. As he leaves, nearby Senators can hear him mutter curses on the foppish, paper-pushing fools that would have us refrain from fighting rebels camping outside this very city, for fear it would anger the Rus or the Scots...

[Northnovas]

After that outburst the Comes feels no further words are needed for the he looks at his thinks of his men and thinks the only discipline they need is in the battlefield. Wishing not to continue this tired argument he motions to the clerk to present the current legislation that has been propsed so far to the Strators.

Edict 1.1.: Before the beginning of each session of the Magnaura, every Senator present has to swear allegiance to the Basileus of Rome. He who refuses, will be tried for high treason. A commission of three Senators, picked by the majority of the Magnaura will decide over the fate of the traitor.

Proposed: Savvas ek Militou
Second

Edict 1.2: All military assets will be devoted to the conquest of the rebel settlements of Canakkale, Arta, Durazzo, Scopia, Sofia, Sinop, Smyrna, and Rhodes before they can be released for other purposes. Bari and Trebizond may be included in this list at the discretion of the Megas Logothetes. No attack will be made on any foreign nation until this reconquest is complete. This Edict does not apply to any of the above settlements which are conquered by a foreign nation before they are reincorporated into the Empire. This Edict is void if a foreign nation attacks the Empire.

Proposed: Khristophoros Diogenis
Second: Pavlos Chrysovergos Markianos Ampelas

Edict 1.3:
A Priest is to be sent in the region surrounding Caesarea to help our Orthodox brethern against their Muslim overlords.

Proposed: Pavlos Chrysovergos
Second: Makedonios Ksanthopoulos Savvas ek Militou

Edict 1.4 to read: If Edict 1.2 passes, Antioch will be added to the list.

Proposed: Makedonios Ksanthopoulos
Second: Vissarionas ek Lesvou Iakovos ek Kallipoleos

Edict 1.5: The training of a boat or hiring of a mercenary craft is required outside of Athens in order to transport men to Rhodes, as per Edict 1.2. The fleet we already own further North may also be used if it has no other orders.
Proposed: Hypatios Machonios
Second: Armatos ek Naksou Makedonios Ksanthopoulos

Edict 1.6 That a ship be sent immediately towards Epirus to ferry a commander and a battalion of spearmen to Apulia with the intent of capturing the castle of Bari.

Proposed:Anastasios Neokaisareitis
Second:

The document was placed to let members know what has been proposed so far.