Roma was growing nicely, another two settlements had been added to Roman rule, and three wealthy settlements they were. Much of Italia was ruled by Italian tribes posing little or no threat to the Republic. Rome and her three settlements grew, the great treasury in Roma grew, the Senate and People of Rome were happy.
But as usual problems existed. To the south of Rome the Greeks under Pyrrhus were on the move. It came to the Senate’s attention that he was a great commander with an equally professional army with him. The Senate panicked and quickly decided that this threat must be eradicated from Italian soil, maybe someone was motivated by the land they would take in the process?
Needless to say the Roman Army came out of winter camp and made their way to the southern borders to watch over the proceedings with the aid of a professional scout. They found out that Pyrrhus was taking settlements and now bordered Rome herself, enlisting commenced
The scouts worryingly reported of strange, huge exotic beasts named war elephants, none of the like had ever been seen in Italia before Pyrrhus. The Senate worried again and immediately set out to throw gold to every Greek-ruled village in the south of Italia. It paid off and the Romans now knew that velites would be the key to victory, not surprising velites were now being deployed in Rome’s armies. Rome was eager to go to war, they were now just waiting for the right moment.
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