The Empire Strikes Back - An SPQR AAR (with all assorted gadgets)

[A Terribly Harmful Name]

England - 1900 AD

The life of a Victorian aristocrat was certainly like a well synchronized and polished clock. In the Rigby Mansion, the typical ornate decoration of a wealthy and succesful man adorned the vast estate manor of William Rigby, a rich industrialist who made success in his life through the sale and manufacture of shoes. Recently, mr. Rigby had been blessed with good fortunes during his life, the ones that finally made him settle comfortably and take time for himself. It was the later part of his life, and only now could he set his trade aside and read about what has been his interest since the later infancy, as a poor boy in Glasgow: the histories of the world and the peoples who lived.

Mr. Rigby took an active interest in archaelogy. He pitied himself in envy for men like Schliemann, who grew out of nothing to abandon everything, learn Attic in a few months, and then stumble and excavate the treasuries of Troy for a renewed fame and success. He recognised his limitations enough to perceive he would never be a renowned man on the field, but nevertheless his interest propelled him to encourage and take part in the growing and young field of archaeological studies, in particular that of ancient civilizations. The Akkadians and Egyptians were the focus of his interest, making the cuneiform tablets of the archaelogical society, all brought and bought at high prices, fill his private collection together with the kilometers of treatises on the matter.

Not every minutes of his time was dedicated on a pedantic archaeological drive, though. Mr. Rigby had been long a fan of the Classics, and in his mind the stories of Greek and Roman of old were praised for their masterful overtones. He read day and night on many details: from the composition of Carthaginian Armies of the First Punic War to the affairs of Nabis, the tyrant of Sparta. He was repeatedly delighted in reading about the particular death of the former: demanding help from his allies, he was betrayed when one of the cavalrymen sent in his aid charged against him intentionally killing him instantly. It was reported that Rigby uttered a laugh at the poor man's fate, squeezed as he was between two powerful and cruel interests! No one saved Sparta after him... Oh, sic transit gloria mundi.

And now, Rigby had just set in a for a day of leasure and pleasing intellectual delight with his books. Dressing himself with old fashioned indoors clothing and toying with his pipe, there he was looking for a good read. Ah yes, there it was! A book, a Romance of a certain scholar, which he bought on a fair in Athenai many years ago. But only now could he enjoy it, and as he took a sit in his comfortable sofa he began, as usual, by the introduction. No, Rigby was used to get first things first! Not trying to read Chapter XI out of spontaneous interest without reading the previous ones. In this regard, he was one of the few not to share the vice with his friends.

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The STORY begins with Archesilaos, a Greek wise man living in the ides of 100 AD, when the Empire was at its height. He was Greek, but like many ones of the "new" age, he was thoroughly impressed and versed on the ways of the Empire, including but not limited to Rome. A city of contradictions, but above all, a city with a history worth reading.

It was, then, when in a trip to Rome he offered to tell to an interested group of men about the tales of old. Of the Republic, which no longer had any meaning, or even of a day when the Hellenes were independent... Nay, with all the peace and prosperity of the new age, no longer the people wanted to remember when their ancestors struggled madly for a few pieces of land. No one wanted to leave the Empire, except maybe the savages living on the borders, and that was not a decent man's business anyway!

Welcome, curious fellow! Have a sit and a sip of our wine as I tell you the story... Not just any story, but the story of a people who dedicated their lives, souls and hard work for one goal: supremacy. Complete supremacy over the lands of the known world, guided by a strictness and a patriotism that would win them wars, even if all battles were fatally lost.

I am telling, of course, of the Romani. Years of living in a cramped town with some odd hills tired these fellows, and now they are set into no less than the complete domination of the world, whatever that means. However they know their foes await and will do everything within their reach to destroy and wipe out the growing Republic, or maybe just keep them away from their ancestor lands. But as you know, Roma Victrix! The People of Rome, guided by the Senate and the Mos Maiorum, will always triumph in the end and let their strenght be felt everywhere in the civilized and barbarian world, and beyond!

And now, on to the story. I see I have a big fellowship already? Very nice, now let's start out!

Archesilaos then unrolls the parchment and tells the story to his avid readers. "Far far away, in a age long ago!" - His eyes reaching the crowd - "These are their stories!"