The Will of the Senate - Senate Deliberations

[TinCow]

Senators,

Last night I was haunted by dreams of war. I saw again the deaths of women and children that I have witnessed these last few years. I am convinced that the Gods send me these dreams as a warning that needless bloodshed should be avoided in our campaigns. I know some men call me hugely superstitious, but nevertheless I shall be forced to withdraw my support for motion 5.5 unless it is reformulated to :

Motion 5.5: For the duration of the 270 - 265 Consulship only, the Consul may massacre enslave the population of any Gallic settlement he wishes and knock down all barbaric religious structures, provided that the settlement is abandoned after the deed is done.

If we enslave the Gauls we will be doing them a kindness as we take them into a civilized culture and we need the extra population badly. I see no harm in bringing them to a better life. I would also suggest changing the sentence all barbaric religious structures to all barbaric structures, but this is not a big issue for me. If senator Verginius will not reformulate this motion I will propose a motion myself. I ask the senator if he is willing to make these changes.

Perhaps my hatred of the unwashed hordes has clouded my judgement. I see value in what you are saying, but to a point. Our attitude towards the Gauls should be defined by what is best for Rome, not by giving them some status which they have not earned. Still, I note that it will require much manpower even to build a road network in the vitally important Cisalpine region. Perhaps the enslavement of some Gauls to work in these provinces would be of particular use. Yet an expedition of this sort must in the end bring profit to Rome to allow for the necessary improvements. I do not believe that the enslavement of all of Gaul will be as beneficial as the enslavement of some and the destruction of others. Would you perhaps be willing to reach a compromise on this issue?

(OOC: see my statements in the OOC thread regarding knocking down military buildings - it's a game issue, not RP)

I must agree with my son. Destroying settlement and killing its populace is unnecessarily harsh. It is true that the looting may provide us with small amounts of immediate gold but in the long run we are only hurting ourselves as eventually these settlements will no doubt be ours. Much more can be gained over time by the occupation of settlements and the generation of new tax incomes. Also this allows us to spread out the burden of military upkeep so that we can free up more funds from our existing settlements.

I do not belive in abandoning a city unless strategically necessary. If our blood has been spilled on its streets then it is ours. I will not say that the blood of our men has been given in vain. Also the Gaulish land beyond the Alps is treacherous and I would not risk crossing it several times to simply "raid" a town once or twice. The risk of a complete ambush is far too prevalent and we have been lucky so far in that respect. As long as we are in Gaulish territory we must stay within the safety of cities as long as possible and moving only in force and with a defined purpose.

I agree that long term occupation of provinces is more profitable, but only if they receive substantial capital investments to improve their infrastructure. This is particularly true of barbarian settlements. We control all of Cisalpine Gaul, yet these areas are currently a drain on our Treasury and we do not yet have the capital to resolve this. I propose a method to increase the value of these territories, while you propose to simply add more undeveloped drains that will require an even larger army to control.

You back a candidate who proposes raiding into Gaulish territory but tell me how much gold do you really believe this will bring to our treasury? The Gauls control only six more cities worth conquering. Of these only three of them are within reach to raid and then return to the safety of the Alps in a reasonable amount of time.

Such timidity is unbecoming a Roman. Three cities? I shall raid them ALL. I shall personally lead a single Consular army from one end of Gaul to the other. I shall crush our enemies, see them driven before me, and hear the lamentations of their women! If you wish, I will assign you an appropriately comfortable governorship in an Italian province. I am sure such a post would suit you.

The plan of Verginius is completely the opposite, it is not decisive enough. He plans to plunder the Gallic lands, but while that may boost our treasury, what strategic value is there to it? In 5 years, we will be at the same place we are now. He would have a mighty army at his disposal, but would be content with making limited raids. He complains about the treasury, but it is exactly the large army that is very expensive. Unless the army is put to use, that money is wasted. I also find his plan short sighted. While plunder gets us some immediate money, conquest gets us money in the future as settlements are developed. And finally, I find his extermination policy deplorable. Any Gallic man pointing his sword at Rome should be slain at once, but what purpose is there to slaughtering women and children, other than to satisfy the Senator's greed? Verginius makes little mention of what military objectives this would accomplish. He seems to be driven by greed and his hatred of the Gauls. However, his pacifist and anti-expansionist policies prevent him from actually conducting a decisive conquest.

Beasts do not deserve such compassion. Did they show compassion when they savaged the Republic in your grandfather's day? Perhaps your family was one of the privileged few that remained safe on the Capitoline Hill. My family fought and bled to defend the citizens who were not so fortunate. I shall never forget that they showed no mercy to Rome before nor have they shown it since. They started this war, not us. The enslavement of some may of use to us, but only because it would serve Rome, not because the Gauls deserve mercy.

As for wasting money... such folly. You note with glee the rampant warfare being waged in Africa, yet with what do you plan on protecting these new acquisitions of yours? More legions will be required to control these territories. More ships will be required to transport and resupply these legions. Or do you propose to trust in the good will of the Numidians to refrain from attempting to seize from us what they are already trying to take from Carthage?