Will of the Senate - Senate Deliberations II

[TinCow]

Roman honor demands that Argeos of Pharsalus be sent to the underworld, but I see no need, either for honor or strategy, to take or keep any of the remaining Macedonian and Greek cities. As we have already seen with the Gauls, the small territories controlled by these nations will require them to make desperate assaults on their neighbors in an attempt to survive. We are not one of these neighbors. Greece is already directing their attacks east towards the Selucids. Even if they succeed and again become powerful, we have no interest in Asia Minor and their war with Selucia will certainly continue on for decades even if they meet with nothing but victory. The Macedonians will most likely be destroyed by Ptolemy. If they are not, then their borders will expand to meet ours and we can then assault their cities without fear of causing a border dispute with Ptolemy.

In addition, our Legions are depleted and we have many new provinces which must be properly absorbed into the Republic. Senators, I believe that, contrary to the statements of others and the formal states of war in existence, that we are largely at peace for the first time in my memory. Of our five wars, three, Gaul, Macedon and Greece, are against people with only one or two provinces, all of which no longer share borders with us and all of which are likely to be completely destroyed by larger nations very soon. Of the remaining two, Carthage has had no significant conflict to speak of in well over a decade and a great sea divides us from them. This leaves only Thrace as an active threat to our borders, and their warmaking ability has been greatly debilitated by Consul Aemilius himself.

Senators, we may not find ourselves in such a situation again for a very long time. Despite the diplomatic advances of the Iberians, we are bound to find ourselves in conflict with them shortly. I suspect too that our control of the Macedonian homelands will draw us into the civil war being fought over Alexander's empire. Both of these conflicts will require massive levies and extensive campaigning for many years. I do not anticipate living to see another peace once those wars begin. Let us take this opportunity, won for us by Roman arms, to rest the Republic and prepare for the future.

Accordingly, I propose the following:

Motion 10.5: No attack will be made on a Macedonian city unless their borders once again become adjacent to ours.

Motion 10.6: No attack will be made on a Greek city unless their borders once again become adjacent to ours.

Motion 10.7: Assassins will be sent out to kill Argeos of Pharsalus and will continue to make attempts on his life until he is dead.

Motion 10.8: No provinces will be conquered except those specified by the previous legislation authorizing expansion to the Danube. This Motion will be void if Rome is attacked by any currently neutral nation.

Motion 10.9: The Consul must attempt return all Legions to full strength by the end of his term and should prioritize the construction of a paved road network in as many provinces as possible.

(Constitutional Amendment) Motion 10.10: If Rome does not share a land border with a hostile nation and no land battle has been fought against that nation in 10 years, the Consul may use RomeSage to lower the difficulty level to Easy only for an instant to allow a ceasefire to be negotiated with this enemy. No other actions of any kind may be taken while the difficulty is lowered and it must be returned to Very Hard immediately after the negotiations are complete.

(Constitutional Amendment revised) Motion 10.11:
(1) Candidates standing for First Consul can specify whether they wish to serve full terms (5 years) or half terms (2.5 years).
(2) No candidate may serve more than 5 years in any given 15 year period.
(3) First Consuls may delegate powers to pro-Consuls provided that they indicate that is their intention during their candidature (the pro-Consul need not be named).

Motion 10.12: If Motion 10.10 passes, the Consul will make peace with Carthage on terms that he deems to be honorable to both sides.