Summer, 224 BC

By the gods, he is a dull fellow, this Decimus, thought Amulius as he picked up his general’s report. A fine general, no doubt, but a crushing bore, nonetheless.. Still his report made for depressing reading. What little achievements the last ten years had brought now threatened to unravel. Decimus lay back in his chair and started to think how it had come to this.

In the summer of 228, jealousy in the Senate had further eroded the position of the Julii faction. Iberia had been taken - Gaius Lappius making a triumphant entry into Scallabis, on a mission from the Senate, six years after he had been so ignominiously routed from outside its walls.

In response to the demands imposed by their conquests, a new man had come to power in the Senate, Gaius Marius. His reforms were introducing a professional army with the potential to be more powerful than any the world had known since the time of Alexander.



Amulius had slowly been forced to embrace these reforms, in part because of the financial crisis Rome’s northern territories had entered. The vast treasury he had accumulated ten years ago had been almost completely eroded - by his eight armies inflated with expensive mercenaries and by his low tax policy. Reluctantly, he had imposed a high tax policy and disbanded all but the most elite mercenaries. But it was not enough to provide the funds to begin hiring the professional cohorts that could now be recruited in Italy. Amulius was forced to disband first his green pre-Marian cohorts and then, in a drastic move, all pre-Marian cohorts not in combat zones. With tensions rising with the Senate and other Roman factions, it was not the ideal time for the Julii to become effectively disarmed.



Yikes!

Still, the daring policy of disbanding the pre-Marian army seemed to be bearing fruit. A post-Marian army was slowly raised and gathered at Massilia. The Senate had called for a punitive mission to be undertaken against Carthage. Amulius saw it as the perfect time to give his favourite adopted son, Lentilus Flaminus, the chance to prove himself as the natural heir to the Julii faction.

But Amulius’s other adopted son, Publius Maxentius, had unwittingly scuppered that plan. Decimus Domitiatanus and his army were effectively imprisoned in a rebellious Campus Scythii. Riots in the former Scythian capital had already claimed the life of Julii general, Valerius Quadrigarius, and the whole of Decimus’ army was required to keep order. However, Publius had finally been able to leave the rebellious settlement of Vicus Venedae. By hard marching, he had come to Campus Sarmatae, which was believed to be the last Scythian settlement. Amulius had dreamed of completing the conquest of Scythia by 234 BC. It was not to be.



Publius cuts his way into Campus Sarmatae - hoping to end the war with Scythia.

On storming Campus Sarmatae, Publius was downcast to learn that the Scythians had at least one more province - far to the south, in the Crimea. But worse was to come. Again, Publius could not bring himself to exterminate the captured Scythian townfolk and instead merely enslaved them. Unfortunately, vast columns of slave made their way to rebellious Campus Scythii. The sight of the slaves further angered the Scythians in their former capital and their numbers made it possible for them to move from riot to outright rebellion. Working in secret, a substantial new Scythian army was formed and in a night of violence, drove Decimus’s troops out of the capital. The war with Scythia, far from being over, had erupted in full fury again.

Amulius threw down Decimus’s report. Oh, Decimus, you old plodder. You are normally so dull. Why did you have to bring me such “interesting” news! Amulius sank back in his chair. The last ten years had not gone well. He had hoped to install at least one of his sons as his heir, but neither had yet proved themselves worthy. This was all preparatory to overthrowing the Senate and declaring an Empire, but that secret ambition was far from completion. Still, he was beginning to create a new, post-Marian army capable of making a grab for power. He doubted that it would be ready in his lifetime, but the next ten years would be crucial if he was to lay the groundwork for one of his sons to rule Rome.