Rome

[Boyar Son]

Pretorians were broken up by Constantine, so no.

[CaesarAugustus]

Damn, I hate Constantine! He ruined every good thing about the Roman Empire!

PS: I though that the Rubicon would have marked the border into Italy. So why was it such a big deal for Caesar to have crossed that one little river one third of the way down Italy?

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Damn, I hate Constantine! He ruined every good thing about the Roman Empire!

He bailed out a sinking ship. Rome was broken long before him.

The Preatorian Guard was responsible for nearly all of the assassinations of emporers. One time selling the emporer possition to the highest bidder. They were corrupt and powerful. They needed to be removed, I'm surprised he was able to do it without being assassinated himself. (Reminds me of that time the Ottomans attacked their own Janissary army, just less bloody.)

[Watchman]

Yeah - who else has pawned off an empire to the highest bidder ? That's so badass it alone justifies the Praetorians' existence in history.

[Swebozbozboz]

ya he seems to be a unpopular emporor because he had to make tough decisions.


"Sent in during large roits. I get the picture these guys didn't break up riots, but rather killed everyone roiting." -M.A.A.

I get the same feeling. Romans did two things very well: built large buildings, and killed lots of people easily, and riots aren't about construction.

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

I though that the Rubicon would have marked the border into Italy. So why was it such a big deal for Caesar to have crossed that one little river one third of the way down Italy?

The Rubicon was the border between the territory of Rome and the province.

I think Caesar was proconsul of the provinces of Illyricum, Gallia Togata (Cisalpine Gaul) and Gallia Transalpina, plus of course the new provinces that he erected. Proconsul means "for the consul", so he had the full power of the consules for this determined territory. In Italia reigned the real consules of course, so it was a really severe crime to bring a legion into Italia. It was a bit like starting a world war.

[Watchman]

He wasn't exactly coming to buy wine now was he, though ?

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

He wasn't exactly coming to buy wine now was he, though ?

Not really. But trade with wine was very flourishing around that time.

The romans sold wine to the Gauls. The Gauls didn't know wine before, and were really longing for it. So the price for wine rised exceedingly, until one amphora of wine was paid (in Gaul only) with one slave. The italic wine merchants could sell the slaves with great profit, or use them to plant more wine. The Gauls started to degenerate a bit economically, and in military terms, because they were starting to fight each other, making raids, to get slaves they could exchange for wine. It was forbidden by law of the Senate to sell the wine plants north of the alps, to prevent the barbarians to produce wine themselves, and to protect the roman merchants and save their income. All that played much in Caesars hands in his Gallic campaign.

[Swebozbozboz]

wow, dirty little drug dealers weren't they? wow, the romans seemed to have some great business sense. stinkin' capitalists...

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

A bit like the Britons selling opium to the Chinese and starting a war as theese tried to refuse the opium import...

I've read it in a nice book by Tom Holland, original title Rubicon. The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic.

[Watchman]

wow, dirty little drug dealers weren't they? wow, the romans seemed to have smoe great business sense. stinkin' capitalists...

To be fair, they were probably already by that point bleeding bullion out East like crazy to pay for silk and spices and whatnots.

Weren't the Gauls sort of in the middle of a major civil war though ?