Curia Session III 195 B.C. / 559 AUC

[Marcus Decius Bellicus]

The vote is out of order and should not have been called. You may wish to continue to make a mockery of this Republic, Consul, but the Gods will not look favorably upon it, nor shall the people of Rome.

[Marcus Aurelius Cotta]

The consul turns to his scribe I guess we will record his vote as a Nay.

[Gaius Cassius Vecellinus]

The Censor rises and, in contrast to his usual demeanor, his face displays poorly restrained anger.

Conscript fathers,

It is the Consul's prerogative to call for a vote at any time for any reason, regardless of the debate ongoing in the Senate. I find it a travesty however that the duties which have been allotted to the office of Censor since time immemorial, that of overseeing the construction and maintenance of public works, is being parceled out by the Senate in a most respectful and nonstandard manner!

I will, obviously, vote Nay to the proposal as presented and state my intention to stamp out this egregious precedent before it is even born by any means at my disposal! The dignity and strength of the Censorship shall be passed to my successor as it was handed to me, so help me Gods!

[Gaius Claudius Nero Liguricus]

The proxy of the Senator Claudius Nero rises to speak

Senators,

As the Censor has stated, the role of managing public works and constructions has always been assigned to the office of Censor to manage, and not a Senator at seemingly random. As such, I must vote Nay on this proposal as it stands currently as it would be a violation of long-standing tradition.

[Allectus Fabius Maximus]

Nay.

The censor’s duties involve the maintain and supervision of all public works in Roma and Italia.

[Amulius Valerius Marius]

The proxy for Proconsul A. Valerius Marius spoke

We support the merit of the motion but vote nay in line with the Censor.

[admin]

The measure will fail to muster sufficient votes to pass.

[Marcus Aurelius Cotta]

Consul Aurelius looks and sounds aghast.

Most unfortunate, most Unfortunate, especially when such support had been received under the previous days debate for all three motions.

On to the next order of business, the funding of legions for the consular year.

Debate is open.

[Amulius Valerius Marius]

Consul Aurelius looks and sounds aghast.

Most unfortunate, most Unfortunate, especially when such support had been received under the previous days debate for all three motions.

On to the next order of business, the funding of legions for the consular year.

Debate is open.

A proxy stood in place of the Proconsul

Good Consul,

Of course the punishment against the Boii and Insubres must continue this year and we support a new campaign against these barbarians. Likewise, we support the raising of two fresh legions for service in Hispania to continue our efforts to secure the frontier.

There Is however the topic of the Laconians. Does the good Consul believe conflict in Greece to have been settled or will it require another Consular army to secure peace? Of course unless the Consul has his own thoughts on where we must direct our legions?

[Gaius Claudius Nero Liguricus]

The proxy of the Senator Claudius Nero rises to speak

Consul, it isn't that the broad support of the two Colonia and construction of the road was a change of mind by the majority, but simply that the traditional role of the Censor to oversee all public works was amended in the new proposal to be managed by a Senator. If you decide to review this motion later in the session, then I would happily vote in favour of the motion should this be restored back to the Censor's office to manage, and I suspect broader support for the motion can be secured judging from the words spoken by various senators and the Censor himself.

On the topic of what troops to raise for the year, I first wish to speak about the need for troops in the provinces of Hispania.

It is of great importance for the defence of Hispania and the Republic that they receive their own garrison. My recent Propraetorship there has enlightened me on the issue that the region is severely underequipped to handle a raid, attack or rebellion from the barbarians at any level on its own. What would have occurred in these provinces had both Consuls required that their Legions be utilised elsewhere last year? Hispania would have been pillaged with no remorse by the barbarians, and that simply cannot stand. We were fortunate last year to be graciously offered the legions of the former Consul Claudius Marcellus, and I am thankful for that, but we cannot rely on loaned troops from Consuls to defend our provinces with.

Therefore, I recommend we move to raise two fresh Roman Legions and also maintain the two legions of Latin Alaes in Hispania to be divided between Citerior and Ulterior. They will be under command of the Propraetors that the Senate have elected there to use in the defence of the provinces, and allow the Consuls to utilise their own forces to protect Rome from external threats. The region is one of the most belligerent in all of the Republic, and requires the Propraetors there to have the necessary resources on hand to combat the rebellions and hostile tribes invading the region, without needing to rely on a Consular army to defend it. Further, there are vast amount of lands that were ceded to the Republic after the conclusion of the Second Punic War, and yet Rome has no physical presence in these lands. The barbarians continue to pillage the land that the Republic rightfully owns. We must ensure the barbarian tribes there understand that they stand against Rome.

We cannot act frugally with our funding of the military when the provinces are surrounded and beset by barbarians. We must ensure that Rome is not seen as a pushover that will keep her lands undefended.

In regards to the Consular armies, we must ensure that at least one Consular army marches north to finish what the former Consul Valerius Marius started against the Boii and Insubres last year. As such, 2 Latin Alaes are required to be raised for this matter to support a Consul in firmly securing the Republic, and any future Colonia in the region from being raided as they had in the past.

In total, I ask for 2 Legions and 4 Latin Alaes for this year, which would cost 2,984,560 Denarii when accounting for additional costs for preparing the two legions for combat and sending them via ships to Hispania.