It lives! Some really quality updates here. I wonder how much more of Voltinius we will see in the future. I feel Hadrian has some plans for him...
Hadrian's Consolidation
- Thread starter Hecatee
- Start date
Hecatee
Donor
Yes it lives (as does my Nabatean story, although I haven't published the new posts yet, I'm not really happy with them).
@Tubendo : I wanted to have a small POD because I unfortunately can't really invest much time in the research needed for the writting, so I decided I'd start as close as possible to real history : my Hadrian is the same guy, really, and he'll have the same ideas but some decisions will be different, as was the Dacian solution.
So Hadrian will take his tour around the Empire, but the timing is now a bit off, by about half a year to about one year. This means no Antinous for example. It will also have some impact on Hadrian's wall and North Africa, to name but two places.
As for further on, I won't give all my secrets at once
@Tubendo : I wanted to have a small POD because I unfortunately can't really invest much time in the research needed for the writting, so I decided I'd start as close as possible to real history : my Hadrian is the same guy, really, and he'll have the same ideas but some decisions will be different, as was the Dacian solution.
So Hadrian will take his tour around the Empire, but the timing is now a bit off, by about half a year to about one year. This means no Antinous for example. It will also have some impact on Hadrian's wall and North Africa, to name but two places.
As for further on, I won't give all my secrets at once
A Penal Britannia with a exilc Jewish community there....would lead to some interesting times in the future
Hecatee
Donor
Yes, but while I initially thought about that, I've decided to take another course : Hadrian has faced (or made his generals face) 4 foes until now : the Jews, the Dacians, the Mauretanians and the Brigantes. I think he may swap rebels from the same climate to help them acclimate : Dacians to the british islands, Maures to Judea, Jews to Marocco and Algeria and Brigantes to Dacia. But I'm not sure yet, as such displacements were not really a roman habit at this time
Hecatee
Donor
Vindolanda, early spring 122 CE
The huge wooden palace creaked in the wind, rain falling noisily on its roof. Yet inside the main room, deep into the temporary building, none heard it : the sound was covered by the voices of those having an animated discussion about what ought to be done. The scene was quite similar to the one which had played five years before in Oescus, with the Emperor surrounded by his generals and planning the demise of the barbarians.
The legions had now mostly vanquished the rebels, and the losses had been heavy but acceptable : the units were still operational while their enemy had suffered grievous losses. Some thought it was the ideal moment to spring from the various bases in the area and conquer the lands to the north up to the coast that Agricola’s expedition had seen some 40 years before. A copy of Agricola’s reports and of Tacitus’ biography of the general stood on the table that occupied the middle of the room, laying on top of a large map copied before Hadrian left Rome and then updated with more precise informations from the local forces.
Five years had been necessary for that campaign, and while the battle of Mons Graupius had temporarily tamed them, the northerners had since been able to repopulate their tribes with two generations of warriors. But then maybe Voltinius might prove able to follow in the steps of Agricola ? He was in the room, keeping mostly silent and looking at his emperor. When Hadrianus looked at him, Voltinius gave him a sign of acquiescence : he thought the challenge possible.
The emperor raised from his seat and silence came into the room. Walking to the table, he put his hands on the northern territories and said : “We take it. Voltinius, I give you command to vanquish those tribes. We are not on the eastern front, there is not huge lands north of us that would be an unfinishable conquest as was Parthia. Yet such a conquest will take time and resources, and require the all the strenght already present on this island. But I can’t send more reinforcements from the german limes, so we will have to raise new forces. We will thus recruit one legion in Gaul and four auxiliary units, two of cavalry and two of infantry, from elsewhere. And I think I know the perfect place to do so. Dacia. There are many warriors there, half mad with hunger after the devastation we brought to their lands, which would certainly serve in our units if it meant a chance for redemption from the shame of defeat and, more importantly, food.”
All around the table acquiesced : not only was it the imperial will, but it also made sense. Taking a few thousand warriors out of Dacia and reshuffling them on various borders of the empire was a good idea, especially if that meant that some heavy cavalry were sent to the east to get acclimated to the local weather in anticipation of the next war on that front. It would allow to reshuffle other units toward Britannia to keep order there while the main force was active in the far north.
Voltinius made a sign and the emperor gave him permission to speak : “Augustus, may I ask what naval means will be provided for this expedition ? I’ll need fleet support both to resupply my force and to prevent the enemy from escaping to the islands Agricola’s expedition reported both on the northern and western coast, especially the Hibernian island…”
With this first question the true work of planning the campaign started. It would go on for a few weeks before the legion would walk north under the eye of their emperor, the eagle of the ninth legion opening the march toward a new future for the whole island.
The huge wooden palace creaked in the wind, rain falling noisily on its roof. Yet inside the main room, deep into the temporary building, none heard it : the sound was covered by the voices of those having an animated discussion about what ought to be done. The scene was quite similar to the one which had played five years before in Oescus, with the Emperor surrounded by his generals and planning the demise of the barbarians.
The legions had now mostly vanquished the rebels, and the losses had been heavy but acceptable : the units were still operational while their enemy had suffered grievous losses. Some thought it was the ideal moment to spring from the various bases in the area and conquer the lands to the north up to the coast that Agricola’s expedition had seen some 40 years before. A copy of Agricola’s reports and of Tacitus’ biography of the general stood on the table that occupied the middle of the room, laying on top of a large map copied before Hadrian left Rome and then updated with more precise informations from the local forces.
Five years had been necessary for that campaign, and while the battle of Mons Graupius had temporarily tamed them, the northerners had since been able to repopulate their tribes with two generations of warriors. But then maybe Voltinius might prove able to follow in the steps of Agricola ? He was in the room, keeping mostly silent and looking at his emperor. When Hadrianus looked at him, Voltinius gave him a sign of acquiescence : he thought the challenge possible.
The emperor raised from his seat and silence came into the room. Walking to the table, he put his hands on the northern territories and said : “We take it. Voltinius, I give you command to vanquish those tribes. We are not on the eastern front, there is not huge lands north of us that would be an unfinishable conquest as was Parthia. Yet such a conquest will take time and resources, and require the all the strenght already present on this island. But I can’t send more reinforcements from the german limes, so we will have to raise new forces. We will thus recruit one legion in Gaul and four auxiliary units, two of cavalry and two of infantry, from elsewhere. And I think I know the perfect place to do so. Dacia. There are many warriors there, half mad with hunger after the devastation we brought to their lands, which would certainly serve in our units if it meant a chance for redemption from the shame of defeat and, more importantly, food.”
All around the table acquiesced : not only was it the imperial will, but it also made sense. Taking a few thousand warriors out of Dacia and reshuffling them on various borders of the empire was a good idea, especially if that meant that some heavy cavalry were sent to the east to get acclimated to the local weather in anticipation of the next war on that front. It would allow to reshuffle other units toward Britannia to keep order there while the main force was active in the far north.
Voltinius made a sign and the emperor gave him permission to speak : “Augustus, may I ask what naval means will be provided for this expedition ? I’ll need fleet support both to resupply my force and to prevent the enemy from escaping to the islands Agricola’s expedition reported both on the northern and western coast, especially the Hibernian island…”
With this first question the true work of planning the campaign started. It would go on for a few weeks before the legion would walk north under the eye of their emperor, the eagle of the ninth legion opening the march toward a new future for the whole island.
Interesting strategy by Hadrian. I like how he is still using his same rationale in this timeline but allowing it to lead him to different conclusions this time. Will Voltinius perhaps be Hadrian's successor now that he's becoming his right hand man?
Hecatee
Donor
I'm not sure, Antoninus Pius had better family connections : the trust that Hadrian can give derives in part from the fact that the man has few links with any of the great senatorial families, he's a mid-tier senatorial officer who had opportunities to rise to the command of a legion under the previous emperor and has had the good luck to be at the right place at the right time during the third Dacian war.
He's not become very rich during the fighting, not being the commander in chief in his theater and not having that many opportunities to make slaves for sale in Rome. The new campaign will of course provide him with a lot of money, but not an insane amount of it either because the area is not that populated, has little gold or silver to steal and he has to kill a lot of the peoples he might have sold because they are fighting him.
He's a pure military senator, not an administrator such as Antoninus and thus lacks things that might have made him a good candidate. And of course he's had an harder life than Antoninus and might thus die before 138. Also he won't become a member of Hadrianus' inner circle because he's much less interested in the domains the emperor like, such as architecture, art and philosophy. He's a "clean shaved" instead of a "bearded" man at a time when beard rules
And finally you must remember that Hadrianus is still the same man, so his vision is not one of conquests but one of consolidation, and Antoninus' profiles better fit with that kind of profile.
He's not become very rich during the fighting, not being the commander in chief in his theater and not having that many opportunities to make slaves for sale in Rome. The new campaign will of course provide him with a lot of money, but not an insane amount of it either because the area is not that populated, has little gold or silver to steal and he has to kill a lot of the peoples he might have sold because they are fighting him.
He's a pure military senator, not an administrator such as Antoninus and thus lacks things that might have made him a good candidate. And of course he's had an harder life than Antoninus and might thus die before 138. Also he won't become a member of Hadrianus' inner circle because he's much less interested in the domains the emperor like, such as architecture, art and philosophy. He's a "clean shaved" instead of a "bearded" man at a time when beard rules
And finally you must remember that Hadrianus is still the same man, so his vision is not one of conquests but one of consolidation, and Antoninus' profiles better fit with that kind of profile.
But Antoninus was not even his Hadrian's first choice OTL. That honor fell to Lucius Aelius but of course his health was poor. Still, it shows Hadrian was open to other options. Though I see your rationale.I'm not sure, Antoninus Pius had better family connections : the trust that Hadrian can give derives in part from the fact that the man has few links with any of the great senatorial families, he's a mid-tier senatorial officer who had opportunities to rise to the command of a legion under the previous emperor and has had the good luck to be at the right place at the right time during the third Dacian war.
He's not become very rich during the fighting, not being the commander in chief in his theater and not having that many opportunities to make slaves for sale in Rome. The new campaign will of course provide him with a lot of money, but not an insane amount of it either because the area is not that populated, has little gold or silver to steal and he has to kill a lot of the peoples he might have sold because they are fighting him.
He's a pure military senator, not an administrator such as Antoninus and thus lacks things that might have made him a good candidate. And of course he's had an harder life than Antoninus and might thus die before 138. Also he won't become a member of Hadrianus' inner circle because he's much less interested in the domains the emperor like, such as architecture, art and philosophy. He's a "clean shaved" instead of a "bearded" man at a time when beard rules
And finally you must remember that Hadrianus is still the same man, so his vision is not one of conquests but one of consolidation, and Antoninus' profiles better fit with that kind of profile.
Hecatee
Donor
As promised
Ninth legion’s camp, caledonian lowlands, early winter 124 CE
Lucius Norvius Crispinus Saturninus was the tribune laticlavius of the ninth legion, its second in command. Actually he should have been back in Rome, but the Emperor’s decision to launch a campaign in the far north had meant a longer tour of service in the damp, cold and overall completely miserable place.
Now the time had come to rest a bit and wait for the arrival of his replacement, a younger man eager to make a place in the sun for himself. Saturninus would go back to Rome and a junior seat in the Senate, and go up the steps of the cursus honorum.
But for the time being all this was but a dream : he was still in the winter camp of a legion, in a place where a barbarian raid could still claim his life, as might a bad sickness brought by the gods-cursed weather.
Presently though Saturninus was warm, a cup of wine in his hand, seated in the temparate room of the bath house built by his men, surrounded by his fellow officiers who chatted easily with each other.
As for him, he was speaking with the commander of the whole campaign, the famous hero Voltinius, a man he’d learned to know and jealous in the past years.
Still he dared not let his feelings show, knowing that the man’s influence could make or break his further career. Voltinius and him were thus speaking as civilized men should, the topic being the unsuitability of the land they were conquering for roman lifestyle.
“Yet, Saturninus, one has to ask what it is that this land may lack ? Why can’t we seem to pacify those barbarians like we did the Gauls in the time of the divine Caesar, or the countless other nations who do Rome’s bidding ?”
Taking a sip of his drink before answering, Saturninus said “Well, legatus, how do you want to bring civilisation to savages living in such hovels as what pass for a house in the area ? Mud and sticks looks to be all that they might use, with some thatch for their roofs, and sheeps for wives, or so it seems. Where are the cities, where are the places where a man can spend some quality time. Their is not even a whore in this damn region ! At least the southern tribes had some cities to begin with, places where they had people make jewels and ceramics and all sort of products that, while crude, helped them to elevate their spirit from the baseness of their coarse life. But here ? Have you seen a single fibula worth taking back to Rome for your domina, or anything else to ornate your domus ?”
Voltinius looked thoughtfully at his subordinate before answering : “You may actually be closer to the truth that you may think, tribune. Indeed the areas of Dacia where we had the most success were those close to cities like Decebalus’ capital, and the divine Caesar’s campaign years in Gaul were mostly spent besieging oppida. Varus had no city to fall back on during his retreat toward the Rhine, as the tribes of the new province had not yet started to build capitals such as those Agripa made for the Ubii at Colonia Aggripina or for various other tribes of Gaul and Hispania, using veterans and relocating the tribes from the hills to the plains… I’ll have to think about this… Thank you for the thought !”
The conversation would keep going on for some hours, but an important idea had been planted in the mind of Voltinius, he who would later be called “the founder of Britannia” by the anonymous writer of the Historia Augusta.
Ninth legion’s camp, caledonian lowlands, early winter 124 CE
Lucius Norvius Crispinus Saturninus was the tribune laticlavius of the ninth legion, its second in command. Actually he should have been back in Rome, but the Emperor’s decision to launch a campaign in the far north had meant a longer tour of service in the damp, cold and overall completely miserable place.
Now the time had come to rest a bit and wait for the arrival of his replacement, a younger man eager to make a place in the sun for himself. Saturninus would go back to Rome and a junior seat in the Senate, and go up the steps of the cursus honorum.
But for the time being all this was but a dream : he was still in the winter camp of a legion, in a place where a barbarian raid could still claim his life, as might a bad sickness brought by the gods-cursed weather.
Presently though Saturninus was warm, a cup of wine in his hand, seated in the temparate room of the bath house built by his men, surrounded by his fellow officiers who chatted easily with each other.
As for him, he was speaking with the commander of the whole campaign, the famous hero Voltinius, a man he’d learned to know and jealous in the past years.
Still he dared not let his feelings show, knowing that the man’s influence could make or break his further career. Voltinius and him were thus speaking as civilized men should, the topic being the unsuitability of the land they were conquering for roman lifestyle.
“Yet, Saturninus, one has to ask what it is that this land may lack ? Why can’t we seem to pacify those barbarians like we did the Gauls in the time of the divine Caesar, or the countless other nations who do Rome’s bidding ?”
Taking a sip of his drink before answering, Saturninus said “Well, legatus, how do you want to bring civilisation to savages living in such hovels as what pass for a house in the area ? Mud and sticks looks to be all that they might use, with some thatch for their roofs, and sheeps for wives, or so it seems. Where are the cities, where are the places where a man can spend some quality time. Their is not even a whore in this damn region ! At least the southern tribes had some cities to begin with, places where they had people make jewels and ceramics and all sort of products that, while crude, helped them to elevate their spirit from the baseness of their coarse life. But here ? Have you seen a single fibula worth taking back to Rome for your domina, or anything else to ornate your domus ?”
Voltinius looked thoughtfully at his subordinate before answering : “You may actually be closer to the truth that you may think, tribune. Indeed the areas of Dacia where we had the most success were those close to cities like Decebalus’ capital, and the divine Caesar’s campaign years in Gaul were mostly spent besieging oppida. Varus had no city to fall back on during his retreat toward the Rhine, as the tribes of the new province had not yet started to build capitals such as those Agripa made for the Ubii at Colonia Aggripina or for various other tribes of Gaul and Hispania, using veterans and relocating the tribes from the hills to the plains… I’ll have to think about this… Thank you for the thought !”
The conversation would keep going on for some hours, but an important idea had been planted in the mind of Voltinius, he who would later be called “the founder of Britannia” by the anonymous writer of the Historia Augusta.
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This is a very interesting timeline Hecatee, and I look forward to more. I couldn't help but notice this though:
I think you might mean cursus honorum. A curriculum vitae is essentially a resume, listing your achievements over your career .
Otherwise however, a very interesting update - the island of Britain looks like it will be united for a far longer time ITTL than in OTL. Keep up the good work.
I think you might mean cursus honorum
. A curriculum vitae is essentially a resume, listing your achievements over your career .Otherwise however, a very interesting update - the island of Britain looks like it will be united for a far longer time ITTL than in OTL. Keep up the good work
.
Hecatee
Donor
This is a very interesting timeline Hecatee, and I look forward to more. I couldn't help but notice this though:
I think you might mean cursus honorum
Otherwise however, a very interesting update - the island of Britain looks like it will be united for a far longer time ITTL than in OTL. Keep up the good work
Indeed, how dumb of me ! the side effect of writing after a night spend celebrating the birthday of a friend I suppose... I'll correct it immediately
Hecatee
Donor
Ninth legion’s camp, caledonian lowlands, late winter 124 CE
Caius Cassius Voltinius sat behind his desk in the wooden praetorium of his winter camp, surrounded by his closest officers. Winter had fallen, cold and snowy when it was not rainy, and hot brazier tried to dispel the damp atmosphere inside the command office. The hot, honeyed and spiced wine delivered by the personal slave of the commander was admittedly more effective than the charcoal burning in the bronze tripods, but no one complained about their effort.
Hanging on a wall behind the general was a map showing the progress made by the roman forces and what was known of the land ahead. The campaign had gone rather well at first, the Brigantes and Selgovae were still weak from their attempt at revolt, and had been rather quiet. Those few fools that dared attempt stopping or even simply slowing down the march of the legions had been thoroughly crushed. As a further precaution Voltinius had, as per an agreement with the emperor, demanded that each settlement gives a number of families according to its size, for resettlement in the Dacian lands.
Fighting against the Otadini and the Damnonii had been more difficult, as those tribes had well recovered from the fighting of forty years before. They also had the support of the Venicones, a powerful tribe living north-west of the lowlands, below the Graupius mounts where Agricola had won his great victory in the age of the despicable and damned Domitianus.
The camp of the ninth legion had actually been set up in the remains of the legionary base Agricola had founded on the Venicones’ territory, a stepping stone for the campaign of the following year that they were now planning. Yet Voltinius was uncertain.
The land was poor, barren even. Nothing grew on it but a short herb fit only for hairy sheeps and cows. Conquering it might simply be too much troubles and he might be better advised to found small colonies and fortress to protect the land he’d already captured and start draining the marshy areas around the narrower part of the land so as to make them safer and more productive. This proposal had been sent to the emperor, who was travelling somewhere in Africa, but no answer had yet been received by the general.
Suddenly noise from outside disturbed Voltinius’ thoughts. The door to the council room opened and a soldier came in, wet from the rain. Saluting, he gave the general a metallic tube sealed with wax impressed with the emperor’s personal seal. Dismissing the soldier and ordering that he be given food and dry clothes, Voltinius opened the tube under the watchful eye of his commanders.
There was no point asking them to get out of the room, so he began to read aloud the text written on papyrus in the ornate style of the imperial latin chancellery. The orders were clear : to find the best place around the narrower parts of the island to build a defensive wall designed to hold the barbarians at bay and to develop the necessary infrastructure to support its future garnison, to build roads, camps and settlements for the troops and resettled barbarians : familial ties were to be broken, villages split apart and distributed all over the conquered territories so that no one might recognize his neighbor, any previous loyalty forgotten and the delocalized inhabitants fully dependants on the Roman power. As for the tribes living to the north of the new wall, they should be raided and, as much as possible, exterminated to ensure the peace of the south.
Voltinius smiled grimly. The task ahead would not be pleasant, but it would certainly offer opportunities for incomes that had thus far escaped him : slaves would be sold, lands attributed according to bribes and resources taxed in ways that would finally make it up for staying so long in this cursed land.
Caius Cassius Voltinius sat behind his desk in the wooden praetorium of his winter camp, surrounded by his closest officers. Winter had fallen, cold and snowy when it was not rainy, and hot brazier tried to dispel the damp atmosphere inside the command office. The hot, honeyed and spiced wine delivered by the personal slave of the commander was admittedly more effective than the charcoal burning in the bronze tripods, but no one complained about their effort.
Hanging on a wall behind the general was a map showing the progress made by the roman forces and what was known of the land ahead. The campaign had gone rather well at first, the Brigantes and Selgovae were still weak from their attempt at revolt, and had been rather quiet. Those few fools that dared attempt stopping or even simply slowing down the march of the legions had been thoroughly crushed. As a further precaution Voltinius had, as per an agreement with the emperor, demanded that each settlement gives a number of families according to its size, for resettlement in the Dacian lands.
Fighting against the Otadini and the Damnonii had been more difficult, as those tribes had well recovered from the fighting of forty years before. They also had the support of the Venicones, a powerful tribe living north-west of the lowlands, below the Graupius mounts where Agricola had won his great victory in the age of the despicable and damned Domitianus.
The camp of the ninth legion had actually been set up in the remains of the legionary base Agricola had founded on the Venicones’ territory, a stepping stone for the campaign of the following year that they were now planning. Yet Voltinius was uncertain.
The land was poor, barren even. Nothing grew on it but a short herb fit only for hairy sheeps and cows. Conquering it might simply be too much troubles and he might be better advised to found small colonies and fortress to protect the land he’d already captured and start draining the marshy areas around the narrower part of the land so as to make them safer and more productive. This proposal had been sent to the emperor, who was travelling somewhere in Africa, but no answer had yet been received by the general.
Suddenly noise from outside disturbed Voltinius’ thoughts. The door to the council room opened and a soldier came in, wet from the rain. Saluting, he gave the general a metallic tube sealed with wax impressed with the emperor’s personal seal. Dismissing the soldier and ordering that he be given food and dry clothes, Voltinius opened the tube under the watchful eye of his commanders.
There was no point asking them to get out of the room, so he began to read aloud the text written on papyrus in the ornate style of the imperial latin chancellery. The orders were clear : to find the best place around the narrower parts of the island to build a defensive wall designed to hold the barbarians at bay and to develop the necessary infrastructure to support its future garnison, to build roads, camps and settlements for the troops and resettled barbarians : familial ties were to be broken, villages split apart and distributed all over the conquered territories so that no one might recognize his neighbor, any previous loyalty forgotten and the delocalized inhabitants fully dependants on the Roman power. As for the tribes living to the north of the new wall, they should be raided and, as much as possible, exterminated to ensure the peace of the south.
Voltinius smiled grimly. The task ahead would not be pleasant, but it would certainly offer opportunities for incomes that had thus far escaped him : slaves would be sold, lands attributed according to bribes and resources taxed in ways that would finally make it up for staying so long in this cursed land.
Hecatee
Donor
Sirmione, Northern Italy, early spring 126 CE
Voltinius was furious of the delay, but going south was simply too dangerous. A plague had come from northern Africa, beginning in Numidia. But the sickness had not stayed south of the Middle Sea and travellers met in Gaul had warned the former governor of Caledonia that villages and town had been emptied by the illness : the victorious general had not wanted to catch it and had thus decided to wait for news in the villa one of his friend owned on a nice lake in Gallia Cisalpina.
He’d taken the opportunity to study all that he could find on the situation of the Empire, especially the situation on the Eastern and Danubian front. While he was just coming back from a long war, the only living owner of a grass crown was already longing for the next conflict.
But the Emperor had no wish for conflict and was travelling around his lands, giving orders for new borders fortifications such as those he’d defined in the Aures mountains of Numidia, or for new aqueducts, temples and public buildings in the cities he went through.
A war with Parthia had been narrowly averted three years before, proof that the empire vanquished by Trajanus was back as a threat, and some troubles in the newly conquered Dacian lands had been quelled without much troubles by the local garrison. Even the Germans were quiet, not having staged much more than small thieving raids in the night.
Hadrian was spending some quality time in his palace of Tibur, apparently looking after his succession : friends well in court had recently advised Voltinius that the palace was not safe, with rumors about an upcoming decision that might lead to some imperially requested suicides, the names of Cnaeus Pedanius Fuscus Salinator and his son being mentioned by some, the name of the highly respected brother in law of Hadrian, Lucius Iulius Ursus Servianus, being also whispered as a potential candidate for forced suicide despite his age and the prestige of his three consulships. If such men were in danger, a rather unimportant but too popular general might also easily receive orders of a similar nature…
The same rumors say that the eerily young new eponymous consul, Lucius Ceionius Commodus, might be the cause of this instability, as Hadrian might want to design him as his heir, thus causing a risk of rebellion since Fuscus Salinator or his son, backed by Servianus, could be seen by many as more legitimate than Commodus.
Imperial politics, the most dangerous game in the world, was becoming even more dangerous and that only contributed to make Voltinius even more angry against the world...
Voltinius was furious of the delay, but going south was simply too dangerous. A plague had come from northern Africa, beginning in Numidia. But the sickness had not stayed south of the Middle Sea and travellers met in Gaul had warned the former governor of Caledonia that villages and town had been emptied by the illness : the victorious general had not wanted to catch it and had thus decided to wait for news in the villa one of his friend owned on a nice lake in Gallia Cisalpina.
He’d taken the opportunity to study all that he could find on the situation of the Empire, especially the situation on the Eastern and Danubian front. While he was just coming back from a long war, the only living owner of a grass crown was already longing for the next conflict.
But the Emperor had no wish for conflict and was travelling around his lands, giving orders for new borders fortifications such as those he’d defined in the Aures mountains of Numidia, or for new aqueducts, temples and public buildings in the cities he went through.
A war with Parthia had been narrowly averted three years before, proof that the empire vanquished by Trajanus was back as a threat, and some troubles in the newly conquered Dacian lands had been quelled without much troubles by the local garrison. Even the Germans were quiet, not having staged much more than small thieving raids in the night.
Hadrian was spending some quality time in his palace of Tibur, apparently looking after his succession : friends well in court had recently advised Voltinius that the palace was not safe, with rumors about an upcoming decision that might lead to some imperially requested suicides, the names of Cnaeus Pedanius Fuscus Salinator and his son being mentioned by some, the name of the highly respected brother in law of Hadrian, Lucius Iulius Ursus Servianus, being also whispered as a potential candidate for forced suicide despite his age and the prestige of his three consulships. If such men were in danger, a rather unimportant but too popular general might also easily receive orders of a similar nature…
The same rumors say that the eerily young new eponymous consul, Lucius Ceionius Commodus, might be the cause of this instability, as Hadrian might want to design him as his heir, thus causing a risk of rebellion since Fuscus Salinator or his son, backed by Servianus, could be seen by many as more legitimate than Commodus.
Imperial politics, the most dangerous game in the world, was becoming even more dangerous and that only contributed to make Voltinius even more angry against the world...
Hecatee
Donor
thanks for the vote of confidence, Silver I've got one more update ready for next week, but I'm trying to choose a course for the death of Hadrian and beyond.
As for what you're asking, Caledonia will be a wasteland, be assured of it. Hibernia, on the other hand, is not on anyone's radar at the current time, but could be this ATL version of Antoninus Pius' push north (seeing how this ATL's wall is slighly north of the Antonine wall).
About Commodus, I can't say anything since I'm not sure I'll have either Antonine or Marcus Aurelius (but I've already decided to dish Lucius Verus out)
I've got one more update ready for next week, but I'm trying to choose a course for the death of Hadrian and beyond. As for what you're asking, Caledonia will be a wasteland, be assured of it. Hibernia, on the other hand, is not on anyone's radar at the current time, but could be this ATL version of Antoninus Pius' push north (seeing how this ATL's wall is slighly north of the Antonine wall).
About Commodus, I can't say anything since I'm not sure I'll have either Antonine or Marcus Aurelius (but I've already decided to dish Lucius Verus out)
Hecatee
Donor
Villa Hadriana, Tibur, Near Rome, december 126 CE
“Move out of my way. Now” said a voice in a glacial tone. “But, domina, you can’t see the Emper…” “I don’t care whether he’s in his private island office, in the middle of a lupanar or even in the latrinae, I shall see my brother now ! So move !” said the voice, more loudly and forcefully. Steps then resonated on the small wooden drawbridge separating the main palace from the so called maritime theater, as the owner of the voice urgently crossed it. Aelia Domitia Paulina, elder sister to the Emperor barged into the private library of the island, where his brother was reading a scroll, reclining in his seat, a cup of fruit juices next to his hand.
Hadrian raised an eyebrow at his sister while lowering his scroll: “I suppose you came to talk about the succession issue ?” “Of course !” she screamed, her usually tranquil face red from the feelings she was expressing. “Asking my husband to suicide, and dismissing my grandchild from the throne ? All this to appoint a sickly nobody ? What are you thinking ?”
Telling her with a gesture of the hand to seat herself, Hadrian took a deep breath and answered : “I don’t think a general such as Caius Cassius Voltinius is such a sickly nobody… I presume you were referring to Lucius Ceionius Commodus, whom I initially considered for the post. Your grandson, for all the blood of our parents that do run into his veins, is an incompetent drunkard. I attempted to give him the best possible training, but he’s kept disappointing me. Thus I’ve had to look elsewhere and I can’t have such a threat to my rule or my successor alive when I die.”
Aelia looked at her brother. She could read the sadness, the weight this decision had upon him. His nose was once more running with blood, which he distractedly cleansed with an already bloody tissue. She saw him as the old, sick man he was, but couldn't find it in herself to pardon him. She tried another approach : “And so you who wanted peace would give the Empire to a man such as Voltinius, an unconnected nobody who never shone outside of the fields of Mars, instead of leaving it into the hands of a family member who might not be as good as you but would have the network to rule ?”
Sighing, Hadrian rose his eyes to look at her : “I’ll adopt him, and he’ll have to marry some women of our line, maybe Julia Serviana Paulina, as well as adopt a youth who’s to be his heir, I’m thinking of my verissimus Marcus Annius Verus…”
“What ? You’d have Julia’s father and son commit suicide and have her marry the man for whom their death is supposed to make way ? Hadrianus, you’ve become a monster, an heartless tyrant, a disgusting…”
Rising from his seat, the Emperor shouted at her : “and I’m the emperor of Rome, and you shall do as I say, as will every citizen of this empire !” As he moved his hand hit the cup which went flying in the room, causing four pretorian guards to come rushing, blade naked, the nails of their sandals hitting the marble of the floor in a thunderous noise. A hand risen by their lord stopped them at the entrance as he turned one last time toward his sister : “I haven’t taken all the decisions yet, but know that in any case you are not welcome here anymore, nor in Rome. I shan’t banish you from the empire, but do not ever come into my living presence again unless I’ve so ordered it. This is the will of you emperor and you shall obey it !”