Rome: Total War
The Accius Historicus
The war is far greater now. It is worldwide for civilization. Read on to understand why.
Rebellion. Such a distasteful word. Former Carthaginians, Greeks, and Scythians chose to rebel against my benevolence. All I did was take their cities, kill their armies, and destroy their religions. But I would also bring civilization: clean water, markets, shipyards, work. I'd even employ local peasants to keep order, as well as a town watch built from the populace to keep order. Yet still they rebelled, requiring more troops, repair costs, buildings to maintain order. My benevolence only extends so far.
My economy damaged, my frustrations boiling over, it was the Scythians who first incurred my wrath. The answer: slavery. If you rebel, you will be chained and sold. Your family will be chained and sold. The flesh trade is profitable, stamps down rebellion, builds populations in other cities. The former Carthaginians went next to the selling block, followed by the final Greeks who refused to give up their ways and submit to Rome. Peace, reenforced by the whip, has followed.
But not for rival nations. With the Carthaginians still holding territory, I sent troops deep into the Sahara. The settlement there was small and rebellious, a former Numidian town that had been conquered. By driving out their new masters, they welcomed me with open arms. There is no slavery for the former Numidians, they are granted all the rights of Roman citizens under my Brutii forces. As for the Carthaginians, I sent a diplomat to negotiate. When they refused to listen to reason, I loaded troop ships and prepared a march into the deep desert.
Meanwhile, the Pontics continued their harassment campaign. I had bribed a member of their royal family to join me, and he now led the charge. All of western Turkey now hails Rome and the Brutii, as does the northern section of the eastern portion. I wiped away their connection to the Black Sea and made sure to blockade their final port. My assassins now exterminate their leaders as they try to mount a resistance, but yet again, they refuse my diplomats offers of peace. Foolish, but my attentions lie elsewhere in my empire.
It was a joint campaign that really set things in motion. I had broken ties with the Sycthians and then declared war alongside my Macedonian allies. Besides taking Crimea, I blockaded their ports on the northern coast of the Black Sea. And then I marched troops to support the Macedonians in an invasion of yet another Scythian province. One would think allies would be willing to work together. Instead, they won the territory and then immediately declared war for my help. Bastards! Thank you. You have removed my need for pretext.
I had been planning for war with the Macedonians for a while, and they gave me the opportunity on a silver platter, with an army already poised at the territory they had just taken. I launched a siege immediately, followed in the same turn with two more. Another siege began the next turn, with yet another immediately after. The Macedonians had been foolish to allow me to put them in a pincer of control, and they paid for it immediately, going from six territories to two. I did not just hold, I enslaved again.
It was the fallout of this mass takeover that served as the final spark for the Senate. I was too popular with the masses. I controlled too much territory. I was a threat, and the Senate declared my leader should kill himself or else face the full wrath of Rome. Stupid fat, old fools, worthless politicians who understand nothing about warfare. I had been quietly killing their children for years, and now they haughtily believed they could crush me.
The civil war began, with Rome, the Julii, and the Scipii declaring me their greatest threat. They were not wrong. The Julii have distance between us; while they control the territory that makes up Monte Carlo and northern Italy, only one of their territories borders mine. But they have a small navy that attempted to hold my ports. I sank their ships in the Aegean Sea, cementing my total control over it, then destroyed any stragglers. They sail ships in the larger Mediterranean still, but very few after the decimation they faced.
The Scipii were closer, however, so they faced the full might of my fury. Within two turns, all of their ports were under blockade. I had troop ships prepared and launched them immediately, taking the eastern half of Sicily as well as their Italian holdings. My soldiers crossed the Strait to hit them in North Africa, and the soldiers I was marching on the Carthaginians were diverted. The battles were immense, in one case a thousand of my own Brutii forces facing multiple armies of thousands, which my superior tactics crushed. Examples must be made, so every Scipii dog finds themselves in chains to fund my empire. Even now I prepare to take the rest of Sicily as well as their holdings on Sardinia.
The devastation was so great, the Scythians have called a ceasefire out of fear. I will honor it. The Carthaginians do not leave their final stronghold. The Pontics and Macedonians try to advance; I assassinate their generals and crush their armies. And now I use monetary diplomacy to turn Julii forces to my side and harass the northern portion of Italy.
And all of this exposes Rome. The Senate fields commanders, but I have my killers hunt them down and slaughter them. The Scipii and Julii will see their people enslaved and sold, their lands seized, their populi obeying Brutii masters. But I have a special plan for Rome. There will be no slaves, for there will be no one left. For I am Rome.
Ack's List:
