To change the subject, Thandi quickly explained their theory about the Jotnar’s attempt to build a world empire in the ancient world, led by an elite cult of philosophers.
“So, the Romans finally had to face the inevitable problem,” she concluded. “What are they going to do once the land grabbing pyramid scheme ends? If you don’t have the spoils of conquest to share, why would anyone allow you to rule over them? Soon after they destroy their rivals in Carthage and Macedonia, a lot of their new subjects rebel. They have to spend a few decades putting down uprisings in Spain and Greece. Once the dust clears, Rome is left with an entire generation of veterans who had not conquered new territory. So where was their land going to come from? The argument over this problem would fuel the fire for the rise of populist—”
“I’m going to have to stop you there Thandi,” Bibi interrupted in an unusually confident voice. “Because Christie has a different view on events, which I happen to find quite compelling.”
Doctor Gilah turned to her with an expression of attentive fascination. Thandi narrowed her eyes, but raised her hands and lay back on the couch.
“Check out Madam Burale here,” Kayla said with a smirk. “Bringing the intellectual smackdown. Do it, Bibi.”
Bibi cleared her throat and glanced quickly at her phone. “Well, it turns out that the senatorial elite didn’t have to do anything about these landless veterans at first, because they found wage labor throughout the country. With their newfound wealth, the aristocrats spend money lavishly, on buildings, festivals, and on expanding businesses, all of which creates a lot of jobs. Now, Rome’s legitimacy depends on it being presented as a Republic of free citizens, so they can’t openly abuse power over people like the Macedonian kings did. Instead, the patricians build up huge social networks of clients based on debt. If a senator lends out money for a citizen to start a business, not only does he charge extortionate interest rates, but that man owes him loyalty for life.”
“Huh.” Kayla looked thoughtful. “Why does that sound so familiar?”
“Because we watched all those old mafia films last year,” Thandi answered.
Kayla nodded. The frenetic activity of battalion life often paused for long stretches of time to give overdue logistics, maintenance and administrative tasks a chance to catch up. During those endless hours of standdowns, the Rangers had nothing to do but bicker, playfight, and watch movies. Surprisingly, it hadn’t taken long before they had watched all the best films and tv shows several times over.
“But obviously,” Bibi continued, “the stream of money eventually turns into a trickle, and people start to go out of work. The problem becomes even worse because all that success has increased the growth rate of Rome’s population, and they’ve spent the last couple of hundred years importing slaves.”
“Shouldn’t that fix their problems, at least in the short term?” Kayla asked.
“Well no. Slaves often get freed, and, by right, their children become landless Roman citizens. So, the urban population is skyrocketing. Now all the veterans are becoming just as poor as everybody else. So, there was an officer who served in the Numantine war, and he wants to do something for all the men he fought with, but he isn’t a patrician. He is called Tiberius Gracchus and, I’m sure you agree, Thandi, that trying to get demobilized veterans the same reward their forefathers had always received doesn’t mean he’s a populist.”
Thandi shrugged. “Hmm… let’s see where your argument goes.”
Bibi checked her phone again. “Okay, so whenever the Romans conquer territory, part of the land gets portioned off into a block called Ager Publicus. It’s literally free land that any citizen can go and work however they like, explicitly as a means to help the poor. According to Roman law, no individual can use more than 310 acres each, but, over time, the senatorial class gathered a lot of this land for themselves, in excess of the limit. They’re greedy, obviously.”
“Uhuh,” said Kayla. “Sounds like there is a very straightforward, legal solution to this whole problem already laid out. I’m sure the just and pious masters of the world talk to this guy Gracchus and figure it out.”
“Yeah, no,” Thandi said. “They straight up murder him. Then his brother Gaius tries to take things further and give Roman citizenship to the whole of Italy, so they murder him too. They were both accused of trying to become kings.”
“Really? How does that work?” Kayla asked.
“Because of the clientele system,” Thandi said. “If they were praised for redistributing all that land, they would have so many veterans loyal to them that they would be able to challenge the power of the aristocracy.” Thandi kicked her legs out and lay back. “This is the point where I would argue that the Jotnar plan was to provoke more and more powerful senators into building private armies so they could take over the republic.”
Bibi shook her head. “No, it can’t work like that. Whoever becomes the emperor has to win the support of all the people, and the elites, or the new empire falls apart, Diadochi style. Now the Gracchi brothers stirred up a popular following, but as soon as they are out of the picture, the senate goes forward with the land redistribution—though not the citizenship thing. Thus, the people are kept sort of happy, for now.”
“Except,” Thandi said, raising a finger, “for the equites.”
“Who are the equites?” Kayla asked.
“By the second century BC,” Thandi said, “lots of citizens had become very wealthy, either through success in war, or through their relationships with the aristocrats. At the same time, lots of the Italian towns are starting to receive full Roman citizenship, so a new class of smart, ambitious people is beginning to flood into Rome. These are the equites, or ‘cavalrymen’, to be accurate.”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
“Looking for fame, fortune, and power?”
“Exactly. Because they have citizenship rights, they can run for office—start climbing the greasy pole, as it were. But even though it has elections, Rome is not a democracy. Voting is rigged through the clientele networks, and a healthy dose of bribery. Even if you do have a decent fortune to spend on winning elections, real power is in the hands of the senate. They decide who joins their ranks, and anyone who wins office but doesn’t toe the line, like the Gracchi, gets assassinated.”
Kayla rested her chin on her fist. “But what if one of these horse-guys gets too powerful? How far do they have to go?”
“All the way, because nothing can be allowed to disrupt the control of the patricians. Enter stage right one Gaius Marius. He came from Latium, and his family had connections and money, getting him a position in Scipio Aemilianus’ personal legion. After an exemplary military career, Marius runs for office in 119 BC, and starts a slow but steady climb up the ‘cursus honorum’—that’s the ladder of political achievement. For thirty years he does it all, plebeian tribune, praetor, consul, pro consul, and leads Roman armies to victory in two campaigns.”
“But he’s still not a member of the club, right?”
“Of course not,” Thandi said. “No matter how much backside he kisses, the patricians won’t let him in. He’s just not the right sort.”
“This is where I need to step in again,” Bibi said as she stared at her phone. “I have a note from Christie. Remember that Marius is obviously not just greedy for power and kingship. His home community has no say in how it is governed, how it supports businesses, or manages land, debt, or infrastructure. Everything they do needs a favor to be granted by a patrician or one of their richer clients, otherwise they have to borrow money at insane rates. Ancient life being unpredictable, that carries the risk of ending up in so much debt, you get sold into slavery. It is not a coincidence that this period saw three servile wars, the last being the near-world shattering revolt led by Spartacus.”
Kayla smiled apologetically at Thandi. “Yeah, gotta side with team egghead over here. People have to think they have some kind of control, or they riot.”
“It seems clear to me,” said Gilah, “that Marius really needs a war.”
They turned to look at her with questioning expressions. Only Bibi nodded her agreement.
“Well,” Gilah continued, “because, based on what you’ve said, what is the one thing the Romans always want more of to keep them happy? Marius can’t appeal to the populace, or propose dangerous laws, because he’ll be assassinated. But if he conquers territory, he’ll have something with which he can hopefully buy off the senate to give him a seat at the table.”
“That’s correct, Doctor,” Bibi said, and ignored Kayla’s eyeroll. “Fortunately for him, there happens to be a war ready and waiting. A small kingdom on the southern coast of the Black Sea called Pontus has been expanding into Turkey, threatening a Roman ally. The king of Pontus, Mithridates VI, hates Romans, and describes them with the following words: ‘Once vagabonds without fatherland, without parents, created to be the scourge of the whole world, no laws, human or divine, prevent them from seizing and destroying allies and friends, those near them and those afar off, weak or powerful, and from considering every government which does not serve them, especially monarchies, as their enemies.’”
“This guy sounds pissed,” Kayla noted. “Understandably so.”
“Maybe,” Bibi said cautiously. “But after Rome declared war on him, he murdered eighty thousand Romans in western Turkey.”
“Yeah,” Kayla cocked her head. “That’s not cool. Sure, they suck, but that doesn’t make genocide okay.”
“But anyway, Rome has to send an army, and whoever gets the command is going to embark on a glorious conquest of the East. So, obviously, the patricians pick one of their own—Lucius Cornelius Sulla. But then Marius, seeing his chance, pulls off a clever political maneuver that gets the command switched to himself.”
“Ha! Good for him. I’m sure Sulla was unhappy, but hey, he’ll get over it.”
“Um… no. Sulla’s next move is completely insane, unprecedented, and widely regarded as the moment the republic died. Instead of giving up his army, he marches on Rome in total violation of ancient religious law. When he gets there, he orders the execution of Marius and his supporters, though they only manage to find one of them.”
“Okay,” Kayla began, “so that seems—”
“Hold on a second,” Thandi said. “You are going to want to hear the rest of it.”
Bibi flashed her a grateful smile and continued. “Well, Sulla leaves Rome thinking he’s taken care of business, and goes off to fight Mithridates. But the demand for reform in the city is a rising tide that can’t be held back. A patrician named Cinna breaks ranks and pushes for Italian voting rights, but Sulla’s supporters chase them out of the city. A few years later, Marius returns with his own army, takes over the city, and executes a couple of dozen of Sulla’s men, sticking their heads on spikes in the forum. Now, Sulla easily wins the war against Mithridates and concludes it with a treaty, so that he can immediately march on Rome once again.”
Kayla’s hand shot up. “Wait, sorry to interrupt. Sulla beats the guy who committed genocide, and then tells him ‘No it’s cool, bro, just sign here and we’re good?’”
“Yup,” Bibi said. “It wasn’t a particularly harsh agreement either—left Mithridates as king of Pontus, and a Roman ally.
Kayla’s face twisted into an expression of bewilderment “Um… kay?”
“So, then Sulla enters Rome and installs himself as dictator. He executes around nine thousand people, starting with anyone he perceives as being opposed to him. But the killings morph into a massive self-enrichment scheme for the elite. Sulla’s supporters murder senators and equites alike, so that they can appropriate their land for themselves. While this is going on, Sulla passes several laws meant to restore power to the patricians and guarantee the senate’s total control.”
Silence settled in the office, and even Gilah looked surprised. Kayla ran her hand through her hair and shook her head.
“I freakin’ told you, didn’t I? she said. “This was the stoic’s game. Might makes right. I kill you, take your stuff, enslave your family, and rule your country. Your descendants… are just supposed to grovel and serve for eternity. And this is supposed to be the foundation of civilization, is it? Clearly the aliens are pulling the strings.”
“I think that might be an ambitious conclusion…” Gilah said.
“Of course they are,” Kayla huffed. “How else do you explain humans being so evil? They just copied their role models. And what have you seen in history that says different?”
“Well, there is a long way to go yet,” Thandi cautioned. “There’s a lot more that goes on before the republic gives way to the empire. I still don’t think Christie proved her argument.”
“And, I’m afraid, I don’t think you’ve proven yours,” Gilah said. “I shall be sure to update one of my history-oriented colleagues with your theory. Unfortunately, it will need a great deal of fleshing out to be actionable.”
“Really?” Kayla demanded. “But did we mention how perverted the stoics—”
“Thank you so much for talking to us, Doctor Gilah,” Thandi said gratefully. “It was a pleasure to see you again.”
“Oh, don’t mention it,” Gilah said with a beaming smile. “I do get a bit stir crazy cooped up in here. And please say hello to Christie for me.”
“I’ll send you an e-mail,” Kayla called, as Thandi dragged her from the office.