|
280 B.C.
The year began rather smoothly, with thousands of new soldiers trained and along with any who could be spared from existing provincial garrisons they made their way south to Grumentum. Roadway investments in Roma, Capua, Arriminium, and Arretium would take some time to reap any benefits, but were nonetheless important as well. The treasury quickly shrank to a fraction of its original size under the weight of these demands, despite the new taxes.
In the summer, Quintus Aemilius Lepidus was appointed the office of tribune and ordered to make the hazardous journey through hostile territory to Rhegion. Young, expendable, talented in command of defense, he seemed to the Senate to be the perfect candidate. It was thought best that Aedile Arvila be reassigned to a safer and more economically important province, perhaps one of the border cities in the north.
Meanwhile, Quaestor Caius Fabricius Luscinus arrived at Capua, where he will be expected to guide the largest city outside of Roma itself to greater prosperity. The largest province in the southeast, Arpi, began work on a wooden pallisade to provide some semblance of defense.
Autumn brought a bit of drama, in two respects. First, the honorless dogs that make up the village of Cannae have had the disloyalty to join the Aiakid cause. It is suspected that a sizable bribe was involved, proving that despite the death of Pyrrhos, they have no intention of letting us be in southern Italy.
The spy Decius passed through Venetia and close enough to Cannae to pick up bits of information, some of which indicated that the Aiakid diplomat Acaeus was responsible for this outrage. He was able to ascertain with a high degree of confidence that no enemy forces were close to Cannae, and so the garrison from Arpi was sent to teach our brethren the penalty for such treachery. Specifically, this was a contingent of 1600 Oscan Javelinmen. They entered the village unopposed, and the status quo was restored for the time being.
|