Anno quingentesimo sexagesimo octavo ab urbe condita
December DLXVIII (185 BC)
M. Aemilio Lepido et D. Claudio Russo consulibus

IMPERIUM NEWS

Issue CXCIII (193)

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The end of the year sees a new collection of officials who will be taking up their duties in Ianuarius. The race for Censor was not even close--Scipio Asiaticus soundly beat Cethegus for the patrician's slot...and since Maelius Niger was the only plebeian candidate, he was assured of election, though he got nearly as many supporters as Cethegus in the voting.
Postumius Scaeva took first place in the polls for Consul, followed by the patrician Decius Mucius Ahala. Both men served this year as propraetors.
A big surprise was the stunning victory of Terentius Auricomus in the praetorial race--he garnered nearly twice the support of his closest rival, Sempronius Brutticus, who served this year as Ulterior's propraetor. Speaking of Hispania--the two provinces were chosen by Lepidus and Russus as their proconsular posts--it seems that these two are destined to be linked together for another year, after having served as co-consuls, and as soldiers fighting the Gallic invasion of Italia several years back.
It seems that the Curii have a hold on the lower offices which cannot be broken! Curius Hibernica and Curius Felix came first and second respectively in the run for a quaestorship, and T. Curius Celer took top numbers in the aedilician posts--he will serve as the new year's Games Aedile! One big surprise here--Orestes, who saved the patricians from the deadly fumes of a tannery on the Palatine--was not returned to office as aedile! He, along with fellow patrician Decius Longinus, got not a single vote!
Continuing the family trend, Patricus Curius Hibernicus got top votes in his bid for the post of Tribunis Plebis! He received more than three times the number of votes as any other candidate, except Titus Annius Milo, who trailed him by less than 10,000 votes as second most popular candidate for the office. This will be Milo's third term as tribune, as it will be for Kaeso Varus.

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The bombardment of Ambracia ended once the siege towers and rams were finished, and after one final appeal, Commander Publius Attius Varus launched the assault on Ambracia. King Alexander's forces were set to guard the approaches to the city, leaving the assault to the Romans.

The Commander stationed his forces with one legion at each of the city's four gates, holding his own legio I in reserve. The bombardment had already weakened one gate, and the work of the rams soon opened that breach in the walls, which was quickly exploited by Roman troops eager for blood after such a long siege. Legio XXII, forced the western gate, and as soon as they gained an opening, legio XV--composed of the capiti censi--took leave of the northern gate following their orders and moved to assist in enlarging the breach. Roman forces quickly took the wall there, and began to move toward the city's acropolis as ordered. Legio XXI soon forced the southern gate, and assisted by the XXth, began their march toward the town's center.

Rebel forces tried in vain to keep their hold on the city, and following their commander's orders, were killed if they did not immediately drop their weapons and surrender. A final tally showed that none survived, and that they had even been joined by a few hundred of the town's more desperate citizens. Some looting ensued, and fires began to burn in some parts of the city.

Overwhelming Roman Victory
Roman Dead: 55 Heavy Infantry, 22 Light Infantry, 16 Cavalry
Rebel Dead: 3,800 Captured: 0
Booty Taken: 5,930 D PAV + 3 Legates get 296 D each
Legionaries: .07 D each
Alexander receives 2,965 D
PAV Gains 3.59 Command Rating Points, now 17.53, and 35.96 Military Action Points.
Ambracia is 65% damaged, and will recover Quintilis DLXIX

The revolt in Epirus is over!

With only limited bombardment, the city of Cirta opens it's gates after an appeal from King Masinissa. He vowed that he would be lenient with his former enemies, and that no Roman soldier would set foot within the city walls. That, with the information that Mago had fled, disheartened the rebels, and led to them being taken by loyal citizens, who then welcomed their king with restrained cheers.

So far, Masinissa has been true to his word, and the city has suffered no major reprisals. Those who would not surrender to their sovereign have been taken by Consul Marcus Aemilius Lepidus to Rome, where they are expected to march in his triumph, and then meet their fate at the hands of executioners.

King Masinissa has privately pledged to continue his faithful obligations to Rome and thanked Rome and her consul for their assistance. Also in private, Masinissa accepted the funds which would be required to rebuild Sitifis at a faster pace.

In a side note, Mago has not been seen anywhere in Numidia, and it is rumored that he may be headed to Carthage--taken their by pirates he had paid to get him away from his last stronghold.

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Two quaestorial candidates were found by the Censors Office to be running illegally--Spurius Ogulnius Crispinus, a patrician, was already serving as quaestor in Illyricum--and his entry must have been a mistake, according to rumors in the Forum. The other, Sextus Aelius Tappulus, a staunch plebeian, had already served in that office last year for Narbonensis. How it escaped his mind is unclear. Both men were removed from the ballot at the last moment.

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A dog was born in Carthago Nova in Hispania Citerior with only two legs.

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Legislative Report

SENATUS
Moderate, Conservative or General (1, 2 or 3) need 66%, 33% and 50%+ respectively to pass

SC Claudia de Mauretanii Triumph – (DCR) - General - Passed (100%):

That consul Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, having met all the conditions at the conclusion of this campaign, be awarded a Triumph by the Senate and People of Rome;
That from this day on, he be awarded the cognomen of Mauretanicus in recognition of this victory.

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ASSEMBLY
Radical, Liberal or General (1,2 or 3) need 66%, 33% and 50%+ respectively to pass.

No Leges This Month

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STARTING BALANCE			D. 1,113,672
Expenses		Incomes
Army maintenance	18,480	Tax	56,995
Navy maintenance	38,300	Gifts	0
Military recruitments	107	POW sales	0
Colonization/restoration	0	Carthago installments	0
Bread subsidy	0	Others	0
Total	56,887	Total	56,995
ENDING BALANCE			D. 1,113,780
Reserve Funds			D. 300,000

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Chance of CLASS RIOT

3 %

Peaceful

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CITIZENS AVAILABLE FOR SERVICE (at the end of December)
Total Roman citizens worldwide at December DLXVII	2,209,981
Total Roman citizens in legionary service at December DLXVII	97,869
Citizens available for service at Ianuarius DLXVIII	97,869
Citizens used in colonization since Ianuarius DLXVIII	10,000
Citizens mobilized into legions since Ianuarius DLXVIII	1287
Number of citizens still available in DLXVIII	86,582
Available capiti censi	13,111

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SLAVE PRICES FOR IAN-MAR DLXVIII
Labourers	5 D.
Specialists (Artisans, Gladiators, etc.)	50 D.
Chariots	30 D.

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REGIONAL PRODUCTIVITY (IAN-MAR DLXIX)
Italia - ROMA	1	ACHAIA	1
Italia – AEQUI	1	AEGEAN	1
Italia - APULIA	1	AQUITANIA	1
Italia - BRUTTIUM	1	ASIA	1
Italia - CALABRIA	1	-	-
Italia - CAMPANIA	1	-	-
Italia - ETRURIA	1	-	-
Italia - LATIUM	1	-	-
Italia - LUCANIA	1	EPIRUS	1
Italia - MARSII	1	LYCIA	1
Italia - SABINIS	1	MACEDONIA	1
Italia - SAMNIUM	1	MAURETANIA	1
Italia - VOLSCII	1	NUMIDIA	1
GALATIA	1	-	-
GALLIA CISALPINA	1	-	-
GALLIA NARBONENSIS	1	PERGAMUM	1
HISPANIA CITERIOR	1	-	-
HISPANIA ULTERIOR	1	-	-
ILLYRICUM	1	-	-
SARDOCORSICA	1	-	-
SICILIA	1	-	-

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FOREIGN NATIONS STATUS SUMMARY
Aegean Isles	Allied	Galilaea Superior	Normal
Aegyptus	Normal	Macedonia	Allied
Aethiopia	Normal	Massilia (City)	Allied
Africa (Carthago)	Normal	Numidia	Allied
Aquitania	Allied	Pan-Hellenic League	Normal
Asia	Normal	Parthia	Normal
Creta	Normal	Pergamum	Allied
Cyprus	Normal	Seleucid Empire	Strained
Cyrenaica	Normal	Thracia	Normal
Epirus	Allied	-	-

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December Slave Market

No Activity This Month.

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Buildings
The following significant works have been commissioned in Rome this month:

Patron	Description	Value
--	--	--
--	--	--
--	--	--

Cities Upgrade
The following upgrades have been committed to this month:

Patron	Description	New level	Value
--	--	--	--
--	--	--	--

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Trade Reports December DLXVIII

No Trading This Month.

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Bonus Awards for December DLXVIII

For their speeches in the Senate the following PCs receive:

MAL -- 5 CIV
DCR -- 5 CIV

For their actions in the Civil Office the following PCs receive:

None

For their Speeches in the Assembly the following PCs receive:

CSB -- 10
PCH -- 1o

For gossiping in the Forum the following PCs receive:

PMT – 15 CUL
LICA -- 15 CUL
MAL -- 15 CUL
PCN -- 15 CUL

For their Religious Actions the following PCs receive:

LICA – 5 REL
PMT -- 10 REL

For their Military actions the following PCs receive:

MAL – 15 MIL
PAV -- 10 MIL
CSB -- 5 MIL

For their actions in the Courts the following PCs receive:

None

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LICA receives 100 CUL points for posting the results for races, PCH receives 100 CUL for the games.

Everyone receives 5 REL and 5 CUL for voting in the elections.

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