Caius Livius mounts the Rostra to address the voters...

Quirites!

I stand here to implore you, citizens of Rome, to cast your vote wisely this month!

Rome is facing a number of new challenges these last few weeks and more are certain to come in the the weeks to follow.

Cast your vote wisely and think of how and where best to use our limited resources.

Under consideration this month we have lex in the Senate that propose to spend a potential windfall from the Carthaginians in different ways.

My own lex asks for all the money already obtained to be spent on a larger fleet to re-establish our dominance in the mare nostrum. Those of others ask for months of games and a new aqueduct.

These other projects would currently come out of our treasury and attractive though they may be, in times of peace, I think neither can be called essential in times of war.

Spend our money wisely, Quirites! and do not spend that which we do not yet have, for I promise that I will act to enforce the Senate's order for full repayment of the arrears, but this may take time and may require a full display of willingness to go to extreme lengths one that may prove difficult to make if certain, other, decisions are taken prematurely. The last thing we want, surely, after waiting seven years to bring the Carthaginians to account is to allow them to use our other preoccupations to escape their obligations once more.

Eight hundred and forty thousand denari, Quirites, that is what they owe us up to today and for rest of the year!

Rome is owed this money, Rome deserves this money, ROME WILL HAVE THIS MONEY!

This brings me to the main motive for my speech, the call for war to be declared by the people of Rome on Sparta.

Quirites! ask yourselves, is now the time to rush into this matter?

Consider the evidence we have, some of our allies in the Peleponese have declared war on Sparta and asked fro Rome's support. This war has been declared as retaliation for the Spartan annexation of Argos. Other, older, allies of Rome, the Aetolians have refused to join the call for war and have asked Rome to stay out of Greek internal matters.

In Greece we have the relatively inexperienced commander, Seneca Livius Atrebas. Now Atrebas, you may recall, was the man who took up the shattered legions after their defeat at Trasimenus in the recent Etruscan revolt and turned them into an effective fighting force once more, one that, with the help of failing Etruscan support for Tarquinius and support from an Etruscan city and the gods that watch over the suicidal, defeated the last Etruscan rebel army.

He is a man who I am sure you will all agree showed promise, promise later called into question by an inexplicable inability to prevent his men from sacking the estates of Romans and also in failing to offer proper remorse and pay reparations for the damage.

He was nevertheless supported and sent off to investigate the situation in Greece and advise the Senate and People on the situation.

In one short month he has heard one side of the story, declined to visit either Sparta or Argos, or even more importantly, our allies in Aetolia to learn more and has has already decided that the only course for Rome is to support the declaration of war by some of our Greek allies on their neighbour, Sparta.

He has not questioned their motives, he has not used diplomacy to resolve the issue of Argos without war, he has given immediate succor to the Athenians call for war without using the steadying hand of Rome to cool often over-active Greek tempers.

He seems to accept that the Spartans are in league with Antiochus, yet he has, nor has he sought, any proof of this allegation.

It seems that those, such as myself, who voted him into this command were wrong to ignore the warnings of instability of character or judgement that seemed all too apparent then and scream out to us now.

Citizens! Rome cannot afford to go to war on the pretences and insistance of others for no obvious gain to the Republic.

Rome is already committed to war with the Seleucids on two fronts, it is at war with the Gallaecians in northern Iberia, it has a Carthage that won't pay it's dues to Rome, has no done so for seven years and yet offers now just one year worht of tribute in return for its breaking of vows.

We have Favonius Cornelius playing a dangerous game with Italian citizenship for what can only be personal political gain.

Also, it is Iunius and already we have used half the available citizens to replace casualties in the theatres of war, what makes us think that Rome can open an active war in Sparta now?

Do you wish to see Rome crippled by losses, wracked with wars internally and on all fronts and unable to replenish it's legions, will we call the elderly and the children to fight for Rome? Will we call on women, to fight?

No Quirites, there are more ways than one to find a solution in Greece, more ways than one to wage 'war'. Let Seneca use his existing mandate and negotiate a solution, use his legions to prevent expansion of Sparta, and call on our allies to hold true whilst Rome finds a solution.

If then after all avenues are exhausted, horizons clearer and citizen numbers replenished once more, then we can judge whether going to war in greece is the right thing for Rome to do.

For now is most certainly not the time.

I urge you all to oppose the declaration of war and the expansion of Imperium of Atrebas at this time.