Ursus stamped the snow off his feet as he entered the quarters of the praetor Lucius Porcius. Entering the praetor's office, he sat heavily in the pro-offered chair.

"Well, sir, I've heard from the cities I wrote. Of them, only Ostium Hispaniensis can not raise the required ships. This means we will have 18 biremes instead of the 20 I wanted. We will, though, have two squadrons of liburnae. I can work with this, despite the lack of two ships.

"Training of the soldiers is going well. They will be ready by the time the ships arrive. I expect that by the end of April, we'll be ready for the summer campaign."