Second opinion on a third option

[Sara]

"Have you met Aulus?" Longinus frowned, "He's surprisingly...normal, and nice for a man as advanced as he is. You'd get along, I think." Longinus cultivated friends like weeds, but very few he would consider close friends - Gaius, Aulus, Titus, Publius, they were certainly amongst the number though. 

"And I was thinking Praetor," He nodded, "But I can't get the itch of going back abroad out of my system." And praetor would mean at least another few years in Rome. Then again - as he advised Gaius himself, he really should be settling down and staying put to foster a family and build his political connections. But that just seemed so...boring and dull. Not very Longinus-like at all. Maybe he'd have to go to Greece again on another holiday with Attis.

"Get him to clear them up then," He offered with no pretence, "What's the worst that can happen from this? Senators cut you off? Some choice graffiti?" 

 

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[Sharpie]

"Any understanding I may have with Ovinia Camilla gets cut off by her father," Gaius rejoined. He rather liked Ovinia; despite their initial awkwardness together, he thought they were getting on and things could progress to a more formal arrangement and marriage agreement. But not if Lucius ended up with his harebrained scheme going ahead.

Gaius had all the power and could stop it... and wasn't stopping it. He wondered sometimes if he was his own worst enemy, rather than Lucius.

"Praetor would only be for one year and then you might end up with a governorship somewhere - I could see you as Propraetor of a province somewhere - Dacia, maybe, Raetia, Syria..."

 

@Sara

[Sara]

"Get him to speak to her? Or speak to her yourself?" He arched a brow, suggesting it seriously. "Girls can convince their fathers of anything - if she's keen on the match, and she can be convinced by Lucius - or preferably you - I wouldn't count her out of your hand yet." 

He chuckled, shaking his head. "Titus' time in Dacia sounded like some big holiday - same with Aulus' in Raetia." He was teasing of course, "I want real action - Judea, Parthia, Britannia, back in Gallia if it flares up again. That doesn't appeal to you? My leadership put you off the legions for life?" 

 

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[Sharpie]

"To be honest, I'm not sure how keen she is on the match, really." There had always been something a little... reserved about Ovinia. Gaius hadn't minded; he liked talking with her, spending time with her, whether in one of the various public gardens Rome boasted, or exploring the Porticus Liviae or the Emporium Magnum, or any of the other touristy places Rome had to offer.

"You've done Britannia three times? Four times? I'm sure you wouldn't mind a change of scenery - I hear Judea is nice and warm, or there's all the Parthian cavalry to contend with, though you'll be stuck building forts if the rumours are true." He shrugged. "I don't have even a daughter to leave things to, and my only brother is going to be an equite so I can hardly leave everything to him. A certain amount of it, yes of course, but..."

He would be happy to return to the legions at some unspecified point in the future once all this mess was ironed out properly. If it could be.

 

@Sara

[Sara]

"What's not to like? You're a decorated military veteran, filthy rich with a stock of British slaves in your back pocket from your campaign." But he knew women were fickle creatures and often utterly indecipherable. He'd never met Ovinia Camilla and couldn't speak to her motivations but she'd be a fool for not considering his once-Tribune. 

He squinted, trying to count. "Three terms as legate, a fourth as tribune before that. Judea would be nice, but it would mean another term as legate. I suspect Aulus'll be called up once his term is up as Consul so I might have an in there, if I wanted it." But he was debating whether he'd want to or not, or whether stagnating as a general would be embarrassing or rewarding. Besides, he might - Fortuna be blessed - have a wife by  that point to factor into all of it. 

"So as I said - step one, find him a family and get rid of the responsibility and ride the wave of the blowback, step two get married" He chuckled, "Step three - get her with child, step four...figure the rest out later." 

 

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[Sharpie]

"No, no, no, you've missed something," Gaius said, holding his cup up and intoning with the wisdom of the ages. "Step one, get very very drunk. Step two, deal with the roaring hangover. Step three is find Lucius a family."

How long it would take between finding Lucius a family and finding himself a wife remained to be seen. He might already have done that step - gods, he hoped that Ovinia's family wouldn't take it too badly, he was beginning to like her and thought that Longinus would like her too.

"Judea's a proconsular appointment, isn't it? Would you take another term as legate if Praetextatus gets the Proconsulship there and asks for you? There's no reason he wouldn't ask for you - not with all your experience. Unless you're going for that Praetorship, that is."

He had a year - two years! to figure out what his own career path would look like once he'd done his term as Aedile. Even supposing he got it - and there were twelve Aediles, there was no reason at all that he wouldn't get it.

@Sara

[Sara]

Grinning, Longinus leaned over (with great effort) and clinked his wine cup against Gaius'. "I'll drink to that." He hadn't been drunk in...far too long. Probably not since his flight to Formiae, actually. He knew he wasn't as young as was and the hangovers were very rarely worth the night anymore.

Nodding, he sighed and slumped back down on his sofa. "I'd need to think on it. He's a friend - and I respect him immensely, if he wants me then there'd be a reason for it." And he didn't think Aulus foolish enough to be weighed down with sentimentality - if he wanted him there, it meant he thought Longinus was right for the post and could add some value which was flattering, but he knew at some point his priorities would need to shift away from adventure and excitement. "Lets see if I'm married before I make any decisions about Praetorshop versus back to legate. I left Antonia for a term in Britannia only a few months after Cassia was born," he winced, "I've learned from my mistakes." 

Taking a deep sip and then holding it back out to be refilled. "Maybe you should escape to your villa for a bit?" he offered, "Did me the world of good when I needed to clear my head." 

 

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[Sharpie]

"You know, done right, I might stand half a chance of convincing the Senate of the honour of the path Lucius has chosen," Gaius said, musingly, adjusting his position a little and continuing in a more declamatory fashion. "When innocent people are afraid to walk the streets at night in the greatest city on earth, when good hard-working people risk dying in their beds if a fire breaks out, when the force we entrust our citizens' protection to is made up of slaves and freedmen, the lowest of the low, is it any wonder that corruption prevails? My brother has taken it upon himself to seek a position where he can root out the very worst and reform our city's vigiles, and to do this he had voluntarily forsworn the rights due to him as a patrician to take the humbler name of an equite..."

he relapsed into more normal speaking tones. "Lucius will hate it, of course. He's only got himself to blame, though."

 

@Sara

[Sara]

Longinus cocked an eyebrow, both amused and woeful that this situation was weighing on his friend so heavily, enough that it seemed to be the only thing he could think of. He didn't blame the man, it was a peculiar situation to be in and one in which there were no clear answers. 

"You'd stand up unprompted and say it?" He tilted his head to the side to study his former tribune with intrigue, "I mean...it takes balls. If you want I can raise a question on the vigiles or something at the next meeting, give you an opening. Or..." He grinned, "Just all out heckle you about your brother until you're forced to make a speech?" 

 

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[Sharpie]

"I doubt you'll be the only one heckling me," Gaius confessed ruefully. "But at least if I'm prepared for it, and have that sort of thing in mind, I won't get caught on the back foot. I'll have to refine that extempore version, though, I think... 'root out the very worst and reform the city's vigiles from within' or something."

He didn't think Lucius honestly had any idea what sort of trouble he'd caused his older brother, and whether or not that was a good thing remained to be seen.

"Anyway, you're the one who taught me it's better to tackle a problem head on rather than be caught on the back foot. I doubt anyone in the Senate will expect me to take the bull by the horns and come right out with something like that. Perhaps unprompted would be the best way of going about it."

 

@Sara

[Sara]

Longings grinned and tipped his cup in Gaius' direction, "I'm glad I taught you something at least. But I suppose you're right. Most men of the senate would rather avoid any drama they can, you'll certainly...gain a reputation for better or for worse for speaking out so directly." Longinus - as a rule - loathed senate meetings. They were lots of talking with pretty much no action. There were, however, exceptions to the rule and he suspected the next meeting if Gaius' plan came to fruition, would be one such event. 

"Attis!" He called over his shoulder to his long-standing slave, "Fetch the good wine, this is bitter and our friend Gaius is in a crisis and needs only the very best." 

 

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[Sharpie]

There was a murmured, "Yes, Domine," from the slave standing behind Longinus, who slipped out quietly on his errand, leaving the two men alone.

"I have no idea which would be worse, leaving it well alone and allowing my reputation to be dragged into the mud thanks to my brother's actions, or calling attention to it so boldly and..." Gaius shrugged. "Probably the former would be the worst option, at least with the second one, people can say I wasn't afraid to talk about it, to face it."

He sighed. "Do you suppose that in the old days, people worried about how their actions and words would be perceived, or did they just... do it and deal with the consequences later?"

 

@Sara

Edited November 28, 2021 by Sharpie

[Sara]

Longinus arched a brow and shrugged. "I think in the old days people were more concerned about treason round every corner than reputation...between the wars and the many, many Caesar's - wasn't time to worry." He chuckled, "Now we're settled into peace...people make mountains out of molehill's." 

Which was boring and dull. Longinus had absolutely no interest in gossip - not that his mother cared and loved to regale him until she was blue in the face about who was sleeping with who or who had been exiled where. "You could always cause some light chaos in the city," He grinned, teasing, "Distract a bit from all of this." 

 

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[Sharpie]

"Oh no. Oh, no, no, no - chaos is my brother's purview not mine. Hence this entire mess in the first place," Gaius said with a wry smile. "I am a paragon of order. Or, well." He shrugged. He was the methodical one of the two of them, bringing order out of chaos. Lucius, on the other hand, was rather good at bringing chaos out of order and leaving confusion and bemusement in his wake.

It would have made for a very interesting time had he decided to follow the cursus honorum. Gaius tried to imagine what things would look like if his brother had been put in charge of, say, the grain dole, and failed.

"At least the vigiles can't be any more chaotic than they are already, I suppose, so he might even do some good there."

 

@Sara

[Sara]

"They can't be?" He laughed garrulously and downed his wine, setting the cup down on the table and holding out a hand for a fresh one from the good wine Attis had procured. 

"Tell that to the families that were pulled out of their homes and cut down in the streets by the vigiles in the last Civil War..or so I hear." He winced with a shake of his head. The vigiles had been known, throughout Rome's history and along with the Praetorian guard to support the chaos that often erupted at times of unrest. How many people had been slaughtered by  them throughout the years versus how many people had they saved? By Longinus' estimation, it was probably near equal. 

"Take heart though," He said with a grin, "If there's another Civil War, at least your brother can keep your name off the list if there's any more purges. Ask him to take mine off as well, actually, whilst he's at it!" 

 

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[Sharpie]

"You've confused the vigiles with the Praetorian Guard. Easy mistake to make, on a dark night," Gaius said, holding out his own cup to be topped up from the new jar the dark-haired slave with the scarred forehead had brought in.

"I'll tell him, though. What will impress me is, if he manages to reorganise them into a halfway decent force that people don't equate with bullies and murders in back alleys on dark nights. I'll be even more impressed if he makes them effective in catching criminals and actually rescuing people from fires. Do you suppose the Senate will allow him some sort of award if he manages that?"

He tasted the new wine. "Mmm. That's not Falernian, though, so what is it? Apart from 'expensive', which is a given."

 

@Sara

[Sara]

"I've not confused anything," He chuckled shaking his head at Gaius' belligerence; "There were rumours the vigiles were working with the Praetorian's during the last lot of purges. My mother swears blind about it." He shrugged. Everything he knew, however, was secondhand knowledge given he was safe (or relatively so) in Britannia during most of the chaos. 

Considering the question he frowned and sighed. "I don't know...plenty of senators are in league with the Collegia in the city much as they deny it, no reason for them to support reform." But it would be impressive...and needed. He'd had a handful of slaves mugged and worse in the backstreets at night. Of course it was also their own bloody fault for going into the alleys in the dark of night alone. 

"It's..." He squinted and then glanced to Attis. "What is it?" 

 

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[Sharpie]

"Raetian, Domine, from your friend Calpurnius Praetextatus," the slave put in, once questioned directly. Gaius could swear he was trying not to roll his eyes at his master.

"Raetian - that would explain it," he murmured. "And yes, that is a big problem - I don't suppose there's any way of rooting out the collegia if they've got Senatorial support, though you'd think that the senators would rather have a safe city where people would like to be. Quite half of them are slumlords anyway, charging a fortune for a tiny room in some rickety shack in the Suburra that the rats deserted years ago."

He wondered if there was any way to change that. Probably not - it might be worth talking to Lucius about, if he thought he could get through a single conversation with his brother without wanting to throw things at his head.

He wasn't anywhere near drunk enough to want to contemplate that.

 

@Sara

[Sara]

"Our colleagues in the senate are - by and large - not a particularly honourable bunch, as you well know." He smirked. He was sure if you grabbed the lot of them and turned them upside down, a hundred tons of gold and silver and secrets would tumble out. Longinus had his own, of course, but at least nothing corrupt...just...romantically foolish. 

"The lot of them need to go on campaign" He grinned, "No need to go earning gold through gangs when you can come home a hero and with your treasury full." Britannia had been immensely profitable for Longinus and quite frankly, nowadays, he had far more money than he knew what to do with. Not that many would guess it given he lived well within his means and his domus was pretty frugally decorated, despite the oddities, all things considered. 

 

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[Sharpie]

"Maybe not, but they'd get as spiky as a set of porcupines if you flat out told them they didn't have as much honour as they think they do," Gaius rejoined. Apparently he was less than sober by now, not that he cared. "Probably the last time any of them went on a campaign anywhere, Hannibal Barca was a little boy dreaming of storming the gates of Rome."

He raised his cup. "We all know you needn't go getting your hands dirty by getting involved with the gangs, even at a remove, and all your insulae are perfectly sound and serviceable."

 

@Sara

[Sara]

Longinus snorted in amusement and gulped down his mouthful of wine. He'd always assumed - wrongly perhaps - that Gaius enjoyed senate life in a way he never had. The sessions were mind numbing to him, the speeches were as dry as the deserts in Africa Proconsularis and the men - his colleagues - were likewise. He'd complained as much to Aulus and Titus too frequently to count, but both seemed to actually take something from it. He had no clue why, and nor any idea how Aulus managed to keep from falling asleep sat up front during the most recent debates on grain charges. 

"So maybe your brother will rout the gangs, sort the city out and our esteemed colleagues will lose their money and lose their seats," He grinned, "Get some new blood in the building, maybe. Or at least something more interesting to talk about than packages for orphans from the civil war or grain." 

 

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[Sharpie]

"You know you're as entitled as anyone to introduce a new topic of debate," Gaius informed him. "What would you like the old codgers to get heated about in the next session? Um." He tried to come up with something humorous and failed; he was not exactly known for being the jovial humorous type, after all. "And I'd rather bet on my brother than against him - he's damned persevering when he sets his mind on something, you know. I swear he's given me more grey hairs than any barbarian managed to do."

 

@Sara

[Sara]

Longinus grinned. "How about a tax on Senators estates worth more than..." He pondered a preposterously large sum of money out loud. He would fit within that number, given the value of his three terms of legate and the riches they had given him. "That'd be enough to fund the poor little orphan kiddies and all the grain we'd need. See who in the Senate actually cares about the people, and who just wants to lounge in their expensive villas." Longinus had more money than he knew what to do with...which is why most of it was sat in reserve at the villa. Wasted, and unused. 

Arching a brow, he shrugged. "Then the criminals and lowlifes of the city will be afeared," He raised his cup in mock toast, "To the glory of Lucius Vip...Lucius Something Something. Depending on who adopts him." He grinned. 

 

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[Sharpie]

"Oh, well, so long as you don't mind getting taxed, why should anyone else? Because I'm pretty sure you have a higher income than the amount you just named," Gaius said. His former legate was fabulously wealthy after his time in Britannia, he knew that much even if he didn't know exact amounts. "That would be interesting to find out - though there was a debate about some sort of home or... something, for the orphaned kiddies, courtesy of the Augusta. Julia Drusilla Augusta, I mean, that is. You must have missed that one - or maybe you were asleep during the meeting?"

He grinned. "To Lucius Something Something Roscianus, may he be the bane of someone else's life for once!"

 

@Sara