H16

In the end, we didn't wind up going to any of Pyrrhus' 3 hunting lodges in the Pindus Mountains for talks with the Roman ambassador. It had never truly been a serious suggestion, but a way to end the prior meeting while letting Sextus Julius Libo save a little face after his outburst. The man clearly wasn't the best choice for an ambassador to a Hellenic Kingdom, which made me curious as to why the Senate had sent him and not someone more diplomatic. Sextus Julius Libo was more apt to start a war than negotiating a successful treaty.

When he arrived again the next day, Sextus Julius Libo brought with him another, younger, Roman in a blue cloak who was introduced as Titus Vipsanius, scribe. Titus Vipsanius was carrying an oilskin scroll case with him as he trailed behind Sextus Julius Libo. Sextus and his scribe seemed to be complete opposites. Sextus, a patrician of a military bearing with calloused hands, Titus, a Plebian who seemed reedy and had ink stains on his fingers. It was an unlikely pairing.

I sat on my throne, with Lanassa next to me as we received the Romans. "So, now that tempers have cooled, what would Rome ask of Epirus?" I asked.

"As you know, Rome has been at war with the Samnites and Etruscans for 4 years now while simultaneously being at war with the Senones and Umbrians. We have managed to knock the Senones out of the war at great cost, but one of our armies was badly mauled in Samnium and the Samnites have raided into the heart of the Republic and even sacked a city only a few dozen miles from Rome herself. This is forcing Rome to call up new recruits to fit out more armies. Legions need to be raised, equipped, and trained, but the Samnites keep raiding into Latium, making collecting taxes for such an effort difficult. We have an army in Latium doing what it can to chase out the bandits, but when the troops concentrate, the Samnites refuse battle and return to more outlying areas such as Picenum or Campania and hijack tribute caravans from our Socii in the area." Explained Titus Vipsanius.

"Rome wishes Epirus to get involved in her wars? I can see little benefit to Epirus in doing that." I frowned.

"Rome has no need of your Phalangites. The might of the Legions will bury the enemy." Scoffed Sextus Julius Libo.

"If you can feed, clothe, equip, and train them. It seems that the Samnites insist on causing you difficulty with that." Replied Lanassa, archly.

Before Sextus Julius Libo could retort with some no doubt ill-considered tirade, Titus Vipsanius spoke up. "You touch it with a needle. Money is the sinew of war, without the ability to reliably collect taxes and tributes from our Socii, our capacity to defeat our foes is diminished. It seems that Epirus has truly increased in wealth these past couple of years, the Senate has empowered us to act as ambassadors so that we might negotiate a loan for the raising of Legions. Just while the situation with our Socii is so unsettled. The Senate would of course pay back the loan once taxes and tributes could be reliably collected." Interjected the Scribe.

I paused for a moment. This was an unexpected event and complicated matters. I could give a loan to Rome, which would be used to raise and equip more Legions. It would allow my future enemies to come out of the Samnite Wars in a better position than it looked like they were going to, which would be bad for me down the line. However, it would generate significant goodwill in Rome and amongst the Roman Socii that could be used to negotiate a peace treaty in the inevitable war, maybe. It would depend on the terms of the agreement. I could also use this to enrich the treasury, provided the Romans actually paid me back. It would come down to the terms.

"I see. How much money is Rome looking to borrow?" I asked.

"Enough to raise and equip 4 legions." Replied Titus Vipsanius, pulling a scroll out of his scroll case. On the scroll was an itemized list of expenses the loans would go towards and monetary conversion from Denarii to Drachmae. Since the Roman Denarius was roughly equal to the Epirote Obol in size and silver content, the conversion was in our favor at 6 Denarii to the Drachma. After doing some quick math, I came to a figure required to do so.

"You want to borrow 160,000 Drachmae?" I asked.

"Indeed." Replied Titus Vipsanius.

I paused for a moment, thinking it over. It would force me to delay the Macedonian campaign for the full 2 years of build-up to regain the money. If I did this, bought the goodwill of Rome with an eye towards a future peace settlement, I would need a decent return on my investment, just in case the Senate proved to be typically fairweather on foreign policy that didn't involve them gaining territory down the line.

"You realize of course that I am planning a campaign of my own to the east in the coming year?" I asked.

"Will you lend us the Gods bedamned money or not?" Growled out Sextus Julius Libo.

"Oh, I will. But I will need to delay my campaign to accommodate you. In light of that fact, I believe some generosity from Rome on the rate of repayment is called for." I replied.

"This is a waste of time, we should have gone to the damned Punics." Grumbled Sextus Julius Libo.

"Sextus, please, let me handle this." Interjected Titus Vipsanius. "What sort of interest were you looking for?" He asked, turning back to me. Now we got to the fun part. Haggling was an age-old custom, one of the few shared by all peoples of the Mediterranean, be they Roman, Greek, Punic, or what have you. I would be remiss if I did not engage in the custom myself at the moment.

"15 parts of 100." I replied.

"15? Do you wish to beggar us? 10, surely?" Retorted Titus Vipsanius.

"Rome has enough wealth that it could part with 14." I countered.

"Ah, but with the Samnites raiding our lands, such wealth is hard to gather, as we told you. We could go for 12." He replied.

"Ah, but you would pay us once the Samnites were driven out, wasn't that what you said? 13." I stated.

"The senate can go no higher than 12 and a half." Said Titus Vipsanius.

I paused for a moment before nodding. "Fine, 12 and a half." I said.

Titus Vipsanius nodded and said, "Excellent. It is good to come to an arrangement"

With that done, a treaty was drafted up on the spot by Titus Vipsanius and myself, looked over by clerks from both parties, and signed and sealed by both myself and Sextus Julius Libo, speaking on behalf of the Senate and People of Rome. 12 and a half percent on 160,000 Drachmae came out to 20,000 Drachmae every year. If the Samnite War dragged on for just 3 more years, as in history, I would make an additional 60,000 Drachmae. Plus it would help reduce the number of Roman soldiers alive to face me down the line and possibly buy goodwill from the Senate I could burn to get a peace deal from Rome later on too.

The Romans left with their loan the week after the meeting, leaving me to finish out 294 with a renewed focus on trade to refill my coffers. Autumn rolled into winter, which rolled into Spring and the Harvest came round. The threefold increase in grain production I had predicted when so many large landowners began using my uplift tools on their estates had not only occurred but had been surpassed. I had the feeling that even without the uplift, the harvest would have been an especially good one. With the new mills working to grind grain into flour, every settlement in Epirus had a surplus of food. The state Granaries were even more full than before, and I was in danger of having too much grain and not enough storage space. This was easily remedied by selling the excess grain to Athens, who paid in good silver for the sustenance they needed to help feed 250,000 mouths. Beyond that, the trade deals I had established in 294 were paying dividends and the treasury was refilling ahead of schedule. I would still need the rest of the year to feel comfortable with going on a campaign into Macadeon, though.

It was perhaps 2 weeks after the harvest had finally been brought in. A few days after the grain ships left for Athens, that I met once again with Lysander of Naupaktos to discuss the Macedonian campaign.

It was a discussion that would shape the future of the Hellenic world. . .

XXXX

AN: Sorry for the delay, been working a lot. This was supposed to be written up on Tuesday. Still, better late than never, right?

Information for the money used to raise the legions comes from an account of 60,000 men being raised by Alexander to fight in Bactria costing 480,000 Drachmae. 4 Legions is about 20,000 men, so it would cost around 160,000 drachmae.

Pyrrhus made about that much in net profit from various trade deals last year, so figures if he delays the Macedonian War a year, he can afford to do the loan. Doing so not only buys him goodwill in the Senate to use in a potential peace treaty, but will let him double his money in 2 years at the rate of interest. Plus with more Romans in the field, the fighting will only get fiercer, leading to more dead Roman soldiers before he even comes to the aid of Magna Graecia.

Sure, it's a gamble. Rome could always refuse to pay back the loan and deny ever having taken Pyrrhus' money, but that in and of itself is a caucus belli. One that Pyrrhus can even use to get some of Rome's Socii to revolt against the Senate, since it will be the senate's fault there is war.

He thinks it's worth it.

Next, we'll have interludes with Rome and Carthage for 294 BC, followed by the meeting with Lysander of Naupaktos.