C21 One Law One Ruler One Empire

I took a slow breath then exhaled.

"That ends now."

My voice was final.

"From this day forward, the Ducatum will obey only one law. Mine."

I began issuing my decrees.

"First. My Grandfather is Now Consul."

I gestured toward Augustus, the former Emperor, seated beside me.

"He will serve as my right hand. My advisor. His word carries my authority."

Augustus simply nodded. There was no opposition. Because the Senators knew it didn't matter what they thought.

"Second. Every single one of you now belongs to one party."

I paced in front of them, hands behind my back.

"The Spartanum Imperium Faction."

My voice left no room for discussion.

"No more ideological battles. No more factions. No more rival parties bickering over who should have more privileges."

I stopped walking and turned, staring down at them.

"From this moment on, the Senate has only one function. To serve ME."

"Third. You Have no Legislative Power."

Gasps filled the chamber.

The ducattum had always been a mixed system, the Senate held veto power, they could propose laws, they could debate national policy. That power was now dead.

"You do not have the power to veto."

My voice dropped to an icy whisper.

"You do not have the power to pass laws."

A pause.

"You may only suggest, nothing more"

"Fourth. The media is now nationalized."

The chamber grew even colder.

"Every news agency, every publication, every radio station… is now under the direct control of the Cerberus."

My lips curled into a smirk.

"No more lies. No more propaganda against the state. No more subversion of my will."

The Senate shuddered. Because they knew what this meant. There would be only one voice in the Ducatum now. Mine.

"Fifth. The military is our heart and the people will serve."

I sat back down, leaning forward.

"The enlisted men. The officers. They are the lifeblood of our nation. They will be treated as such."

My crimson gaze flickered dangerously.

"From this day forward, every citizen must see service as their highest honor."

I smirked.

"And they will."

"Sixth. No more private armies."

A few Senators flinched. Because many of them had their own private forces.

"If you need protection, my warriors are happy to oblige."

My voice was mocking.

"But from now on, the only military force in the ducatum… is MINE."

The private armies of nobles were outlawed in an instant.

"Seventh. The economy is under my control."

This caused the merchants and banking interests among them to pale.

"The Imperium's wealth is no longer a plaything for corrupt officials and greedy patricians."

My eyes glowed.

"From now on, our economy is geared toward one goal total mobilization."

A chill spread through the chamber. War. That was what I was preparing for. Not peace. Not diplomacy. War, total and utter war.

"Eighth. The banking sector is nationalized."

The final death blow to the Senate's wealth.

"Under MY name."

No more private lenders controlling the economy. No more merchants influencing politics through bribes.

"Your days of controlling the flow of money are over."

"Ninth. Education is now compulsory for ALL Citizens."

I smirked at the patricians.

"All patrician privileges are revoked."

Gasps.

"Education up to the academy level is now mandatory, for ALL citizens. And the state will pay for it."

One Senator dared to raise his head.

"B-But… but Imperator, the cost..."

"You misunderstand."

I smiled.

"This is not a question. This is an order."

The Senator bowed his head.

"Y-Yes, Imperator."

The Silence That Followed The decrees had been spoken. The ducatum had changed forever. The Senators remained kneeling, shaken, broken.

They had been reduced from rulers of the state. To mere advisors to a conqueror. I leaned back in hmy chair, exhaling.

"Now."

I smirked.

"Lets vote do any of you object?"

Silence. Not a single voice dared speak. And with that. The ducatum was reborn.

...

Nova Roma, January 3rd, dawn.

The city awoke not to the usual bustling sounds of merchants, nor the ringing of temple bells. Instead the streets of Nova Roma were filled with the thundering voices of newsboys, their shoes slapping against the cobblestones as they raced through the alleyways, waving stacks of freshly printed newspapers above their heads.

"EXTRA! EXTRA! IMPERATOR REFORMS THE DUCATUM!"

"THE SENATE BROUGHT TO ITS KNEES! NO MORE PRIVATE ARMIES! NEW ACONOMY PLANS ANNOUNCED!"

"SPARTANUM IMPERIUM BORN AGAIN! EDUCATION FOR ALL PATRICIANS LOSE PRIVILEGES!"

Their young voices cut through the early morning air, raw with urgency, with history in motion. People snatched up copies, pushing forward to grab the latest edition, their fingers shaking as they unfolded the newspaper, their eyes scanning the headlines with disbelief.

All around them, paratroopers in those matching menasing uniforms marched in tight formations, their steel helmets gleaming under the rising sun, their assault rifles slung across their chests, their movements disciplined, absolute.

This was not the same Nova Roma as before. The air itself felt different, heavy with anticipation, with tension, with fear.

In the artisan district, a blacksmith wiped the sweat from his forehead with a soot stained rag as his apprentice shoved a newspaper into his hands.

"Master! Master! The Imperator, he's done it! He's taken full control!"

The old blacksmith, a man who had seen his fair share of tyrants and weak emperors alike, furrowed his brows as he scanned the text.

"…No more private armies? Education for all? State funded schooling? Hah. This ain't what I expected."

His apprentice beamed.

"You always said the nobility hoarded all the knowledge for themselves, Master! Look at this! No more patrician privileges! Maybe I, maybe we, could go to the Academy!"

The blacksmith chuckled, shaking his head.

"Boy, you barely read more than the labels on my forge tools. But… Hah. Maybe there's something to this Imperator."

A passing contibernum of paratroopers stomped by, their disciplined presence silencing any lingering doubt in the older man's mind. He looked back at the newspaper, then to his apprentice, and grinned.

"Come on, lad. Let's see if we can't make you smart enough to actually read these laws."

At the Grand Market, a group of merchants gathered around a stack of newspapers, their voices hushed, tense.

"Nationalized banking?! State control of the economy?!"

One man, a wealthy spice trader, spat on the ground, his face red with frustration.

"Do you understand what this means? No more private banks! The government controls everything! All transactions, all interest rates, all imports! This, this is madness!"

An older merchant, one with gray in his beard and experience in his eyes, remained silent for a long moment before sighing.

"No, this is strategy. The Imperator is consolidating power. He's stripping the old nobility of their gold, their armies, their ability to resist him."

The spice trader scoffed.

"And what of us? What of our businesses?!"

The older merchant turned his gaze toward the street, toward the paratroopers patrolling with cold efficiency, toward the citizens reading the paper with newfound reverence, toward the Imperial banners now hanging from every major building.

"It doesn't matter, does it?"

The spice trader swallowed hard. No. It didn't.

Within the lavish halls of Villa Aurelius, a grand estate belonging to one of Nova Roma's wealthiest noble houses, a group of remaining aristocrats huddled in a candeler lit chamber. The air was thick with cigar smoke and whispered paranoia.

"The Imperator is destroying everything! First, he wipes out half the Imperial Family in a single night! Then, he neuters the Senate! Now, he's taking our wealth, our armies, what next?!"

A young noble, still dressed in the luxurious robes of the old aristocracy, slammed a goblet onto the table, his eyes wild with panic. An older noble, his fingers adorned with rings of power and influence, exhaled slowly.

"Calm yourself, boy. Hysteria will get us nowhere."

The young noble scoffed.

"Calm myself?! What do you suggest? That we kneel? That we accept this… this m*litary d*ctatorship?!"

The older noble's face hardened.

"That is precisely what we will do."

The younger noble's rage twisted into disbelief.

"You... YOU WANT US TO BOW TO HIM?! TO A DRUNKEN FAILURE TURNED BUTCHER?!"

The older noble's cold, calculating gaze locked onto him.

"Did you not hear the streets today? The people are shouting his name. The army is his. The economy is his. Even the g*ds have crowned him. He is no longer just a man. He is Imperator on every sense"

A long, dreadful silence filled the chamber.

Then... One by one, the gathered nobles lowered their heads.

"Hail the Imperator."

They whispered. And with those words, the noble class of Nova Roma died.

Inside one of foregein nations a group of diplomats and military attachés gathered around a telegraph machine.

"Read that back to me."

An ambassador said, his hands gripping the table. The operator gulped, his voice unsteady.

"Imperator consolidates total control, banking, military, industry. Education system restructured. Nobility shattered. Population fervently in support. Entire capital shouting his name. Advise immediate reassessment of diplomatic strategy."