Chapter 773: Rome in Crisis

The Senators hurried to the Senate Hall upon waking up to hold a meeting to discuss countermeasures when the mounted scouts suddenly rode back to Rome early in the morning, bringing terrible news one after another, "We discovered Theonian troops marching eastward along the Tiber River from the city of Ostia!"

"We found the Theonian army marching rapidly east from Lavinium!"

'There is no longer any doubt that the Theonian army is advancing towards the city of Rome!' The senators began to feel nervous as their hopeful wishes shattered.

"How many troops are there in the Theonian army?" asked Publius Cornelius Scipio, father of Milesius and known to the people as the older Scipio.

Since Milesius had already set out for Hernici to deliver the Senate's orders to Camillus, the Senate decided to appoint his father to take over the post of the city guard prefect, not because the position was hereditary but because the older Scipio was a veteran with exceptional military achievements and served as an Equites under Camillus approximately twenty years ago when they captured Veii. Therefore, in such a critical moment when a powerful enemy was at hand, it was natural for an experienced veteran to take charge.

"Because the Theonians sent cavalry to roam around the army, our mounted scouts couldn't approach and observe them. However, based on their experience, they estimated that the two armies combined may have forty to fifty thousand men."

This number made many senators gasp, "So many enemies! But Rome only has three thousand soldiers! Rome...Rome-"

"There are currently over three thousand soldiers in Rome, and with the addition of the citizens we mobilised last night, we should have over ten thousand soldiers!" Ambustus exclaimed, trying to dispel his colleagues' fears.

"But they are all elderly and children!"

"Silence!" Potitus shouted angrily, "There is no distinction between the elderly and children at this moment, only Roman citizens who have died in battle and those still fighting!"

He then ripped open his clothes, raised his skinny right hand, clenched his fist and declared, "I propose recruiting citizens over the age of sixty-five and teenagers over thirteen as auxiliary soldiers to assist in defending the city. And I will be the first to enlist!"

"How can that be?! A sixty years old man can't even lift a shield-" Apuleius was about to voice his disagreement when Potitus suddenly glared at him angrily, causing him to shut his mouth.

Potitus glanced at Maluginensis beside him, suppressed his anger by exhaling lightly, and spoke deeply, "The distance between here to the city of Ferentinum is over fifty kilometres. Considering the rugged road, a messenger riding at full speed would require at least half a day to reach the Roman camp, and even if they were faster, the army would need two days to return to Rome. And on top of that, you've ordered Camillus to spend a day attacking the city of Ferentinum. So tell me, how many days do you expect Camillus would take to lead the army back?!"

"Four days! Four days at the earliest!" Ambustus answered loudly, "From the current situation, it shows how much effort the Theonians had made to attack Rome. Since you have seen the situation inside the city, can Rome withstand the Theonians' attack and hold on until Camillus return with his army?! Even if we could hold them back, how many casualties do we have to pay for with a defending force composed of elderly and children?! The messenger should still be able to catch up to Milesius since he had just left not long ago. So I propose we cancel the order given to Camillus and allow him to return to Rome with his army immediately!"

There was a moment of silence in the Senate Hall, for the senators here knew that once Camillus led the army back to fight the Theonian army, they would not be able to attack Hernici again so soon. And at that time, the desperate Hernicans would revive, and over a month of efforts that they had paid would come to nought.

Then Senator Lucretius stood up and said passionately, "We can still get back the land that's gone, but when Rome is gone, it's all over! I don't want to see foreign enemies ravage the city of Rome again!"

His words made the senators recall their painful memories. Many of them got agitated and shouted, "Agree! We agree to let Camillus return immediately to defend Rome and defeat the enemy!"

Amidst the shouting, Maluginensis looked silently at the older Scipio, who shook his head slightly at him. So Maluginensis just remained silent without agreeing or opposing.

Suddenly, Apuleius stood up and said, "Ambustus, didn't you notify our allies to send reinforcements last night? Why is there no movement?"

"We sent messengers to Gabii, Tusculum, Labicum, Pedum... and so on, but their only reply was that their young citizens had already answered the call of Rome a month ago and followed Camillus to Hernici, so they have no reinforcements to send."

"But...have you asked Praeneste, Bolae, Tibur...and other city-states?" Apuleius asked again.

Ambustus became angry, feeling humiliated at being questioned in such a tone as a respected senator. So he responded angrily, "Unless you are not a Roman, you should not be ignorant of how far these city-states are from Rome! It would already be late at night by the time our messengers arrive there, and there will be no city-state officials available to handle political matters at that time, not even here in Rome!"

Apuleius grumbled ashamedly, "Look, this is all Camillus' fault..." But he didn't dare continue anymore.

"Shouldn't we notify the villages outside the city to withdraw inside before the Theonians arrive? Not only would it ensure their safety, but it would also bolster our defence," Abinius suggested.

Maluginensis finally spoke up, "We better not do that! The entire region's young and abled citizens have gone either to Hernici or Antium, Velitrae and Satricum in the west, so only the elderly, women or children, as well as some slaves, were left in the villages outside the city. Not only wouldn't they provide any help for the city's defence, but they would also increase the chaos...uh...and...uh..."

The older Scipio hurriedly continued, "There are many residents outside the city and would panic once they learned of the news and rush towards the city. Worse, letting them all enter would take much time, leaving the city gate open for hours. And you all should know that the Theonian army is now accelerating their pace, so they would likely arrive here in two hours...and they would become a disaster for both the city of Rome and the people gathered at the gate! Instead, I suggest we immediately send out the cavalries to inform the people of the villages outside the city to evacuate with their supplies towards the city of Gabii or Praeneste and come back once Camillus returns with his army."

Potitus looked at Maluginensis but didn't express any opposition, which was a rare agreement between the two.

It wasn't just him, but most senators agreed as well. Although they all lived in the city, they still had a lot of land outside, such as manors and even villas. Naturally, they also had their own clan members and people living there. And allowing them to evacuate Rome would be a safe way to disperse risk and preserve the clan, and the senators tacitly understood this.

"Apart from informing Camillus to return to Rome with his army, we should also send messengers to inform Paulus, Maegius and Pantheus to reorganise their troops and lead them back to Rome as soon as possible! In addition, we should still send messengers to our Latin allies, such as Tusculum, Tibur, and Praeneste, asking them again to send reinforcements. Even if they only send a few soldiers, they would still greatly help defend our Rome." The older Scipio said these while his eyes stared fixedly at Ambustus.

And Ambustus didn't object to it this time.

"Don't forget to also ask our colonial city of Veii and the Etruscan allies on the north bank of the Tiber for help! Although they had also sent reinforcements to the war against the Hernicans, they should still have room to send more reinforcements than our Latin allies." Potitus reminded.

"Esteemed Potitus, you are right!" The older Scipio responded politely, which was much more tactful than that of Apuleius, "But we would then need to retain Pons Aemilius(a bridge) on the Tiber River and send troops to defend it."

"In the past, my clan defended that bridge with just a few hundred people. But now that we have tens of thousands of soldiers, we don't even dare defend it and can only destroy it?!" Ambustus, noticing the older Scipio's intentions, immediately asked loudly.

A hundred years ago, the entire clan of Fabius went to guard Pons Aemilius against the attack of the Veientes and was almost completely wiped out and became a painful memory that the Fabius clan couldn't forget. However, that had also become their capital to boast to the people of Rome. So as the current head of the Fabius clan, Ambustus wouldn't allow anyone to destroy the bridge.

"We naturally need to keep the bridge! but we must destroy the two bridges on Isla Tiberina and withdraw the people here!" Maluginensis saw the older Scipio's hesitation. So to prevent a divide between the Cornelius and Fabius clans, he immediately expressed his opinion that they could still bear guarding one bridge with Rome's current strength, but defending two more bridges would require them to invest more troops.

Ambustus agreed.

The discussion afterwards went much smoother, with the Senate quickly reaching some resolutions and promptly taking action. They then began mobilising the whole city, encouraging the people to resist the Theonians' attack and hold on until the return of Camillus and his army so that Rome would no longer experience getting ravaged.

Note: The Fabius clan is sometimes referred to as the Fabian clan. And the consul who saved Rome from the war against Hannibal by using delaying tactics also came from this clan.