Davos nodded at Alkibidas, showing his satisfaction.
Then a smiling Asistes said loudly, “Wonderful! We have another good helper!!”
The crowd immediately echoed, causing Alkibidas to quickly and modestly respond.
Davos continued, “I propose to build a large market in Rome where the merchants can transport the goods from the kingdom and sell them here, while the army's logistics camp and the people in the city of Rome could also purchase some daily necessities…especially since we had converted Rome's original market into the legions' camp. We can build this new market on the embankment at the south end of Rome's Pons Aemilus, making it more convenient to transport goods from the port and for the customers' purchasing… Naturally, this is only my suggestion, and it is still necessary for you, the commercial officers, to make a resolution more favourable to the development of trade and commerce after carefully surveying the whole city and the actual situation.”
Flakous immediately said, “Your Majesty, I will immediately handle this matter after the meeting ends.”
“Akibides…will be the financial officer of Rome!” Davos continued the appointment.
Another person stood up.
“I need you to form Rome's taxation authority quickly! Although we had just captured Rome and couldn't implement land taxes, we need to collect commercial taxes as soon as possible!…”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“And…the army had just harvested a significant amount of spoils after defeating the Romans one after another, conquering Ostia and Rome. It would be time-consuming and labour-intensive to transport those back to Thurii. Fortunately, it just so happens that all the kingdoms' merchants are gathered in Rome, so you and Lord Alkibidas should discuss a plan to pick out the spoils not needed by the army to auction them off and then ship the money earned back to Thurii to fill the empty treasury.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!” Akibides answered vigorously this time.
“The agricultural officer would be Tibullus.” Davos continued, “I have already told the Romans that we will take back all the lands and redistribute them! So you need to find out how much land the city of Rome has as soon as possible. Even though we can't farm on them yet because of the war, we can still go on with the distribution so that the Romans, who had just joined Theonia, understand that we are true to our word! Moreover, you must allocate them the best location and most fertile land to make them feel the benefits of joining Theonia and attract those hesitant Romans to join us as soon as possible!”
“I understand, Your Majesty,” replied Tibullus.
“How should we collect the land tax?!” implored Akibides.
Although they are different in size, this financial officer and his immediate boss, Mersis, have a similar attitude when talking about money and taxes, amusing Davos. After suppressing his laughter, Davos said, “We will do what we do in the newly conquered areas! They will not have to pay any tax for the first three years from when the land is till, after which it will be taxed at the rate of an official citizens' land.”
Akibides sat back in his seat while feeling disappointed.
“Platon will be Rome’s Census Officer…Diostes as Rome’s judge…” Davos announced the appointments one after another. Despite seldom meeting these newly appointed intermediate-ranking officials, Davos had spent a lot of time memorising the names and facial features in his head; thus, he could accurately match their names with the people present. In this way, it showed the importance he attached to the appointees, and this seemed to work quite well.
“I have completed the announcement of the appointments for the intermediate and high-ranking officials of the city of Rome. The remaining personnel who have not yet received appointments will be determined through consultation between the praetor of Rome, Asistes, and the several vice praetors. I expect you all to give your best in fulfilling your duties! Although I will keep track of your performance, it isn’t because I doubt your abilities. But because of what?”
Davos tapped on the map and said with an emphasis to encourage them, “For we will take not only Rome and Ostia but also Rome's Latin allies and colonial cities! With several major cities among them that are not inferior to Rome! So when it comes to appointing the praetor and officials to govern these places, you, with your experience in Rome and your knowledge of the customs of the Latins and the situation in Latium, will be the first to be considered by the Kingdom's Civil Service Management Committee and me!”
As soon as he uttered those words, not only did these intermediate-ranking officials feel excited, but even Nicomachus, Antrapolis…and the other statesmen all smiled.
Then the new praetor of Rome, Asistes, spoke up and said, “We just saw many Romans lining up in the square to apply to become citizens of Theonia. Based on Your Majesty's promise to them, it seems many want to become Theonian officials, so we will try to recruit some Greek-speaking Romans to serve in various departments, allowing for smoother communication. In addition, it will also help us better understand Rome's customs and habits, which is beneficial for our governance.
But due to their common origin, many may not understand Greek or even be illiterate and do not understand our Theonian governing system and laws. So most can only serve as guards, but do we need them to act as guards? If so, should we arm them? And are there any restrictions?”
“That's a valid point.” Davos looked at Asistes appreciatively since he had been obviously thinking about how to govern the city of Rome well before departing.
Davos replied unhesitantly, “You must not treat them as an outsider since they have already applied to become citizens of Theonia, so you can certainly allow them to serve as guards, and they must be dressed properly like the guards of Theonia. However, the guard captain of each group must be one of our officers for now. In addition, there should be a certain number of veteran citizens in the team to help them better understand our laws through mutual contacts so that they know what they can and cannot do while executing their task to avoid making mistakes that will cause discord…”
But the newly appointed inspector of Rome interrupted, “Your Majesty, we don't have so many people to serve as the captain of the guard team!”
“Those wounded legionaries that are temporarily unable to fight can serve as guard captains and members,” Nicomachus suggested.
“See, you will find a solution as long as you all discuss it,” Davos laughed, agreeing with Nicomachus' proposal.
“Your Majesty, the things you announced in the Roman Forum today are all aimed at the Roman plebeians and slaves, so how should we treat the Roman nobility?” Asistes asked another crucial question.
Davos had already told Asistes about some measures he might take after occupying Rome. Hence, Daavos knew Asistes raised this question to make the officials present understand his ideas on how to conquer Rome completely. Thus he said seriously, “Rome's nobility is unlike the Greek nobles or foreign leaders we had faced before conquering other regions. Due to various reasons, they are powerful and have strong ties with the other Latin city-states in the region. And even if they surrendered, they would definitely rise against our rule since the measures we would take would seriously harm their interests. And with their strength, the revolt they would cause would be more severe than the previous rebellion in Rudiae!
And once there's chaos in Rome, the other areas here would certainly become chaotic. Worse, with Thurii so far from Rome, we can't send large armies back and forth as easily as we could when suppressing Rudiae. Ultimately, this land where we sacrificed countless citizens and spent countless wealth to obtain may cost us even more…in the long run.
The thing we need to do now is to stabilise Rome and make every effort to deal with the enemies around us.
That's why I decided to absorb the plebeians, who we could easily attract to our measures and integrate into Theonia since they have a massive conflict with the nobility. Hence I would rather take those plebeians into becoming citizens of Theonia than those Roman nobles who would cause enormous trouble in the future. And once we defeat this approaching Roman army, I decided to turn all captured Roman nobles into slaves and sell them in Thurii.”
Davos' cold tone and decisiveness surprised everyone present, knowing that even though they had forced the tribes to disband and suppressed the rioters with an iron fist during the conquest of Peuceti, Messapi and Dauni, they still initially allowed them to surrender. But this time, King Davos didn't even give the Roman nobles the slightest opportunity to submit, which was different from the king's previous method!
“Your Majesty, if you don't give the Roman nobles a chance to surrender, they will fight us to the death and increase our soldiers' casualties. In addition, conquering this region would become even more difficult!” Nicomachus was the first to step forward and advise.
“Which is why we will temporarily detain them and only announce the disposal of the Roman nobility after defeating their army,” Davos explained straightforwardly, without saying any more words.
“Your Majesty…the nobles and their families in the city became uneasy as they already noticed the different treatment we gave them and the Roman plebeians. And just as Lord Nicomachus said, how we deal with the Roman nobility would also make the surrounding Latium nobles dissatisfied, which wouldn't be good for our future conquest!”
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