Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 255 Political Reform
Orville came to Alexandria with his army. In fact, the news could not be concealed. Even if it was not a diplomatic visit, it was necessary for the Ptolemaic royal family to respond to it.

Just as expected, the invitation letter signed by King Ptolemy soon reached Orville. Out of courtesy, Orville took the time to go there. Then, just as expected, the two sides did not discuss anything and did not reach any meaningful consensus.

The main reason was that Orville did not want to have in-depth negotiations with the other party. If Orville used the title of emperor to put pressure on the other party and forced the other party to abandon the alliance with Antonius and turn to the emperor's camp, then this would be possible given the current strength comparison, because no matter how powerful Antonius was, he was just the governor of a place. The power of Egypt alone might not be able to suppress the army of the Syrian Governor Mucinus.

After careful consideration of the power comparison, the other party will most likely make a "tough choice" in the end. After all, they and Antonis are just allies with political interests. However, Orville does not intend to do so at present. He believes that the problem of Egypt needs to be further resolved.

The Ptolemaic royal family has ruled here for too long, to the point of rigidity. Even if the Roman Empire did not incorporate Egypt into the provincial ruling system, Orville believed that at least drastic reforms should be carried out in Egypt so that the potential of this place can be more fully tapped. Of course, the minimum condition is that it cannot transcend the control of the central government of the Roman Empire. The premise of doing so is to get rid of the constraints of the old forces as much as possible, so Orville does not intend to compromise too much with these people.

Now the power balance between the two sides has not tilted. The royal family, representing the old forces, certainly cannot accept conditions that seem "too much". They themselves probably do not have the ability to carry out reforms on their own. Therefore, it is more realistic to discuss this matter with Cleopatra after a while. Her foundation is more shallow and she does not have much bargaining power. She may be more willing to accept Orville's conditions.

As for whether he would be fooled by Cleopatra, he was not too worried. In his opinion, the popular opinions in history obviously exaggerated the charm of a woman, and in most cases they were based on interests. He might not be wise and brave enough to do something particularly amazing that would be talked about by future generations, but he would not be stupid enough to do something particularly abstract.

If Cleopatra could offer more suitable conditions, then it would be fine to obey her wishes. But if not, from a political perspective, he would not consider personal relationships much.

………………

While Orville was quietly observing the situation in Egypt, new news came from his native Rome.

After several years of recuperation, the country has barely recovered some of its vitality. When Tia was in Rome, she had proposed methods to increase fiscal revenue, such as land inventory and population census. These methods were eventually put into practice as in history. After three to five years, fiscal revenue increased a lot.

Vespa's reign became more stable as a result, and he was able to make some controversial political decisions and issue some spending policies.

First, he announced the construction of public facilities, or to put it bluntly, the construction of a wonder.

When Emperor Nero was in power, he announced that he would build "urban green lungs" in the urban area of ​​​​Rome, that is, large-scale urban parks. This concept was a bit advanced for people in the classical era, so naturally, like many of his policies, it was resisted.

Vespa's view was more in line with the mainstream. He announced that he would use the land reclaimed by Nero to build a grand arena. It was natural to build such a thing in the city, and both citizens and senators agreed with it. So recently, the construction of the arena began. It was very large in scale and cost a lot, and it would have a great impact in the future. This is the famous Roman Colosseum, one of the city's business cards, and its official name can be called the Flavius ​​Arena.

In addition, the road expansion project that was once interrupted has resumed normal operation. Transportation is the basis of national governance and economic prosperity. The public service expenditures that were originally drastically cut have now returned to normal levels.

In addition to public construction, he also did several controversial things. He reintroduced the "Emperor Law", stipulating that the Senate no longer had the power to designate the emperor as a public enemy of the state, nor could it impeach the emperor and force him to step down.

Nero suffered this loss and was forced to commit suicide after being labeled an enemy of the state by the Senate. As his successor, Vespa would certainly be more careful and not repeat the same mistake.

The "Emperor's Law" ensures the stability of the emperor's rule and a certain degree of personal safety, but it also makes it more difficult for the emperor's power to be restricted through procedural means. It is a practice that has received mixed reviews. But for the current actual situation, Orville at least feels that Vespa did nothing wrong. After all, stability and security are the most basic things.

Whether it was Nero, Caligula or Claudius, they were all criticized by the Senate. The elderly Vespa saw all of this and was really tired of it. It was understandable that he didn't want to repeat the same mistakes. There was nothing to say, it was just human nature.

In addition to the "Emperor Law", Vespa finally responded publicly to the issue of succession. After the election, Tia officially took office as consul and shared the position of consul with her father. According to Vespa's plan, Tia will continue to do so in the future and become the consul only under the emperor to control central politics.

He also bestowed the title of "Imperator" (triumphal general) on Tia, and granted Tia the right to command the army and the privileges of a tribune, and allowed Tia to add the word "Caesar" as a prefix to her name. With military power, Tia essentially became the second-in-command of the empire, just like what Augustus did to Tiberius in the past. In Vespa's old age, he transferred part of his power to Tia in advance, which essentially made his attitude clear to everyone in the Senate.

In this regard, no one in the Senate dared to openly oppose it, as this would be unpleasant when Vespa was in power. However, it is certain that many people were dissatisfied with this. This was the first time in history that the throne was passed to a woman, and the resistance to change would always be great.

The document did not mention Orville. Like Domitia, he was not granted the title of "Imperato" or "Caesar" and did not obtain any real power position, but he was not dissatisfied with this. He had already obtained enough things, and he was not interested in the position of emperor, which was easy to die from overwork, work all year round, and be monitored by people with a magnifying glass.

PS. Historically, some articles were issued after the ascension to the throne, so the plot needs to be changed.

(End of this chapter)