Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 305 Detour
Originally, in Orwell's cognition, Cleopatra should be a little extravagant. After all, the name "Cleopatra" in later generations gave people such an impression. Even people in the Roman Empire era spared no effort to exaggerate her charm and wealth, claiming that even a villa on the Carpito Hill in Rome could not compare to a pearl on her neck, etc. Influenced by this, Orwell could not help but have a stereotyped impression of her.

But this time, Cleopatra traveled light and kept a low profile. The entire fleet consisted of only five or six ships, two medium-sized warships as escorts, and four transport ships that were not particularly large. Orville was even a little worried about the safety of the fleet, so he dispatched three Viking longships that had just come from Britain to follow behind the fleet as escorts.

It was obvious that Ivar had told his family something, probably asking them to increase their investment in Egypt. In short, he mobilized hundreds of people. Considering his current size, this was a heavy bet. Orville felt that he must have been stimulated by the prosperity and wealth of Egypt.

It is quite interesting to talk about how this group of people rowed their longboats to Egypt - first they arrived at the mouth of the Loire River on the west side of the Brittany Peninsula (near today's Nantes), then rowed upstream through the lush tributaries of the Loire River, and then carried the boats for a distance by manpower to enter the Rhone River basin (which is also the basin where the capital city of Lyon is located), and then went downstream into the Mediterranean bathing basin, and the rest of the things happened naturally.

Fortunately, the Viking longships were designed to be used in this way. Such maneuverability is beyond the reach of the super-heavy warships in the Mediterranean.

Orville's ship led them all the way to the city of Egypt. Since Ivar had sailed out and had not returned yet, the leader of this Viking group was temporarily taken over by Ivar's brother Sigurd [Snake Eyes].

He is still faithfully obeying Orville's orders and following Orville on a visit to Greece with his fleet.
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On the boat, Cleopatra explained to Orville her idea of ​​traveling light.

“You can’t show off your wealth that you can’t control, and you can’t show off your status in places that you can’t control. This is basic common sense for nobles. I can’t put together a fleet that can absolutely guarantee my safety. If I really do this, I’m afraid it’s you Romans who will be worried.

Your Highness, you have to realize this. If you don't want to cause any diplomatic disputes, the best solution is not to show off. I am not a peacock kept in a cage. I don't need to show off my status by showing off my wealth. Besides, it's useless for me to show off my wealth to these outsiders."

This statement won Orville's basic approval: "I roughly understand, but I still suggest you be careful. The situation in Greece is not stable recently."

"I know that the aftermath of the civil war has not yet passed here. If you ask me, the emperor is a little too impatient. It would be more decent to handle this matter coldly. At most, he can resort to some tricks."

Orville knew exactly what Cleopatra was saying: "Small tricks are not good enough for big things. Political assassinations are something that only countries with chaotic political ecology would do. As an emperor, you should have some lofty ambitions. It is reasonable not to use such conspiracies. Although my father is greedy and a bit lustful, his integrity is no less than that of other emperors."

To some extent, Vespa's radical measures should be blamed. If it were only the political earthquake caused by the civil war after Nero's death and the Dacians on the border, Greece would have stabilized by now.

Vespa also told Orville the actual reason during a private chat - he deprived the spiritual Greeks of the independent autonomy granted to Athens and other city-states by Nero, and reassigned bureaucrats to conduct population statistics and tax collection here, and would not give up until they received the money. Coupled with the instigation of some people with ulterior motives, the current situation in Greece is still unstable, and it always makes people feel that some political crisis may break out.

But to be honest, if it were Orville, he would do it more decisively and thoroughly than Vespa. Some things have to be done sooner or later, and doing them early can make the country prosperous for a while longer.

Cleopatra waved her hands in disdain. "You have to admit that our politics is not yet stable enough, so necessary evils must exist among the upper class. Take the situation in Greece for example. I suggest you write to the emperor now and try to control that fake guy. If conditions permit, it would be even better to kill him. It makes me upset just listening to him."

Orville knew that she was referring to a nobleman from Asia Minor who claimed to be a direct and legitimate descendant of the Kingdom of Pontus, named Mithridates.

The Kingdom of Pontus may sound a bit faded to the Romans today, but more than a hundred years ago, it was indeed one of the empire's important enemies on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean.

He took advantage of the period when Rome was struggling with the Social War (in short, a war in which the native Latins in Italy fought for citizenship) and internal political turmoil (the power struggle between Marius and Sulla) to expand rapidly. At one point, he occupied most of the Asia Minor Peninsula and even extended his reach to parts of Europe.

They fought under the banner of liberating the Greeks and overthrowing Roman tyranny, which did have a certain appeal at the time. It is undeniable that the tax farming system in Rome at that time was really a bit cruel and bloody. The Kingdom of Pontus expanded in the Greek world almost as a savior.

However, it can only be said that the gap between Rome and Pontus was difficult to make up, not only in terms of the political skills of the rulers, but also in terms of basic national strength. After the three Roman-Pontic Wars, the rising Kingdom of Pontus failed and was basically annexed by the Roman Empire.

The details of the development of events in this time and space are slightly different from those in history, but the general trend has not changed. Pontus was still competing for power with the Roman Empire more than a hundred years ago, claiming to be another successor to Alexander's great achievements, and then was defeated and annexed by the Romans during its strong rising period.

This may be why Cleopatra was unhappy with Mithridates. She claimed to be the legitimate successor of Alexander (which was almost the case in fact), and of course she looked down on these imitations.

Orville was quite generous about this: "There must always be some dissidents. This is a necessary measure to ensure political stability. My father is also very concerned about Mr. Mithridates. He asked for some power and restrictions to be relaxed here, which is fine. But if he really dares to do something treasonous, that is another matter."

(End of this chapter)