Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 336 Geography
Considering that the documents record that the Nabataeans had about 10,000 warriors, the opponent's force could not be said to be particularly large, at least it was a level that Orville or Cleopatra could handle.

What we need to consider now is whether it is worthwhile to make enemies with the other party and whether a negotiation is better than a war.

Unless it is necessary, Orville does not really want to fight a war. On the one hand, Rome's current national conditions are not suitable for large-scale expansion. On the other hand, he himself is probably not a very warlike person. If he can achieve his goal without bloodshed, he will definitely prefer a bloodless approach.

As if seeing the hesitation in Orwell's heart, Cleopatra reminded him at the right time: "Think about history, my friend, what will the Nabataeans do after they rise?
Have you forgotten the example of the Idumea? They dreamed of controlling the Red Sea and gaining its power and gold. If they succeeded, the next step would be to invade our Mediterranean. If they succeeded here, the Romans would be cut off, and your rule here would not last long. The best approach would be a punitive action and then let the other side return to where it should be.

Didn't the Romans do this enough? If you don't do it, someone else will, and you may be more gentle. We need that land and the people on it now, this is an indisputable fact."

When Orville heard the name Idumea, he thought about it carefully in his head. It took him a few seconds to react. This was a nomadic people in the south of Parphi. They had a very close relationship with the Parphi people. The ancestors of the current King Herod were converted Idumea people. During the Battle of the Holy City, the Parphi warlord had requested the assistance of the Idumea people. They were a group of people with a strong presence in the local area.

The land where the Nabataeans live now originally belonged to the Idumeaine, but later the Nabataeans occupied it until today. It seems that Cleopatra wanted to remind Orville through this incident that the locals cannot be trusted. They are a group of ambitious guys. Instead of trusting them, it is better to strike first.

Orville was not very supportive of this approach: "As far as this matter is concerned, we should not resort to violence unless necessary, but I have no objection to threats and intimidation. Let's do as you say first and see how the other party reacts."

If one wants to expand foreign trade, it is necessary to ensure the smooth flow of trade routes. At this time, these sailors around the Red Sea were very conspicuous in the eyes of the Romans. The Romans actually did similar things in history. About 20 years later, when Emperor Trajan came to power, he also sent troops to conquer this land to ensure smooth trade. It can be seen that it is indeed necessary to control or at least profoundly influence the forces on this land.

At present, Orville has no plans to send troops to occupy the place, as that would increase the workload of its soldiers, and it is still unclear what will happen in the future.
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After Jeanne and Domitia came to Egypt, another acquaintance of Orville also came to Egypt.

The visitor was Berenice, the princess of Palphi. She was not looking for Orville for any important matter, but was simply passing by and paying a courtesy visit to the local dignitaries.

At the beginning, Berenice was taken to Rome as a "hostage", but the overall treatment of this hostage was quite good. Vespa was very polite to her. Mainly, Tia liked this intellectual sister very much and had always had a good relationship with her.

She also served as Domitia's "guardian" for a few years. When Orville and Tia were fighting in Gaul and Britain, they were inevitably too busy, so sometimes Domitia was taken care of by her. Because of this experience, Berenice's status in the hostage circle was invisibly raised a lot.

Vespa gave her quite a lot of preferential treatment, such as allowing Berenice to return home to visit her relatives. This was the first time Berenice returned home after several years away from her hometown. She mainly visited her relatives and did some religious affairs. She came and went in a hurry and did not stay in Egypt for a long time. This time Berenice's hasty appearance suddenly reminded Orwell of a very important thing-Herod Agrippa II did not have an heir, and he himself was not young anymore, in his forties, and he himself did not have any heirs. According to historical circumstances, there should be no heirs in the future, and he will die normally in more than ten years.

Due to the extinction of the Herodian royal bloodline, the Kingdom of Parphi was changed to the Province of Parphi. I will not go into details about what happened afterwards.

Orville should now think about how to deal with Palfi's issue appropriately. There is still time and no rush, but he should find a suitable solution now.
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The gears of time turned slowly but unstoppably. A few months passed quickly, and Orville welcomed the first sowing event hosted by himself and Cleopatra.

The flood arrived on time, and no major natural disaster occurred. If anything, some temples took the opportunity to cause trouble, but they were quickly suppressed by the well-prepared army.

The events in the Valley of the Kings did not attract much attention, and the few nobles who spoke out to make comments were taken advantage of by Cleopatra to turn the tables and settle accounts. After more than a year of various struggles, the country was basically stabilized.

Orville had some spare time, so he turned his attention to areas outside the Kingdom of Egypt, more precisely, Nubia and Nabataean.

First of all, there was the Nubian issue. This time, the Nubians took the initiative to come to us, hoping to have a marriage alliance with the Egyptian royal family. Knowing about the affair between Cleopatra and Orwell, they did not come here to cause trouble. The marriage partner they requested was Cleopatra's sister Arsinoe.

They seemed to hope to use this marriage to show the Aksumites their backers, the giants in the north, the Egyptians and the Romans, so that the powerful Aksumites would not dare to act rashly. Of course, this kind of behavior of taking advantage of the power of others had to pay a price. The envoy who came to propose marriage was the Nubian prince who wanted to marry (the person Orville had seen before), and he proposed quite sincere terms.

First of all, there were exotic animals, jewels, slaves and gold, the quantities of which were so large that even Orville had to take them seriously. Secondly, there was a promise that Nubia would move closer to the Kingdom of Egypt and even return to its previous status as a vassal state of Egypt.

They clearly wanted Owell to help them fight the Aksumites, and this was also beneficial to Owell from a geopolitical point of view. Nubia is a typical landlocked country with river transportation but no navigation capabilities, while the Ethiopians are good at navigation.

(End of this chapter)