Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 337: Driving the tiger and swallowing the wolf
If the Nubians become strong again and suppress the Aksumites on land, the situation will be very favorable for Orwell. After all, people have to live on land, and the pressure from the land will force them to focus their attention on the Nubians, and their attention to the ocean will decrease. Orwell will have the opportunity to expand his influence in the Red Sea. He does not require the other side to completely wipe out the Aksumites, but it will be enough to delay them for five or six years.

There was still a gap between the Romans or Egyptians and the Aksumites. The former had more advanced technology and more resources, and it was not impossible that they would catch up in just a few years.

Even if Orville supported Nubia on behalf of the Romans, it would not be a disaster. Nubia's land was seriously affected by desertification, and now it could not be self-sufficient in food and had to rely on the Egyptians for survival. There was a dependent relationship between the two sides. Since Egypt held the lifeline of the Nubians, it was not afraid of the other side's restlessness, not to mention that three legions were still stationed on Egyptian land and could carry out military activities at any time.

On the whole, it seems that supporting the Nubians is not a bad idea. Orville also has this plan, but he decisively rejected the other party's application for marriage.

There are two main aspects. The first is to be trustworthy. His promise is to keep Arsinoe in cold storage, rather than using Arsinoe as a political bargaining chip. The other party just needs to maintain its existence quietly. Throwing it to Nubia may cause unexpected changes.

The second issue was the tolerance of the public. The Egyptians could not accept the marriage between the royal family and the Nubians because they believed that the Nubians were a subordinate race inferior to them, and there was a lot of hatred between the two sides. The Greeks believed that the noble royal family could not marry a dark-skinned barbarian, which was a kind of belittling of their identity. Since both sides did not like this matter, Orville certainly could not agree to it.

Fortunately, the other party did not insist on this request and soon changed their demands - send scholars to Alexandria for further study, select people from the top leaders of both sides to arrange a marriage as a show, and send people to Rome to learn technology.

Orville changed his last request to Nubia providing a group of skilled workers to work for him for ten years. Orville would let these people go back ten years later. The prince reluctantly accepted this "unequal treaty" and the two sides reached a consensus.

In those days, Grotius and others were not yet born, and there was no trace of international law. Both sides could only use simple and plain methods such as signatures and seals to establish a written agreement. Ovildo was cunning. He asked the other party to send an ambassador to Alexandria, Egypt, so that any problems could be communicated through the ambassador.

The Romans seemed to have had people with similar positions before, and the hostages sent over could also play this role to a certain extent. However, Orville was probably the first person to single out the concept of diplomats.

Thinking that he could leave a mark in history, Orwell also sent someone there with a little self-mockery. They could be regarded as sending diplomats to each other. Of course, neither side sent many important figures. In this era, envoys were high-risk professions. Killing envoys was not only commonplace, but also happened frequently. In order to ensure the safety of important figures on their side, they rarely sent important personnel abroad unless it was a critical occasion to show sincerity. In any case, both sides probably reached a satisfactory result - the Romans and Egyptians would support the Nubians against the Aksumites, thereby indirectly weakening the Aksumites' presence at sea.

After the Aksumites, the next people Orville had to deal with were the Nabataeans on the Red Sea. He basically followed Cleopatra's advice and used a caravan to lure the Nabataeans to attack him. These were a group of merchants with a relatively loose organization, jumping back and forth between merchants and robbers. The king had neither authority nor strength, and could not form any effective constraints on them. Needless to say, Orville's caravan was looted, and he quickly responded by mobilizing a Roman legion and an Egyptian legion stationed in Egypt to enter the present-day Jordan region and began to besiege the most prosperous city of Petra in the area, demanding that the Nabataean king give them an explanation.
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The Romans never took action against the Nabataeans. One of the more important reasons was that the country of the Nabataeans was almost a desert, with scattered towns hidden near the coast and oases, and the road system was not perfect. For the legionnaires who were not familiar with the local climate and environment, it was very difficult to supply. If they were on the Mediterranean coast, they could rely on complete control of the Mediterranean sea to transport supplies, but they lacked a navy in the Red Sea and it was difficult to stably supply supplies by sea.

Coupled with the empire's contraction strategy since Augustus, the Nabataeans have been developing from the Seleucid Empire to this day. Now they are facing the first major test since their prosperity, which is the threat and covetousness from the Romans.

Orville personally commanded the army from Alexandria. Thanks to the good road network around the Mediterranean, he did not encounter much trouble. The army quickly maneuvered from Alexandria to the border with the Nabataeans, and then there were small-scale security battles and orderly advances.

Neither he nor Cleopatra was crazy because of poverty, and they still had the most basic moral bottom line. He and the officers strictly restrained the soldiers and did not let them vent their desire for plunder on the local civilians. They also made three agreements with the local nobles to ensure that the purpose of their visit was not expansion, but to solve the problem. They were not targeting the local nobles, but just wanted to pass through Petra.

With gentle persuasion and the army approaching, these people had to accept the reality. Orville did not relax his vigilance. The two legions would never act separately, and the baggage train would never be transported by land. The baggage was completely transported by sea, giving no chance to the local people who were waiting for an opportunity.

As for whether it was safe at sea, Orville had received Ivar's full support. After tasting the sweetness of Indian trade, the Vikings, who were used to living in bitter and cold days, were almost crazy about it - the profit of just one ship was equal to the profit of dozens of ships going out to plunder, and Orville also promised to give them more things, so the Vikings were excited and increased their bets again. Ivar also brought more than a thousand reinforcements from Ireland and his hometown, which could be said to be a huge investment.

You have to know that Ivar can mobilize about 7,000 to 8,000 people in total. Now there are nearly 2,000 of the strongest and bravest men in Egypt. Even if you expand your vision, from the Romans' perspective, 2,000 sailors with ships is not a small number, especially since they are brave and good at fighting. Together with Orwell's own navy, they have formed a posture that can compete with the Nabataeans in the Red Sea.

(End of this chapter)