Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 63 Excellent Treatment
Orville raised his eyebrows - this was a very bold statement. You have to know that these days no one thinks that history is an independent discipline. They think it is a supplement to rhetoric, used to enhance the persuasiveness and appeal of language. It cannot be called an independent discipline at all and cannot be put on par with the first two.

"I need you to do some history-related work. I participated in the entire Palphic War and made a war record. But my Latin is not very good, and my writing is dry and tasteless, so I need someone to polish it for me. Do you think you can do it?"

Hearing the word "Palphi", Procopius' expression froze, but he finally nodded in agreement: "Although I don't want to say this, you are right to find me. I was born in Caesarea and lived there for a long time until the war broke out and I had to come to Rome. I know the local customs and the general political situation there very well, and I also have some understanding of the overall situation of the war. There should be no one in Rome who is more suitable than me."

Procopius was indeed born in Palestine, so he could be considered a professional match.

"The war log is very important and is considered a confidential document, so I need you to go to a special place to modify it. Is that okay? I will receive you properly in the Flavius ​​family's mansion. If you prove your ability, I will recruit you as a guest. If you are interested in politics, I think this will be a good stepping stone."

Procopius nodded repeatedly: "No problem, no problem."

This treatment is already very respectful. If you do well, you can become the prince's guest. Even if this prince is insignificant or has no real power, he is still a member of the Roman power class.
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From then on, Procopius would take some time every afternoon to visit Orville, and then he would polish and revise Orville's article in Flavius's mansion.

Procopius gave a very good evaluation of Orwell's works. He didn't mean it in a hypocritical or corny way, but he said it sincerely.

Most historical works these days are overly embellished, with a strong literary quality that overwhelms authenticity, and the writers often do not have a deep understanding of the war environment, so what they write is sometimes very unrealistic.

Orville's spoken Latin was very good, after all, he used it every day. As for his written Latin, his level was average. However, his diary was accurate and detailed. There was no unnecessary information to interfere, but all the necessary information was included. Readers could understand the whole war from beginning to end very intuitively.

"With only a little polishing and revision, this is a passable work."

Procopius commented on Orwell's war diary in this way, and he was very satisfied with the work. He was eager to have excellent works appear.

"The Palphic War" will be completed in a short time. During this period, Orville was not idle. He frequently traveled between Rome and its nearby port city of Ostia, and hired several carpenters, shipbuilders and blacksmiths there, and began to let them transform their small merchant ships and work towards passenger ships.

In fact, it is not difficult. It is nothing more than turning the loading space into a human space, and then modifying it to be more comfortable so that people will not feel too uncomfortable inside. Orville's ships are almost all sailboats, with low labor costs and more spare space.

This type of ship needs to frequently dock for supplies and rest, cannot support high seas, and cannot withstand strong winds and waves. But in Orville's opinion, this is enough, and he doesn't want to sail high seas.

During this period, the flow of people was not very frequent. Ordinary people basically did not travel around the world. Most of those who had this need were relatively wealthy people. Specifically in the case of Rome, people from the Apennine Peninsula mainly traveled to Greece and Asia Minor for travel, study, visit relatives, business, etc. Greece has always been attractive to the Romans. It is the cultural and ideological center of the Mediterranean world and an important economic and trade area. So this matter is much simpler - you only need to operate a few port cities close to Greece, operate a few hotels or similar things there, and then set up pick-up points in several important cities in Greece so that travelers from the two places can travel back and forth, and the matter is considered to be initially completed.

Orville wanted to provide a kind of "one-stop service" like a travel agency, helping customers to handle all the basic things such as customs clearance, passenger ships, hotels, restaurants, etc. Customers only need to spend money and they can set off within a few days, traveling from Rome to major Greek cities such as Athens, Delphi, Rhodes, Ephesus, etc.

It would certainly be difficult for ordinary people to implement this, as it was unknown how many connections had to be made in ancient times. Orville had a significant advantage - his father was the emperor, so he would be given the green light all the way.
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During a family dinner, Orville mentioned this to Tia seemingly unintentionally: "Speaking of which, there are a lot of veterans who have retired in recent years, right?"

Tia knew all about it: "Yes, it's the end of the year, a group of people retired from the army, and they just received their retirement benefits a few years ago."

“Their resettlement work doesn’t seem to be very good?”

Tiya sighed and was also very troubled by this: "It has never been so good. Not everyone is willing to be a colonist and go to the marginal provinces. Most people are willing to stay in Rome, a prosperous place. Those who have family businesses and land are fine, so they are not left without work, but the rest are in trouble. There has always been a large influx of people into Rome. These people are old and cannot compete with the young people, so it is difficult for them to find jobs."

If you look through Roman history, you will find that many people have been constantly emphasizing honor, virtue and responsibility. It is useless to talk about ideals with people who don't have enough food to eat. The reason why Roman legionaries can emphasize these things is very simple: their treatment is indeed quite good.

According to the standards of that era, each soldier's annual salary was 220 denarii, which was considered middle or upper-middle class among Roman citizens at that time. However, after completing their years of service, they would also receive a one-time pension or a piece of land, amounting to around 3000 denarii.

If you live frugally during your service and don't spend lavishly after retirement, based on the average life expectancy of this era, it will be enough for you to live the rest of your life in luxury, and that's not all.

The emperor gave out bonuses every now and then, and the soldiers also received some spoils of war. In the army, they could enjoy free military hospitals and bakeries, and outside the army, they had preferential treatment in public facilities such as military baths. With all these benefits, the Roman legions were certainly strong.

But if they leave the army, they will feel lost. They have passed the best age for working and living. They can't find suitable jobs and have nothing to do. They can only muddle through their days. Every month, they go to the square to collect citizen relief food, and then wander around Rome to kill time. They have become an unstable factor.

Orville knew this, so he made a suggestion: "I have an idea. We will provide these retired soldiers with jobs in prosperous places."

(End of this chapter)