Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 95: The Empire of Antinomy

The farm in Orville has become a little crowded now. The farm that was originally planned to accommodate 1,500 people now has nearly 3,000 people crammed into it. It must feel a little overwhelming.

After obtaining permission from the mayor of Rome, he built a temporary military camp in his farm as a temporary residence for these soldiers. They still had some time before going to the battlefield. Now the recruits from all over the empire had not yet arrived at the Danube Legion's garrison to take over. The Danube Legion could only temporarily transfer three legions to the Apennine Peninsula. Walking all the way was not a forced march, and it would take a while.

Orville estimated that they would arrive at the German Legion's base around June, which was a little late but not a big problem.

The troops now assembled in Rome must be transported to Narbonne Gaul first, and reorganized into a reorganized legion for Aurelian to participate in the battle, because he is guarding the gateway to the Apennine Peninsula and cannot afford to lose it. Orville and Tia also have to wait in line.

There are still about four months left for them to fully train, but Orville is also worried - the war will not be fought now, but the military salaries must be paid as usual, this is a standing army.

He has been spending more and more time inspecting the army and even training with them recently. In order to get along with the soldiers and make it easier to command them, he would also organize some activities outside of training, such as sword fighting.

Belisarius is now fighting with a soldier. Belisarius even uses his own talent. A faint red light is attached to his sword, but the two sides are still evenly matched.

After fighting for more than ten rounds, Belisarius finally managed to suppress his opponent with his strength advantage, and the victory or defeat was decided.

The soldier on the other side was the only person with real talent that Orvel had taken great pains to recruit. He was a relative of Nicanor Stilicho, the inn manager under Orvel, and his name was Flavius ​​Stilicho.

As for why such a talented person would leave the invitation from the Senate unused and come to Orville, you can tell by looking at his name, hair color and appearance.

His face is rough and his body hair is obvious. He has a beard, his hair and beard are all golden, and his eyes are blue. Basically, the words "I am an alien" are written on his face.

The other person's name was Flavius, which was not the same as Vespa's family name Flavius, but the essential meaning was the same.

Vespa's clan name Flavius ​​is a relatively common clan name in Rome. The people of this clan claim that their ancestors have Sabine ancestry, which is actually true, after all, Vespa's hometown is in the Sabine region.

Flavius ​​originally means gold or yellow, and this clan got its name because most of the people in this clan have blonde hair.

Flavius ​​Stilicho had this name for the same reason, his hair and beard were all golden, so the name probably means "Blond Stilicho".

His father was a barbarian mercenary and his mother was a relative of Nicanor. To this day, his father has not obtained Roman citizenship and is still serving in the army for many years, and can only be converted to a regular citizen after that.

The blond Stilicho was relatively lucky because Roman law stipulated that legitimate children would be registered with their father, while illegitimate children would be registered with their mother.

His parents deliberately gave birth to him out of wedlock and waited until he had Roman citizenship before getting married. This was a slight loophole, so the blond Stilicho was born a Roman citizen, but this did not mean that his life was easy.

As far as Orville knew, his parents were not in a patrilineal marriage, so it was not clear why he took his mother's last name, Orville, but it was certain that there was more or less a story behind it.

As a gifted person with combat capability, he would definitely receive an olive branch from the Senate, but in the end he did not accept it, but took the initiative to agree to Nicanor's invitation and came to Orville. According to him, he was not used to the Senate's policy of discriminatory treatment. Orville also had foreign blood and was not treated differently, so he chose to serve in Orville.

Putting aside the extremely macro issue of ethnic policy stance, Orville would treat the other party with courtesy based on their ability and status.

[Flavius ​​Stilicho - A Sensitive Warrior]

Diplomacy: 18
Military: 23
Management: 15
Strategy: 15
Knowledge: 14
It is basically certain that this is Stilicho, a famous general and powerful official in the late Western Roman Empire, and all the data are consistent.

This person was also a rather awkward person in history. The later Roman Empire became increasingly conservative due to its decline, and instinctively rejected any foreigners who could threaten the empire.

In this context, this mixed-race person became the regent of the empire. Although the regent was legitimate because he was entrusted by the emperor to take care of his son, the senators of the Roman Senate still disliked him very much.

Obviously, the defense of the empire relied heavily on barbarian mercenaries and barbarian service, but the Roman people, represented by the Roman Senate, looked down on the barbarians on the one hand, and were extremely wary of them on the other. The ambition to revitalize Rome was contrary to "anti-barbarian sentiment", which made the country's policies very awkward.

They looked down on and were hostile to the barbarians, but they could not bear the loss of martial virtue, so they had to use the barbarians to fight.

Stilicho was finally pushed to the forefront in this environment, and objectively he tried to do some things, but the effect was not obvious in the end. Stilicho, who was suspected by the emperor and nobles, was finally executed. Seventy years after his death, the Western Roman Empire collapsed.

This is also the "last Roman", a typical character in the corrupt environment at the end of the empire.

Now that the other party has intruded into this historical juncture, it is certain that his ending will not be so tragic. The Romans of this era were still very open-minded, and their attitude towards foreigners was not so resistant, and it was not yet to the point of being incurable and stubborn.

By this point, Orville's makeshift team was almost set up. Although small, it had all the necessary facilities and was of high quality, enough for him to use for a very long time.

The military generals include Stilicho and Belisarius. The former is a famous general of the Western Roman Empire, and the latter is a famous general of the Eastern Roman Empire. They both have good military abilities and are relatively loyal and reliable. There is no need to worry about them having any bad intentions.

The literati include Procopius, who wrote a history of war for Belisarius and was also the court writer of Emperor Justinian. He had a good ability in writing biographies and history books and was a master of propaganda.

Vespa had transferred several people to him who were good at accounting and could be used as financial officers or logistics officers, so he didn't have to do the accounting himself.

He had under his command the 500-man guard brought by Parfiti, 2,400 elite Roman legion infantrymen, and the guards and followers assigned to him by Vespa, a total of nearly 3,000 people.

There is also a scholar named Ptolemy who I don't know if he can be fooled here, so let's not count him as a head for now. Looking at the heads gathered in the camp, Orville felt a little comforted in his heart.

The money was not spent in vain. He had 3,000 standing troops under his command, which made him a top figure. His adjutants were all famous generals in history.

(End of this chapter)