[b][u][center]The Massacre at Eporedia[/center][/u][/b]

It has been a long time since the Roman army has suffered what even the Senate considers as a "catastrophic defeat".

The Consular Army facing the Carthaginians in the north lies in ruins; its troops carpeting the base of the Alps like a bloody decoration of grim foretelling. 

Thousands lost, heroes felled, and to what end? Hannibal has free reign of the north now, and he has not relented in his determination to bring Rome to its knees. Already, the Veneti who only a few months previous had been brought into the Republic's borders are revolting. Garrisons in Liguria have already fallen to the locals. The north of Italy burns, and in the midst of it all, the greatest son of Carthage rides down the middle. 

Consul Tiberius Sempronius Longus is dead, and his seat at the head of Rome lies idle. Fortunate, though it is, that Hannibal returned his body to his peoples for proper burial; a kind act lost in the brutality of the man's battle tactics. 

From afar, Rome's ancient enemy in Illryia has regained his confidence, and already Apollonia lays besieged by a force of twenty thousand Illyrian warriors. 

Merchants talk of an Athenian-Spartan union, and of the resurgent power of Macedon. Will these foreign states see Rome's defeat as a beacon of weakness? Will they too try their luck with her frail borders? 

No.

Already, Consul Publius Cornelius Scipio is marching north with the First and Second legions, and with over twenty thousand Etruscans swelling his ranks. He will meet Hannibal outside of Velathri, relying on the sheer prevalence of numbers to blunt the Carthaginian spearhead. 

In Rome, the Senate has called for a Peoples' Assembly. Though with the sole remaining Consul busy with the war, the floor is given to he who wishes to speak.

[center][b][u]The Peoples' Assembly[/u][/b][/center]

[i]Rome is alive with anguish. Men and women hurry through the streets, decrying the end times, as news reaches the city of the slaughter in the north. Panic strikes the populace, and many prepare to flee southwards into Naples - though Hannibal is yet far away. 

Escaping the anger and the desperation of the mob, the Senate of Rome has gathered on the city's outskirts under heavily armed guard. Around a tall and solid oak tree, two hundred senators gather to discuss Rome's future, and her moves to repel the Carthaginian threat in the event of Scipio's defeat.[/i]

[b]Issues Voiced[/b]

Consul Election - Consul Scipio has declined to elect the successor of his deceased counterpart, and leaves it to the surviving Legates to decide who will replace Tiberius Sempronius Longus. Who would best fill the role?

Recruitment Reforms - Currently, a Roman soldier must be a citizen of the Republic, and hold relative wealth to be eligible for recruitment. Furthermore, Roman cavalry relies on the richer classes, who can afford their own horse, to propel the legionary flanking wings. Specialists, such as archers and slingers, are consistently drafted from mercenaries and non-Roman cities. With the Consular Army in ruins, and Scipio's legions representing Rome's last combat effective force, there is clamour from within the Senate to lower the recruitment boundaries and expand the existing focus of the legions from heavy infantry into more dynamic roles. How far should Rome be prepared to change her time-tested ways to adapt to the threat of Hannibal?

The Roman Problem - Rome stands alone, though she holds sway over Italy. There are those within the Senate who feel that her allies, such as those in Velathri, Naples and Ariminum, should be made Roman citizens. This would surely not only bind Rome's client-states into a tighter alliance, but also boost the current man power availability to her legions considerably. Does Rome need to expand her sovereignty over the peninsula? Or should she remain as she always has? Singular, yet coherent?

[b]In wake of the crisis, all surviving Legates have been given the redundant title of Consular Tribune, thus giving their voice in the Senate a considerable boost. Combined, theoretically their power equates to that of a Consul, however it has been noted that their roles will last only for the duration of the assembly.[/b]