"Young Scipio speaks much of the war engines," Gabinius said, running his gaze along the wall's broad crest. "If they're as formidable as he says, it could make a seaward approach completely unfeasible."
Another senator came to stand by the Princeps. He was Marcus Brutus, father of the augur on the expedition. "Scipio is too impressed with toys and novelties. The walls are barrier enough. Carthage is a naval power, well prepared for naval war. It is pointless to attack your enemy's greatest strength. It is his weakness we want to know about, and exploit."
"Very wise," old Norbanus agreed. "Of course, Carthage's true weakness is that it employs foreign troops to do its fighting. It gives us the opportunity to get legions into Carthage without having to invade at all."
"That is true," Brutus admitted, "but the thought of an alliance with Carthage is detestable!"
"Besides," said Gabinius, "having legions on soil controlled by Carthage is not the same thing as having them within the gates of the city itself. You're familiar with the reports by now. Virtually everything outside those walls is foreign territory to them. That great heap of stone is what constitutes Carthage."
"It is almost as good," Norbanus countered. He had not just heard the official reports. He had been receiving secret letters from his son. "With our legions as part of Hamilcar's army, we will learn everything about how they make war, about the quality of their troops. Our commanders will become personally acquainted with the highest Carthaginian officers and learn all of their qualities. A war is half won when you know these things."
Brutus and Gabinius agreed that this was so, and they were instantly suspicious. Why was Norbanus suddenly enthusiastic about this prospect? As leader of the New Families, he should have been the most strenuous opponent of a war against Carthage. The two of them waited until he was called away by others of his party and discussed the new development.
"What is that man up to?" Brutus said. "Six months ago, he was the loudest voice for pushing our borders to the North Sea and eastward to the Urals and west beyond the Seine. The south has never interested him or his kind."
"He's greedy," Gabinius said. "The reports speak of fabulous wealth to be had. Whatever those other lands have to offer, there is little wealth but a lot of hard fighting."
"It has to be more. We should never have allowed his son on the expedition, far less as second in command, and the latest report has him in charge at Carthage while young Scipio vacations in Egypt!"
"Marcus Scipio went to Egypt for good reason. He was sent to gather intelligence and he's getting all he can."
"We didn't commission him to be the biggest traveler since Herodotus! A reconnaissance of Italy was what we specified. A quick look at Carthage was all to the better. But he is trying to shape Roman policy for years to come!"
"Policy we can always repudiate," Gabinius said. "And he knows it. In the meantime, forget about war with Carthage. We need the support of the Norbani if we are going to retake Italy, so let's not concern ourselves about his motives just yet. The elections are coming up. I suspect that his election as Consul will be the price for his support. Whom shall we put up as candidate from the Old Families?"
"It will have to be Decimus Scipio, Cyclops's son."
Gabinius grinned. "The fathers of the two expedition leaders as Consuls? Each able to overrule the other? I like it. What about the Tribunes? Norbanus will try to have them ram legislation through the Assemblies to take the command away from young Scipio and give it to his son."
"We'll have to get together enough plebeian families beholden to us to elect a few Tribunes of our own," Brutus said. "It's going to cost."
"The prize will be worth the price," Gabinius said, making a mental note to write that down among his collection of aphorisms.
By late afternoon the hubbub died down. Fatigue was setting in. From outside the Curia could be heard the roar of the crowd assembled in the forum. The Tribunes of the People had been haranguing them all day and from time to time senators had gone out to the speaker's platform to add their own opinions.
This day the presiding Consul was Aulus Catulus, an Old Family patriarch. When he stood, his lictors pounded the floor with the handles of their fasces and the noise died down. The senators resumed their seats and waited.
"Senators, decisions must be made," Catulus began. "This bickering must stop. It is time for a formal debate. Publius Gabinius Helveticus, as Princeps Senatus it is your right to speak first." Catulus resumed his seat in the curule chair.
"Conscript Fathers," Gabinius said, "these unprecedented reports from our expedition of reconnaissance make a number of things abundantly clear: First, Italy is for all practical purposes ungarrisoned. It is ours for the taking, from the alps to the Seven Hills all the way to the Strait of Messina. Second: Carthage is incredibly wealthy. Third: Powerful as she is, Carthage has a number of weaknesses, foremost among them her dependence on hired foreigners as soldiers. Fourth: Hamilcar is in preparation for a war with Egypt and would like an alliance with Rome." Many senators, mostly Old Family, jumped to their feet and yelled their opposition. They quieted when the Consul threatened to have his lictors throw them out.
Gabinius resumed. "These things we know to be true from the firsthand reports of our officers. They have learned secondhand that the once great empire of the Seleucids is crumbling under heavy pressure from the Parthians. The Seleucid monarch also contemplates an invasion of Egypt, to restore his fortunes with that nation's legendary wealth. We have Marcus Scipio's report informing us just how wealthy that nation is." This was greeted with murmurs of appreciation. The gold and jewels of Carthage were a fantasy to them, but the rich soil of Egypt was the very essence of reality.
"Here is my proposaclass="underline" We make a temporary alliance with Hamilcar." The word "temporary" forestalled the most vehement of the protestors. "We send him, say, four legions with attached auxilia for his campaign against Egypt. We must allow him to think that this constitutes the bulk of our available manpower, leaving us only a skeleton force to guard our frontiers."
"And use the other ten to reconquer Italy!" shouted an aged Caesar, one of the most fanatic of the back-to-the-Seven-Hills movement. There were shouts of agreement.
Gabinius smiled. "Not quite. We will need some troops to man the borders, but auxilia and veterans called back to the standards to handle that. The barbarians are not terribly threatening at the moment. No, what I propose is an expansion of our forces. I propose that we raise ten more legions."
There was stunned silence. Twenty-four legions beneath the standards at once! It was an army unheard of in all of Roman history. "Impossible!" shouted some.
"Not at all. For a hundred years and more our empire has expanded and prospered. Lands once wild and tribal are now under heavy cultivation, and our farmers raise many sons. We have long regarded this as a manpower reserve against times of crisis, but why not put the bulk of them under arms at once? All freeborn Romans should be soldiers, is that not so? Let them get some experience, then. We face great wars of conquest in the future. Italy must not be merely retaken, it must be defended. The only way to defeat Carthage is to go to Africa and destroy the city itself. And after that there will be other foes, and they will not be disorganized tribesmen with courage and little else. There will be civilized armies to defeat. Our fourteen legions will not be enough."