Recorded in the Year 8 · Tablet 8 — Ancient Mediterranean
Panic in the Councils: Rome (Эльф ушастый) Commands 17 Strongholds
Centurions returning on leave to the city swear that Rome (Эльф ушастый) now stands on the very verge of epochal victory, commanding 17 provinces of the 18 provinces demanded for solitary rule. Across the known world, trade halts and treaties falter as sovereigns await the final blow. 'The sea-lanes and provincial revenues now answer to Rome,' proclaimed an ambitious harbor prefect. Poets in the taverns of Rome were already composing verses that compared the generals to Achilles.
Military Accounts from the Marches
The Ascent of Carthage (Базослав): 2 Cities Gained
An aggressive offensive doctrine has yielded rich rewards for Carthage (Базослав), which augmented its dominion by 2 cities in a single year. Seasoned commanders attribute the success to daring leadership and flexible logistics. Pigeons loosed from the lighthouse at Pharos carry word that new garrisons are being provisioned without delay. Veterans in the baths note, as they do each year, that the previous war was better organised.
Military Accounts from the Marches
Disaster on the Frontier: Persia (Xenonic) Stripped of 2 Territories
Surveyors measuring the roads along the frontier report that an alarming retreat has forced Persia (Xenonic) to yield 2 cities to encroaching adversaries. Panic has begun to spread through commercial quarters as grain supplies dwindle and taxes soar to cover the disaster. Patricians in Persia shuttered their villas, mourning the steep erosion of the realm's hard-won dominions. Philosophers in the agora note that glory is eternal, but replacing lost baggage mules and broken oars proves ruinously expensive.
Military Accounts from the Marches
The Trumpet Sounds in Carthage (Базослав): New Armies Assembled
Wax tablets carried by the imperial post confirm that the assemblies of Carthage (Базослав) voted extensive levies, bringing 2 new commands into the theater of operations. Veterans were recalled from their farms to drill the young spearmen in the ancient tactics. Wine merchants of Carthage rolled their finest casks into the squares and gave them away to all comers. 'The sword has severed what treaties and envoys could not hold,' observed a veteran tribune of Carthage.
Councils of the Great Powers
Unforgiving Hatred: The Long Clash of Carthage (Базослав) and Persia (Xenonic)
Bronze shields and broken spears litter the boundary passes where Carthage (Базослав) and Persia (Xenonic) renew their irreconcilable quarrel each campaigning season. It is 4 years since either side last spoke of peace and meant it. The Egyptian priests, who have watched empires come and go for three thousand years, merely noted the date. Local tavern keepers remark that advancing cohorts and retreating phalanxes possessed an identical thirst for untaxed vintage.
The Ledger of Grain & Silver
The granaries of Carthage (Базослав) are filling: 2 new provinces pay tribute, and the realm now stands at 11 centres.
Fortunes wane for Persia (Xenonic), whose realm shrinks by 2 cities, leaving them at 6.
Rumors from the Baths & Taverns
A freedman who sweeps the senate house says the envoys of Carthage and Rome dined alone in the cellar and left laughing.
Fishwives claim that the daughter of a general of Persia was seen weeping at the temple of Rome, and no one will say why.
Public Notices & Forum Ephemera
Fierce thunderstorms strike the frontier camps; several javelins were struck by lightning, terrifying the camp followers.
Public Notices & Forum Ephemera
STRAYED: A grey donkey with a white nose, answers to nothing. Return to the baker near the Fountain Gate.
