It was a sunny afternoon in the ancient city of Rome. Nicholas V, the Pope and head of the Catholic Church was enjoying the papal gardens and the coming of spring, it always made him happy. But this year he had serious problem to be dealt with. A man named Gaius Iulius Secundus, formerly called as Lorenzo Abaco, and his silly followers were gaining more and more power in not only in Rome but throughout the Apennine Peninsula. Some say he’s a madman while others, most commonly his followers, say that he’s a pure genius, a masterpiece of God. If only he was just an ordinary trifling agitator but no, this man was more. First of all he was rich, one of the richest men in the city of Rome and perhaps in all of Italy, and thus he also had a relatively large private army. Of course, it wasn’t as organized and well trained as the Swiss Guard but none should underestimate the power you can get with wealth. Secondly he was excellent speaker and knew of ancient history, the times of Ancient Rome and their conquest of Mediterranean, even less would incite the ignorant peasantry. But there was no chance even he could recreate the Roman Empire from nothing. Nicholas pondered the situation. According to the intelligence reports the man had majority of Rome behind his thoughts. It was time to leave Rome, for now, and get help from aboard, perhaps France or Castille. The Pope sighed and walked back inside, a convoy would leave immediately to Avignon. Rome was not safe anymore.
* * *
Gaius Iulius Secundus: “People of Rome! Hear me talking to you. A time has come for us to show the world power of the Romans once again!”
The large crowd cheered.
Gaius Iulius Secundus: “Today is the beginning, a new era of dynasty! Today Rome, tomorrow the world! This day we’ll…”
Brutus Mussus: “Lorenzo! I mean Gaius! He has left it, it is time!”
Gaius Iulius Secundus: “Don’t you see I am busy now, who are you talking of anyways?”
Brutus Mussus: “Him, the one-who-should-not-be-mentioned-in-front-of-a-thousand-Catholics-in-a-manner-like-this.”
Gaius Iulius Secundus: “I don’t understand what you are talking about but shush now or I will have to reconsider your place as the commander of my loyal armies my dear friend.”
Brutus dragged Gaius from the stage, leaving behind a crowd of confused peasants.
The large crowd cheered.
Gaius Iulius Secundus: “Today is the beginning, a new era of dynasty! Today Rome, tomorrow the world! This day we’ll…”
Brutus Mussus: “Lorenzo! I mean Gaius! He has left it, it is time!”
Gaius Iulius Secundus: “Don’t you see I am busy now, who are you talking of anyways?”
Brutus Mussus: “Him, the one-who-should-not-be-mentioned-in-front-of-a-thousand-Catholics-in-a-manner-like-this.”
Gaius Iulius Secundus: “I don’t understand what you are talking about but shush now or I will have to reconsider your place as the commander of my loyal armies my dear friend.”
Brutus dragged Gaius from the stage, leaving behind a crowd of confused peasants.
Benitus “Brutus” Mussus, the loyal friend and right hand of Gaius had always been fascinated of the ancient buildings of Rome and after hearing of the Romans from Gaius he immediately joined the Novo Roma, an organisation set up by Lorenzo, having the goal of taking over Rome. It was just a small band of brothers at first, but it all changed after Gaius managed to cheat a Berber merchant in Barcelona and took over his assets and the position as most influential of Ivory traders in the Mediterranean.
Gaius Iulius Secundus, originally called as Lorenzo Abaco, was an Italian merchant who was born in Venice to a lower-class merchant family 1st of January 1400. His parents always told him it was a sign and he would become something great in the future. He was sent to a school in Bologna where he learned of the ancient Rome. Fascinated by their ways of living and the mighty Empire, he decided to leave for Rome to learn more of these people. In Rome he started earning his living by trading with the North Africans. He was always unlucky and he barely managed to feed himself from time to time. At those times he was unsure whether the plans to take over Rome would work. Most thought of him as a madman. But then he had a true stroke of luck. He was visiting in Barcelona to buy a new cargo vessel for transporting sugar from Crete when he heard of this man named Thafath Tara who was selling the prosperous Ivory for ridiculous prices at the docks. It was this man whose possessions Lorenzo managed to take over after gambling whether he could earn money than the Berber from nothing within one day. He didn’t only get his hands on the most prosperous stockpiles of Ivory, but the poor Berber also owned three gold mines, a small town of his own on the island of Malta and spices from the furthest corners of Arabia. That day was the finest of all for Novo Roma.
Brutus Mussus: “The Pope has left the city, he is on his way to Avignon, the last stronghold they possess.”
Gaius Iulius Secundus: “It is time. Rally the men, this’ll be our finest hour.”
Gaius Iulius Secundus: “It is time. Rally the men, this’ll be our finest hour.”
Gaius left in haste, he had an Empire to be built.
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Cristoffer just stole Grigori's idea!
