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Varro Estates, Rome
(Six Months Prior)
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Five prominent men sat around a rectangular table loaded with finely aged cheeses, fresh and pickled olives, thin slices of prosciutto, aged bresaola, salted anchovies, and expensive red wine rescued from the cellars of the various men gathered at the casual meeting. Consular Dominus Augustus Varro lounged against a cushion as he drank, listening to Senator Actius Verius Varro muse over the recent events in the Senate.

“I don’t see why we don’t just censure him out of the Senate. That bloody idiot is not of particular value to anyone. I’m sure you could persuade Maxminius and Gregorius to see our point of view,” Verius stated waving a piece of bread around to accentuate his point.

There was a soft burst of laughter from Gaius Castor Daia, who shook his head and pointed his finger towards Augustus.

“Augustus can’t lead another censure movement; he’s turned over a new leaf. Tiberius Agrippa has been working heavily with the Populares and will have their backing if we tried to force him out by vote. Augustus can’t be seen as too demanding or his new-found popularity will vanish.” Castor snapped his fingers in the air to express how quickly people’s minds and opinions could be changed.

“Not only that, but we do not have enough votes to do things diplomatically. Who knows if the Consuls will even allow such a motion to vote? Surely Consul Dio will not allow it. Augustus will have to grovel at Rimilius and Cassius Ispius’ feet in order to get them to even consider such a gesture,” Senator Sarius Maximus Varro, the brother of Consular Augustus, said while taking a sip of his wine. The man took a good swig and was about to speak again when he was interrupted by Senator Braeus Jularius Carus.

“But we have a valuable ally in Tacitus Germanus Disius. Do you not remember that scuffle between the two of them over the incentives proposal that Tiberius placed on the Senate floor?” Jularius spoke. The former principal secretarius of Augustus was still very reliable in predicting and keeping a tally of who would vote what way and where certain figures would matter most.

“No, Germanus Disius would never actively vote to censure Tiberius. It’s simply not in his nature. And he sure as hell won’t help me convince Consul Ispius either. He would however, be a reliable ally once the corruption trial finishes. Trust me Jularius, a movement to censure Tiberius is not the way to go. I know from experience. We’d come close, but we’d be a few votes off,” Consular Augustus smirked, thinking about the encounter with Disius as he picked from a pile of assorted cheeses.

“Then perhaps we should stick with the isolation policy for now until we begin trial, Tiberius Agrippa is incapable of gathering enough votes to pass anything if we decide to put a stop to it. Besides, even with Consul Dio gaining interest within the Senate, you are still the most influential man,” Maximus stated, idly massaging a kink in his neck.

“Yes, but if we want full dominance of the field, it is crucial that we reach out to Prima Adrius Varro in Dacia. It has been too long since he’s been out of Rome, as a council we should tell him to come home immediately. He is losing influence in the Senate and is slowly fading to black. It is a good thing that his allies are being maintained by you Augustus,” Castor stated, using a piece of linen to wipe the corners of his mouth.

The eyes of the men gathered at the dinner seemed to focus on Augustus who was idly staring at his glass of wine with an amused expression on his face. Finally his brother spoke, breaking the silence in obvious frustration.

“Augustus, we need Adrius back in the Senate,” Maximus stated. The break in silence seemed to force Augustus out of his daze as the Consular looked over at his brother and then at the other allies gathered around him. The Consular rose from his seat, grabbing his wine glass and raising it into the air.

“I have news that I’ve been keeping from you. A month and a half ago, I wrote a letter to Adrius asking for his return to Rome, stating the reasons you all have given. Today, I received a letter from Ostia…” Augustus trailed in his sentence and grew silent. All the men in the room eyed the Consular, wondering why the man wasn’t finishing his sentence.

“Gentlemen, a toast to the return of our beloved Prima!” Augustus exclaimed as shocked expressions dawned on the faces of the Senators around him. After a brief moment, all men stood together with their wine glasses in the air and toasted for their chance at another surge forth in the Senate.

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The Ovation of Adrius, Rome
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Before the festivities of Agrippa Adrius Varro’s ovation even began to vibrate and march through the city of Rome, a 1,000,000c of free bread had been distributed amongst the masses that now lined the main street in which the parade would traverse. Just as the crowd eagerly anticipated the visual spectacle that had been prepared, they were also eager to see the exotic loot that would had been stripped from the Dacian capital of Sarmizegetusa before it had been razed to the ground.

After a long moment of waiting, the sounds of blaring trumpets were answered by the cheering of the crowd gathered to witness the ovation. Although Adrius Varro had not been given a triumph by the Senate, the festivities that had been largely planned by Consular Augustus Varro surpassed far beyond what was typical of an ovation.

The first section of men to lead the parade was a large number of members of the Senate who normally did not walk with the man being honored in an ovation. Nevertheless, the man wielding the highest Consular ranking in the Senate had managed to gather a large drawing of support.

Leading the procession of Senators was Consular Dominus Augustus. The notable statesman waved to the crowd joined by Senator Gaius Sillius Flavus and Senator Sarius Maximus Varro, the brother of Consular Augustus. The pairings was seen as an oddity by the watch dogs that followed party rivalries in the Senate. After all, it was a rarity for apparent rivals to walk together in a public showing.

Senator Actius Decius Daia, Lepidus Tetricus Vitellius, and Postumus Maximinus walked together not far behind from the men that lead the procession and were shortly followed by Senator Crassus Sanius Piso, Actius Annius Varro, and Actius Verius Varro. It was widely believed by many, with Consular Delo on his death bed that Senator Sanius Piso would take over the leadership of the Factio Optima, and he was a figure of great interest by the populace.

Senator Braeus Jularius Carus, Brutus Drusus, and Darius Bantolus Verus were seem walking closely and engaged in unknown conversation while Senator Julius Maximus Varro and Raeus Brutus Daia seemed more concentrated on examining the crowd, and waving back at the cheering masses.

Following members of the Senate was a large number of trumpeters, which were accompanied by men playing the Thracian wind pipes, a sound that was new and exotic to Rome.

Shortly after the fanfare of the instrumentalists were carts full of the spoils of war. Slaves carried paintings above their heads to show to the masses while large carts pulled by horses displayed statues, pottery, and piles of gold taken from the Dacian treasury.

Looted tapestries, rugs, and furs were displayed by slaves and drew the eyes of many in the crowd. While such exotics were not hard to come by for those who had the wealth to finance such luxuries, for the majority of the commoners in Rome, this was their first encounter with art and treasures of Dacia. The material lacked the luster of the luxuries of the Hellenic Kingdoms, but its display produced a positive reaction from the crowd.

Shortly after the looted art were five hundred Dacian slaves that had been captured by the army at the battle of Sarmizegetusa. Chained together and kept in file by men of Adrius’ legions, it was clear and easy to see both disdain and amazement on the captive faces. They had never quite seen anything like Rome before. The Kingdom of Dacia easily exceeded the barbarians in Germany in terms of civility, yet the Dacians had yet to see anything in the likeness of Rome.

Behind the slaves were ten white bulls that would be sacrificed to Jupiter at the end of the ovation, and behind the bulls were the insignias of various Dacian militants and nobles that had kept their residence in Sarmizegetusa. Banners of the Dacian king retrieved from the palace of Sarmizegetusa were now flying in Rome as a part of a parade precession.

Behind the insignia rode Agrippa Adrius Varro himself upon an immaculate white horse, clad in the toga praetexta. Upon his head was a wreath of myrtle, sacred to Venus. The symbolism of the wreath had been greatly displayed in Rome and in Campania by men working for Consular Augustus Varro, since the reverence of Venus was stronger in Latium and Campania then ever before.

Following the Consular were the first cohorts of all the legions that fought at the battle of Sarmizgetusa, wearing togas with the wreath of myrtle upon their heads.

As the procession made its way to the Capitoline Hill and to the Temple of Jupiter, most of the other members of the Senate stood in solemn assembly. Consuls Maximus Dio and Rimilius Ispius both spoke favorably of the victory in short speeches. Ten bulls were displayed to the public, and Pontifix Augustus Varro lead a short prayer and blessed the bulls before they were sacrificed to the Gods by Consular Adrius.

At the conclusion of the ovation, the soldiers were dispersed throughout Rome to celebrate through the city, while Consular Adrius and the Senators who walked in the ovation headed to the Varro Estates to continue the festivities there.


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By: Agrippa Adrius Varro, Dominus Augustus Varro
Input from others
Edited by GMs (JOM)

AD 122 (early in the year)