360-395 CE (Superpowers)

With the national treasury now holding 1.5 times what it had at the death of Sulla I, its highest point ever, the Empire had an enormous margin of error and could have easily compensated for a multitude of mistakes it may make. But it didn't have to. The next emperor stemmed from Greece, much like Sulla, and was chosen by Agricola to be his successor because of an extraordinary intelligence that he displayed. A child prodigy, he'd learn over 14 languages by the time he was 15 and was working side by side with the Empire's many academies by the time he was 18. This intelligence, surpassing even that of Agricola and Sulla, would be the mark of his rule.

Whilst Agricola was known for his vast increases to government oversight in the Empire's workings, Emperor Sapiens' main programs were focused on streamlining the Empire and reducing the need for government financial interventions, without any losses of control. What was truly genius about Sapiens was that he realized one very important thing, that is, no matter how much he improved the Empire and no matter how well he handled himself during his time in power, some time down the road, another emperor would ruin this. "Incompetence", he said, "is as universal a human trait as empathy, and greed".

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