Terra Nova

Emperor Gaius Diocletianus was the last best hope for Rome. He took an empire that had grown weak and made it strong. He took an army that was broken and reforged it. He took laws that had grown old and useless, and re-wrote them, creating prosperity and contentment. Through his tireless efforts a nation that seemed on the verge of falling into darkness stepped into the light once more. But Diocletian was not content with merely restoring Rome. He wished to give Rome something new. And thanks to a recent invention, he now could. Something as small as a needle made of special metal that would always point towards the North meant that the art of navigation would never be the same again. Shps could now travel the open ocean without fear of being lost.

New Navy
In the process of building up Roman military might again, Diocletian ordered the construction of a whole new type of ship. Rome had preferred to rely on its roads and its legions rather than its fleet. But at a time when the old ways were failing, a new idea was sorely needed. So sea ports were hastily re-equipped to build the ships Diocletian wanted - ships that were larger; could carry more supplies; ships that could cross the vastest bodies of water without needing to dock. In Southern Italy, ports were creating a fleet that could traverse the entire Mediterranean with ease. But on the coasts of Hispania, the shipbuilders were given a challenge greater still. They were to build vessels capable of sailing across the seemingly unending ocean in front of them. The Romans knew that the world was round, and that it was vast. Surely, there was a place fworth sailing to.

Terra Nova
What the Romans were expecting from their newfound dominance of the seas were new trade routes and trading partners. What they got was a whole New Land, offering them a hope they thought lost. The early trans-Atlantic expeditions returned bearing word of a vast land populated only with savages even less advanced than barbarians threatening Roman borders. Unlike those tribes Rome knew, these people had no metal weapons and no armor; they did not have vast armies; Romans were like gods to them.

The opportunity was far too good to miss. Even for a Rome weakened by the circumstances it found itself in, such a land would be all too easy to conquer. And if things went well, then perhaps the resources of this New Land could be used to halt Rome's fall. Timber and food flowed freely to Hispania coast, in preparation for the construction of a fleet like none seen before.

Still, Rome could not afford to spare much of its military for this venture. Not with the powerful threats to the east. Nor would the Romans suffer barbarian mercenaries to enter this new land. So the old empire saw the rebirth of a tradition that started when it was fresh and new: the formation of new legions from the teeming crowds of freemen. Romans exiting the crowded Rome that was grand, yet empty of opportunity and purpose, for a chance to build a new life on land earned by fighting for the glory of Rome.

Knowing that an empire could not be governed from beyond the sea, Diocletian extended a policy he had already been forming. He had one co-emperor already in Maximian. Now he would have another in Flavius Constantius. Adopting this man as a son, he bid him to govern the new lands to be conqured in Rome's name.

The Great Conquest
During the years it took to build the fleet that would take them to the Terra Nova, the newly-recruited Romans were trained for battle. But when they arrived, there were few battles to be had. There was nothing in the New Land that could stand against the Roman legions. The people here did not make campaigns of war on each other; the small and disunited tribes could offer no resistance. Many of the natives surrendered and were put to work building up the foundations of Roman civilization in this savage land. Others fled the hospitable coastal regions and traveled west. The Romans did not pursue them there. There would come a time when all of Terra Nova would belong to Rome. For now they could pick and choose, taking the most pleasant of the regions.

The supplies Romans brought with them held them through the first winter in Terra Nova. Soon after the snows thawed, the legions swung southward to capture warmer lands. Here they found a civilization more advanced than the ones that once occupied their northern holdings. But they found something else too - gold. Back in the Old Empire, Romans had gotten very good at getting gold from even the most stubborn ground. But here gold seemed plentiful. These barbarians made simple crafts from it, not seeming to recognize its true value. But here finally the Roman expedition would justify itself a hundred times over.

The River of Gold
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The River stops
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