Blasius' envoy

5

The King of Cimbria received a message from Blasius concerning the developments in Norway (ancient name: Nerigos). With his report he also asked for extra men to serve them. The King decided, together with his council, to send 300 men from the countryside to aid them. These men were between 13 and 20 years old, unmarried and ready for military service. Their parents received a compensation of five sacks of grain each. With that they also received each a silver amulet worth around 2 Roman ass coins. When one of the Roman navy officers heard about this exodus he alarmed his superiors at the Cimbrian legionary camp. The Duke that was appointed by the Roman state upon the Eastern Cimbrian woods, send 120 Roman soldiers to aid his 'ally'. The King and Council of Cimbria accepted the ''offer'' made by the Duke. The 302 Cimbrian men left Cimbria (Denmark) together with the 120 Roman maritime soldiers. The Cimbrians had their own ships while the Romans sailed in front of them and behind them with armed navy ships. 

Several kilometers from Mossia, a small harbour city in Norway, there was a watchtower which saw from afar a fleet of ships arriving. It was night and he only recognised the fleet by the lamps the captains lighted on their ships. The watcher immediately was alarmed by what he saw. He took his horse and went to the city. 

''What's going on?'' the  mayor is asleep and quite annoyed by the watcher's arrival ''What are you doing here?''

''There's a fleet arriving the Bay district!''

''A fleet?'' the mayor becomes frightened ''What kind of fleet?''

''Roman!''

''Roman? How do you know?''

''Me and the other watchers noticed a ship through our telescopes. After a closer look and three hour observation, we noticed that it were at least 45 ships. They have their lamps on. We recognised the Roman flag and the Eagle symbolism of the Greeks''

''How far?''

''According to our calculations. They are around 15 hours from arriving here at shores of Mossia. At the moment the winds are not in their favour. They are still afar the shores of Norway. We could not guess how many man they had on their fleet. They may be between 4000 and 2000 men''

''2000 men!''

''We are not certain how much! I came here to inform you and I'm awaiting your orders Sir!''

''Return to the watchtower. Turn of the watchtower lights and remain there until the morning. Don't spread any word about this. I don't want any unrest in the city! Tomorrow at midday, send a report''

''All right!''

The watcher returned as commanded. 

At the same time there was an astronomer at one of the navy ships that noticed that one of the watchtowers, around 60 km away, switched of. He informed the captain, who was leading the whole fleet, about what he noticed through his telescope. The captain decided to sail towards the point where the watchtower is allegedly located. One of the men on the fleet is Joas (this was the name he received when he received Roman citizenship). Joas was 21 and he lived in Gaul for 3 years, serving at as a postal officer for the military in Paris. He was offered a job at the Cimbrian Camp for two years. The salary would be much higher (4 Denarii a day, instead of 1 Denarii a day in Paris). Since the false flag attack led by governor Varius and his centurion Arminius (a German noble man), on the approval of Rome, the client countries between the Rhine and the Elbe increased in political importance. Instead of forming a centralized Province between the Rhine and Elbe rivers, the Roman state formed a alliance of Roman client kings, through whom they indirectly govern the tribes and countries between the Rhine and Elbe. By doing this, Rome had no obligation to maintain the region between the Rhine and the Elbe river by giving Roman citizenship and legal power to those inhabitants. Instead, several German cities became Roman colonies with military aid. The Roman client governments receive tax money from the government in Gaul to maintain the Celtic high ways that connect Gaul to the Elbe region. A Centralized province between the Rhine and the Elbe would be more costly and more difficult to maintain. Instead, the Roman state used a divide and rule tactic in the region. Most of the eight million inhabitants in the region don't notice what was going on, while their leaders understood it and were in full agreement with it. Why? The situation was financially beneficial for them and it led to a decrease of tribal feuds in the region. At the south of the origin of the Elbe river there's this client kingdom named Bohemia (with 1 and a half million inhabitants), which was created by Rome as a ''foreign province'' that would serve as a border between the North Sea region and the region east of the Danube and Elbe River. Joas was fully aware of the situation. Most people in Gaul thought that the Rhine was the Imperial border of the Roman world. He knew better. He knew people wouldn't want to believe that, so he didn't bother to inform them about the real situation. There's another reason why Rome didn't made the large region between the Rhine and the Elbe as one province. Doing this would push a huge migration wave from Gaul towards the fertile forest lands between those two German rivers. This exodus would lead to a huge decrease of population in Gaul. The German kings didn't want a large influx of foreigners in their lands. Also, they wanted to keep as much land as possible empty from human occupation. These lands are used for the mass breeding of cattle and crops. These crops and cattle are sold to the Roman provinces Rhaetia, Vindelicia, Noricum and North of Gaul. The Romans wanted to keep this status quo in order to guarantee the large food supply for their cities in Gaul and the Alpine region together with the subjection of the countries between the Rhine and the Elbe. This also made it possible for Rome to install many military camps between the two Rivers without being resisted.  Also, the Romans didn't want an 'invasion' of economic German migrants into Italy. According to Rhaetian politicians Rome might expect  2 million Germans if the Rhine-Elbe province would become a reality. Rome wanted to avoid civil unrest in Italy at all cost. Joas also knew that the myth of the Rhine and Dunabe fronts made it easier to maintain the militarism of the Empire. At the moment Rome had around 300.000 Imperial soldiers and an addition of 3 million side and local troops. Their military and navy strength of 3.3 million is also what keeps the economy in the Empire running. The myth of the barbaric Germans across the Rhine and the Dunabe also was a good propaganda tool to deceive the 60 million people around the Mediterranean Sea from noticing the absurdity of their situation. To them Rome is the 'bringer of peace, prosperity and order' to the world. This also made them more willing to endure of condone excessive violence by the Roman state upon their occupied territories.