Year:610 AD
Caesarian Empire
Province of New Rome
New Rome Hippodrome
On May 5, 610 AD, the last emperor of the Agrippa Dynasty was watching the chariot racing competition, the representative of the province of New Rome Aulus Favarus and Augustus Tiberius champion of National Race, a type of championship that was proposed in 604, but only held in the year 607, this tournament chose the best aurigae of each faction would represent the province of the Caesarian Empire and the final took place in New Rome with the presence of the emperor and the governors of the provinces, in the end the winner would win about 200 silver coins and 40 gold coins, with this amount he revived the sport of chariot racing among the population, thus keeping the Roman legacy alive in the New World.
Aulus Favarus represented the Veneti and Augustus Tiberius represented the Albati, the New Rome Hippodrome had a capacity of around 80 thousand people, but it had around 100 thousand people in addition to the part that was outside the Hippodrome, which reached around 140 thousand people.
Emperor Paulus I was in the area which gave a view of the entire Hippodrome and he spoke to the senators:
"Do you see this? While our brothers in Constantinople have to deal with barbarian hordes like the Lombards, Visigoths, Avars and Slavs, in addition to our rivals the Persians.Unfortunately, they struggled to keep the Empire standing against enemies coming from the West and the East, only in the period of Justinian the Great, that the Roman Empire we knew breathed its last in the Old World.Now it is our turn to flourish in this new continent and bring civilization to the people of this continent, this day will mark the beginning of something much greater than has been done so far, my friends, it is time to ascend to a new level, this means that from now on we will be the people who will be great in this land, this empire that my great-grandfather Marcus I, just as Justinian said that Constantinople as long as it had sun and moon would never fall, I paraphrase him saying that as long as there is an emperor who remains loyal to Latium we will last more than a thousand years." says Paulus.
The chariot race was proceeding normally, until Emperor Paulus I began to feel unwell and the senators went to help him, but an agitator shouted:
"The senators killed our emperor!!!" shouted the agitator.
It only took a mere rumor for the entire New Rome Hippodrome to enter a state of total anarchy and soon the rumor spread throughout the city.
A mob of rebels draws their swords and shouts:
"Death to the traitors! Attack the senators!!!!" shouted one of the rioters.
About 15 senators and the emperor himself were being protected by the Legatus Legionis of New Rome, Augustus Flavius Quintus and his more than fifty soldiers would have to contain 300 rebels furious with the supposed "death" of their emperor, so Augustus unsheathes his spatha, leads the defense and orders the rebels:
"Put down your spathas!!!I order in the name of the Caesarian Emperor Paulus I!!!" orders Augustus.
The rebels did not comply with Augustus' order and attacked them, so he realized that these rebels were not peasants or merchants, they were mercenaries and by their features they were Persians and some Ostrogoths, which certainly differed from the Romans, Romano-Britons, Hispano-Romans, Celtiberians and the natives, so he ordered the soldiers:
"They are mercenaries!!! Kill everyone on my command!!!!" orders Augustus.
With unparalleled skill, Augustus led a relentless defense against 300 mercenaries while reinforcements were waiting and for about forty minutes, they held firm until noises were heard, they were the grenadiers who arrived at the Hippodrome of New Rome and displayed the symbol of the 20th Caesarian Legion, the Black Wolf and with that, the mercenaries gave up on assassinating the emperor and they dispersed, but some of them were arrested by Augustus' soldiers and he ended up establishing himself as the man who prevented the assassination of Emperor Paulus I and consequently being considered the next Caesarian emperor.
However, the city of New Rome was in chaos, businesses were looted, more than 30 thousand people died in the city and at least 120 thousand were injured, this event became known as "The Massacre of New Rome ".
Theodosian Palace
At night
Emperor Paulus I was in his chambers, unaware of what had happened in the capital of the Caesarian Empire and was very ill, giving clear signs that he would not survive that day.
Outside the chambers, the senators, along with Augustus, discovered through interrogation of the imprisoned mercenaries that the person responsible for the attempted assassination was Senator Antonius Severus from the province of New Mediolanum.
The senators agreed with Augustus and as a proof of loyalty to their emperor in his last moments of life, reveal who was the mastermind behind the assassination attempt and he enters the room and says:
"My emperor, the one who tried to kill you was Senator Antonius Severus and about 30 thousand people died, 120,000 people were injured, the city of Nova Roma is in chaos, there are still soldiers on the streets hunting down the agitators who spread the word about his death." says Augustus.
Emperor Paulus I was saddened by how many people died from a mere rumor spread by the agitators and in a slurred voice, the emperor spoke:
"Antonius Severus, you bastard, tried to kill me, he who was like a nephew to me, expected it from everyone but him.
Augustus, the senators who are outside the room, tell them that you are my chosen one to succeed me to the Caesarian throne.
I would not choose you, but with this unforgivable betrayal of Antonius, I give you the necessary support so that you can have a legitimate government, take that paper that is on my desk, that will be the paper that will give you the title of emperor of all Romans and I will mark you with the imperial seal that will make you Caesarian emperor." said Paulus.
Augustus took the paper from the desk and handed it to Paulus I, who took the letter and put the imperial seal on the letter and said:
"I, Paulus Quintus Agrippa, I give you the title of Emperor of all the Romans, granting in this way that in all Caesarian territory your authority as emperor will not be contested by anyone, from today on you are Augustus I, of the Flavian Dynasty." said Paulus.
Augustus remained silent out of respect for the now ex-emperor and was about to leave, but Paulus took him by the hand and asked for his last wish:
"Augustus! Promise me as the last wish of this emperor who made the Roman soul reborn in the New World, promise me that events like the one that occurred today will remain in the past.That we Romans will shape this New World as our ancestors did in the Pax Romana, no more than that, we must bring Roman civilization to every piece of this continent that must be conquered,we must, in honor of our ancestors, take Roman civilization far beyond what it is today. It may last for centuries, but promise me that this continent will speak the same language as Julius Caesar, Scipio Africanus,Aurelian and Majorian can be proud of what we will become, promise me that the Roman soul will never die! We are going through a period when the Old World is in chaos, our brothers of Constantinople are ruled by the incompetent Phocas I, Rome, the Eternal City is in ruins and the savage Lombards dominate much of the land of our ancestors, we have a duty to raise the glory of Rome on this continent, that is my desire." said Paulus.
Augustus felt that he would have a great burden when he left the former emperor's room and said:
"I promise that I will bring Roman civilization to every corner of this continent, I will honor our ancestors and I will make this continent a place where the blood of Latium and the Roman legions run will lead to the top of the world, we will be triumphant and our civilization will be as powerful and influential as the Chinese civilization and the Persian civilization, we will become great again, it may last centuries but we will reach the same level of glory that we were in the past." says Augustus
At dawn on May 6, 610, former Emperor Paulus I died of a heart attack and mourning was declared in the Caesarian Empire for a week.
On May 20, 610, Augustus was crowned emperor in what is now St. George's Cathedral, whereupon Antonius Severus, along with enemy native tribes and deserting soldiers, invaded the province of New Naples sacked and killed the Dux Theophilus Lucius and his family was held hostage, the soldiers on Augustus' side remained in defense of Fort Hadrian which was the only part of the province of New Naples was defended for about 50 days until the 20th legion and 10th legion, led by Augustus himself, expelled the Severian forces that were trying to invade the fort, with this the emperor Augustus I officially declared that the House of Severus were traitors and would pay a very high price for the death of the Dux of New Naples and the kidnapping of his family, just on the day July 10, 610, saw the beginning of the Bard War, the war that would see the rise of the dynasty that would shape the destiny of the Caesarian Empire.