Chapter 277 Direction
What exactly is the Empire Unification Plan?
This question suddenly popped up in Luca's mind. Yes, what exactly is the imperial unification plan? What kind of unification is Theodosius's imperial unification plan? He closed his eyes and thought, ready to calm down and clear his mind.
At present, it seems that recovering Africa and the other two provinces in North Africa is Theodosius's top priority, but Attila's sudden intervention has disrupted Theodosius' original plan. It is hard to imagine how huge a shock this failure is to the entire empire. Although the Eastern and Western Roman Empires were divided, it was still a complete Roman Empire. The land of the Western Empire was no longer a whole because of the barbarians driven by the Huns. They were like ants gnawing at an elephant, gnawing little by little, and eventually the elephant would fall to the ground.
However, the Western Roman army and their generals were fighting against these damn barbarians all the time. Although they tried their best, the effect was minimal. It was not so much that they were too weak, but rather that the super legions of these barbarians were too large and too numerous.
The generals of the Western Roman Empire tried their best to resist, because their glory, achievements and even their future depended on it. They used many methods in the long war, but they were powerless in the face of such huge forces one after another. So it was like a medicine that delayed the disease, but in the end it could not solve the disease that was getting worse day by day.
The Eastern Empire also spared no effort to help the Romans of the Western Empire fight against the enemy together, but the Sassanid Persians in the east and the Huns in the north greatly distracted the Eastern Empire's attention. Although Theodosius II was probably the adopted son of the previous King of Kings of Sassanid Persia, and he also succeeded to the throne by virtue of Bi, now the old king is dead, and the short era of peace between Sassanid and Rome has ended. Such troubled times often forced the Western Empire to face the flood-like barbarian migration tide alone. Although it was an elephant, it was tied up, and the chains were not from others, but from within itself.
Rome has always been an empire ruled by soldiers. All emperors in the past were either military or supported by the army, whether it was the legion or the guards. However, the current central government, Augustus Valentinian III, does not have any of the above points. All of this is secretly supported by his mother, Galla Placidia.
Galla Placidia, Augusta of the Western Empire, was the regent queen. She was keen on the balance of power between soldiers and politicians, and did not allow soldiers to be too strong, nor did she allow politicians to be too weak, and vice versa. This was an excellent policy, and it could also help her son Valentinian III to be crowned emperor while attracting a group of supporters. However, the current plan was not so smooth. The generals who had been under Constantius, John, Felaconus, and Boniface, were caught in endless infighting for military power. In the end, Aetius gradually rose in a pool of corpses and blood, killed all enemies who blocked his way, and finally stood up. Aetius's oligarchic military made Galla Placidia's method of restricting generals by generals completely bankrupt. She could only win over and nominally control Aetius, a super general who could overthrow her son's throne at any time, but she could do nothing about him. Luca, as the spokesperson of the Eastern Empire, did not receive any form of reception from Galla Placidia in the Apennines. Of course, it is not difficult to see that the Queen Regent still looked down on this newcomer who rose from the civilian class. It is possible that she deliberately ignored and alienated him because she was worried that Luca would be suspected of eyeing the throne like other generals.
Theodosius II, his only son, Aldius, died early, and his only child was Princess Licinia, and he had no more children after that. No, there was an adopted son! Thinking of this, Luca was shocked. He seemed to see something clearly. Theodosius had no son, but he had to ensure his throne, and even seek the reunification of the Eastern and Western Empires, so he had to have a son. A biological son was impossible, and an illegitimate son was even less likely to become a legitimate heir. So, an adopted son! Isn't it also a son? Luca felt that he seemed to have figured out the reason why Theodosius wanted to unify the empire. He chose two paths. One was for Princess Licinia to marry Valentinian. This political marriage was nothing more than wanting Licinia to give birth to a child of Flavius' bloodline, and the most important thing was a son. But in history, Valentinian had no sons, only two daughters. If there were no women like Galla Placidia who could be recognized by the nobles in the empire, girls would not have the right to be the regent queen. In fact, the lack of sons would make the officers in the empire restless, and they would always be eyeing the position of Augustus. Now that Augustus of both empires had no heirs, their death was naturally a matter of time, so there was no tradition of girls taking the position of Caesar.
"If Liginia cannot give birth to a son of the Flavius family, then in a few decades, the Flavius family will find it difficult to continue in the Western Empire, and will also be on the verge of collapse in the Eastern Empire." Luca was talking to himself. Suddenly, he raised his head, widened his eyes, and his expression was full of disbelief.
"Could it be that Theodosius II had two hopes in the Western Empire? One was his daughter Licinia's belly, to see if she could give birth to a son. Unfortunately, she didn't. Then the other hope..." Luca said, pointing at himself, and said hesitantly, "The other hope is myself!"
It works. Now everything makes sense.
"It turns out that I am the candidate for the future Augustus!"
Luca screamed in his heart. He did not dare to be so public. Although he thought that Augustus's adoption was just a good platform, he never thought that this would affect his life and even the future of the Roman Empire. He had never thought that Theodosius II was always making plans for the future of the Roman Empire and the future of Flavius.
"Giving me the Ninth Legion to go on the expedition to Sicily has given me a very high starting point, allowing me to make great achievements and use my glorious military exploits to tell the nobles of both the Eastern and Western Empires that I may be the future Augustus of the empire. It's just that they haven't seen it yet, because their attention is all on the wedding of Licinia and Valentinian. Compared to the adopted son, they are more worried about the offspring that will be born to the current Augustus of the Western Empire. So why wouldn't I use this neglected time to find something to do, especially to strengthen my current power." Luca realized why he was different from Aetius. He lived a slightly carefree life, at least without so many troubles, because he had his own huge power. This is exactly what Luca did not have. Compared with Aetius, Luca was just a bloated fat man. The generals and troops sent by Theodosius II to help him were just the crumbling fat on his body. That did not belong to his strength, because the fat could leave him at any time for other reasons. In fact, his real strength was just the thin and exposed muscles hiding behind the fat. This is why he was restricted everywhere.
"I must strengthen my strength!" Luca clenched his fists and secretly told himself in his heart: "If I return to the Eastern Empire, I will lose everything. I must stay in the Western Empire and make achievements here. Only after I have unquestionable strength can I be given enough freedom! Only then will I be qualified and strong enough to return to the Eastern Empire and discuss with Theodosius II and the nobles who is the successor."
Now the recovery of the three provinces in North Africa is a daydream. He has to think about where is the best place for him to perform! There must be enough space there, and of course there must be enough enemies! Now all he has to do is choose where to go and what to do? These originally vague things gradually became clear in Luca's mind, and new goals and new practices were forming in his mind.
"I won't let anyone ruin my plan, even if it means sabotaging it!" Luga gritted his teeth and said to himself.
(End of this chapter)