A Roman Civics Lesson
Introduction
I am Marcus Claudius Marcellus. Thank you for coming and waiting until I finished meeting with my other clients this morning: as an important member of the Senate, I have a duty as patron to see my clients every morning.
That’s why I’ve called you here this morning: you’re one of my clients and you’re about to take on your first office in politics as governor of the city. As your patron, your success or failure in office ultimately reflects on me. So, I wanted to talk with you this morning about things you need to know as governor. Here, come with me into the peristylium where we can walk and talk in the peace of the garden.
First, you are to be congratulated on achieving office. As you know, Governor of the city is the standard first step for a young man on the ladder of political advancement. By taking this office, you are on the path of what I hope will be a prestigious political career. I remember when I first took the office of Governor of the city: it was a proud day for me.
Like me, you have moved into politics after showing success on the battlefield. And because of that, I first want to tell you something that I didn’t understand when I was your age: you will find that being governor of the city requires different skills than being a general. Yes, both are roles of command and leadership. But, you will find in many ways it’s easier to lead an army in conquest than to oversee the running of a city.
Your chief duty as governor is to care and nurture for this city and her people. Yes, you will need to be sure you have adequate troops for the defense of the city. But, most of your day will be spent making sure that your citizens have all the resources that they need to have happy and prosperous lives. You will find, in many ways, it is easier to attack and conquer a village of Germans than it is to keep the people of this city happy! As governor, if you fail to ensure adequate bread and entertainment, you will find that the people quickly turn on you. And because the mob can get ugly quickly, you should ensure that you don’t give them reason to riot.
Like all of us in politics, you’ve taken these responsibilities on not only for the prestige of office, but out of your sense of duty to the Empire. We all know how holding office is costly and difficult: after all, you will be paying for public buildings, food, and entertainment out of your own pocket! And while you may ask at times if it wouldn’t be better to live a quiet, private life and keep your gold, when you receive the adulation of the people and see how you’ve raised the Glory of the Roman Empire with your works, you’ll know you did the right thing.
But, you know all this I’m sure. I asked you to come here to share with you some lessons in areas that I’ve leaned about the hard way over the years. My hope is that with some of this understanding, you’ll be able to start off as a better governor than you might otherwise be and thus bring greater glory to the Roman Empire, to yourself, and well frankly, to me.
Housing
Having adequate and proper housing available for your people is one of the most important and challenging things you’ll face as governor. You must have enough of the right kinds of housing to be able to attract and keep workers. Without enough of the right kind of housing, you’ll face labor shortages and in turn shortages of important and necessary items. That is a quick path to riots, so you should always look ahead to the needs of your city.
It is critical too that you understand that not only must you have enough housing but you must have the right kind for the types of workers you need in your city. It is tempting to think of the commoner plebeians as all being the same. But, that is not the case: some plebeians are actually so gifted and successful in their trades that they are richer than some of our aristocratic patricians. And like patricians, these highly skilled and successful plebeians will not dream of living in the squalor of a Magalia. Like you or me, they expect and require the luxury to be found in a proper Roman villa. But, you can’t simply look to start building villas right away: the citizen who can afford and requires a villa requires other amenities be in place as well. So you will find that building proper housing is a progressive process that depends on your ensuring that you attend to all the needs of the citizens to create a city that attracts those citizens who will require these buildings.
On final word regarding housing as a word of caution: you must ensure that you maintain adequate resources for the continued upkeep of your buildings. Otherwise, you run a risk of fire breaking out in the city. While some Romans, such as Marcus Lepidus, have profited from fire by selling the services of their private firefighting forces, as governor you should recognize that fire is nothing but a danger to you and your people and must be avoided.
