Forum Romanum

The roar of the crowd still echoed like thunder against the white stone colonnades, even as Julius lifted his hand once more — not for silence, but to gather the moment before he forged it into history.

"Let all who hear my voice know this truth,"

he declared, eyes scanning the masses.

"Rome is an Empire not of walls, but of roads. Roads that lead from every corner of the world back to this heart — this fire-forged core of civilization."

The wind caught his cloak as he raised the imperial signet for all to see.

"And no road shall be barred to those who walk in peace. Whether their tongues speak the common tongue or any of the regional dialects… whether their temples wear the star or the cross!"

A stunned hush fell over the crowd.

Even the senators behind him shifted.

They had expected mercy.

They had not expected elevation.

"As of this day,"

Julius continued,

"let it be known across the Empire — a new province shall be born at the edge of our southernmost frontier."

He turned slightly, nodding to an aide who unfurled a scroll — marked in both imperial script and the ecclesiastical dialect of the Christian sect.

"It shall be named Provincia Christi — The Province of Christ."

The crowd murmured.

This was not some symbolic gesture.

This was administration.

Governance.

Real.

"In the hills beyond the sands, near the River Gabal, where many claim your Messiah once walked, we shall found a new city — Nova Bethania. It shall be the first of its kind: a provincial capital not rooted in the rites of Jupiter or Mars, but in the teachings of the Nazarene."

At this, the murmurs swelled.

Shock.

Hope.

Disbelief.

He let it settle.

Then pressed on.

"There shall be no forced worship, no decrees of uniformity. Pagans shall walk alongside Christians as neighbors. Synagogues and basilicas shall stand beside one another, not in shadow — but in common sunlight."

He turned to face the Senate.

"Religious freedom shall be the foundation stone of Nova Bethania. And the one who shall rule there, under Roman law and under imperial oversight—"

He paused, letting the name fall like a seed upon the world.

"—shall be Jesus of Antioch, your high priest, your voice among men."

The gasps from the Christian crowd became tears.

Some fell to their knees in prayer.

Others simply wept openly.

Within the upper echelons of the Christian sect, Jesus had long been revered — a fire-hearted pope who had survived persecution, exile, and loss, and yet remained unshaken in his devotion, even when his greatest of disciples was captured and crucified by the empire.

Now… he would be Governor, the great prize for all his efforts and those of his followers.

"Rome once conquered by the sword,"

Julius said, voice quieting now into something almost intimate.

"But now Rome conquers by the will. And the will of Rome is stronger than steel — because it shapes not only lands, but souls."

A pause.

"Let the world see that we are not ruled by fear, but by vision."

Then, with solemn gravity, he reached for the iron-edged scroll and dipped the signet into crimson wax.

He stamped the decree.

A cheer followed.

Less a shout of approval and more a cry of birth — something old becoming new again.

That evening, back within the Palatine palace, Julius sat alone beside the long ceremonial brazier that once burned during the rites of Mars.

Now, it burned only olive oil.

The fire of peace.

but that peace would not last, the senators, fanatics and radicalist would not watch as a christian state was allowed to come to be.

"They'll try to bribe Jesus. Or poison him. Or convince his followers it's a trap. preventing them from having enough numbers to properly colonize the region for their people."

But the last will not come to be as the emperor had finally given the followers and believers something they had always longed for but could never have.

"A homeland,"

Julius finished.

"Even if it's one wrapped in Roman chains. Chains of law, order, tribute. But chains they chose rather than ones that were forced upon them."

And when the day comes that they forget who gave them that place?

Julius looked up, eyes gleaming with firelight.

Rome would respond as rome always did, by then Jesus would have died from assassination or just simply old age, as would Nero, but the future emperors would not take acts of rebellion or sucession from the empire lightly.

~

*DING*

The sound of a churchbell ringing resounded through his ears, like the system chime but many time louder threatening to shatter his skull from the sound vibrations alone.

Timeline Branch: Nero

Event: Faith & Fire

"You chose not merely to extinguish the flames of Rome, but of her people as well."

Rank: S

[I: Supression Of The Great Fire]

Rating: S

[II: Management of Religious Hostility]

Rating: A

[III: Founding Nova Bethania & Provincia Christi]

Rating: S+

[IV: Senate Manipulation & Legacy Planning]

Rating A+

Rewards Issued:

30,000 Points

10,000,000 Denarii

Chalice Of Concordia

Seal Of the Mediator

~

The event was over, the rewards were dolled out along with the report and with it came the collapse of the illusion.

As the palace walls began to fade slowly into nothingness, Julius was made to sit and watch the fall of Rome, as if time itself became like a blur with all the architecture collapsing into dust around him.

Until finally he returned to his own self once more, taking a quick glance around to see the inside of his travel tent, and the wooden case holding onto the codex, but now two new relics likewise sat by his side, his rewards for completing the event.

The other unknown reward would be the christians reactions to the changes.

For in the game these cutscenes didnt just give the player a glimpse into the past for rewards, they also gave the player a chance to change up the story as the national backgrounds were rewritten.

The christians of the timeline which had secured their independance on the edge of a blade, had instead done so peacefully in recognition of their efforts, and in doing so Julius could turn his attention once more to the Principality to see if they remained as an agressive religious order, or had as he hoped returned to their origional tenants as a peaceful people who sought to uplift and protect they fellow man rather than opress and enslave.