Chapter 67 Purging Corruption

Marcellus was sitting in his study, signing what appeared to be an arrest warrant. After becoming the embodiment of government authority in the Western Roman Empire, Marcellus had become increasingly aware of the extent that corruption plagued the ranks of society. Embezzlement, bribery, nepotism, extortion, lobbying, and outright incompetency could be found in every corner of the Empire. It was truly sickening, and something needed to be done about this.

It was becoming apparent that Marcellus would need to make an example of the profligates and corrupt officials that were spread across his realm. It was because of this that Marcellus had tasked his army with the purpose of arresting every corrupt and incompetent bureaucrat within the Western Roman Empire. He would not spare the cancer that had long since begun to rot away at the realm.

The list of arrest warrants Marcellus had signed after gaining a list of names from his spies filled the desk as if it were a small mountain of parchment. The purpose was to interrogate these individuals and have them sell out their comrades. After they had given up their fellow conspirators, they would be sentenced to execution via crucifixion.

Ordius, who was present to witness the signing of these warrants, gazed upon the substantial stack of documents and could no longer hold his tongue. He quickly spoke up about the absurdity of arresting so many individuals, especially those who helped the government function.

“There must be at least a thousand arrest warrants here. Do you really believe it is wise to detain and interrogate so many people?”

To this Marcellus merely scoffed before signing another arrest warrant and adding it to the pile. He did not even look Ordius in the eye as he reported the crime this specific man was guilty of.

“Look at this! Even our manufactorum’s are suffering from blatant corruption! These bastards are now using tin to make scales for the Lorica squamata and replacing every third iron scale with these fake products so that they can make a greater profit off of my rearmament campaign! These faulty scales will cost our soldiers their lives. It is simply unacceptable. This man must be made an example of, after you have interrogated him about those who are involved in this fraud, have him crucified in the center of Ravenna like the rest!”

Ordius did not know what to say. It was true that the level of corruption that existed within the borders of the Empire was extensive, but fighting a war against corruption was a losing battle in his eyes. The general truly believed that they could never fully stamp such things out of society. However, all he could do was sigh and nod his head as he picked up another warrant and read the charge aloud.

“Wanted for stealing oxen from Roman citizens and selling them to the Army for a premium. Oh, come on, how can this possibly be a thing?”

Marcellus did not immediately respond. He just handed another arrest warrant over to the man and allowed him to read it aloud to further prove his point.

“Wanted for Bribing a Church official so that he can marry his sister…”

Ordius began pulling arrest warrants left and right, and it appeared that every time he did, some new crazy form of corruption appeared. All he could do was sigh heavily and admit defeat.

“Alright, I get it… I’ll have the men on these warrants arrested and interrogated, but don’t even think about arresting the clergy. You do not want to anger the Church.”

Marcellus remained silent and added another arrest warrant to the pile before sighing heavily.

“Oh, don’t worry, there may be a day that will come where the Church must face a reckoning for its sins, but that is not today. For the time being, they will prove useful in keeping people in line.”

Ordius could only sigh as he walked off from the scene, ordering a few guards to get all the arrest warrants that were piled so that they could properly apprehend the criminals. He could not believe that so many people engaged in such blatant corruption.

After Ordius was gone, Placidia entered the study with a platter of food in her hands. She handed some of it off to Marcellus, who dined on the meal with gusto. He could use a break from writing so many warrants. As for Placidia, she gazed at the list of arrest warrants and shook her head before condemning her brother’s inefficient rule.

“It is amazing that the Empire is still standing after the failure of my brother’s reign. I can’t believe he allowed such extensive corrupt to exist all over his empire. He truly was an absolute disgrace.”

Marcellus smirked as he heard this before making a rather crass remark about the young woman’s father.

“To be fair, your father was a terrible emperor as well…”

Placidia did not know what to say in response to this. The Theodosian dynasty had proven to be ineffective in its rule. She was honestly ashamed of her family’s lack of ability to properly govern the Empire. Then again, was it worse to have a madman as an Emperor like Caligula, or someone who was woefully incompetent like Honorius?”

After thinking about this for a while, the girl shook her head in silence. She no longer bothered trying to think of her family’s failure and instead tried to cheer up her fiance.

“Well, at least we have you to look out for us. I’m sure our dynasty will be better than my father’s!”

Marcellus remained silent as he grabbed more of the food that Placidia had prepared for him. He did not know how long his reign would last, or even if his heir would succeed him. However, he was determined to do everything in his ability to bring the Empire back on the right path.

To do that, he would need to purge the extensive corruption that ate away at the life force of the Empire, then he would need to wage a war against Constantine and reclaim the westernmost portion of the Empire. After doing that, he would have to deal with the Eastern Roman Empire in some fashion.

These were just the major concerns of his. There were other issues he would have to deal with as emperor. For example, quelling rebellion would be a big concern. He was already unpopular as most of the people who lived in the Western Roman Army were upset that he was a usurper, and that he conscripted so many young men into his army, so that they could be used as a bludgeon against his rivals.

If foreign adversaries, and open rebellion were not concerning enough, Marcellus knew he would also have to face Barbarian raids into his lands, this had been a problem plaguing Rome for centuries, and he currently lacked the means to effectively deter the overwhelming majority of Germanic tribes that occasionally crossed the borders.

If he managed to successfully reunite the western and eastern Empires, then he would have to face all of these difficulties on an even grander scale. After seeing just how inept the Roman bureaucracy had become, Marcellus was beginning to understand why Rome had failed to raise a single decent emperor since the death of Constantine the Great.

What madman would ever dream of doing all of this work? It took Marcellus a matter of seconds to think about all these issues in his mind before he sighed heavily and petted the hair of his young fiancee.

“I will do my best. However, I can’t do this alone. I need capable people, who I can trust to step up, and take action. One man can’t save an Empire. To do this, I first need to be rid of the corruption that plagues the realm. Hopefully, after I have exposed and condemned these sinners, I can convince the more capable people in our society to work alongside me for a better future.”

Placidia nodded her head. She agreed with what the man was saying. If corruption and incompetency was allowed to exist freely in the empire, then good men would do nothing, and sit by and wait as the empire slowly bled to death. While the wicked rose to positions of prominence and benefited off of the demise of their nation.

Thus, even though she knew that each name written on these warrants would ultimately result in a crucifixion, she did not shed any tears. These men had bribed, embezzled, lobbied and extorted their way to positions of power within society, and it was the time for a despot to remove them from their lofty positions and make an example of them. With a warm smile on her face, Placidia assured Marcellus that he was doing the right thing.

“These men are a blight on our society, with their deaths the plague that rots away at the core of our empire will be removed, and can then be treated with competent, and loyal men who share your vision for a glorious Rome! I just hope their deaths do not spark a rebellion. Especially so soon after you have claimed the throne for yourself!”

Marcellus wore a stoic expression as he espoused his view on the matter with a confident tone.

“If the plebeians are whipped up into a frenzy over the deaths of a few corrupt patricians in such a state that they would openly rebel against my rule, then they deserve to suffer the same fate as their masters.”

With the new Roman Emperor signed away the torture, interrogation, and execution of thousands of corrupt and incompetent bureaucrats, in the following days they would be arrested and condemned to their fates.