Senator Laevinius listened silently as Senators Paeologius and Ottae announced their candidacy. Both were men of honor and integrity.
Senator Ottae stepped down from the Senate floor and took his seat. Laevinius sat silently, pensively, for a moment, as though struggling with a difficult decision. After some several moments' contemplation, he slowly, dleiberately rose from his seat and took the floor.
"Esteemed gentlemen of the Senate. Last night I had a dream. I dreamt I flew as an eagle high above our great city. Laid out below me I saw the entirety of our glorious Republic -- the rich country, the mighty river, the beloved metropolis of Nessos. I circled high above the earth, and from my lofty perch amongst the clouds I could see clearly the daily life of our city. The markets and forums bustled with merchants and shoppers, buying and selling every ware imaginable. The streets were crowded with people, patrician and plebian alike -- teaming rivers of humanity, flowing in every direction at once. Smoke billowed up from the oven-chimneys of bakeries, and laughter rose up to mine ears from children running barefoot through the mud of a rain-soaked field. All these best aspects of Nessos greeted mine eyes and ears; and yet I was ill at ease. For reasons I did not know a sense of terrible foreboding lingered in my gut, in the flesh of body; and no happy image, no turn of the mind, could erase or evict it. I circled over the city, an eagle, basking in that same sun which illuminated the red rooftops."
"The clouds parted in a radiant glow, and from the heavens descended the God of War in his fiery chariot. He beckoned me to follow; and so I broke my orbit o'er the old city and set after him, out over the countryside, into the setting sun. Through the very fire of the mighty sun we flew; and when we emerged e're the other side, before us stood that same city, Nessos, from whence we had come. Yet as we drew closer and closer still to that same city which I had known and loved all my life, that foreboding within my heart grew stronger and more terrible, such that I could hardly bare it."
"And thence we came upon Nessos, and the fiery chariot descended toward the earth with mine own self close behind. The clouds were dark and ominous over the city, and from the earth rose black smoke so thick I could not breath. We drew nearer and lower, into the suffocating smoke, into the drowning blackness which draws the last remaining air from your lungs; and, alas!, below us, burned the hateful flames of war, of defeat. The whole of the city was engulfed in flame -- houses, temples, markets, the Capitol. Through the streets ran dark, ragged figures, more beasts than men, brandishing in their hands cruel weapons and firebrands. Before them ran screaming women and children, innocent, defenseless victims; and woe to those who fell into the clutches of the barbarians! Blood flowed in the streets and the gutters -- women's blood, children's blood. The screams of the tortured and raped rose to our ears mingled with the moans of the dying. Everywhere was pillage, plunder, fire, rape, devastation. 'No more!' cried I to the silent, stoic charioteer whom I followed. 'Take me from this nightmare, and restore me to my bed and my city!' But the God of War merely looked at me without expression, and pointed to a burning mansion on the hill."
"'There is your bed,' said He, and, sweeping his arms over the landscape, 'there is your city.' And all at once the Capitol, that great and ancient symbol of our Republic, collapsed into a heap of ash and rubble; and immediately the heathens unleashed, in unison, a warcry so terrible, so unearthly, that the blood ran cold in my veins. And in the forum, once the beating heart of Nessos, they erected crosses furnished from the fallen timbers of ruined buildings; and upon these they nailed those conquered Nessian men unfortunate enough to still be alive."
"The charioteer, without a word, rose back towards the heavens; and I, taking notice even through the fog of my despair, followed at his tail. And as we passed through the choking smoke and thunderous clouds, a wave of clarity washed over me. Rising out the other side of the cloud, I saw the sun shining, and the cloud not black and heavy with rain, but white, as it was before; and through a break in the clouds I saw Nessos, not burning, not ruined, but whole, as though what I had seen had never happened -- or, rather, had not happened yet. And the God of War now spoke to me, hsi fiery-red eyes looking deep into my soul. 'Marcus Laevinius Honorius, you have been chosen as my Prophet to bring word of this Revelation to your people. We Gods have long favored Nessos above all other cities. So long as the people of Nessos continue to properly honour Us and pay Us homage, the Republic shall retain our favor. But if they do not honour Us and pay Us homage, and if they worship false Gods, then let them live in fear of what you have seen -- for without the favor of heaven, Nessos shall fall to the forces of darkness. Tell them of what you have seen, and what I have said. Go forth and bring the word to the Nessians. Honour the Gods, or suffer destruction.'"
"And with that he was gone, and I awoke in my bed. And so I tell you, my fellow Nessians -- we must honour and obey the Gods of our fathers. They watch over us and protect us. They favor us above all other cities. It is Their favor which has made Nessos great, and which has protected us from the rampages of the barbarians -- the forces of Darkness. Therefore, let us not offend them and suffer the loss of their favor, lest that which I have shall come to pass in this realm."
The Senator took his seat, and was silent.
to the one who can get the barbarians to dismantle peacefully
