Sextus Agrippa Rufus wasn’t finished. He continued to address the Senate, even as he handed the text of his previous proposal to Zosimus’ scribe.

“Furthermore, Conscript Fathers, you recall the distress of myself and several of my colleagues at the prospect of leaving the whole of Africa Province open to Numidian invasion and desolation. One legion remains in place, the Fifteenth. That legion alone may not be sufficient to dissuade Jugurtha from massing his forces and invading.

“Thankfully for us, the filthy hordes to the north have an apparent aversion to water. They are terrified to bathe in it , much less sail upon it!” Laughter of the sort that men resort to in order to alleviate tension echoed through the Curia Hostilia. Gallus was right! Rufus thought to himself. Humor does indeed work wonders in this House!

“Our Mare Nostra Fleet, under the able command of Marcus Porcius Cato, is enjoying considerable success in its efforts to rid the seas of piracy. I recommend that we make that campaign a secondary objective, and direct Cato to set as his new priority the disruption of Numidia. What Metullus will now lack in legionary manpower, Cato can supplement with the threat of attack from the sea! One or two well-placed amphibious raids deep in the Numidian rear, compounded with naval blockade of all his port cities, will force Jugurtha to defend his entire coastline! Doing so will prevent him massing forces along his eastern border in numbers sufficient to make a push on Utica and Carthage.

“Cato has suffered some losses during his campaign, and no doubt will continue to do so. At this point, he may need additional ships. The Rhodian Fleet is, of course, en-route to Ostia for refit with the rather spectacularly successful ‘corvus’ devices proposed by Tiberius Gallus some months back. I recommend that we give Cato the option: does he wish us to proceed with the refit (both costly and time-consuming) of the Rhodian ships, or does he wish us to immediately redirect those ships to his command, sans corvi? He is the Commander; the decision should be his!

“Not to mention, of course, the fact that, should Cato opt to begin using the ships in their present unmodified state, the monetary savings realized from delaying or cancelling the conversion can be applied to the considerable expenses the Treasury will have to bear in the raising of our other forces.

“I propose this additional measure:”

SENATUS CONSULTUM RUFIUM DE PROSECUTUM EX AEQUORA

I. Recognizing the need to keep the Numidian enemy off balance and to prevent King Jugurtha from successfully mounting an offensive against Africa Province, the Senate and People of Rome do hereby authorize and direct the following:

II. That Marcus Porcius Cato, Commander of the Mare Nostra Fleet, shift the priority of his operations from the defeat of pirate operations to the containment of Numidia by use of the following tactics (and such others as he may see fit): Blockade, Capture of Numidian merchant Commerce upon the seas, Amphibious Raid, and Threatening Demonstrations of the same.

III. That the goal of these blockade and interdiction operations will be to disrupt, if not strangle, Numidian trade and diplomatic communications with the outside world. That the goal of these amphibious raids and demonstrations will be to force the Numidian enemy to defend its cities and resources along the whole of its coastline, thus inhibiting their massing of forces sufficient to mount a successful invasion of Africa Province.

IV. That ships stopped by the blockade will be treated as follows: Ships from friendly and allied nations will be turned away with a warning. Ships from neutral nations will be turned away, but their cargo seized. Ships of questionable origin will be seized, along with their cargoes, but their crews released. Belligerent ships and their cargoes shall be seized, their crews sold as slaves. Ships previously turned away caught again trying to run the blockade will subsequently be treated as hostile ships.

V. That the Rhodian Fleet, currently en-route to Ostia for refit with the corvus device, be made immediately available to Marcus Porcius Cato for his employment. If, in Cato’s estimation, the urgency and need for additional numbers ships is such that he would rather make immediate use of these ships in their current unmodified condition, then refit of the Rhodian Fleet shall be delayed, making them immediately available for his command.

VI. That Marcus Porcius Cato coordinate his fleet’s activities off the Numidian coast with the actions of the Propraetor of Africa Province in order to ensure unity of effort.

VII. In all other aspects, Marcus Porcius Cato shall have complete freedom to conduct his operations in whatever manner he sees fit, to include a short delay in the redeployment of the fleet, if such delay is not of undue length and is required to conclude the current phase of his pirate campaign.