Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War

Carefully analyzing who the Byzantines should look for as a backer, Orville is actually the most suitable choice.

The nobles in the Greek mainland have a kind of discrimination against colonial cities, and now they are also under the rule of the Romans. Obviously, they are not very reliable.

The elders in the Senate are calm and have enough space, because they cooperate well with the Greek nobles, and they may not pay attention to the Byzantines' loyalty. Even if Constantine went to Rome to join the elders, he might not be able to get enough attention and become a senator on an equal footing with these people.

The officers of the Germanic provinces or the Eastern provinces are also an option, but their voice in the central government is not big enough, and they may not need the support of the Byzantines. The governor of the Eastern provinces, Mucinus, has no intention of politics and concentrates on defending the country. The two commanders of the Highland and Lowland Germanic Legions are one of the emperor's men and the other is a typical political speculator. On the whole, it is better to join the emperor directly than to join these people.

If he surrendered directly to the emperor, he would definitely not look down on the hundreds of people who surrendered to him. At most, he would be a little polite. Even if he could achieve his goal, it would take enough time.

Either surrender to the current consul Tiya or surrender to Orwell. Constantine determined one thing: if he surrendered to Tiya, at most he would enter the Guards system or be promoted normally like ordinary officials. It would take too long and there would be too few opportunities. On the contrary, Orwell, because he is now the governor of Egypt and the situation in Egypt is not peaceful, can provide him with a ladder for rapid promotion. At the same time, the medium-sized city of Byzantium can also provide various kinds of help to Orwell in Egypt.

The relationship between the two parties is not a simple prayer-reward relationship, but a mutually beneficial relationship, which is obviously more stable and more reliable than the former.

After comprehensive consideration, Constantine decided to take this opportunity to surrender to Orwell, hoping to get a quick promotion and gain a foothold in the upper echelons of the empire. Orwell felt that this idea of ​​his was indifferent and acceptable.

After all, it is a mutually beneficial relationship, a win-win situation, and it is normal for the other party to have his own ideas and goals.

Like now, Constantine directly told Orwell his purpose, which would make Orwell feel more at ease. If he made it clear, there would be no problem.

Whether it is the Flavian royal family itself or Orwell himself, their foundation is too shallow. It is reasonable to attach importance to the famous family coming to serve. Orwell welcomes Constantine's service.

"Anyone has the opportunity to pursue honor and power, and I promise to give you this opportunity. Because of some central political issues, I am afraid that I cannot continue to expand my direct army for a while. Maybe I will arrange for you to join the reorganized Egyptian Legion.

Nominally, you will accept the transfer of King Cleopatra of Egypt. In fact, I guarantee that you will have no less opportunities for promotion and experience. Now the Egyptian Legion is just about to be reorganized. If you go in at this time, as long as your ability is tested, you should be able to directly serve as the captain or a similar position later. Overall, it is a more appropriate method."

Constantine hesitated for a moment, but still agreed: "No problem, all at your disposal, what should I do specifically?"

If it were someone else, he would probably struggle for a while, because the Egyptian Legion is roughly equivalent to the vassal army, and its importance is far less than that of the Empire's direct legion. In terms of promotion potential, it is definitely higher for "family members".

But on the one hand, Orville has a good reputation and has always kept his word. On the other hand, he also understands that Orville's situation is indeed very embarrassing.

According to the customary law, within the empire, once the number of troops commanded by the commander exceeds two legions, the commander should have served as a consul.

The highest position Orwell had ever held was only the governor of a province, which was far from being a consul. In this regard, it was against the rules. In fact, many people in the Senate had opinions about Orwell because of this matter.

In addition, as a peaceful province, Egypt's most difficult enemy on weekdays was the Nubians in the south. They were not very interested in invading Egypt from the north, and at best they were just a minor problem.

It was for this reason that the Romans did not even send legions to the southern border to station. The Egyptians handled the matter themselves, and they did not need to worry about it much. The Roman garrison in Egypt was more responsible for maintaining stability and deterrence. To a large extent, the three legions were now very wealthy.

Spending money to support the army would be suspected of motives, and there was really no need. Constantine had done his homework in advance and understood these things, so he did not complain much and accepted Orwell's suggestions happily.

After thinking about it, Orwell ordered: "How about this, I will give you a letter of recommendation, you take the letter back to find Cleopatra, and then you will follow us back to Egypt."

Constantine nodded and agreed, and Orwell quickly asked someone to fetch a pen and ink, and wrote down the matter briefly, and asked Constantine to return to Cleopatra.

If it were those kings who valued power and authority, they would probably not accept Orwell's advice so readily. In their view, this was a dangerous move by the Romans to reach out to the army, but Cleopatra was different. She generally did not comment on Orwell's decision, especially on military-related matters. She only wanted to see the result, and perhaps she did not care much about the result itself.

——

Orville and Cleopatra's fleet stayed in Athens for about three days. For Orville, these days were expected and orderly, without any unexpected situations.

He didn't have many friends in Athens, and he mainly talked about business and inspections. He observed the general situation of the Greek province with his own eyes and felt that the situation was indeed not so optimistic.

To be fair, Greece's natural endowment was indeed not very good. No matter how much the Romans admired Greek culture, they would not spare no effort to transfuse blood here. Therefore, after the Mediterranean economic circle and trade circle stabilized, Greece fell into a state of decline.

This is also an important reason why the Greeks have opinions about Vespasian now. Their economy is really in recession. Nero accidentally gave them tax-free privileges out of personal hobbies and political considerations. In this way, their lives can basically maintain a relatively good level, but after Vespasian deprived them of privileges, they obviously felt that their lives became much more difficult within a few years.