On Tue, 18 Jun 2013, Onno Meyer wrote:
Johannes wrote:
A basic draft: Someone else, who wants to steal the book manages to get it
hidden in some furniture or something, that gets auctioned, and them buys
the furniture. Buyers can inspect the merchandise before the auction and
Synois, who has taken some pcs for protecting her money steals/replaces it
there, and then buys something else. A few days later the pcs witness a
shouting and shoving match between the buyer and the hider of the book.
Do you know if Romans had that kind of auction? Slave auctions are a
common stereotype, but this furniture auction sounds rather modern.
Would it be appropriate for upper-class Romans to have their minions
bid against each other like quarreling plebs?
A quick wikipedia search has shown that Romans used auctions for spoils of
war, slaves and for selling the property of people who defaulted on their
debts, with no information how complete that list would be.
I suppose a situation, where the son, when he moves into the villa sells
all the old, but valuable furniture, to buy some in a newer style is not
too much of a stretch.
The basic setup would also work with a garage sale style setup, though it
would be more difficult, because there typically is no time where the
cusstomers can inspect the wares, but not yet buy them.
I'll need to come up with a good hiding place in the bed and with what
stuff Synois carries around with her, or has the pcs help her carry
around. And with some other beds to describe.
It would work with just one bed in the lot. Stuff is sold, Synois
tries the bed, then bids on a silver goblet.
More beds are better for Synois. Her trying out that specific bed is less
conspicuous then if she does so with other beds as well. Even less if she
buys or seriously attempts to buy an other bed.
New idea. The convict will be on a long chain or rope in the "bedroom", so
he can move a bit. Or maybe it is a cage and he is otherwise from climbing
out.
If it is a Roman arena spectacular, the goals would be to
- kill the convict
- humiliate the convict
- entertain the masses.
The last item requires good visibility and an unpredictable, drawn
out fight. No stage props to block the vision, and no complicated,
just-for-this-fight special scoring rules. Or no fight at all,
just gore in excessive detail (hence the impaling suggestion).
I have thought about visiblity the "bedroom" would be represented by a low
bed, to make clear what it is, and some no more then knee high fence to
mark it's boundary. Other props, like "roofs" to climb over would be
either low enogh or far enough away to not block the view. The last leg of
the race would be on the ground, which coincidently even fits how the
crime happened.
Scoring rules facilitate betting since you can bet on who wins, and if
hits are accounted for an other reason already, you can also bet, how many
hits the convict will sustain before dying.
Also because of the political background, this is supposed to be a special
execution, standing out from the others, so people will in a couple of
month remember, that the killer of the flamen candidate had got what he
deserved, and not ask each other what happened to him, and if he got
killed or if he just got exiled or what. Having special props and special
rules helps that.
What can Minucia do to keep money coming in. I guess it is unrealistic
that she inherits anything moneymaking, other then the taberna (small
shop) that is usually outside a villa.
Take stock of her assets, divide by the remaining life expectancy,
plan to spend no more than that each year. Should be enough for a
solid middle-class living. But does she think that way?
It could work and i suppose it is her fallback plan if other things don't
work out. However my impression is, that ancient Rome did not really have
something that we today would call a middle class and anyone falling
roughly there would be either viewed as very rich plebeian on the social
rise or a very poor noble, in the decline, so it's not really something an
ancient Roman would aim for.
I could see a setup though, where she rents out her secretary and her
prestiguous address to some merchant, who has not yet a representative in
Rome. The secretary will do all the public work, him being male and
civilized (he's a Greek), so that will not cause any scandal. Her contacts
to roman upper class women can occasionally be used, as can her contacts
to gladiatoral problem solvers.
But wouldn't it cause a scandal that the lady directly profits
from deals with money-grubbing foreign merchants?
You grace the enterprise tangentially with you name and collect a share,
while your slaves and the foreigners do all the work, how much closer can
you get to the platonic ideal of nobility?
More seriously, with not remarrying she is already causing a bit of a
scandal. And she has the black widdow reputation already.And her living
not under the partias potestestas of someone will make her position a
little precarious already.
So if there are some Roman merchants, preferable the upper class kind,
with good connections, do business with her, they might consider an
intrigue against her, like an attempt to get at her money, as attack on
their business interests. Which might be more important for her in the
long run, then the money she makes.
_______________________________________________
GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]>
http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
