Thanks to some financial brilliance by the god-like Septimius, the Scipii economy began to climb upwards once again. Two fleets filled with troops were making speedy progress towards the Iberian coast, one made up of the African Legion sourced from Carthage and the other, the reformed Home Legion, now named the European Legion, headed by General Mamilus.
The struggle for mastery in Europe was not solely with the Romans and the British. The Brutii and Macedonians had been vying for years to outdo each other in both military might and economic prowess. It was questionable who was the greater power at the beginning of the Roman invasions into Gaul, but all knew that only the Scipii reigned above the two, with the Julii not far behind either one. Indeed, to defend Rome herself from British incursions before liberating great scores of land had made the Julii army the same size as the Scipii Legions. All four factions alternated between who was the greatest military power, with the Senate and the British looking on forlornly from the sidelines.
Overall, it was uncertain who was the greater of the powers in Europe, hence the war itself. Whomever won the decaying empire the British had left would become dominant, just as the Scipii had in the East.
The Brutii may have been that power, alas for them that rebellions struck across the Roman/Macedonian border, causing their attention to turn away from the desirable rewards of the west. Satisfied that their competitor was likewise engaged, the Macedonians turned their attention elsewhere as well, seeking to fully conquer Scythia and perhaps even joining the war against the Egyptians on land as well as on sea.
So it came to be that Julii alone, the least of Rome's families, took up the mantle of responsibility and headed deeper into Gaul, seeking to severe the former kingdom of Spain from the rest of the Empire, making its conquest all the more easy for the Scipii reinforcements they knew now to be incoming from the east.
With the economy still teetering on the edge and the advisors bearing down on him, Gaius reluctantly retired the Western Mediterranean fleet and the second African skirmish army, which was working to destroy rebels in the provinces. This left no police on the Sea for the first time in decades and only the First Skirmish Army to keep the peace on land in Africa.
The massively overpopulated cities captured in the Middle East were also constantly on the edge of rebellion, making taxation difficult and legion progression even harder. Expanding so quickly had added entire kingdoms of provinces that were straining the Scipii to its limits. Were Armenia to attack now, the entire Egyptian campaign would die a horrible death from which Gaius and the Scipii might not recover from.
So the situation came to be that, to the bewilderment of her allies, the Scipii continued to allow British diplomats in to try and come to an agreement. If only the British would take the trade deal and allow Carthage Nova to fall under Scipii control, the war both sides did not want or need could be averted.
And yet, every time, the British continued to astonish the increasingly desperate Romans with their arrogance and condescension, even as their king-less empire was torn in half by invaders. As Spain came into view and the legions prepared for an assault, Gaius and his advisors looked at the map in near despair, wondering what was to become of the world they were in and the glorious civilisation they had constructed?
It seemed more and more like the future of their children and their children's children was not dependant on the courage of men nor the strength of their walls but the balances in their books and the trade crossing the seas.
And then, a few sea traders began to turn ill...