Jump 236: Rome

Jump #236: Rome
>The High Priestess, reversed: The forces of nature unleashed.
>Age: 30
>Location: Greece
>Identity: Roman Patrician
>Drawbacks: Et Tu, Comes? (+600)
I'm bringing along all my companions and aiming to make the Roman empire a better place. It's 50 BC and I'm introducing steam engines. I'd be surprised if everyone WASN'T trying to shank me.
>Soles of the Empire (Free, Roman)
Walking is the most tedious thing, but I suppose if I'm running around the Roman empire at the speed of sound, people will get suspicious.
>Empires and Legacies (1400, Roman)
I'm working toward the good of the Empire, to make it last rather than forcing it to rest on the back of slaves for the next five hundred years, until it falls apart. I think that's worth something.
>Trading Up (1000)
If I am to make things of value, I will have to ensure they're made right. When people realize the potential impact of what I'm doing... this is going to be a brand worth something.
On a related note, it's going to take a LOT of work (or a really awesome marketing campaign) to make this matter in most jumps unless you piggyback on something - ten years is not long to build a brand at all.
I'll have to see if there are any jumps that I can buy a company in that I can take with me and make them exist retroactively in future jumps.
>Affluenza (Free, Patrician)
As much as I'd love to not rely on this... there'll be times where I just run out of fucks to give. This helps cover for that.
>We Understand Each Other (900, Patrician)
Oh good, now I can confuse everyone watching at home until the end of the season where it all is thrown into a COMPLETELY different context!
>Good of the Family (700, Patrician)
I'm not really sure that I'll be needing to remind people of the (rather extended) family that we're all basically a part of, but this is a good 'get your head on straight' perk if my companions do get too wrapped up in silliness.
>Darling of Divinity (200)
Oh, fancy. Now I'm a little luckier, my legacy will be remembered, and I radiate authority. Then again, if my legacy ends up being what I'm aiming for...
>Family (0)
As I said, my companions are a family, of sorts. It's just a little more literal than it used to be.

There was once a dream that was Rome.

The reality is thus: Rome is an empire built on the backs of slaves, indulgent in excess and uncaring of bodies in its wake, ignorant to most progress, reliant on patrons to get anything done.

This will change, because western civilization needs to step up its march.

Ten years is not a very long time, especially when it means I have to get involved in Roman politics, but if I get in with Gaius Julius Caesar, I can get these changes pushed quite quickly. And I have the abilities to do precisely that, as well as to basically amp up the creativity of anyone who follows me (i.e. anyone who starts using steam based machinery).

Sure, to start, they'll be little more than curiosities. That's why, along with the steam powered machines, there'll be sudden breakthroughs in metallurgy and other fields. Romans love their hot baths? Well, now they can have a hot bath all day long. Here, this is how you plant a grove of a certain kind of tree, cut it down five years later, turn it all into charcoal and do particularly well. In fact I've left behind pages and pages of potential advancements that will serve the Roman empire over the centuries to come. Like these septic systems, this sewer system, water supplies and pumps and why the pipes should be ceramic or copper and not lead, even a form of refrigeration... and so on.

And with the changes made here, I intend to slowly make slavery unnecessary. To increase the wealth of the empire overall and give it a proper middle class. In time, to ensure that the luxuries that the higher classes have can become commonplace and widely enjoyed.

There is a dream that is Rome.

It shall be realized.