Nova Roma

Chapter 86 - Representative of the City of Lakam Ha (Palenque)

In the palace of the city of Lakam Ha (Palenque) was on his deathbed the Mayan king Akbal who ruled only 6 years before becoming ill and dying in bed, the Mayans of the city paid the Romans to send trained doctors To take care of the king

But the disease contracted by him was a flu that evolved into pneumonia, there was not much that could be done to save his life just to prevent his suffering from being minor, after 5 months in bed his life was over.

Because there were no male heirs available his wife Nicte has had to occupy the throne until his daughter was old enough to occupy the throne, the city of Lakam Ha differs from most Mayan cities as women can be rulers

This has to do with its founding process where the first king of the Mayan city died leaving only his daughter as queen, from that moment the city of Lakam Ha allows women to have the throne, is the only one of the Mayan cities where the woman has a high status.

The new queen Nicte Ha has different problems including a border conflict with the city of Calakmul and the bad prophecy made by the priests about what lies ahead in the north, Nicte Ha knows that if he wants to survive he has to ask the Romans for help.

For 2 years, trade with them has favored the growth of their people, since they have benefited from food such as fish or salt, in return, they sell Jade crafts which seem to be popular with the Romans.

Priests have also arrived who teach the little ones to write and speak in Latin so that in the future they can communicate better without mentioning that Roman numerals were adopted because they are more practical than Maya numbers.

(Arabs 1,2,3 not the conventional ones I, II, III; Remember that Flavio made changes to the numerical system years ago by converting Roman numbers into Arabs and adopting 0)

Nicte Ha has decided to send a messenger offering her small daughter as a marriage, to form an alliance between the Romans and his people, she urgently needs Rome’s support if he wants to survive the Mayans of Calakmul.

The messenger did not hesitate to leave with a caravan of Romans heading towards Origin Civitatem, the road was quite complicated until they reached the border post of the empire where the road went from being a dirt road to a smooth asphalt road.

Every few meters there was a watchtower where some soldiers were taking care, the security of the caravans for the empire is very important to protect the merchants because they are the ones who carry the merchandise from one place to another communicating place and receiving news of everything It happens with the surrounding towns and cities.

The road was quite safe and fast in just 5 hours arrived in the city of Origin Civitatem as the messenger was a representative who came to speak on behalf of Queen Nicte Ha of the Mayan city of Lakam Ha.

He was received as a foreign diplomat, therefore, he was granted a room at the Lakam Ha embassy where he would sleep for that day to meet Flavio the next day.

The embassies were created by Flavio to allow the Mayan cities and some towns like Monte Albán and Teotihuacan to have a way of communicating with the empire and solving any diplomatic problem that might arise.

Of course, the creation of embassies is late and there are some Mayan cities that refused to send ambassadors, but for the cities, they accepted they have certain privileges when it comes to trading with the empire without mentioning that they enjoy privileges such as teaching Latin and of basic math.

This is a measure that benefits Nova Roma because it introduces into the Mesoamerican civilizations the taste for Roman things by forming in the minds of both adults and children the love for Rome, making that in a few years the integration into the empire is simple and without spilling of blood.

At the Lakam Ha embassy, the representative ate one of the local foods that the empire served, shrimp with catsup sauce the representative had to admit that the taste was pleasant and refreshing, more than one if accompanied with papaya water.

The catsup had been made since the first days that Flavio arrived in the American continent this was to prevent people from consuming Garum, which can cause illness if it is not prepared in the right way, even in Lusitania he had trouble finding a substitute and avoiding that people continue to consume him.

It was not until the creation of the catsup that Garum disappeared from the table of Roman families for Flavio’s relief.

The representative after having a rather pleasant dinner went to his bed which was made of cotton, covered with a sarape and prepared to sleep in a fairly comfortable and elegant room.

The next day he left in the morning with the ambassador to meet with Emperor Flavio for this he had to wear a weird suit for him, the suit was black and he wore a white shirt with a tie when he asked the ambassador how called those clothes the ambassador replied that it was a suit.

On the way, he could see a large number of people trained in what appears to be a tent when the representative asked the ambassador he simply said that it was a call from the emperor for the defense of the empire.

The representative could only swallow some saliva, he knew from the volunteers who went to fight against the damn jungle that the Romans were extremely powerful in their handling of weapons and brave, that is why he kept thinking who could be so stupid as to make the jaguar angry.

When he arrived at the Castle Palace he was surprised by the size of the building and the beautiful water fountain that had the imperial family in front of the castle’s courtyard, even the best craftsmen of Lakam Ha could not make such a beautiful monument.

When he entered with the ambassador they were taken to a very beautiful room with a chair where he could see a young man with golden hair drinking a drink that appears to be chocolate, the young emperor turned his face and said: "Welcome representatives of Lakam Ha, take a seat, please ..."