Cyrenaica

Upon the completion of his tour of the province and mustering of the cavalry, Lanatus would summon several clerks, minor officials, the officers of the horsemen, and the provincial quaestor to meet with him to receive Lanatus' orders for them. The meeting would take place after Lanatus' meeting with representatives from the cities of the Pentapolis, with the assembled men stading around a table with a map of the province laid out on it. Nine red figurines dot the map, representing where Lanatus intended to move the horsemen to. Several other figures placed across the interior of the province represented the Berber tribes such as the Nasamones, Psylli, Libu, and Garamantes.

"Our first order of business is these Berber raids." Lanatus points to the figurines in the eastern reaches of the province on a map, then to the ones in the south. "With the alae of horse fully mustered.." Lanatus turns to the nine assembled praefectus alae. "Two alae of light horse shall patrol the eastern roads and paths, along with scouting to gather information on these tribes." Two of the officers would salute the Pro-Praetor and leave to prepare for their patrol. "As the southern route is our overland connection to Africa Proconsularis, I shall send the remaining two alae of light horse, one ala of medium horse, and the one ala of dromedarii to carry out the same orders there. The ala of heavy cavalry will remain here in Cyrene, and the remaining ala of medium horse shall patrol between the cities of the Pentapolis." The remaining officers would salute and leave as well. Lanatus reaches for one of the figurines representing a Berber tribe and moves it towards one of the others representing a tribe. "Gods willing, our measures will cause them to look for an easier target to raid, such as another tribe."

"That is not all we shall do." Lanatus points to Cyrene, then to Ptolemais. "Overseen by quaestor Mergus, we shall construct a network of roads with fortified outposts to further attempt to secure the trade of the region from raids. We shall start with a road from Cyrene to Ptolemais, then Ptolemais to Berenice. With the final section being Berenice to Caminos." Lucius pauses for a moment. " An additional two alae of horse, one dromedarii, one light, shall be raised to provide security for the construction along with patrolling the area around Cyrene." One of the clerks writes down the Pro-Praetor's order. Lanatus would then turn back to the map and point to Apollonia. "Our final issue of the moment, is the establishment of a colonia. Preferably in the area between Apollonia and Cyrene. For this purpose, a survey of the area shall be carried out to find a ideal location for the colonia. Along with recording other suitable locations for any future colonia to follow. A clerk and official shall be part of each party." Another clerk would record the order. "Gentlemen, you are dismissed." The officials and clerks would begin to shuffle out of the room after the Pro-Praetor would leave, followed by his six lictors to head to the room he had made his tablinum in the governor's residence to review documents from the tenure of his predecessors and one or two from the reign of Apion.

Over time, the reports from the patrols would come in. A raid or two intercepted here and there, a ransacked caravan. A raid stole half of a goat herd from a village, another was repulsed by the villagers before being chased off by several horsemen. These reports of small actions would continue for a time, although the ones from the east would note an increase in the intensity of the raids. Eventually, the eastern ones would report more serious action by the tribes, accumulating into the latest reports stating the tribes seem to have banded together in some fashion, along with rough estimations of their force being nearly equal to those raised by Lanatus to being double in size.

The Pro-Praetor, after reading the latest report, would head to the map table with several clerks and several of the exploratores. "Send riders out to recall all patrols back to Cyrene at once." Lanatus says while moving all the red figurines to Cyrene. One of the clerks writes down the order. Lanatus then moves several of the Berber markers to the eastern reaches of the province. "But Pro-Praetor that will leave the trade routes..""Unpatrolled, yes. But as our forces roughly equal or are outnumbered by theirs, every man will be needed for the expedition eastward. To that regard, I shall raise additional alae of horsemen to attempt to rectify that disparity. If the situation deems it absolutely necessary, I shall enact a levy on the Pentapolis for additional men..so a decree for that should be prepared." Lanatus would add a few additional red figurines to mark these reinforcements, while a clerk left to prepare the necessary decree. He then turned to one of the clerks. "Send word to have Mergus recalled and begin the gathering of supplies for the expedition.""At once, Pro-Praetor." The clerk quickly shuffled out of the room to carry out his orders, soon followed by the other clerk and one of the scouts. The others would continue discussing the eastern situation with the Pro-Praetor.