Even Torrelugo shouted, "This dragon is great! If our soldiers carry it, they can scare the enemy half to death without even fighting!"
"Alright, it’s decided then. From now on, we are the Nix Tribe, and our banner is the dragon!" Maximus declared emphatically.
The reason for using the dragon as a banner was not just because of the influence of his cultural genes, but it also held a deeper meaning: he and his followers were outsiders who really needed to integrate into the local area to avoid rejection. However, integration also meant the possibility of being overwhelmed by the ways of the Barbarians, eventually becoming like them. Therefore, he needed to remind his followers of their "uniqueness" to become leaders of a new culture, with the dragon being just the beginning.
Tonight’s meeting set a good precedent, giving him more confidence to control the entire meeting process.
"Next, we need to discuss an important topic." Maximus said with a serious expression: "How do we govern this new Nix Tribe we are about to establish? Or rather, what kind of political system should we use to manage our people? At this point, you might be wondering, we are just a small new tribe with a population of less than 20,000. Is it necessary to be so rigorous and formal from the start?"
Seeing everyone’s eyes focused on himself, Maximus slowed his pace and said eloquently, "The political system is like the foundation of a house. The better the system, the stronger the foundation, allowing the house to be built higher and more stable, less likely to collapse. The political system is more like a newborn. A good system grants the newborn good birth, a healthy body, letting it grow smoothly and become stronger over time! Now you understand the importance of a political system, right?"
"Understood!" Fesaros shouted first: "Leader, only a fool would choose a bad political system... Of course, we choose the best one!"
Laughter erupted from the crowd.
Maximus did not laugh; his expression remained serious: "There is no best political system, only the most suitable one. Currently, among the various city-states, countries, and ethnic groups in the Mediterranean, there are approximately the following kinds of systems.
One is like the Illyrian Tribe, divided into leaders, elders, and tribesmen. Both the leaders and elders are nobles. The tribe’s major and minor affairs are decided by them, and elders have their own tribesmen, which the leader cannot interfere with. This results in the tribe being relatively loose and lacking in management;
Another is like many city-states in Greece, where citizens form an assembly to discuss and decide the city’s major and minor affairs, and vote to elect governors. This system is relatively fair to city-state citizens, but because too many diverse people participate in politics, it often wastes too much time arguing in the assembly, resulting in delays in making important decisions, or even making wrong decisions;
Another is like Persia, where the King has supreme authority, and nobles also hold great power, while ordinary people mean nothing to them. This system allows the King to quickly make decisions and concentrate the nation’s power to solve problems, but once the King’s prestige declines, it can easily lead to noble rebellions, and also fosters corruption;
There is also one like Egypt. It also has a King and nobles, similar to Persia, but they also have priests, who wield great power, own large tracts of land, and have their own armies. Ordinary people suffer from the dual oppression of nobles and priests, but because of their devout faith in the gods, they are willing to endure—"
"Leader, we can also resist!" Acronis couldn’t help interjecting.
Immediately, Capito rebuked: "Acronis, don’t interrupt, listen carefully to the leader!"
Acronis turned her head and glared at him, and indeed did not speak again.
There is also another system, like the tyrants of some city-states, or what we call dictators. They hold all power and can decide all city-state affairs and the life and death of ministers and subjects;
And finally, a system like Rome. It distinguishes only two kinds of people, nobles and commoners. It has the highest authority—the Citizens’ Assembly—in which both nobles and commoners can participate and decide important city-state matters. It also has the Senate, handling daily affairs, which is mostly composed of nobles, although it gives commoners some opportunities, allowing them to serve as Citizen Protectors and eventually become Elders, with a few commoners achieving great merit in war and ultimately being elected as Governors...
But overall, it is always the nobles who hold the power in Rome. And in recent years, Roman Nobles are increasingly unwilling to share benefits with the commoners, leading to growing conflicts between nobles and commoners...
Moreover, there is a large number of people in Rome who are slaves. They have no rights whatsoever, and in the eyes of the Romans, they are not considered people, but livestock—"
Maximus suddenly stopped, looking around at the attentive crowd, and asked, "Which of the political systems I just described do you think is more suitable for our new tribe?"
Most of Maximus’s followers came from humble backgrounds, and even Quintus and Capito were merely Roman commoners with decent military skills, but no chance to engage with high-level politics. Now, as Maximus explained the various Mediterranean political systems in straightforward language, they listened intently, and for a moment did not respond to Maximus’s question.