SPQR: Ad Astra

In the world of _SPQR: Ad Astra_, the Roman Empire never fell.  Imagine
Classic Traveller mashed up with L. Sprague De Camp's _Lest Darkness
Fall_ and you've got it.  If you want some vaguely-plausible
justification: the Romans figured out how to reliably generate static
electricity (which they probably knew anyway) and that metal carried it,
and then that metal carried it *really fast*.  And then they strung up
telegraph cables along the roads, revolts got almost nowhere because the
imperial seat learned of them instantaneously, and the Roman Empire
conquered the world. 

And then, of course, it kept going.

So now it's a Classic Traveller setting, only the Nth Imperium is in
fact still the SPQR.  One interesting consequence of this mashup is that
the Empire is basically back to its pre-telegraph communications days:
information does not travel faster than the spaceship.  The year is 3372
AUC.  The emperor is Galerius IX.

Zoom in a bit, to a single ZH-25 Quaestor [0].  The Quaestor line's
function can be derived from its name: the Quaestor ships each carry a
quaestor and his lictor, as well as a ceremonial fasces.  Quaestors ride
a circuit on the frontiers of Imperial Space, stopping in at worlds
where they perform the following functions:

  1) Administrative auditing: while each world has its own governor with
      plenipotiary powers, the Emperor requires independent verification
      that his representatives are performing adequately.  Quaestors
      have the right to audit anything on a provincial world, any time,
      with no notice.

  2) Administration of justice: citizens of the senatorial class
      accused of major crimes on provincial worlds may assert their
      right to trial by a quaestor rather than by representatives of the
      governor.  Such defendants will typically be imprisoned until the
      next visit of the quaestor, and their cases heard then.

  3) Tax collection: Imperial taxes are debited from the provincial
      world's account and credited to a secured storage device under the
      control of the quaestor.  The Romans have evolved a system roughly
      parallel to modern electronic banking; the wrinkle is that the
      device containing the transfer information must be delivered back
      to Rome, which means, from a practical standpoint, it can only be
      electronically transmitted within the Sol system.  Typically a
      quaestor will hand off a collection of tax receipts to an imperial
      courier at designated points throughout the circuit.

  4) Policy distribution: a visit from a quaestor serves as official
      communication of policy from the throne to the provincial
      authorities. 

  5) Pickets: if serious sedition is afoot, a Quaestor and its crew are
      authorized to return, at maximum speed, to Rome, in order to
      provide information and recommendation to the Imperial seat.  It
      is of course more usual to pass this information to an Imperial
      Courier, but of course there are times when there is reason to
      suspect that the courier may have been subverted (or may simply
      have been eliminated, thus necessitating the Quaestor to make a
      run for it).  If this option is exercised frivolously, the
      quaestor's remaining career will be short and unpleasant.

A circuit is traditionally supposed to take about a year and encompass
about thirty worlds.  This schedule has slipped, of course, over time,
and many outlying worlds are lucky to see a quaestor every two years.  A
single quaestor is expected to serve for five to ten years: between
three and ten circuits, depending on circumstances.

Each Quaestor ship also carries a century of _milites_ in cold storage;
"Frozen Century" duty is seen as a boring, although fairly safe, way to
fulfill one's military service.  It has the signal advantage that one
only ages when thawed, so a soldier may complete a twenty-five year term
with only perhaps seven or eight years of actual age advancement.  The
century is under the command of a centurion (usually also kept frozen),
who is in turn under the command of the quaestor.

Obviously a hundred men, give or take, are not enough to put down a
full-scale planetary rebellion.  They are, however, enough to (and have
often been used to) remove corrupt governors from power.

The 300-ton ZH-25 is a workhorse of the fleet, probably the most common
Quaestor ship in service.  Zeta, from its position at the end of the
alphabet, to indicate that this ship patrols the frontier.  H for
Halicarnassus, the name of the first Z-1.  This is the 25th generation
of this ship line.  Oh, by the way, yes, "25": the empire adopted a
position-based numbering system shortly after taking India in the 1600s
AUC; Classical Roman numerals are only used for pomposity and _gravitas_
(e.g. Imperial titles).  This particular ship is the Baalbek: it is
traditional to name the circuit ships after provincial cities of the
Earthbound Roman Empire, and has in the last couple centuries become
traditional to give them their native names (thus, "Baalbek" rather than
"Heliopolis").  The Baalbek has been in service about 80 years, making
her just a little older-than-average for a circuit ship.  The current
generation is ZH-28.

The ZH-25 is Jump-3 capable; it contains scoops and a fuel purification
plant allowing hydrogen skimming from gas giants (important in the
frontier) and water skimming from Earthlike worlds.  It is heavily
armored (Armor 4) and fitted with primary fusion engines as well as
directional thrusters.  It has retractable landing skids allowing the
lower turret to be deployed when groundside.

It is not particularly fast (Maneuver-3) or agile (Agility 1), but is
likely to hold together until it can make Jump (Armor 4).  Its computer
is adequate but unspectacular (Computer-3).  The ZH-25 is streamlined
and capable of ground or water landings.  The cargo hold/loading ramp is
designed for rapid disembarkment of troops, although it is much more
typical to thaw out the troops in small batches once groundside.

A ZH-25 has top-and-bottom-mounted retractable turrets each armed with
twin plasma cannons.  These are highly effective against ground troops
and reasonably effective in a space battle.  The ZH-25 is not really
intended as a warship: its primary goal in conflict is to escape and
return information. 

The bridge can be sealed in case of emergency, and contains eight
acceleration couches, one for each crew member, as well as a
single-person airlock opening through a ceiling hatch.

Most planetary visits, of course, are entirely routine, and the troop
cohort does not require thawing at all.  The usual course of action is
for the quaestor to land, perform perfunctory auditing and collect some
relatively minor bribes, hear a handful of cases, distribute the current
year's tax collection goals, collect the previous year's taxes (often
with some cock-and-bull story about why the goal was not met), and
depart.

[0] "Questor" is a variant spelling often seen in the provinces.

======Mechanical Details======

USP Code: ZH-3133331-400000-0400000-0    MCr 375.135
TL:          12                           (includes 10% discount for
Agility:      1                             standard design)
Passengers:   2                          300 tons
Low:        100
Cargo:       10
Fuel:        99
EP:           9
Crew:         8 (Pilot, Engineer, Navigator, Medic, Gunner x 2,
                  Steward, Cook/Aide-de-camp/Factotum)

Built with Traveller Book 2, _Starships_  (1981 revision) and
           Traveller Book 5, _High Guard_ (1980 revision)

======Legend for Deckplan======

M:  Maneuver Drive
J:  Jump Drive
PP: Power Plant
F:  Fuel Storage
FC: Frozen Century
T:  Turrets (2, retractable)
MD: Medical bay
ST: Storage
CG: Cargo Hold/loading ramp
Q:  Quaestor's apartments
L:  Lictor's stateroom
FP: Fuel Purification
G:  Galley
H:  Hygiene module
RA: Recreation Area
CB: Crew Cabins (4)
B:  Bridge