The purchase of the surrounding lands progressed smoothly; Septimus initially faced refusals, but after his conflict with the prefect of Capua, the owners of the nearby villas and estates did not cause many problems.
Due to Roman laws, Roman senators were prohibited from engaging in business; many Roman senators chose the option of buying land in the fertile region of Campania, known for its grain production.
It was common knowledge that the best arable land in all of Italy was in the region of Campania.
In the original history, after Sulla landed in Rome, most of the senators with lands in Campania were eliminated.
The senators were not foolish and knew the bloody character of Septimus, not wishing to risk their lives by refusing to sell land.
In this way, Septimus acquired large extensions of land near the villa.
The clones began to occupy those lands and build warehouses, houses, and reinforce the defenses of the surroundings.
The Roman system of vassalage was convenient for Septimus.
A vassal was obligated to support you unconditionally, even if you rebel against Rome. The three legions that Pompey would form in a few years were soldiers recruited from his tenant vassals.
In return, the patron of the vassals was obligated to help them overcome economic difficulties or in case of legal disputes.
The system of vassals has persisted for years, and even freedmen automatically become vassals of their former owners after obtaining freedom.
The relationship between patron and vassal over the years has become complex and can even be hereditary for generations.
In history, the Roman general Labienus, the most trusted right-hand man of Julius Caesar, betrayed Caesar without hesitation during the civil war with Pompey, inflicting great losses.
The reason was that Labienus' family had been tenants (vassals) of Pompey's family for generations, which demonstrates the strong ties of that relationship.
Even the relationship of vassal and patron could extend to kings or rulers of a kingdom.
In the Third Punic War, Scipio Africanus, after defeating Carthage, established a vassal relationship with the Numidian kingdom.
Scipio Africanus had to thoroughly understand the intentions of the Numidian king, oppose any decision of the Senate harmful to Numidia, and support those that favored it both in the Senate and in the Roman assemblies.
He also provided the Kingdom of Numidia with Roman intelligence information, turning Scipio Africanus into a privileged link between both kingdoms for years.
In turn, the Kingdom of Numidia provided Scipio Africanus with financial and military support. After the death of Scipio Africanus and the Numidian king, that bond was broken, which ultimately led to the famous Jugurthine War between Rome and Numidia.
Septimus planned to establish his clones in the acquired territories and disguise them as vassals of his family.
The clones could also use the surname derived from Septimus' given name, but considering the lack of originality, Septimus' idea was to create a unique surname that would highlight the bloody style of his new family.
Septimus had not yet come up with a suitable surname that would be feared and remembered for decades.
The settlement of thousands of clones in the acquired lands and the construction works progressed without problems.
On the other hand, in the villa, in the blacksmithing area, more than twenty clones worked, sweating profusely.
Septimus wanted to recreate modern blacksmithing methods; unfortunately, he was a historian, not a blacksmith. As a result, he had to experiment with different methods.
As a historian, Septimus remembered having read in a book by Aristotle that said: "By putting iron into a furnace and heating it several times, high-quality steel can be obtained."
The process sounded too simple to be true, and after testing, the result was a hard sword that broke easily.
The great Roman scholar Pliny the Elder wrote a book called Natural History, in which he stated that there are many types of iron, but the iron from the land of silk is the best.
The famous Roman short sword Gladius and the long sword Spatha, which appeared after the 2nd century AD, were not even heat-treated, which confirmed Septimus' judgment.
Swords in Rome of this era, due to their backward iron smelting technology, could not be produced at excessively high furnace temperatures and could only use the rich mines of Spain to produce peeled iron, since this ore contains fewer impurities.
Before the arrival of steel swords, humanity lived in the era of iron swords.
Many later historians stated that it was actually peeled iron, a type of wrought iron produced at a low temperature of about 1000 degrees Celsius and that contained a large amount of impurities.
For this reason, weapons in Rome were robust and short to prevent them from bending due to the low quality of ore processing.
After a long experiment with weapon smelting in the blacksmithing area, the clones acquired great experience as skilled blacksmiths.
Septimus was able to summarize the necessary steps for the creation of weapons with better material.
The first step is called normalization, and its purpose is to refine the steel grain (crystallize its structure). In fact, each time the blacksmith heats a part of the blade and forges it, he not only changes the shape of the steel but also alters the size of its grain.
When the steel is heated to a certain temperature, austenitization occurs (iron and carbon atoms begin to mix). Then, the steel is removed from the furnace and allowed to cool naturally. This reduces the stress caused by irregularities in the composition of the blade and ensures a uniform grain size throughout the sword blade.
The second step is annealing, which consists of letting the steel cool slowly. Normally, the steel is wrapped in insulating material to prevent it from cooling quickly. The annealing process can last from several hours to a full day. The purpose of annealing is to soften the steel, making it easier to grind and cut.
The key to the process is to do it as slowly as possible. Due to the scarcity of resources, the clones prepared clay and wrapped the entire blade, except the hilt.
After placing it in the furnace, the blacksmith clones let it cool slowly. This took quite some time, so Septimus turned his attention to the clones' armor.
Rome was beginning to use interlinked ring armor, weighing about nine kilograms, technically known as patchwork armor.
But Septimus knew that this type of armor was difficult to repair and that over time it would be replaced by the more convenient scale armor. Fortunately, with a large number of clones with excellent blacksmithing skills, it was not a problem to repair the clones' armor.
Septimus placed on the agenda the creation of more defensive scale armor.
With the new smelting technologies, Septimus had an advantage in the quality of military equipment; the only problem would be the cost to equip a clone legionary, which would amount to a total of 210 denarii per fully equipped legionary.
Establishing 10 legions in 4 years with the new military equipment was going to be a difficult task; for the moment, Septimus could only advance slowly.
Septimus effectively thought that the money from white sugar arrives quickly and is spent too easily.
Fortunately for Septimus and the Scipio family, the income from white sugar outside Rome was enormous. The kingdoms surrounding Rome felt great respect for the Romans, and although they knew that white sugar was extremely profitable, they would not dare do anything to them out of consideration for the fame of the Scipio family.
At dusk, under the control of the clones, a short weapon that had gone through the main processes of normalization, annealing, quenching, and tempering was finally completed. Although it had many areas for improvement, it was already quite good.
Septimus took the short sword and swung it fiercely against another clone's sword.
"Clang!"
A notch appeared on the clone's short sword, as well as on Septimus', but it was much smaller.
Septimus continued swinging his short sword, delivering several strikes before breaking the clone soldier's sword.
After a period of reflection, Septimus decided that this technique should only be known by himself. High-quality iron can be used not only to forge swords but also to forge weapons and cannons.
The formula of gunpowder is simple and easy to decipher. However, forging weapons and cannons requires high-quality steel.
Others who attempt to imitate his weapons and cannons would only manage to produce models that explode, which, in his eyes, makes them incompetent.