Wisdom, | saw that the Republic needed a 
caretaker such as myself in perpetuity, and 
that the people would always need a Pontifex 
Maximus to intercede with the gods and 
maintain the sacred rituals. And so | went to 
the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi, and | asked the 
Pythia how | might accomplish this; and | was 
told "seek the wisest"!0. 


The Greeks are always considered the wisest 
of Rome's conquests, so first | went to the the 
Greek philosophers, the Stoics and the 
Pythagoreans and the Platonists; and they told 
me that no kingdom can last forever, and | 
dismissed them. | went to those rumored even 
wiser, the Mechanists of the Sicilian cities; and 
they told me to build a city of bronze and iron 
over the city | had already clad in marble, and | 
dismissed them as well. And then | sought the 
hidden mysteries, the Greek cults of Orpheus 
and Eleusis and Dionysus and Trophonius and 
the Five-Named One; and these all spoke of 
an eternal life after death, but | sought eternal 
rule in life. So | turned away from the Greeks 
to the other conquered peoples under Rome. 


The rabbis of Judaea, and the priests of Egypt, 
and the Persian Magi claimed that | should 
renounce the Olympians and follow each of 
their gods in turn, and | scorned their advice. 
The Thracian seers, who claim descent from 
fallen Adium, and the Scythian sorceresses 
with their Daevian magic, and the man-burning 
Druids of the Gauls and Britons all told me of 
rituals contrary to the ancient customs of the 
Romans and hateful in the eyes of the gods; 
and | had them put to death for their crimes 
against man and god. And even the priests of 
Rome, and the augurs and haruspices who 
have forever guided our Republic before were 


of no help; and | returned to my home, and 
contemplated my failure. 


But as | sat in thought, the words of the Oracle 
to Socrates came to me, "you are the wisest"; 
and just as Socrates knew that he knew 
nothing, so | understood the same. And | 
turned to myself, and asked how I, having 
repaired the Republic and extended its reach 
further than ever before, could ensure its 
survival for all eternity, and | saw in myself the 
answer. And so | decided to make a final 
sacrifice, of myself and to myself, the body of 
Gaius Octavius'! offered before the spirit of 
Caesar Augustus so that | might rule forever 
through my heirs. And | wrote this, to be 
placed in my tomb, and | commanded my wife 
to make a poison, quick-acting and painless; 
and now | go to my death, knowing that the 
Roman people will never be without wise 
guidance and firm rule. 


Addendum 3853-1: Incident 3853-AUGUSTUS 

On 14 March 2018, the O5 council voted 11 for, 1 against, 1 
abstaining to initiate succession protocol Y-18-CALIGULA (forcible 
deposition of the Director of the IIS via assassination); the 
SDECotwW ratified this decision later that same day. Orders were 
transmitted to the commander of MTF Psi-18; the commander's 
response indicated loyalty to SCP-3853A-1 (Director Filipov) over 
the Foundation. Within one hour, all IIS facilities cut off contact with 
the main Foundation communications network and SCP-3853A-1 
declared the independence of the IIS from the Foundation. 
SCP-3853A is now uncontained, and the Foundation is in a state of 
war with the IIS (now designated Gol-328). All anomalies under the 
control of the IIS are to be considered uncontained until they are 
recovered by the Foundation; the development of containment 
procedures for these anomalies that do not rely on the effects of 
SCP-3853A is a high priority. For further information on Incident 
3853-AUGUSTUS, see Document 3853-9. 


Footnotes 

1. Under review pending reclassification to Euclid. 

2. For further information, consult Task Force Protocols W-18- 
DIOCLETIAN, W-18-NAPOLEON, and W-18-CALIGULA. 

3. Especially the Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Holy Roman 
Empire, and Ottoman Empire; for a full list of these nation-states 
consult Document 3853A-12. 

4. A loss of containment of anomalies associated with SCP-3853B 
as a result of a sufficiently legitimate or widely accepted competing 
claim to the Papacy. 

5. e.g. when the Ottoman sultan Mehmed the Conquerer became 
“Kayser-i Rum“, “Caesar of Rome”, after the Ottoman conquest of 
Constantinople 

6. e.g. when Charlemagne was named Holy Roman Emperor by 
Pope Leo Ill, taking the title from the Empress of the Byzantine 
Empire, Irene of Athens 

7. SCP-3853B was briefly held by King Henry VIII of England in his 
role as head of the Church of England, but on his death reverted to 
its prior association with the Papacy. 

8. Benito Mussolini, formerly Prime Minister of Italy. 

9. While most of the territory of the United States is outside the 
borders of the Roman Empire, the presence of military bases, 
embassies, and Italian and German territory under de facto 
American control was sufficient for SCP-3853A to be transferred to 
President Truman. 

10. This quote is in Greek in the original text, rather than in Latin; it 
is assumed to be a direct quote from the Oracle. 

11. Augustus’ birth name, used before his adoption by Julius 
Caesar. 


Document 3853-9 


This document contains correspondence between SCP-3853A-1 
(Dr. Aleksandr Filipov), MTF Psi-18, and the O5 Council leading up 
to Incident 3853-AUGUSTUS. 


Proposal for Restructuring of Foundation Paramilitary Assets 
Submitted to the O5 Council on 2 November 2016. 


The beneficial effects of SCP-3853A on the combat 
effectiveness of Mobile Task Forces has been 
determined via experimental study (Osman et al, 
"Imperial Command: SCP-3853A on the Battlefield”, 
Proceedings of the IIS 37 (2009), 63-90); as it stands, 
the Mobile Task Forces assigned to the Institute of 
Imperial Studies are objectively more useful in combat 
situations than those under the control of the main 
branch of the Foundation. | propose that all Mobile Task 
Forces be assigned under the command of the IIS; this 
will increase the Foundation's effectiveness in 
paramilitary operations significantly. 


Under my proposed restructuring, the Mobile Task 
Forces currently assigned to the Institute of Imperial 
Studies would be redesignated as Legionary Task 
Forces I-XIl, as they would be reserved for IIS 
operations; the remainder of the Mobile Task Forces 
would keep their prior designations, but would be placed 
under direct command of the IIS, with their commanders 
reporting to the Director. The operational directives of the 
Mobile Task Forces would not need to change, but 
simply by being placed in the command structure of the 
lIS—and therefore affected by SCP-3853A—their 
combat effectiveness would be increased by 
approximately 30%. 


Dr. Aleksandr Filipov, Director of the Institute for Imperial 


Studies 


Response to Proposal for Restructuring of Foundation 
Paramilitary Assets 
Presented to the Director of the IIS on 6 December 2016. 


Director Filipov, 


The Overseer Council has discussed and voted on your 
proposal. The official tally was 8 against, 2 for, 3 
abstaining. No further response will be given. 


O5-2 


Proposal for Reassignment of Foundation Facilities in Former 
Imperial Territory 
Submitted to the O5 Council on 6 May 2017. 


A large number of Foundation facilities are in territory 
that falls, de jure, under the jurisdiction of the Roman 
Empire and therefore the Institute of Imperial Studies. 
Until now these sites have remained under the control of 
the main branch of the Foundation, as the IIS was still in 
its infancy and did not have the resources to maintain a 
large number of facilities; however, now that the IIS has 
become a fairly large organization in its own right with 
the addition of the new facilities in Hispania, Brittania and 
Gaul, | propose that all Foundation sites within former 
Imperial lands be transferred in full to IIS control. This 
would allow the headquarters of the IIS to move from 
their current location near Carthage to Site-77, much 
closer to the ancient heartland of the Empire. 


As with my previous proposal, the advantages to the 
Foundation are numerous. The benefit of SCP-3853A's 
effects on teamwork and individual effectiveness in both 
high- and low-stress situations cannot be overstated; we 
would have fewer containment breaches, fewer 
casualties during the breaches that happen, and hardly 
any of the clerical errors and mistakes that cost the 
Foundation millions of dollars each year (M. Aurelio & L. 


Verro, "Roman Ideas: Administrative Efficiency and 
Discipline in the IIS", Proceedings of the IIS 40 (2012), 
135-167). In addition, we would be able to form new 
contracts and ritual bindings with the entities currently 
contained in these facilities; the ease with which SCP- 
1 was contained demonstrates how the ancient 
containment specialists set the standard for 
thaumaturgical binding practices, which we could gain 
great insight from today (M. C. Ater, "Theurgy and 
Thaumaturgy in Special Containment Procedures", 
Proceedings of the IIS 43 (2015), 97-135). 


Dr. Alexander Philipov, Emperor of the Institute for 
Imperial Studies 


Response to Proposal for Reassignment of Foundation 
Facilities in Former Imperial Territory 
Presented to the Director of the IIS on 11 June 2017. 


Director Filipov, 


The Overseer Council has discussed and voted on your 
proposal. The official tally was 10 against, 1 for, 2 
abstaining. No further response will be given. 


O52 


Proposal for Unification of SCP-3853A and SCP-3853B 
Submitted to the O5 Council on 23 September 2017. 


Since the separation of the powers of Pontifex Maximus 
from the office of /mperator, the ancient titles of 
Augustus Caesar have not been united under a single 
man. | propose that, in order to streamline containment 
of SCP-3853 and restore the ancient status quo of 
Rome, we ensure that the next Pontifex Maximus is the 
director of the IIS. The advantages of this course of 
action are threefold. 


First, it would remove any Foundation-external parties 
from the containment of SCP-3853B and related 


anomalies. While the Pontifical Commission for the 
Suppression of the Supernatural has been useful to our 
cause, it represent an unacceptable risk to future 
containment initiatives. 


Second, it would enable some anomalies to be contained 
under the authority of both SCP-3853 titles. It is highly 
probable that, given the cooperation between the Papacy 
and a number of previous Emperors (such as the 
Carolingian dynasty), some of the entities currently 
contained by the Vatican are also bound to the Emperor; 
these objects could be contained more easily if the same 
individual held both titles (Pappapetrou et al, 
"Underutilized Theurgic Bindings on Entities under IIS 
Containment: Three Case Studies", Proceedings of the 
IIS 29 (2001) 47-80). 


And third, it could reveal as-yet unknown properties of 
SCP-3853 that were lost when the titles were split up as 
Rome was Christianized. The currently-known properties 
of the titles, especially the benefits given to subordinates 
of those holding the titles, might be significantly 
enhanced, and other unknown benefits could be gained 
from this rejoining of Imperial honors (Julian A. Postata, 
"Not Just the Lion: Anomalous Properties of Pre- 
Christian Emperors", Proceedings of the IIS 35 (2007), 
12-34). 


Electing the Director of the Institute as Roman Catholic 
Pope is impractical; | therefore propose that, upon the 
death of the current Pope, the ancient Roman polytheist 
religion and Imperial cult be refounded, and that the 
Director be named Pontifex Maximus of that faith. The 
title could easily be willed by Pope Francis to the 
Director, and separated from the Papacy without any risk 
of an Avignon Event. 


Imperator Alexander Philippus of the Institute of Imperial 
Studies 


Response to Proposal for Unification of SCP-3853A and 


SCP-3853B 
Presented to the Director of the IIS on 20 October 2017. 


Director Filipov, 


The Overseer Council has discussed and voted on your 
proposal. The official tally was 12 against, 1 abstaining. 
No further response will be given. 


05-2 


Proposal for the Restoration of Imperial Power 
Submitted to the O5 Council on 30 April 2018. Originally written in 
Latin. 


With the Institute for Imperial Studies now being 
recognized as the true successor to the Empire of Rome, 
it is time for the Overseer Council to relinquish control of 
the Foundation to the Emperor. The entirety of the 
Foundation could benefit greatly from Imperial rule; no 
longer would we have to hide in the shadows of the 
world, emerging into the light as the new empire, to rule 
a world that we once fled. The fractured nations of 
Europe could be united once more under the rule of 
Rome; the people are ready for a strong hand to guide 
them (M. Antonius, "Political Suggestibility and 
Monarchist Sentiments in Modern Europe", Scholia 
Procedendaque Romana 1 (2018), 56-89), and | am 
ready to be that hand. 


| propose to restructure the Foundation along the lines of 
the Roman government. |, as Emperor, will be at its 
head; my loyal task forces will form the core of my 
Praetorian Guard, and the remainder will become my 
Legions. The Site Directors' Executive Committee of the 
Whole will become the Senate, with 300 members 
chosen from among the longest-serving and wisest 
members of Foundation staff. The Overseer Council 
shall become the new Tribunate, exercising veto power 
over the Senate but still answering to the Emperor. And 
all the remaining staff, the researchers and custodians 


it has no living family. 


The subject has survived falling from a 34th story window, a plane 
crash in the North Atlantic, two additional automobile accidents, and 
the destruction of the World Trade Center on 9/11/01. It has 
survived suicide attempts via hanging, overdose, self-immolation, 
and firearm (see Incident 503-A). Although the subject has won the 
lottery on two (2) separate occasions, by the time the Foundation 
took custody of it, medical bills had left it in heavy debt. 


SCP-503 is currently being studied by Dr. to determine if the 
subject’s properties can be reverse-engineered to increase the 
survival chances of field agents. 


Incident Report 503-A: Six (6) days before SCP-503 came into 
Foundation custody, it attempted suicide via shotgun. As it held the 
shotgun along its torso, firing up through the jaw, the jaw somehow 
absorbed most of the blast, destroying the jaw and causing massive 
cranial trauma. A neighbor who heard the blast found the subject 
and took it to the hospital, where it was discovered and retrieved by 
Foundation agents who had been monitoring the hospital for a 
possible outbreak of SCP- 


Incident Report 503-B: During the experiment recorded in Test Log 
503- , research assistant B was not searched by security prior to 
entering the subject’s cell. During the experiment, B_ left behind a 
ball-point pen, with which SCP-503 attempted to kill itself 31 minutes 
after the end of the experiment. Although it survived, it was left in 
critical condition for six (6) days. Research assistantB has been 
disciplined and reassigned. 


Test Log 503-1 
Test: Card-based guessing game 
Result: 100% success rate 


Test Log 503-2 
Test: Game of roulette 
Result: 100% success rate 


Test Log 503-3 
Test: Game of Poker 


and even the D-Class, shall be the citizens and subjects 
of a new Empire, which will stretch its reach across the 
globe.