Soldier of Rome: The Sacrovir Revolt (The Artorian Chronicles) (38 page)

Pilate laughed and slapped his friend on the shoulder.
Justus was a good soldier; one who had seen his fair share of battle in the east. He despised being used as a political pawn. However, with no wars to fight he figured he would make the best of his situation. Pilate could only do the same.

“So who
in the bloody hell was that?” Artorius asked later, when the section was sitting at a table outside a café by the docks.

“Diana Procula,” Decimus replied without missing a beat.

All eyes turned towards the legionary who was busily devouring his lunch of strip steak and freshly baked bread. He looked up and stopped chewing when he saw his companions staring at him.

“What?” he asked with a shrug. “She’s Proculus’ cousin, or at least some type of relative. She came here to see him before going off to run his new country estate.”

“What of the young girl?”
Magnus asked.

“That’s her sister, Claudia,” Decimus replied through a mouthful of bread.

Gavius nearly choked on his wine.
“That’s not our Pilate’s Claudia is it?”

Decimus nodded in reply.

“I knew she was young, I just did not realize she was still a little girl.”

“Well
, that works for Pilate,” Magnus conjectured. “From what I remember, he loves the bachelor life, and he won’t have to marry her for some years yet. Getting the betrothal out of the way just secures his alliance with her family, which, I must say, is quite influential.”

“That they are,” Decimus
concurred.

Artorius remained quiet
. He had hardly spoken a word since they left the forum. He knew that Diana Procula was of the patrician class and therefore off limits to a lowly legionary. And yet he could not help but still feel enraptured by her gaze. In the moment that he had been able to lay his eyes on her, he knew that she exuded everything he found most noble; a strong mind, a physically fit body, a noble yet kind demeanor, and to say nothing of her sheer physical beauty.

“Artorius, you haven’t said much,” Carbo remarked as everyone turned their attention from Decimus to their
decanus.

“Huh?”
Artorius shook his head quickly, clearing his mind. “Sorry, I was miles away.”

“No you weren’t,” Carbo retorted.
“You were still back in the forum, admit it!”

Artorius’ blushing caused his friends to start laughing and heckling him in their amusement.

“Alright, so maybe I was still back there,” he replied. “You can’t tell me none of you were stunned by her beauty.”

“To be honest, we were all too busy watching you run into the pillar,” Magnus said, causing Artorius to turn an even deeper shade of red.

“I caught sight of her,” Carbo remarked, eyes looking distant. “She really is beautiful; clearly out of any of our league, though. I wouldn’t even know what to do with someone like that.”

Valens put his arm around Carbo’s shoulder and started to speak in a consolatory tone.
“Well, you see it’s like this; when a man and a woman who love each other very much . . . actually they don’t necessarily have to
love
each other . . . in fact, as a man even
liking
them is really optional . . . anyway, they get these certain urges . . .”

A
quick rap from the back of Carbo’s hand interrupted the rest of his dissertation. “Alright, finish up and let’s get ready to move out,” Artorius ordered. “There’s a new slaver in town that set up shop by Four Corners Road, and I want to make certain he’s keeping a watchful eye on his wares.”

As the section donned their helmets and started away from the docks, Magnus gave him a smack on the shoulder.
“If it helps, I know the town brothel got in some new stock yesterday.  You might be able to get something fresh and unspoiled, if you know what I mean.” “Those girls are expensive!” Valens complained.

“You get what you pay for,” Gavius observed.

Valens could only shrug and nod in reply.

Artorius took a deep breath and stepped out ahead of his men. They were right, of course. Someone like Lady Diana would view the likes of him as little more than a serf, even if her cousin had come from similarly humble beginnings. He would have to settle for spending a few coins on some new and exotic entertainment to satisfy what he figured was nothing more than overborne lust.

He was still adjusting to their new assignment, but after the Sacrovir Revolt, he knew he owed it to himself to enjoy his good fortune. Policing a rapidly growing city was far different than securing the frontier against rampaging barbarians, or suppressing rebellions when outnumbered and uncertain as to who one’s allies were.
Still, it was part of his duties as a soldier of Rome. 

Heracles strode through the rubble and ash that still smoldered; the charred remains of Sacrovir’s mansion house.
The Romans had taken anything of value that they had been able to find. Corpses were left where they lay. He climbed over mounds of fallen roof tiles and collapsed walls, searching for . . . well, he was not sure exactly what.

He came to the remains of the great hall they had been meeting in.
The roof, as well as the entire second story, had collapsed on this area. The charred ruins of furniture still smoked, even though the rains had long since put out the fires. And then he saw it, a glint in the gloom of the destroyed building. He crawled over until he could see it plainly; a gilded sword handle, sticking out of the pile of rubble. It was Sacrovir’s weapon, the one he had had made by the best smiths in all of Gaul.

Heracles pulled hard
on the handle, slowly the debris giving way as the weapon came up and out. The blade was covered in dark crimson, Sacrovir’s blood.  Heracles knew the man lay charred and buried beneath the wreckage. As he gazed upon the sword, a fierce sense of determination welled up inside him. The Gauls were not his native people, yet it was Sacrovir who had liberated him. In that, a debt was owed to the man. Into the shadows would Heracles go; from thence he would rise again. He would see Sacrovir’s dream to fruition. He would raise another rebellion, stronger than before, and he would liberate Gaul!

“All in due time,” he said to himself in a sinister voice, his eyes burning with hate.

*Historical notes*

E
very novel within the
Soldier of Rome
series is historically based, at least as much as I have been able to make possible. While I have to take considerable literary license whenever there is a gap in historical records, at no time have I deliberately altered recorded history. Given that historical sources often-times conflict with each other, there is still room for interpretation and dispute. This is very much the case in
The Legionary
, where accounts of the Battle of Idistaviso are disputed by Germanic and Latin sources. In these cases, I have had to decide either which text was most believable or, at least, which would best go with my story. Germanic sources do not even mention the assault on the Angrivarii stronghold, though it is detailed by the Roman historian, Tacitus.

Certain historical characters, in particular the Emperor Tiberius and his mother Livia, I have taken a more sympathetic role towards. Many things written about them were born out of gossip rather than fact, in which case I discarded that which I found not to be believable. This is particularly true regarding the death of Germanicus. While historians such as Tacitus and Suetonius have speculated much into their roles in Germanicus’ demise, none can actually say for certain whether either was involved or not. Since it is all speculation, I felt alright with giving my own interpretation of what I think actually happened. This however is strictly my own interpretation.

To answer the often-asked question, yes the Pontius Pilate depicted in
Soldier of Rome
is the same man made famous in The Bible. Since so little is known about Pilate’s career before his governorship of Judea, I was able to, rather effortlessly, insert him into the story. Some apocryphal accounts have Pilate stating that he was, in fact, at the Battle of Idistaviso. Ironically, I had completely fabricated his participation in the battle, only discovering this information after I had already published
The Legionary.
And while Pilate’s wife, Claudia Procula, was a real person, her relation to Centurion Valerius Proculus is fictitious. Her sister Diana is also a fictitious character.

While I have worked to keep this series as historically accurate as possible, I have had to take a lot more literary license with
The Sacrovir Revolt
, particularly because it is not as well documented in any histories that I have read. While I have done everything possible to write a rich and intriguing story, at no time have I deliberately changed known historical facts. Be that as it may, any historical inaccuracies that may exist in the
Soldier of Rome
series, and that I have not already cited, are errors on my part and completely unintentional.

Bibliography

Note: All citations are from the Annals of Tacitus, Volume III

Further Reading:

Tacitus, Cornelius.
The Annals: The Reigns of Tiberius, Claudius, and Nero.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.

The adventures of
Artorius and his legionaries continues in Part Three of The Artorian Chronicles,

Soldier of Rome: Heir to Rebellion

A new trilogy of Ancient Rome by James Mace

Available now through
Amazon
and
Amazon U.K.