The Eternal Empire (11 page)

Titus remembered the words that Uncle
Tiberius had spoken last year. "How can we prepare for war if we cannot
train," he muttered.

"Bloodsucking politicians!"
Virius spat on the ground.

Virius Primus was dark haired and
stocky with a scar above his right eyebrow. He came from Pannonia and was vocal
in his support of the Traditionalist party. Normally Titus would not have
associated with somebody as extreme as Virius, but they were the only two
junior tribunes in the legion. Virius had arrived a month before Titus and had
befriended him on his arrival. They spent much of their off duty time together
exploring the taverns and women of the local town.

"Without the army the Empire is
nothing!" exclaimed Virius, "and they let it shrink and rot because a
fat, lazy bureaucrat says that there is no money. I tell you Titus the army
will not stand for it!"

Titus looked around nervously. "Be
careful what you say Virius. If the peregrini hear you saying such things you
could get arrested!"

The peregrini were the Empires secret
police. Their prime responsibility was to pre-empt revolts by the army. Since
the time of Caesar, the army had had a major say in who ruled the Empire.
Unpopular Emperors had been deposed by rebellious troops, who often raised their
own commander to the throne, and even popular, successful Emperors had to be on
guard against ambitious or jealous generals. Emperors who wished to keep their
throne ensured that the peregrini were well funded.

Virius dismissed Titus's fears.
"We know who their agents in this legion are. When the army faces a threat
greater than the Saxons, Turks and Arabs combined, we will not be stopped by
the peregrini!"

The 'we' that Virius referred to was a
group of officers from the second Augusta that met on a regular basis to
'discuss' developments in military science. It was a cover for Virius and other
traditionalists in the legion. Titus had been along to a few of the 'meetings',
and although he was in agreement with their concerns regarding cuts in the
army, he felt uneasy about the solutions being 'suggested'. Titus had kept his
unease to himself, not wishing to disrupt his friendship with his fellow
tribune. Virius regarded his silence as agreement and now viewed Titus as a
de-facto member of the traditionalist group.

They turned their attention back to the
training ground and watched as a recruit was berated for not meeting his
centurions’ high standard. Titus commented that at least the quality of the
training was still being maintained.

"True," replied Virius,
"but what good is that if we are not allowed to put it into
practice."

"What do you mean?"

"There was another raid last
night," explained Virius. "Hiberian pirates looted a village no more
than twenty miles from here. Killed any who protested, ravished any women who
took their fancy and just destroyed for the fun of it."

The Hibernians had been raiding the
coast of Britannia long before the Romans had arrived. Hibernia was a loose
confederation of clans under a High King, who was chosen by the clan chiefs.
The clans were independent and wary of any central authority, happy to raid
each other, the Caledonians and Britannia when bored with fishing or farming
their own lands. The prime requirement for a candidate to be elected High King
was his inability to exercise any effective control over the clans.

"That close!" exclaimed
Titus. "Why weren't they caught on their way back? The navy has some
patrol ships at Abonae."

"Economic cut backs," said
Virius. "The navy ships have been laid up for the winter with their
boilers closed down. By the time a ship could have raised steam, the Hibernians
could have been at home in bed after a hard nights work!"

"What about us!" persisted
Titus. "The legion has two squadrons of aircraft. They could have intercepted
them."

"True they could have," said
Virius, "if there was enough fuel. By the time the sun rose and the
aircraft could take off, the pirates would have been half way across the sea.
The Legate reckoned that we would have used up half our months allocation of
aviation fuel searching for them."

"He was also worried about
recognising the culprits if the pilots found them." Virius added, not
attempting to hide the disgust in his voice.

"Well that's understandable,"
conceded Titus, coming to the Legates defence, "the Hibernicus Sea is full
of fishing ships in the morning. The perfect place for a few pirates to hide,
after all they are probably fishermen themselves most of the time."

"Well sink them all then!"
exclaimed a furious Virius. "They are all guilty. If they do not respect
Roman property and lives they must fear Roman retribution. They will soon learn
that there is no profit to be had by attacking the Empire."

"That's against standing
orders," said Titus sternly, "pirate vessels must be positively
identified before we can take action against them."

Virius calmed down, and smiled at
Titus. "You are a good law abiding citizen Titus," he said, "but
you must realise that the rule of law means nothing to those barbarians."

"Then surely we have a duty to
show them the virtues of a law abiding society?" Titus countered.

Virius roared with laughter.
"You're a simple soul Titus and you've been paying too much attention to
the chaplains’ sermons on Sunday". He used his hands to pat the scabbard
holding his short sword, the famous gladius, and the holster containing his
handgun. "We need to show them Roman bullets and Roman steel." He
drew his sword and shook it in front of Titus. "When we're tickling their
balls with this, it’s amazing how peaceful and law abiding they become."

2nd
February 1920

Constantinople

After the vote Marcus and Magnus
hurried out of the assembly. Behind them they could hear members of the
Senatorial and Traditionalist parties continuing to voice their objections.
Magnus led them through the narrow side streets to a seedy looking tavern that
Marcus had not been to before. The owner was a large man with greasy hair, an
unkempt beard and bad teeth. He recognised Magnus as soon as he entered and
greeted him like a long lost son, guiding him and Marcus to a quiet booth in
the corner. A jug of house wine and two glasses appeared on the table almost
immediately and Magnus downed his drink whilst Marcus was still busy pouring
his. 

"I needed that!" said Magnus
slamming down the empty glass. "All that talking and shouting is thirsty
work".

As Marcus finished filling his glass,
Magnus took the jug and poured himself a second drink. Marcus looked around the
tavern. The clientele was definitely from the lower strata of society, and if
there had been a few bodies with their throats cut lying around, they would not
have looked out of place.

"Where are we?" asked Marcus
in a stage whisper, afraid that the wrong word would bring unwelcome attention
from the other patrons.

"I can't recall its official
name," replied Magnus "but everyone calls it Attlia's Place, after
the owner. Attlia's his nickname, don't know how he got it, didn't think it
healthy to ask."

"Well Attila seems to know you
quite well."

"Yes, I helped him out with some
legal problems he was having last year," said Magnus, "he's a gold
mine of information, and it's a great place to meet people in secret. Attila
makes sure that we are left alone with any private guests."

"Why are we here?" asked
Marcus.

"I like the place." replied
Magnus. "It’s down to earth, unpretentious and serves excellent wine at a
reasonable price." He finished off his glass and began pouring himself
another. "What do you think of today's vote Marcus?"

"I'm glad it's over. I thought
that some of those old relics in the Senatorial party were going to have a
heart attack when they realised that all the laws were going to be passed
together as a single group and with the Emperors blessing."

The imperial bureaucracy led by the
chief minister Lucullus Verus, had persuaded Alexander to accept the package of
laws in order to push through the austerity measures needed to balance the
budget. They were not at all happy with the loss of some of their own
privileges, but no one else had been able to come up with an alternative.
Alexander had accepted their recommendation, mainly because he was exasperated
by the economic crisis and wanted something done to deal with the problem. He
had even summoned the most influential senators to a private meeting in order
to get the laws passed through the senate.

"That certainly surprised
them," agreed Magnus, "they couldn't believe that the Emperor had
agreed to such 'revolutionary ideas'. But what really surprised me was the way
Demetrius Exanzenus rolled over and played dead in the Senate."

Demetrius Exanzenus was the largest
landowner in the Empire and also had significant interests in many areas of
trade and commerce. He was a ruthless business man and many senators were
either beholden to him for their continued commercial existence, or had been
financially crippled by him after some slight, real or imagined. Despite being
extremely capable and astute, he could not stand to be criticised or to have
his views opposed. You either agreed with him and were acceptable, or disagreed
and became, in his eyes, a deadly enemy. His views were in keeping with the
most reactionary factions in politics, but he did not belong to any party. He
led a group of conservative senators, and whilst generally supporting the
Senatorial or Traditionalist parties he made it very clear that he would vote
as he saw fit.

"I agree," concurred Marcus,
"Exanzenus gave a most eloquent, well reasoned yet violent attack on all
the laws and then he leads most of the other conservative senators in
abstaining, allowing the laws to be passed."

"That old bastard's up to
something." said Magnus with feeling. "He doesn't acquiesce so easily
unless there's something in it for him."

"You really don't like him
Magnus." said Marcus, pouring them both a drink from the jug. "Surely
he can't be as bad as he is made out to be."

"Oh I'm sure he is really a fine
fellow!" exclaimed Magnus with sarcasm. "And provided you get
enjoyment from pulling the wings off butterflies and drowning kittens in the
river, I can guarantee that Demetrius Exanzenus will see in you a kindred
soul!"

"You REALLY don't like him, do
you!"

He slammed down his glass, spilling
wine over the dark wooden table. "Senator Demetrius Exanzenus,"
Magnus said slowly, emphasising each word, "is an evil, malignant sickness.
He would destroy all those who have a vision of the Empire that is different
from his."

"And what is his vision?"
asked Marcus, taken aback by his friends passionate hatred of this man.

"He has never really said,"
conceded Magnus, now looking sorrowfully at the wasted wine covering the table,
"at least not to my knowledge, but I think that for Demetrius Exanzenus
there can be only one picture of the Empire."

"And what is that," persisted
Marcus.

"Where Demetrius Exanzenus is
either the power behind the throne, or sitting on it himself."

3
^rd
February 1920

Minden,
Saxony

Cornelius had enjoyed the day he had
spent with Katherine at the castle museum and when they had parted they had
agreed to meet up again ‘so that he could provide more assistance with her
studies’, Cornelius had told her. Nothing specific has been arranged and
Cornelius did not hear anything for a couple of weeks and then he got a phone
call.

“Trade Office – Cornelius Petronius,
Trade Attaché speaking”

 “You sound like a typical Imperial
bureaucrat when you answer the phone Cornelius, do you know that?” Katherine’s
German accented Latin did not disguise the teasing in her voice.

“And you appear to have mastered the art
of blunt speaking in at least two languages,” countered Cornelius, “regardless
of which, it is good to hear from you.”

“I’ve been out of Minden for most of the
last two weeks so have not had a chance to get in touch. Anyway, since you
bought me lunch at the Castle I have decided that I would buy you dinner at a
traditional Saxon restaurant. It will also be an opportunity for you to learn
about some German culture.”

Many men would have been appalled at
been invited to dinner by a woman, but Cornelius, thanks partly to Fulvia’s
influence, was relatively enlightened. Besides which he had no intention of
saying no. “That sounds wonderful, when did you have in mind?”

“How about tonight, are you free?”

Cornelius did a quick scan of the papers
on his desk. Nothing that can’t wait and there are no social engagements
tonight at the embassy. “Yes, I’m free – tonight will be fine.”

“Perfect. I will pick you up outside the
embassy gates at 7:30.”

“I’ll be there Katherine.”

“One thing Cornelius,” Katherine’s voice
took on a slightly cold, steely sound.