The Eternal Empire (15 page)

Usually the stone would fall short, but
sometimes the missile was on target and a dull thud indicated that it had been
deflected by a shield. The legate had ordered that half of each century be
issued with the shields, scutum, used in ceremonial parades, but with leather
covers to protect them. The front rank of the century that Titus commanded
carried a curved oblong shield in front of them, held up high so that only
their eyes showed between the top of their shields and the bottom of their
helmets. The legionary helmet with its horizontal neck guard was based on the headgear
worn by Caesar's troops, and with their short swords drawn and held in their
hands instead of being fixed to the tops of their rifles, they might well have
been about to engage some first century barbarians instead of twentieth century
rioters.

The legio II Augusta had been ordered
from its base two days before to protect imperial government installations.
Demonstrations had turned into riots when the news of the massacre in Tarraco
and the subsequent revolt had broken. Titus and a cohort had been sent to the
naval base at Abonae, where they had sealed off the entire dockyard area from
the town. The local auxiliaries and police were bringing the centre of the city
under control, but the rioters were moving towards the dockyard area and the
warehouses that surrounded it.

The street where the legionaries were
deployed was made up of a number of small double storey houses and shops, many
of which had been hastily boarded up by their inhabitants before they had fled.
Huge four storey warehouses were visible behind the houses and smoke had begun
to pour out of their broken windows.

A scattered volley of shots echoed
around the area. The legionaries became tense, the front ranks held their
shields closer to their bodies whilst the second rank gripped their rifles more
tightly. They were scanning the area in front of them for signs of danger. The
firing increased and Titus noticed that some of the crowd at the end of the
street were moving towards the sound of the shooting. Titus caught the eye of
the centurion in charge of the troops and indicated that he should join him.

"What do you think is going
on?" Titus asked.

The centurion was a seasoned soldier
with some twenty years in the legions. He stared over towards the warehouses
and thought for a few moments before answering his commanders’ query.

"Some of the big trading houses
maintain their own armed guards," he said, "perhaps they're trying to
scare off looters."

The firing continued, and increased in
intensity. Titus and the centurion exchanged glances.

"It's beginning to sound more like
a fire fight," said Titus. The centurion nodded in agreement.

Titus though carefully. His orders were
to defend the naval base, but he could not just stand there whilst a full scale
battle raged. Another unit of legionaries or some local auxiliaries could be in
trouble. He had to do something.

"Centurion," said Titus,
"you will remain here with half the century and protect the entrance. I'll
take optio Lepidus and the other half of the century to investigate the
shooting."

The centurion looked sceptical, but
said nothing. Optio Lepidus, the centuries second in command barked out a few
orders and half the men moved away from the gate and down the street towards
the sound of the shooting. The front rank held their swords out in front of
them showing the bare steel to the crowd in front, whilst the second rank held
their rifles at the ready, scanning the windows and roof tops for snipers.

The crowd, which had thinned
considerably since the first shots had been fired, retreated rapidly as the
line of troops advanced. A single group of youths threw a few desultory stones
as a parting gift before taking to their heels and disappearing around the
corner at the cross roads. Titus brought his men up to the junction and halted
them whilst he reviewed his position. To his right was a large warehouse with a
sign indicating that the building was the property of the Exanzenus Trading
Company. Titus could see men appear at the first floor windows and fire their
rifles at the rioting crowd below them. It would not be long before the crowd
broke into the warehouse and tore the guards to pieces. Titus decided that the
best he could do would be to rescue the hapless guards and escort them back to
the safety of the naval base.

The street ahead of Titus and to his
right was clear, so he wheeled his men round and headed towards the warehouse.
As the distance between the legionaries and the crowd narrowed, Titus ordered
the second rank to load their rifles. The metallic sound of rifle bolts
chambering a bullet drew the rioters’ attention. The crowd drew back and a
channel appeared between the legionaries and the warehouse. This encouraged the
guards inside the warehouse who increased their volume of fire. Titus used the
speaking trumpet that he had with him to shout an order to the warehouse guards
to cease fire and come out and join him, but either they did not hear or they
chose to ignore him.

At that moment, hundreds of auxiliary
troops began to pour into the area in front of the warehouse from the streets
to the right. They formed a line in front of the warehouse facing the
legionaries, their rifles at the ready. Titus again ordered his men to halt.

Titus was confused; the auxiliaries had
deliberately interposed themselves between his men and the warehouse. Spotting
the commander of the auxiliaries, a sour faced man, Titus detached himself from
his men and strode purposely over to him intent on obtaining an explanation.
However as he came up to his counterpart, it was the auxiliary officer who got
the first word in.

"What're you doing here?" he
snarled at Titus as though he was some raw recruit who had wandered into the
officers’ mess, "the legions are restricted to protecting the naval
base."

Titus felt his cheeks flush red hot with
rage. The auxiliary was also a junior tribune, but as legionary troops took
precedence over auxiliaries Titus outranked him. He did not intend to allow
this arrogant provincial to make him look foolish in front of his own men.

"I go where I wish to go auxiliary!"
Titus snapped back at him, the anger evident in his voice, "and as the
ranking officer here, I demand to know what you think you're doing!"

In a calculated show of disrespect, the
auxiliary officer did not immediately reply but looked Titus up and down. When
he did reply he did not speak directly to Titus, but looked over to where the
legionaries had halted.

"This is a civil matter, not a
military one," he said in a quiet voice, "I don't consider the
legionary precedence rule to apply here." He then looked straight at Titus
and spoke so that only Titus and a few of the auxiliaries close by could hear.

"I strongly suggest that you take
your men and return to the dockyards where you belong. We'll deal with this
matter."

"And if I don't?" Titus retorted.

The auxiliary gave him an insolent
smile. "I think that you should count the rifles around you, then you will
discover that at the moment I outrank you."

Titus glanced around. His men were
holding their positions, but were looking confused and apprehensive. The
auxiliaries were looking surer of themselves and more troops were arriving.
Titus estimated that he was outnumbered four or five to one. This was neither
the time nor the place to make a stand on a point of military law.

Gritting his teeth and barely
controlling his anger Titus stared back at the auxiliary officer.

"I'll break you for this!" he
said before turning around and rejoining his men. He ordered the optio to take
the men back.

The legionaries formed into a column
and marched back the way they had come. The rioters were jeering and laughing.
Titus turned to look at the long line of auxiliaries. They were not laughing or
jeering, but there was a look of quiet satisfaction on their faces.

27th
February 1920

Imperial
Palace, Constantinople

Lucullus Verus, chief minister to the
Emperor was standing before his sovereign in the audience chamber. Alexander
was not seated on his throne but was pacing up and down in front of Verus,
sending the occasional venomous look at him. Finally he stopped and spoke to
Verus.

"It was on your advice that I
accepted that package of laws," Alexander said, "and now my cousin is
dead, his body hanging on display from the Tarraco city gates, the army is in
mutiny and half the Empire is in open rebellion!"

"Your Majesty," Verus began,
"the unrest is generally under control, it was only in Hispania that there
was any trouble with the military, elsewhere the laws have been accepted with
minor protests. I'm sure that...."

"Enough!" shouted Alexander,
who began to pace up and down the room again. "I was warned that trouble
would follow by agreeing to these laws. I should have listened to that
advice".

"I'm sure that governor Gallus
will be able to bring the situation in Hispania under control, your Majesty,"
persisted Verus, "what happened to your cousin was tragic, but we can't
allow one regrettable incident to detract from the best solution to our
economic difficulties."

"I'm no longer convinced of
that!" snapped Alexander. The Emperor ceased his pacing again and stood
before Verus. He took a moment to calm himself before speaking to him.

 "You're dismissed as my chief
minister!" he said in a matter of fact voice. "I shall be appointing
a replacement in due course."

Verus was speechless. He had served as
chief minister for over ten years, first to Philip and then to Alexander. He
started to protest, but was cut short by an angry wave from the Emperor.

"GO!" Alexander shouted,
"before I have the Praetorians throw you out!"

A dejected Verus bowed and walked out.

Alexander gestured for the major-domo
to attend upon him.

"Send a messenger to senator
Demetrius Exanzenus," Alexander instructed, "tell him that I wish to
see him immediately."

3rd
March 1920

Londinium,
Britannia

Sextus Capito was not a happy man. It
was difficult keeping the finances of the province in order at the best of
times let alone when there was widespread rioting. At the end of the previous
year he had painstakingly prepared taxation and expenditure plans for the whole
of 1920 and for the first month all had gone well. Sextus was now considering
taking the plans, cutting them into neat little squares and leaving them in the
latrine where they could still be of some use.

His secretary had placed a pile of new
reports on the right of his desk. As with everything that Sextus did, his desk
was organised. The right side of the desk was for new reports, memorandums, and
messages. The left was for filing, messages for other departments and work for
other employees of the provincial finance department. The middle of the desk
was for items that Sextus was busy dealing with.

Sextus dreaded what additional problems
the reports contained for his department. He picked up the first one. Coal
production was down by 25% due to industrial unrest and the power stations were
complaining that they only had six days supply left. If the unrest did not end
soon he would have to try and get coal from the Saxons to keep the power
stations going. He wrote down a few figures and comments on the pad next to
him, attached a note directing it to one of his accountants with some
instructions and discarded the report by starting a new pile on his left. His
secretary would collect it and pass it on in due course.

The next report was an estimate of the
cost of repairs to government buildings damaged in the demonstrations and
riots. Sextus consoled himself that it was not as bad as it could have been,
but it was still an unplanned expense. He repeated the exercise of noting down
pertinent figures and re-addressing the report so that action would be taken by
the appropriate section of his department.

Sextus had nearly finished all the
reports when he had a couple of visitors. They were not announced by his
secretary as was the usual practise, but knocked on his door and entered
without waiting for an answer.

Sextus was annoyed. He hated being
interrupted when he was working and signalled his annoyance with a cold glare.
The two men glared back and Sextus felt a cold shiver run down his spine. Few
people could remain composed when visited by the peregrini.

"Good morning, Sextus
Capito," said the man who had entered first. "I am Secundus
Mamertinius of Imperial Intelligence and this is my assistant. I hope we aren't
disturbing you, but we believe that you can be of service to the Emperor."

The men sat down without being asked.
They glanced around, their eyes taking in every aspect of the office, from the
portrait of the Emperor on the wall to the small vase of flowers that his
secretary had placed on the corner of his desk that morning. Imperial
Intelligence was responsible for security both inside and outside the empire,
but the peregrini were a law unto themselves. Sextus had heard that some
particulary outspoken opponents of the current Imperial policies were being
arrested and it was not unknown for people to just 'disappear'.