Bedrock of Empire

by Thomas M D Brooke

  Viviana touched me on my arm to get my attention. ‘They’re dangerous, Cassius. No one has risen up and rebelled against Rome in a generation. But they spoke of a calamitous defeat for the Romans in a faraway land, where ten legions were destroyed. They say the strength of Rome is broken, and just like in times past, the Gallaecian tribes need to rise up and take advantage of Rome’s plight.’

  Ten legions destroyed, was it? Well, not quite, but losing three was bad enough. I couldn’t fault their logic. ‘Did many listen?’

  She shook her head. ‘Most of the men have too much sense in this village. They are so close to the Roman camp they can see their strength. But some of the young boys, those who’ve been brought up with foolish stories of warriors and honour, began to listen. The villagers were glad when you turned up because you frightened them away before their influence could grow any stronger.’ She looked up at the roof of the roundhouse. ‘Thank the gods that Rafa wasn’t here. Trying to join the legions may be stupid at his age, but at least it isn’t complete madness!’

  I looked up at the attractive young woman and asked her quietly, ‘So you at least realise it is madness?’

  She sat herself down on a low table opposite me. ‘Yes, I understand there can be no resistance to Rome, Cassius. You should not need to ask. In our distant past, the people of Numantia thought as those outlaws did. They thought that they could take advantage of Rome when she was weakened.’ Her eyes hardened. ‘Now, nothing remains of them. I won’t let that happen to my people.’

  I looked at her carefully. ‘Who are you, Viviana? Legate Pancratius said you were a sister to two auxiliaries in the Roman army. But you are much more than that, aren’t you?’

  Viviana stood up, standing proudly erect. ‘My family is important amongst the Gallaecian tribes.’

  I whispered. ‘Why?’

  She looked at me, possibly wondering whether she could trust me. Finally, she admitted, ‘My grandfather led the Gallaecian tribes at the battle of Mons Medulius.’

  I looked at her, realisation dawning. No wonder Pancratius had treated her with so much respect. ‘Mons Medulius, where the last resistance to Roman rule on the Spanish peninsula was finally extinguished. Augustus’ finest general Agrippa won many wars, but this was considered one of his greatest victories. That was thirty years ago.’

  ‘My family has come a long way since that defeat. We now serve Rome, and with pride. We have learned the hard way that Rome cannot be resisted.’

  I gave a heavy sigh. ‘And yet those men who came to this village wanted to resurrect that idea?’

  Her deep brown eyes took in my own. ‘That is why they are dangerous, Cassius. You and I both know that any rebellion is doomed to failure. Rome has crushed armies ten times the size of any that they can muster. But it could bring much hardship to my people. Thousands died at Mons Medulius, thousands more in the reprisals that followed. We have had thirty years of peace since those dark days. Let’s not have them return.’

  I looked at the proud young tribeswoman. ‘Don’t worry, Viviana. We’re both in agreement on that. We’ll tread carefully on our way to the mine.’

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Audax returned to the village just as we were readying to leave. He rode over to us holding up a small mountain deer he’d caught on his travels. ‘We’ll eat well tonight, Cassius!’

  I laughed and gave him a big smile. ‘The men will appreciate some fresh meat. Once again, you haven’t disappointed.’

  Audax looked very pleased with himself. ‘I startled her from her hiding place in a bush, then managed to run her down with my spear.’

  I was impressed. I’d seen those deer on our journey; similar to mountain goats in their dexterity but as fast and fleet as any fallow deer. ‘No mean feat riding one of those down from horseback.’

  He gave me a huge grin and slapped his horse’s flank. ‘The two of us ride as one. I couldn’t do it without her.’

  I hated to spoil his good mood, but there was no point in putting it off. ‘In that case, this will be the last fresh meat we enjoy for a while.’

  Audax frowned. ‘Why’s that?’

  I shook my head. ‘As we head up to the mine, I want us to go carefully. That means no more ranging about on your horse. You might inadvertently give our position away.’

  Audax looked shocked. ‘I can’t scout ahead?’

  I looked him squarely in the eye. ‘I’m afraid not, Audax. You can bring the horse if you want, but you’ll have to lead him and walk like the rest of us.’

  Audax threw the dead small deer at my feet. ‘But in Ataecina’s name, why?’

  I looked down at the limp deer at my feet before carefully explaining. ‘Because you’ve had no military training. You’re a brilliant rider and hunter, Audax, but that’s a different skill. You could easily alert others to our presence inadvertently. On the way here, I lost count of the times you let yourself be exposed on the skyline. As I thought we were under no threat, I didn’t care. But those warriors we came across change things. They constitute a threat and we will proceed more carefully from now on.’

  Audax crossed his arms in protest. ‘You just haven’t forgiven me for that drink I shared with them.’

  I sighed and shook my head. ‘No, Audax, that’s not it. I would order this regardless of that incident. We need to treat the next part of our journey as if we were in hostile territory. And that means no hunting trips alone.’

  He still wasn’t prepared to let this go. ‘No one else will be able to catch the amount of game I have.’

  I nodded. ‘And I will miss the fresh meat as much as anyone.’

  Audax spat on the ground and then dismounted from his horse. ‘It doesn’t sound like I have any choice.’

  I shrugged. ‘You’re free to return to Tarraco if you wish. You’re not part of my military escort, so I have no reason to hold you if you don’t want to stay.’

  This shocked him, and he turned to me. ‘No, no, I’ll stay.’

  I was surprised how firmly he stated that. ‘And you’re welcome to do so, but we can manage now without you if necessary.’

  He shook his head. ‘It’s alright, I’ll lead my horse.’ He walked past me to the front of the column.

  I looked at Blasius, who just shrugged and picked up the dead deer. ‘I guess he doesn’t want to be left behind.’

  I looked at the path ahead. ‘Alright, no more delays. Let’s get moving.’ I turned to Viviana. ‘You’re sure you know the location of the mine?’

  She gave me a half-smile but narrowed her eyes. ‘I told you, Rafa has explained which river the mine intersects. I know that river well. We’ll be there in three or four days.’

  I gave her a grin. ‘Alright then, lead the way.’

  The next few days, despite Audax’s grumblings, and my worries, were actually untroubled. We headed steadily west, further into the mountains, over higher and higher ground, passing numerous river valleys and open hillsides. ‘The countryside of your people is very pleasant,’ I told Viviana one day.

  Viviana gave me a strange look. ‘You mean your country is not?’

  I smiled. ‘Italy has its own beauty too, but these mountains are very peaceful.’

  Viviana frowned. ‘I wish that was always the case. We still need to be watchful for bandits.’

  I gave her a grin. ‘I hadn’t forgotten, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy ourselves as we walk.’

  She gave me one of her rare smiles that lit up her face. ‘I suppose so. But these mountains are all I know. I’ve never seen anywhere else.’

  I tilted my head in query. ‘You’ve never been to Tarraco?’

  She shook her head and frowned. ‘I’ve never seen the point in travelling out of the mountains. My brothers were different. They wanted to see the world. What made you come here?’

  I couldn’t help but glance behind me, to where Flavus walked twenty paces behind between two of my soldiers. ‘It’s complicated.’

  Viviana didn’t
miss much, and she certainly didn’t miss such an obvious inference. ‘You never talk to him, but your gaze never wanders far from him. He must be very important to you?’

  I cursed myself for being so obvious. ‘Like I said, it’s complicated.’

  Viviana looked at Flavus and pursed her lips. ‘When you return to Rome, will you make him your slave?’

  I laughed. ‘Of course not! Why would you think such a thing?’

  Viviana shrugged. ‘Romans need a lot of slaves, even I’ve noticed that.’

  I scoffed. ‘Your own people use slaves too. I’ve seen them. Even in Rafa’s village I saw some.’

  She gave me a guarded look. ‘Those were captives taken from conflicts between the tribes. They are kept in thralldom, as their lives are forfeit as a result of their submission.’

  I raised an eyebrow. ‘That sounds like slavery to me?’

  Her eyes narrowed. ‘Maybe, but we don’t claim to own them.’

  I wasn’t sure where this discussion was going. I certainly didn’t want to get into a debate over slavery. ‘It’s the same the world over. I’ve never come across any society that doesn’t use slave labour, either currently, or at some point in their past, whatever name they give it.’

  She gave me a half-smile. ‘Yes, but Rome has enslaved the entire world. That makes a difference.’

  I sighed. ‘Viviana, I didn’t make the world how it is. If Rome has enslaved more than anyone else, it is simply because we are better at it than any other people. Hannibal Barca came within a whisker of finishing Rome once, with his Celtic-Iberian army. If he had, your family would now in all likelihood be the masters, and Aulus, Blasius and I simply your slaves.’

  Viviana gave me a wide smile. ‘I think I’d like you as my slave.’

  I stopped and gave a small laugh. ‘And why is that?’

  She gave me a mischievous look. ‘Those wide shoulders of yours would be useful carrying things. Why else?’

  I carried on walking. ‘Very useful, I’m sure. Anyway, I thought you supported Rome?’

  She looked around the mountains. ‘I do. I support the stability and safety you have brought to our land – my grandmother tells me of a very different time, when the weak were always preyed on by the strong. Some men look back at that time as if it were something glorious, but a life of terror, death, and flame holds little appeal for anyone with sense.’

  I was in complete agreement with her there. ‘You see! Our coming has benefited your people in countless ways.’

  She looked at me. ‘Yes, that is true, but that doesn’t mean I have to agree with everything you do. It is my people I care about, not your empire.’

  I didn’t say anything. I didn’t care much about the empire myself, one way or another. I never understood why everyone expected me to be such a patriot.

  After a short pause, Viviana asked me, ‘So, if you’re not taking your prisoner back to Rome to be your slave, why are you bringing him with you?’

  She was never going to let this drop, was she? I wiped the sweat off my brow as we climbed steadily up the narrow path. ‘His family were responsible for a terrible event in another land. Rome has questions for him, that’s all.’

  She looked at me shrewdly. ‘You were affected by this terrible event, weren’t you?’

  I was startled by her intuition; that was too close to the mark. ‘How can you tell?’

  She said to me softly, ‘It isn’t hard to tell, Cassius. As soon as you spoke of it, it was as if a dark cloud had passed over your heart. It’s the same when you look at your prisoner. I’ve been watching you. Sometimes you look at him as if he is a proud son of yours or a favoured close friend. But then that cloud reappears and you look at him as if he has done you a great wrong and you have nothing but hate in your heart for him. I have never seen anyone so conflicted.’

  I ground my teeth. ‘Isn’t there anyone else you can watch?’

  She gave a light laugh. ‘No one else is as interesting to observe as you, Cassius. But I’m sorry if I offended you. I’ll let you keep your secrets.’

  On the third day after leaving Rafa’s village, we came across a wide shallow river that carved its way down through the mountains. Viviana announced, ‘This is the river on which your mine is located.’

  I looked at its shallow and wide base; I imagined it would have been quite a torrent after the first snowmelt of spring, but now in high summer it seemed quite tame. ‘You’re sure?’

  She gave me an annoyed look. ‘Of course I’m sure.’

  I rubbed my chin. ‘Well, it doesn’t look difficult to traverse. I guess we can just follow it upstream?’

  Aulus pulled his mule over to the water’s edge to drink. ‘Cacus will appreciate being able to drink his fill on the way up. It’s been a hot trail for all of us.’

  Blasius sat down by the water’s edge and removed one sandal before dipping his foot in the cool water. ‘Ahh, isn’t that the truth. I’d forgotten how hard marching all day can be. I’m not as young as I once was.’

  Maris asked me, ‘Can I tell the men to take a break by the river before we start following it? It has been a hot day.’

  I was about to agree, but Audax suddenly hushed me and signalled that he heard something upstream. We all dropped to silence and strained to listen over the sound of the babbling water from the river. Somebody was humming a tune.

  I signalled Audax to lead the way, as Maris and I followed him upstream. Within a few turns of the river we saw who was making the pleasant tune. A man stood up to his knees in a small stream tributary of the wide river. His tunic was hitched up high to keep it dry and his face was obscured by a large floppy hat. He hadn’t noticed our approach, his attention completely engrossed in the water as he slowly bent down and scooped up a small amount of the streambed with a flat pan and swirled it around.

  As we walked up to him, he stopped humming and turned around. ‘Oh! Hello. Can I help you at all?’

  He was in his early thirties, slight of build and had a pleasant smile on his face. He reminded me of a gentle schoolteacher I’d once had in my youth. Julius had teased that particular teacher so much that he’d been largely ineffective at teaching us Greek, but I’d always liked him. I asked the man, ‘We were told there is a gold mine in these parts. Could you tell us how far?’

  The man dropped the pan of pebbles by the side of the river. ‘Yes, yes, the mine is not far. I will take you there myself if you want to go? Always a pleasure to meet fellow Romans this far from the interior.’

  I signalled Maris and Audax to go back and fetch the others. Clearly this man was no threat. After they left, I asked the man, ‘What were you doing?’

  He looked down at the pan, then back to me. ‘Panning for gold, of course. If you swirl the mud around, you sometimes see glints of it, but it is hard to pick up.’

  I gave him a smile. ‘That sounds like hard work. Do you find enough to make it worthwhile?’

  He put both hands on his hips. ‘Well, to tell the truth, I’m not trying to find gold here to enrich myself. I’m just looking for evidence that there is still plenty of gold coming down this particular stream.’

  This was getting strange. ‘Why would you do that?’

  He turned his back and started packing up his gear. ‘To locate another vein of gold. This stream originates in a mountain near the main mine. I want to see if the exploratory digs we have made there are worth the effort. The more gold deposits I pick up in the stream down here, the more likely the latest mineworks will be successful. There’s a science to it.’

  That made a little more sense. It at least explained what this man was doing in the middle of nowhere. ‘So, you work for the mine?’

  He turned around and saw my companions come around the curve of the river to join us. ‘Oh, you have Praetorians with you! You must be a man of importance?’

  I introduced myself. ‘Gaius Cassius Aprilis, quaestor of Rome, on special detachment from Augustus Caesar.’

  The man turned round a
nd removed his large floppy hat, revealing a crown of slightly balding brown hair. ‘Cadmus Paulus. Pleased to meet you. I imagine you’re here about the court case?’

  Cadmus took us all up to the mine by way of a small path he knew that didn’t involve traversing all the bends in the river. I spoke to him as we walked up to a small settlement below the mine he owned. ‘Don’t you worry about coming out here all alone? Is it safe?’

  Cadmus gave me a gentle nod and an apologetic smile. ‘To be honest, I told my guard commander I wouldn’t do this without an escort any more. But it’s such a hassle organising one that this time I just thought I’d slip out. We have had a few setbacks uncovering a new vein in the new digs, and I wanted to reassure myself that I was on the right track. Fortunately, I’ve found enough evidence that a rich vein is within our grasp. I’m certain this new vein will help the mine pay for itself.’

  I looked at him askance. ‘So it doesn’t at the moment?’

  He stopped and gave a laugh of embarrassment. ‘Sorry, I forgot who I’m talking to. That has relevance for the court case, I suppose.’ He shook his head in dismay. ‘It’s true that this mine doesn’t pay its way yet, but it soon will, mark my words. There is a fortune to be made here. We just need to find a way to open it up.’

  We approached the small settlement, and the first thing I noticed were the large numbers of armed men stationed all around. ‘It looks as if security is taken quite seriously here. There are a lot more armed guards than I saw at the other mine.’

  Cadmus nodded. ‘Yes, it’s true. The other mine is close to Asturica, and therefore comes under the protection of the nearby legion. Here, we are all alone. There is a local bandit called Aleixo who would love to take what small amounts of gold we’ve already uncovered, so security is a necessity I’m afraid.’

  I looked at the armed guards dressed in similar mismatched armour as their counterparts in the other mine but harder of eye. I guessed these guards were more used to fighting real foes, rather than just whipping the odd recalcitrant slave. ‘I’ve heard all about Aleixo. I imagine the funds from your mine could go a long way towards recruiting him an army. The tribes of Spain have always been famous for their warriors amongst the bands of mercenaries.’