Bedrock of Empire

by Thomas M D Brooke

  I grinned. ‘Take them to Maris and ask him to get the men to skin, quarter and salt them ready for our journey. I want to leave before the sun gets much higher in the sky.’

  Audax gave me a slow nod as he rode past. ‘The sooner the better.’

  I asked Blasius to make sure that my prisoner, Flavus, would be ready for the journey. He gave me a nod. ‘I’ll make sure he’s up and ready to travel. He’s been as quiet as a mouse since bringing him here. I can’t see him being any trouble.’

  I’d hardly even seen Flavus in the last two days, I’d been so occupied with other events. What would he make of this mine and the brothers vying for its ownership? Would it remind him of his relationship with Julius? I shook my head and put it out of my mind. Don’t complicate matters even further, I told myself.

  The Praetorians were lining up and readying their gear by the time Cadmus walked down from the stockade flanked by Tomas. ‘You can’t be leaving already? I thought you’d at least be staying a few extra days? You haven’t even told me what you thought of the mineworks yet?’

  I looked at him, wondering how much he suspected I knew. ‘The mineworks were very enlightening. I have a much better understanding of what it takes to extract the gold that we value so highly.’

  Cadmus’ eyes lit up with enthusiastic zeal. ‘Surely you can see the potential here? Surely you can see how much gold must be lying under that bedrock?’

  Tomas was right about this man; he was so indifferent to the plight of his own slaves, it hadn’t even occurred to him that their conditions underground might shock me. All he cared about was the gold, just the gold. ‘Without doubt there are riches to be made here. But I must weigh that up against many other considerations before I announce my verdict on the case.’

  Cadmus frowned and rubbed under one eye. His voice became slightly heated for the first time since I’d met him. ‘I thought once you saw the vast potential here, you couldn’t help but declare in my favour. If Bonifatius had been running things here, he would never have made the progress I’ve achieved!’

  I held up my hand to forestall him. ‘I haven’t come to a conclusion one way or the other yet. I will consult with my aide Aulus and then go through all the evidence when I am back in Asturica. I plan to announce my ruling on the ides of Augustus. Make sure either you or a representative of yours is there to hear my verdict.’

  Cadmus nodded, annoyed that I hadn’t made up my mind yet, but mollified that I hadn’t ruled against him at least. ‘That doesn’t give me long. The ides of Augustus is in three weeks’ time. I will need to leave in a few days.’

  Blasius came over and handed me my helmet and the small round shield that I hung over my back. I thanked him before turning back to Cadmus. ‘Yes, sorry it’s such a rush. I need to leave Asturica straight afterwards. I have to be back in Tarraco for the games Livianus is set to hold to celebrate the festival of Opiconsivia.’

  He gave me a solemn nod. ‘I’ll be there. I hope your mind is open to the future prosperity of the empire, Cassius. This mine, and others like it, will turn these Gallaecian mountains into the heart of Roman power. Nowhere else has the potential to fund Rome’s war machine and her empire as we do.’

  I saw Tomas looking at me from behind his master, but I refused to meet his eye. I kept my gaze fixed on Cadmus. ‘The wealth and prosperity of the empire will be my paramount consideration when I reach my verdict, I can promise you that.’

  Cadmus smiled; clearly he thought that would reflect favourably on him. ‘Then go in peace, Quaestor. I look forward to seeing you again on the ides of Augustus.’

  As we left the small settlement and the mine, I spoke to Aulus. ‘What did you make of his records?’

  Aulus tilted his head and gave a slight shrug. ‘Well, Cadmus is actually a very good bookkeeper. Everything he spends is carefully written down, just as all the profits from the gold is evaluated.’

  I gave a stiff nod. ‘And does this mine have potential to make money?’

  Aulus gave a slight shake of his head. ‘I’m amazed it isn’t already. The wealth he is extracting from the one vein is truly astounding, and what’s more, he soon expects to unveil several more veins. He is convinced these mountains have them coursing through them.’ He looked back at the mine as we wandered down the path to the river. ‘The only thing that seems to be preventing him making a profit at the moment is the vast amount of money he’s spending on slaves. It completely dwarfs his costs on security and skilled workers. His brother was right, the amount he’s spending buying new slaves is crippling this operation.’

  And I knew very well why that cost was so high. He was throwing lives away as easily as others would change their undergarments each morning. ‘How does he justify those costs?’

  Aulus gave another shrug. ‘Simple. He says that once more veins are revealed, the wealth extracted from these mountains will be so high that it will make any small losses completely insignificant.’

  He was prepared to doom countless lives in order to progress his vision for the region. Could I live with that? Not likely. ‘Could I find in favour of neither brother?’

  Aulus looked at me in alarm. ‘What you saw in that mine must have affected you, Cassius? You know full well you can’t do that. You have to honour the wishes of the brother’s father. The laws of intestacy, as stipulated in the Twelve Tables, demand no less. You are only a quaestor, Cassius. Not even the governor of the region, Livianus, would dare to openly proscribe against either party and then declare to another.’

  My heart sank. ‘So no one has ever done that?’

  Aulus gave a slight chuckle. ‘A few have tried, but as far as I know, the only two to be successful were the proscriptions of Augustus and Mark Antony. We all know how that ended!’

  The infamous proscriptions. Mark Antony and Augustus, before their falling out, had banished and outlawed all the senators and noble families who’d opposed them after the death of Julius Caesar. Rome had been cleft in two, as chaos, blood and panic divided Rome’s ruling families. My family had been lucky enough to finish on the right side of that particular episode, but I wasn’t about to re-enact that dark period of our history. I gave a deep sigh. ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do, Aulus. I can’t turn a blind eye to Bonifatius’ corruption, but, likewise, I can’t find in favour of Cadmus and live with myself. Maybe I’m just not cut out for this?’

  Aulus rested his hand on my arm. ‘During my time in the courts I’ve had many such moral dilemmas. In times of moral uncertainty, I just fall back on the law. Follow the law’s guidelines as framed by past precedents. Then your conscience can remain clear.’

  I looked at him then shook my head. ‘I don’t think it’s as easy as that for me.’

  Aulus raised his nose in the air. ‘I didn’t say it was easy, but it is what you need to do.’

  We came upon Viviana’s tiny campsite before the sun reached its zenith, and we waited whilst she got ready to accompany us. ‘So where do you want to go now?’ she asked me, picking up her few possessions.

  I shook my head. ‘We want to go back to Asturica. I presume we just follow the same path we came and turn south when we reach Rafa’s village?’

  She kicked earth over her small campfire to put it out. She’d been cooking two fish on a spit. ‘Yes, that will be the easiest route. I’ll take you there. Do we need to hurry?’

  I shrugged. ‘Not really. I only need to be back in Asturica by the middle of Augustus. I’ll be meeting my friend Marcus there. He should have a special gift with him for the imperial family.’

  She ran her fingers through her thick black hair. ‘What’s this special gift?’

  I grinned. ‘Trust me, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.’

  ‘Can I help you with those fish?’ asked Audax. He’d sidled up close to us without me realising. A hunter’s instinct, I guessed.

  Viviana gave him a sharp look. ‘Help me?’

  Viviana wasn’t the easiest person to approach at times, but Aud
ax smiled. ‘I mean, can I have them if you don’t need them?’

  Viviana relented. ‘Help yourself, I’ve already eaten my fill.’

  He smiled. ‘They’ll add a different flavour to the pot tonight.’ He turned to me. ‘So, we’ll be tracking over the same ground we came here on then? I expected as much. Good game along this trail.’

  I gave a light laugh. ‘We have enough meat now to last us all the way back to Asturica, so no riding off.’

  Audax gave me a smile. ‘No need to worry, I won’t go anywhere. I’ll lead my horse until we get back to the village. Shall I take the lead?’

  ‘Be my guest,’ I told him, relieved he was being more biddable than usual.

  Nevertheless, his cooperation didn’t last long. We marched throughout the day and didn’t camp until quite late in the evening. The Praetorians followed their normal routine and secured us a decent campsite. The next morning, however, I was furious when I was informed that Audax had ridden out early in the morning, telling the Praetorian on guard that I’d given him permission to go on another hunt. He returned soon enough, probably hoping to return before I’d risen, but he was out of luck and I blasted at him, ‘You had no right to go against my orders!’

  Audax gave me a nonchalant shrug. ‘You didn’t want me riding whilst we were on the move. As we’d stopped, I didn’t see the problem.’

  He was right. I hadn’t actually forbidden him from leaving the campsite; I’d taken that for granted. No soldier under my command would ever dare leave camp without being given explicit permission. I tried to remind myself that he wasn’t one of my legionaries. ‘You still lied to the guard!’ I shouted.

  Audax raised his hands and tried to calm my temper. ‘For that, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. I just wanted to take my horse out for a quick canter before we got going today. It’s hard for her not being able to stretch her legs through the day.’

  I seethed with anger but guessed there wasn’t much more I could do about it. ‘As soon as we reach Asturica, you’re released from my service.’ In truth, I wanted to dismiss him at once, but as we were travelling the same way, I knew that would be foolish; I’d have no control of him then.

  Audax looked taken aback. ‘I meant no harm. I just wanted to give my horse a ride.’

  Was I being unreasonable? Were the troubling sights of the last few days affecting my temper? ‘Just get out of my sight. I’m in no mood for your intransigence today.’

  We tracked slowly along the path. I walked alongside Viviana, pleased to have her back in the group. She’d turned out to be a much more reliable guide than Audax, who was walking shamefaced near the front of the group, leading his horse. To rid myself of my earlier bad temper, I started talking to Viviana. ‘So your own village is further to the south-west of here?’

  She gave me one of her rare smiles. ‘Yes, it’s slightly larger than Rafa’s but not dissimilar. I haven’t always lived there though. I spent a few years living in a village by the sea, when I was married.’

  ‘You were married? I didn’t know.’ Although, in honesty, it wasn’t all that surprising. She was in her twenties and from an influential family.

  She nodded. ‘Yes, but he died fighting bandits who were plaguing that same village.’

  I cursed myself for being a fool; no wonder she never mentioned him. ‘I’m sorry to hear that.’

  She gave me a sidelong glance, before nodding. ‘He was a good man, and I miss him sometimes. But he died soon after our marriage, and that was many years ago.’

  I raised one eyebrow. ‘You never thought of remarrying?’

  Viviana shrugged. ‘Maybe one day. My grandmother says I have fulfilled the obligation to my tribe. The marriage was to cement an alliance between our two peoples. So the choice is mine. I miss living by the sea though.’

  I smiled. ‘I’d love to see the great ocean on the other side of the Pillars of Hercules. I’ve never had a chance.’

  Viviana was prevented from answering when Maris shouted an order and halted the group. I called ahead, ‘What’s the hold-up?’

  Maris called back, ‘There’s a narrow gorge ahead. We’d better scout it first.’

  Blasius was just behind me. ‘Surely there’s no need? We haven’t seen sight or sound of anyone since we left?’

  I looked around. We were between two mountains and the gorge ran through the centre of them. I sighed. ‘No, I agree with Maris. We need to scout it.’

  Audax was quick to raise his arm, eager to prove himself. ‘Let me ride down there. I can be through it and back in no time.’

  I rubbed the top of my forehead in thought. I guessed Audax was eager to try and redeem himself in my eyes.

  Maris told me, ‘It makes sense. It will be much faster for Audax on his horse.’

  I looked at Audax’s eager face and relented. ‘Very well, just ride through the gulley and then come straight back. No wandering off!’

  I was rewarded by a great beaming smile as he vaulted onto the back of his horse. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll be back in no time,’ he said, and he rode off down the gorge.

  I looked around at the others. ‘We may as well take a short break. You can break ranks.’ I located my brother-in-law. ‘Aulus, do you have any of last night’s stew left? If so, share it out.’

  Aulus pulled out the cooking pot hanging on his mule’s back. ‘There is quite a bit left.’ Flavus stood behind the mule, his hands tied to the back of the mule’s baggage by a long rope. It had proven an easy way to secure the prisoner along the march. I looked at Julius’ brother and I felt a pang of guilt. He looked so young and vulnerable. ‘Make sure the prisoner gets his share too.’

  Aulus nodded and I turned back to Viviana. ‘You don’t want to miss out either?’

  She shook her head. ‘I’m not hungry. I don’t eat as often as you Romans. You say you’ve never seen the great ocean?’

  I smiled. ‘Well, I’ve seen the inner sea, but I’ve never travelled far enough west to see the water at the edge of the world.’

  Viviana shook her head. ‘You don’t need to travel any further west, just look to the north of here.’

  At first I was momentarily confused, but then I remembered seeing a map of the Hispanic provinces, ‘Of course, northern Gallaecia has a coastline too!’

  She smiled and gave a slight laugh. ‘Yes, my village was on the northern sea.’ She pointed to a high point jutting out from the mountain above us, ‘You’d probably be able to see it from there.’

  I felt a jolt of excitement. ‘Really? You think we’d be able to see the great ocean?’

  Viviana was enjoying the excitement on my face. ‘Why don’t we walk up and take a look? You can see surprisingly far from the mountains. The coast must be over thirty miles away, but if your eyesight is good, you should be able to make it out.’

  Could I afford the time? I didn’t see why not, we had stopped anyway, and it wouldn’t take Viviana and me long to scramble up to the high vantage she’d pointed out.

  Blasius came over with a small bowl in his hands. ‘I brought you some stew, Cassius?’

  I shook my head. ‘Not for me. Viviana and I are going to see if we can make out the northern ocean from that hill.’ I pointed up to where we were going.

  Blasius shrugged. ‘Why not? Mind if I join you? I wouldn’t mind seeing it myself.’

  I smiled. ‘Of course not. It’s always been a dream of mine to see it. I thought I’d missed my chance when Marcus travelled to the west without me.’

  Blasius gave a short laugh. ‘The gods find strange ways to fulfil our dreams.’

  The three of us walked up the rocky incline. It was quite tricky going as the ground was loose shale underfoot, but Viviana turned out to be very light-footed and was adept at finding the safest path up. When we reached the top, there was a magnificent view. I wandered over to the edge of the rocky shelf and saw a hazy line in the distance that somehow looked a deeper shade of blue than the sky. ‘At last!’ I said to myself.

&
nbsp; ‘Cassius, watch out!’ Viviana came bowling into me, knocking me to the floor as something fast and lethal-sounding whistled past my head.

  I turned round and saw a man running away from his position hidden behind a rock. He must have taken that lookout spot to watch our party’s approach up the mountain. I got to my feet and shouted, ‘Quick, Blasius, it’s a man with a sling!’

  Blasius ran over to the edge, following the slinger, who’d started making his way down the other side of the incline. I looked down and checked on Viviana. ‘Are you alright?’

  She was struggling to rise. ‘Just winded. You go on.’

  I didn’t have time to waste on niceties. I followed Blasius to the edge of the rocks and looked down to where the man had run. I could still see his bobbing head and body as he skilfully ran down the steep bank between the rocks. ‘Damn, he looks to have got away. He seems to be heading for …’ I stopped as I realised there were others in the narrow gorge underneath us, all hidden behind rocks. Except for two of them, who were in discussion at the bottom of the gorge. ‘By the gods, Blasius, look, it’s Audax!’

  I turned to see if he’d seen it too, just as my lictor tried to plunge his gladius directly into my back.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  I was extremely lucky. I’d turned just in time and managed instinctively to sway my body and deflect the blade with my forearm. It cut me, but not badly, and I fell back against the rocks, grappling with Blasius as he tried to pull the blade back for another thrust. I held on for dear life.

  ‘Blasius what are you doing?’ I asked him in complete surprise.

  It was a ridiculous question, as it was clear what he was trying to do, but your mind asks stupid questions at times like these. Blasius gave up trying to pull the blade clear and instead started to angle the blade towards me, putting all his weight behind it.

  I desperately tried to hold him off, but I was positioned badly against the rocks at my back, and Blasius was a large and strong man. The blade started inching inexorably towards my throat, as his dominant position slowly forced the blade downward.