The King of Rome

by Francis Mulhern

  “I’ll defend your honour father” shouted Luca as he stepped forward and waved the sword, which dipped as the weight of the training blade was too much for his twelve-year-old arm. Narcius smiled. “Tomorrow I will take you to the training ground Luca, and we will let you lose on a few legionaries, what do you say?”

  Luca whelped with delight as he rushed up to Marcus and looked at him longingly. Marcus shook his head slowly and exhaled. “If you clean your room and feed the pigs” he said as the boy agreed quickly, dashing off with a shouted thank you to Narcius.

  “He’s growing fast” Narcius said with a smile.

  Marcus nodded. “Come, I’ve something to ask you” he said as he moved towards the small pool in the grounds beyond the square that was cleared for training. Narcius followed with a curious frown. They sat on a carved tree trunk which had been placed to face the house, the trees aligned to make the rear of the house appear centrally along the avenue of greenery.

  “Something sounds important” Narcius said as Marcus tightened his lips. A short silence ensued as Narcius fidgeted with his belt and waited for Marcus to speak. “Come on Marcus, what is it? I’m being killed by the suspense” Narcius joked.

  “This is no laughing matter, my friend” Marcus said as he stood and moved in a small circle, his hands rubbing together as his eyes stared at the packed earth. “I’ve had some news. Something that involves us all. As someone I trust I wanted to ask your opinion” he said as he looked to Narcius, who responded with a questioning frown.

  “What?”

  “As you know I have certain business interests across the city and into the neighbouring towns.” Narcius nodded in acknowledgement. “I’ve had a note delivered which says that my tenants on the Etruscan street have been having problems with a gang who are demanding money, or they will burn their houses to the ground.” Narcius stood quickly, but Marcus waved him to be seated again. “I’ve sent Quirinus” to investigate and it seems that several of the head men of the tenants have been badly beaten to enforce the point from whoever is demanding the protection money.”

  “They should come to the law and demand that the state supports them” Narcius said loudly.

  “And see their men dead the next day” Marcus said quietly. “You know as much as I do how these things work. He paced again slowly. “It’s not the deed that angers me” he said, “it’s the fact that someone thinks he can act against my estate and get away with it.” He looked directly at Narcius. “My gut reaction is to find who these thugs are, pull their innards out and hang them from the walls” he said as his teeth showed in his snarling mouth. “But I know that if I do this the people in the houses will suffer.” He sighed as he thumped his open hand against his thigh. “What should I do Narcius? How do I find the bastards who threaten me without causing problems for the tenants I have?”

  Narcius chewed his lower lip as his eyes narrowed. He sat in silence for a long moment as Marcus moved back to the tree trunk and sat. Narcius, anger flashing in his eyes, looked across at his benefactor. “I could add some men to the houses and see who comes knocking for money?” he suggested.

  “I’d thought of that, but everyone would know it was one of the eagles the moment they appeared.”

  Narcius nodded his reply. “There are too many gangs in the streets these days, each one claiming rights over certain areas of the city and each one getting richer and fatter from the poor. The law should protect them” Narcius replied. “Set up some guards to walk the streets and deal with them” he added.

  Marcus shook his head. “It wouldn’t work. We’d need an army to patrol the streets.” He looked at Narcius and exhaled deeply. “And you know there’ll be a patrician clan somewhere behind it all. I don’t want to make any more enemies than I have already” he said slowly as he crossed his arms over his chest and ground his teeth. “What should I do?” he asked as he stared out into the garden.

  “Run the protection racket yourself. Pay another gang to see to them?” Narcius said.

  Marcus looked at him with a frown, but a curl to his lip. “Pay someone else to beat up the gang and take the protection money?” he asked, “run it myself?”.

  Narcius shrugged. “At least that way you can control the violence and, if you feel particularly kind, you can drop the rents so that the tenants can afford to pay the thugs.”

  Marcus stood and walked to a tall pine tree, looking up into its branches. “I hadn’t considered such a plan” he said as he looked back at Narcius. “Strange how I can see a path through a thousand warriors, but I cannot see a way to deal with my own problems” he smiled. He rubbed the bark of the tree he stood next to, looking up into the canopy at the silver bottomed leaves. “Do you know where I could engage such men?”

  Narcius grinned. “Bad bastards who are happy to take money for scaring a few plebeians are easy to find” he said. “Finding some who don’t actually kill all your tenants, that will be harder.”

  “Then maybe I have another job for you my friend” he said quietly as thoughts whirled through his mind. “You’ll need another income for when you’re too old for soldiering. How about you managing the collection of my rents? Use some of the old soldiers to support you? Cavollo will need to retain his job of course” Marcus said.

  “Have you checked that he isn’t involved in the current problem?” Narcius asked. “It’s often those close to home who are at the root of the evil” he added with a knowing look.

  “I did try, but nothing came to light” Marcus replied. “Will you take it on?” he asked with a pleading look to Narcius.

  Narcius lowered his head in thought, his lips tightening. “I don’t have the time to take it on alone” he said as he looked back at Marcus. “What if my brother Brutus took it over with my help?” he said. “He’d be good at the work. You can trust him, as you know” Marcus nodded at this. “And he’s got a few contacts from his work in the quarries who he could call on to help out with the collections, and any trouble that might come from it. Plus, I’d send a few of the lads in with him as well, after all it’d be my family honour at stake if he didn’t sort this out.” He looked to Marcus, who had remained standing. “If he didn’t trust Cavollo he’d have to go” he added slowly.

  “I know that” Marcus replied. “If he was implicated he’d be out” he said viciously. “Then we are agreed?” Narcius nodded firmly and held out a hand, which Marcus gripped and shook. “Speak to Brutus and ask him to attend me tomorrow evening, come along with him. We’ll talk through this in detail and I’ll ask Cavollo to come later and tell him what we have agreed.”

  Narcius nodded his understanding before speaking again. “We must be careful that the other gangs don’t see our new venture as a threat. I’ll get Brutus to do some checking with his contacts, just to be sure that we aren’t going to cause more problems by sorting this one.”

  ************

  Chapter

  Istros sucked on a thin blade of grass as he watched the people of Rome streaming by on their daily business. All manner of colours and shapes of humanity crossed his eye-line as he sat in the shade of an olive tree on a low wall; heavily built ex legionaries, slaves dragging small carts from, and to, the markets, children darting through the crowds laughing and screaming. Everywhere he looked he saw normality, the opening of another day in this interesting city. Teams of men were piling stones and wood ready to continue the upward development of another insulae where several families would live like rats at the mercy of their landlord. The foreman was waving a thin stick at the workmen as they scuttled to do his bidding or else feel his stick on their backs. Istros let his hand slip to his belt and felt the weight of his knife, reassurance in such a densely packed street, and sat back to await the messenger.

  His eyes fell on a slither of a girl, her brown tunic stained with white clouds, possibly flour, as she skirted the walls of the street to avoid contact with anyone who might impede her progress. She passed by quietly with only a flicker of recognition in h
er eyes as she stretched out a hand and dropped a small pouch on his lap, picking up her pace as she moved off into the crowds. He didn’t watch her as she melted into the press of bodies, his eyes were too busy watching the people nearby, warily looking for any suspicious eyes as he nonchalantly placed his left hand over the pouch but otherwise sat still, sucking the grass stalk which he now rolled across his lips. Nobody followed the girl, nobody seemed interested in either her or him. He allowed himself a small smile before stretching his legs and standing, shifting the pouch into his pocket as he did so.

  It took him several minutes to find the agreed spot near the well on the edge of the Boarium, where he now sat watching several women as they drew buckets of water. Two portly men strode past in smart white togas, their words hushed but urgent; lawyers, he presumed. Soon several legionaries arrived with a cart full of water barrels, at which Istros stood and wandered to the well. The military were, as usual, on time. The man he had agreed to meet caught his eye for a moment and nodded slowly towards the right where two other men stood and watched the legionaries as they hauled the cart into position. The Thracian jerked his head before he dropped the pouch, silently, onto the cart, the soldier deftly pocketing it as he shifted one of the barrels.

  A few moments later the two men appeared in the alley he’d moved to, their quiet steps testament to their skill as they appeared almost silently at his side.

  “What’s the job?” asked the first man, his thick forehead and wide-set eyes fixing on the Thracian. Istros grinned. Professionals, men who knew pleasantries weren’t required. Clearly ex legionaries by their link to the water carrying work party.

  “The grain stores of Lucius Iulius. Burned to the ground tonight. Leave these at the scene” he said, his voice monotone and flat as he handed over a handful of barley sprigs, the sign of the followers of Capitolinus. The forehead nodded, and the two men turned and were gone as quietly as they had arrived. Istros raised one eyebrow and nodded his head to himself before he turned in the opposite direction, removing the short blade he’d hidden in the cavity of the wall at his elbow as security, before he left. He was enjoying his work for Javenoli. The man had more schemes than the gods themselves. Just when he thought he understood the man’s plans, something else changed. He smiled again as he reconsidered the words of his paymaster. Burn the grain stores of the Capitol man Iulius. Do it in the name of the plebeians. Start a rumour that Capitolinus was involved. He wondered why that last element was important. Then came the most intriguing part. Feed these poisons to the sacrificial hens and goats at the temple, at which he’d been given three small sacks of grain, a set of keys and thick leather gloves which he had been told he must wear when scattering the feed. Javenoli’s instructions on this last point had been very clear. One sack of grain each night for three nights. He wondered what significance this held, but decided he’d never understand, so simply nodded and took the strangely coloured grain.

  *****

  That evening the triumphal march of the dictator had run late into the night, Camillus paraded around the city in the golden chariot of the gods and the people cheered until they were hoarse. Istros had slipped quietly between the crowds as he followed Cincinnatus’ man into a low roofed inn which was crowded with soldiers and local people alike, bawdy songs being sung and drunken men slamming gaming dice onto table tops. He’d secreted himself in a corner and paid for a local girl to drape herself across his thighs as he kept an eye on the man, who he learned was called Hix. Hix was collecting taxes of some kind by the look of things and seemed to be enjoying a drink in each bar he attended, although the five thick set thugs who accompanied him were not, and were therefore a more worrying problem for Istros. Hix laughed loudly as he pushed a hand into the face of the barman who had clearly suggested he didn’t have enough coin to pay whatever additional fee he’d been quoted. Two of the thugs stepped in and dragged the man to his feet as several local drinkers looked around with interest at the noise, although nobody went to the barman’s aide. It took another few blows for the man to come to his senses and hand over a large pile of coins, at which point Istros knew he must leave if he was to continue following Hix.

  Outside he straightened his cloak and shifted to a dark corner before climbing onto a wall via a small tree which overlooked the inn. A dog barked from behind him, but he ignored it as the animal soon lost interest when its master called it into the house, unable to see what the creature was barking at. Hix and his thugs appeared and shared a few of the coins before they set off down the slope towards the forum and their next collection point. Istros frowned as he watched them go, wondering how he could catch Hix alone, and deciding that his best option was to catch him later when he fell into bed in a drunken stupor. Climbing slowly back to the ground so as not to catch anyone’s eye he wandered back along the crowded street until he came to the corner of the forum and stood leaning against a wooden house. People danced to street music, dogs barked and chased each other, it was just another night in Rome. Men traipsed past in various stages of inebriation and women in doorways with low candles waved at them offering their ‘wares’ as the men shouted lustily towards them. Istros smiled, it had been the same in every city he had ever been in. He stood to the side as three men strode past laughing, one looking over his shoulder suspiciously as the Thracian bent forwards and pretended to vomit to avoid any additional interest, whilst watching the man closely in case he intended to come back and attempt to rob him, such things happened all the time. As they continued on their way he moved quickly across the street and chanced on a face in the crowd that he hadn’t expected the see. It was the young Auguronos. Smiling to himself he crossed towards the man, who was clearly heading home alone, his swaying movement giving away his condition. The gods are smiling on me, Istros thought as he moved along a side street towards where he knew Auguronos would appear on his journey home, except that after a few moments the young lad had not appeared. Frowning, Istros set off back toward the junction from which he expected the lad to arrive. In the darkness he saw two men dragging the boy into the shadows and set off at a run in their direction.

  Pulling his dagger from its sheath he was just about to burst around the corner when he heard a voice speaking slowly followed by a thud which was clearly the sound of a punch to a man’s face. He inched closer, staring around at the street to check that nobody was waiting in the shadows to catch wary onlookers, and strained his ears to hear what was being said.

  “Can’t leave loose ends Maximus I’m afraid” said a deep voice as another punch landed. “Can’t have the boss finding out about our little secret, can I?”

  “I won’t tell Hix, honest. I swear it on the ghosts of my ancestors” came the muffled reply from Auguronos. “You can trust me. I’m your man” he whimpered.

  Istros smiled. Fate was surely on his side today. Both men he needed to speak to in the same place, though not quite in the circumstances he would have wished to meet them. He quickly ran through options before he heard a blade slide from a scabbard and Hix suggest to his captive that he made a final prayer to his personal gods; Istros’ options had suddenly been significantly reduced.

  Taking a handful of dust from the road he slipped around the corner and saw that two men held Auguronos’ arms whilst Hix stood in front of him with a thin bladed dagger in his hand. Leaping forwards Istros struck at the closest man, catching him on his bare upper arm and sliding his blade into his flesh. As he let go of Auguronos and screamed the lad leapt backwards and half pulled the remaining assailant, who still held his arm, with him. Hix turned his clenched teeth and heavy eyes towards Istros. The Thracian wasted no time in launching the handful of dust into Hix’s face, closing his own eyes and stepping to the side in an attempt to avoid the dirt. Hix shouted and clawed at his eyes with his free hand, his drunkenness slowing his action as he sliced his blade out at Istros, who rushed at the injured attacker who still clung to Auguronos and smashed his blade into his neck, thrusting it as hard as he could as the
man struggled to scream and fell to the floor in a rapidly growing pool of dark blood. Despite this mortal wound, he let out an agonising scream, managed to get to his feet and then threw himself at Istros, his thick body knocking the lad to the floor in his attempt to grab the Thracian. Hix was now recovering and turned to stare at Istros, who had already moved closer to Hix’s other thug and dodged his first dagger strike which flew over his shoulder. Istros stabbed at the man’s gut, renting a deep gash along his ribcage but doing minimal damage despite the fact that the man continued to leak blood from the first attack, his tunic soaked as if he’d been standing out in the rain.

  Hix rushed at him from the other side, cursing loudly as Istros turned and attempted to dodge left, then right, which put the larger man off balance as his drunken state didn’t support his fast movements. Istros rounded on the other guard, whom he knew presented the greater danger. The man slashed his blade and stepped across in front of Hix, who stumbled into his back, his free hand gripping the man’s tunic to steady himself. It was the moment Istros needed and he stepped in to feint an attack on the guard, who thrust his dagger out and across his body expecting the attack. But the feinted attack stopped suddenly and slammed into the attacker’s arm, cutting straight through the soft flesh between the two arm bones and causing the man to grunt in pain as he dropped his knife from nerveless fingers. Istros stepped to his right as the man stepped left, covering the movement from Hix, who had instinctively moved aside to get around his guard. Istros kicked the knife to Auguronos. “If you know how to use that, you better help now” he shouted as he edged into a circular motion around the two killers.

  Hix appeared to notice the younger man and his eyes narrowed. Just as he launched his attack towards the prone boy, Istros saw his intentions and landed an upper cut to his jaw as he stepped forwards, slamming his dagger down and into the back of Hix’s shoulder. The yell resounded off the walls and a few voices could be heard from the nearby street.