by Geoff Fabron
Cornelius gave his brother a sad look and patted him on the shoulder. "Oh my poor brother, what did you do to get sent to Britannia? It never stops raining there, and when it does its overcast and cloudy - you won't see the sun for the two years that you're there. You will come back looking as white as your toga."
Titus was as vain as most young men of noble birth and was very proud of his carefully cultivated golden brown tan. Uncle Tiberius decided to rescue Titus from Cornelius's taunting. "Come now Cornelius, it's not as bad as all that. You came back after 18 months in charge of that auxiliary cohort up on ‘the wall’ looking healthy enough, and you were stationed much further north than Titus will be."
"You're right Uncle Tiberius, but I couldn't resist the temptation to tease my little brother once more, especially when it touches upon his vaunted good looks. By the way how many girls did you leave behind in Ravenna?"
Titus gave Cornelius what could only be described as a totally depraved grin. "Nowhere near enough, but speaking of girls, here's somebody you haven't seen in a while."
Cornelius turned back towards the entrance hall to see a stunningly attractive raven haired woman standing at the door to the reception room watching the group of men chatting in the centre. Cornelius pressed his wine glass onto his brother who now found himself with two drinks, and strode briskly toward the new arrival. He embraced her warmly and they exchanged a friendly kiss.
"Fulvia, when did you get back to Milan?"
"A few days ago. Your mother found out from my mother that I was back. Then I received an invitation to Titus's celebration dinner. My mother persuaded me to attend, so here I am. "
"Your mother didn't mention that I was back in Milan as well did she?"
"Oh no, that would've been too obvious."
They both laughed. Their mothers had quietly been trying to get Cornelius and Fulvia to fall in love and marry each other for years, and it was testimony to their persistence that despite their children showing no romantic inclination whatsoever towards each other they had not forsaken their dream of a marriage between the Antoninus and Petronius families. Every opportunity that came along would be seized upon by one or other of their mothers to 'bring' them together in the hope that the two young people would see sense and make their mothers very happy. Cornelius and Fulvia had worked this out very early on, and the strange thing, especially to their mothers, was that they were very close friends. In fact they were too close to fall in love. They had grown up together, played together as young children and went to school together. They viewed each other as brother and sister, a relationship strengthened by the fact that Fulvia was an only child and Titus was some ten years younger than Cornelius. They had tried to explain this to their mothers, who indignantly denied any form of matchmaking, but to no avail.
"How much do you bet," whispered Fulvia, "that your mother has us sitting next to each other at the dinner table?"
"No bet," responded Cornelius, "she couldn't stop herself if she tried."
Cornelius took two glasses from a servant and gave one to Fulvia. He was sure that Titus could take care of his old drink.
Half an hour later, after the final guest had arrived, they all went through to the dining-room. Cornelius was glad to see that they were using chairs and not couches as they had done at the dinner for Uncle Tiberius. Despite being very much in favour of the old traditions, it would appear that his father remembered the acute indigestion that had resulted. Place names indicated where they were to sit and Cornelius noted that he had saved himself some money as Fulvia took her seat on his left.
Julia Petronius preferred to group people of like minds together at dinner parties, claiming that it got things going much quicker than if guests are surrounded by strangers, and so in addition to Fulvia, Cornelius found himself seated near three of his closest friends. In fact it was the first time that the four of them had been together at the same time although all had met each other whilst Cornelius had been in the army.
The eldest was Gregory Nicerites. He had been Cornelius's first commanding officer when, as a junior tribune, he had been posted to the legio III Augusta in the Province of Africa. Nicerites came from an old and influential Greek family in Constantinople, and was a good officer but Africa was a province where the East-West, Greek-Latin animosity had been very pronounced during the last civil war and the resentment still lingered. During a pursuit of Moorish raiders into the deserts and mountains of the interior, several advance patrols had been ambushed and only some quick thinking and a calculated misinterpretation of his orders had enabled Nicerites to extricate the men from the Moorish trap. He had made some enemies amongst the legions mainly Latin speaking senior officers and instead of a decoration, he was brought before a court martial for allowing the patrols to be ambushed in the first place and for disobeying orders whilst rescuing them.
Of all the officers in the legion, only Cornelius Petronius was prepared to testify on behalf of Nicerites. Cornelius had been commanding one of the patrols that had been ambushed and was not prepared to remain quiet whilst Nicerites was rushed through a local military court heavily biased against him. Cornelius's outspoken defence of his senior officers actions had held up the proceedings long enough for Gregory's political connections to come into play. An order from Imperial Army Head Quarters forced the appointment of an independent tribunal from another province. Gregory Nicerites was acquitted on all charges, commended for his actions, and became a good friend of Cornelius Petronius. He had left the army a few years later and was now a highly placed official in the Office of the Emperor in Constantinople. He had been visiting Rome, now little more than a provincial capital despite its history and being the home of the Pope, when he received the invitation and had rearranged his schedule in order to attend.
Marcus Metellus came from Hispania and met Cornelius in Germany when they were both tribunes in the legio I Germania along the Rhine, where Cornelius had been posted after Africa. With the Empire and Saxony at peace and the border Duchies effectively under Roman control the Rhine frontier was the quietest it had been for many years and this left the junior officers with plenty of time on their hands. Cornelius and Marcus had arrived at the legionary Head Quarters on the same day and got on well from the start. Together they explored the night life and country side around the garrison towns where the units of the legion were quartered and developed one of those friendships that would last a lifetime.
Marcus left the army at the same time as Cornelius, but whereas Cornelius joined the Imperial Diplomatic Service, his friend had gone into politics. This did not surprise Cornelius who had spent many late nights listening to monologues on the state of the Empire and how things had to change before it was too late. Marcus had been a member of the 'Modernist' party since he was sixteen, and in September he had been elected as the representative for his home city of Constinius in Hispania. He was staying over in Milan on his way to take up his seat in the Imperial Assembly in Constantinople.
The youngest of the three friends was Sextus Capito. As part of his military career Cornelius had been assigned to command a cohort of auxiliary infantry in Britannia, and Sextus had been a junior tribune commanding the heavy weapons century of machine rifles and mortars. After a few months Cornelius could see that Sextus did not really fit. He was competent enough in what he was doing but was clearly capable of more. After some thought and discussion with Sextus, Cornelius made him the cohort’s adjutant, and saw a dramatic transformation in both Sextus and the cohort. Some people are gifted organisers and administrators - Sextus was one of them. Within three months he had streamlined the administrative procedures, the purchasing of supplies, training programmes and all aspects of the units logistics. Over half a dozen schemes being run by the supply clerks to sell army equipment to the local market had been uncovered and the accounts section was operating more effectively than ever with only half of the number of men assigned. In addition Sextus was happy. He had found his true vocation in life and left the arm
y a few months after Cornelius was assigned to a staff officers position with the legio X Fretensis in Asia Minor. He was now the Quastor to the governor of Britannia, responsible for the finances of the entire province.
They all stood as Anatolius Petronius said grace for the meal. As soon as the assembled guests had muttered 'amen' and had taken their seats, the first course appeared from the kitchen. As the servants circulated around the table, placing a bowl of soup before each person, the conversation resumed. Fulvia caught Titus's eye.
"Well Titus, are you looking forward to joining your legion?"
"Very much Fulvia, I hope that I will see as much action in Britannia as Cornelius did in Africa, although without the Greek-Latin 'problems' that Gregory had."
"You shouldn't have a problem there," Gregory broke in, "the East-West antagonism is pretty much dead now and there're very few Greeks amongst the junior officers in Britannia anyway - it's much too cold - they're almost exclusively Latin. The only senior official in Britannia that I know of who is Greek is the governor himself and he's been there for years."
"I can confirm that," added Sextus, "there are plenty of people of Greek ancestry, but most of them have been on the island for generations. In fact when there are any internal problems they tend to be between the local people and the Imperial officials, regardless of whether they are of Greek or Latin origin."
Cornelius put down his soup spoon at this and addressed Sextus. This was something new to him.
"That's strange. I never noticed any antagonism when I was there. Apart from the occasional incidents between drunken troops and local youths, relations were excellent."
"It's only come to my notice over the last few years," continued Sextus "there has been a growing feeling that the Empire is more of a burden than a benefit to Britannia, especially with the trade laws restricting the development of manufacturing industries. Throughout the current economic recession we've seen a major increase in support for the Federalist and Radical parties. They will almost certainly increase the number of seats they hold in the provincial assembly after the elections in April."
"Which is not necessarily a bad thing.”Marcus interjected, "the imperial bureaucracy and big business interests have had a tame assembly and senate for too long. They need to be more accountable to all the people, not just to the vested interests of the old aristocratic houses and, big companies with official monopolies."
Marcus inclined his head towards Gregory, "present company excepted of course. According to my party colleagues who are already in the assembly, your energetic activities in Constantinople make you stand out like a lighthouse on a moonless night."
Gregory made a small smile out of one side of his mouth to acknowledge Marcus's compliment. He took a sip of wine before entering into the conversation.
"The extension of the franchise implemented by the late Emperor has certainly changed things in the assembly and has not found favour in all quarters."
"Absolutely!" Fulvia slammed down her soup spoon on the table.
"Women still don't have the vote!"
"One thing at a time Fulvia," consoled Cornelius, "it was only at the last elections that the small householders and farmers were classified as part of the 2nd class of citizens and able to vote for the first time. People don't like radical change, but I'm sure that the more attractive half of our population will be able to engage in the political process before very long."
"Women have never had the vote in the history of Rome and that approach seems to have worked pretty well for over two thousand years," said Titus in an offhand manner. Not for the first time Cornelius wondered how it was that his younger brother was so successful with women. The conversation did not quite come to a stop with Titus's remark, but most eyes at the table looked towards Fulvia expecting a lively retort. Cornelius could sense the struggle within her as she fought to control her tongue. Luckily for Titus, in addition to being very outspoken, Fulvia was a well brought up young women and on this occasion decided to let the comment pass.
It was Sextus who took Titus up on his attitude towards women.
"I think that you'll have to take a more liberal view when you are in Britannia Titus. The women there are a bit more independently minded than here in Italia. That is if you want to keep your amorous reputation of course."
"He'll need plenty of money too", said Uncle Tiberius from the other side of the long table, "and I suggest that you arrange a transfer of funds to a local bank in Isca. Legionary pay has been late in coming in recent months."
"Sextus! What have you been doing with the poor soldiers money?" joked Marcus.
"Nothing, the regular army and navy units are all paid from central government accounts. I only have to find the money for our local auxiliaries and that has been hard enough in the last couple of years."
Cornelius turned to Gregory. "Are things really as bad as all that? The army not being paid!"
"Yes and no. The treasury is desperately trying to raise funds to meet the costs of the Empire, of which the armed forces is the biggest expense, but the troops do get paid."
"Eventually!" snorted Uncle Tiberius.
"There was nearly seven weeks between pay parades last time. The troops will put up with a great deal, but they want their money on time."
"And another thing," Tiberius leaned over towards Gregory, even though he was some six feet away, "an order arrived last week from Constantinople to reduce all training exercises involving ammunition or fuel by 75%!"
Tiberius was getting red in the face, the combination of the wine and the indignation he felt about the way the army was being treated was getting him agitated. Cornelius knew from experience that although his Uncle was a fair man and excellent officer, his first, last and probably only love was the army and he protected her like the wife he had never had.
He took another sip of his wine and continued to voice his concerns, this time to the entire table.
"How can the army, or for that matter the navy which is virtually confined to its bases by the fuel restrictions, prepare for war if it cannot train. To the army our 'drills are bloodless battles and our battles bloody drills'. Josephus said that eighteen hundred years ago and it's just as true today."
He was talking now as though he had a room full of recruits, and spoke more calmly now. He had everyone's attention.
"The greatest advantage our army has over its potential enemies is the skill and professionalism of the imperial soldier. The Saxons across the Rhine with their hordes of 'citizen soldiers' cannot match it. The Turks across the Danube with their semi-feudal system dream of being able to meet a legion on equal terms. The Arabs of Palestine and Syria know that despite their boasts, the fanaticism of their 'holy warriors' would soon cool when facing our troops in the mountains of Cappadocia or on the borders of Egypt. To reduce the training of our soldiers puts this advantage at risk. It puts the Empire at risk!"
All the men in the room had either served in the army or had just finished Military Academy. Nobody would, indeed could, disagree. The superiority of the imperial army was second only to the Apostles Creed as an article of faith amongst the Empires citizens regardless of social class.
Anatolius broke what was in danger of becoming an embarrassing silence.
"Don't worry too much Tiberius. I am sure it is only a temporary measure to see the treasury through the current economic difficulties."
He poured himself and Tiberius some more wine and continued. "Once the accountants have managed to balance the books, the army will be able to fire off as much ammunition as it likes, and practise with those new armoured landships and motor carriages that we read about."
Tiberius took his glass and stared into it. "I hope you're right. But I have my doubts. How often have you known any bureaucrat to loosen the purse strings once he's managed to tighten them?"
The next course arrived, and consisted of grilled and fried fish from the Mediterranean. It was followed by a selection of roast meats. The conversation had
broken up into little groups and Marcus was pumping Gregory for background information on the state of affairs in the Capital.
"How have things changed since Philip died. He was an excellent Emperor and it will be hard for anybody to follow him."
"Especially that worthless son of his," added Sextus with feeling.
"That's a bit strong," said Cornelius, "and is hardly the way to speak of our 'illustrious' Emperor Alexander IX," he added with a touch of sarcasm.
Cornelius was quite surprised at Sextus. He was always very cool and level headed in his approach to things. He had hardly ever seen him get angry or let his emotions get the better of him. In fact very little bothered Sextus Capito. Everything he did was carefully thought out, thoroughly planned and precisely executed. There was no room for personal bias. Cornelius pressed him to explain the antagonism.
"Relations between the provinces and the central treasury in Constantinople have never been that good. It is simply not in the nature of such a relationship where one party, the province, is constantly being exhorted to raise more money and spend less in order to send more to the other."
"But, we all got along one way or the other," he continued, "the officials at the capital generally understood the situation and during Philips reign many had been forced to spend up to two years in a province if they wanted a promotion, so they were not completely ignorant of our situation. However in the last few years all that has changed."
Sextus took a long drink before explaining further.
"Constantinople has being interfering directly in provincial finances. Instead of setting the total amount of the contribution to be made by the province, they now decide the level and type of taxation and duty without any regard to its effect on the local economy."
"The boat tax they imposed last year is a typical example. All boats, regardless of size must pay a fixed registration fee to the province which is then forwarded to Constantinople. The fee was set with the big ocean going merchant ships serving the United Provinces across the Atlantic in mind. It's crippling our small fishermen and handing their market to the Caledonians and Hiberians."
