by Geoff Fabron
"In the past I would've been able to make representations and get them to charge according to the ships tonnage, but not now. They're not interested. In another couple of years they will not get any money from the boat tax because there won't be any boats left in Britannia!"
Cornelius had been listening patiently but he still could not see the connection between what Sextus was telling him and his outburst against the Emperor. He pointed this out to his friend.
"Where our mighty Emperor comes into the picture is that ever since the Patriarch and the Pope placed the imperial diadem on his worthless head, he has been handing out top jobs in the Imperial Bureaucracy to his 'friends'."
"That's not unusual Sextus," said Gregory, "all new Emperors have appointed their own ministers, people they have known for some time and can trust. It's quite normal."
Sextus put down his glass and stared straight at Gregory. Despite all the good wine he had drunk so far that night, his mind was still clear.
"Gregory Nicerites, I know you're a senior government official, and as such you are obliged to support and defend the actions of the Emperor. However you know as well as I do, probably better, that it's a lot more than just a few 'friendly appointments'."
Gregory smiled and raised his eyebrows to indicate that he may or may not agree but could not really comment. However Marcus had been listening intently to all that had been said and took Sextus up on it.
"What do you mean, a lot more than just a few appointments?" probed Marcus, on the lookout for anything that could be used on the floor of the assembly chamber.
Sextus turned towards the representative from Constinius.
"What I mean is that the Emperor is making appointments all over the place, and at all levels. Not just his closest friends, but anybody he comes across and likes, or is a friend or relative of somebody he likes. They are uniformly lazy and arrogant and regard the provinces as cows to be milked dry."
"And not just the civil service either," said Cornelius.
"Do you mean the military as well," asked Marcus.
"I'm afraid so. Another reason that Uncle Tiberius was so angry earlier on this evening was that last week he heard who the new commander of the army of Germania is going to be."
They all waited for Cornelius to volunteer the information, but he sat quietly sipping his wine. Eventually Fulvia elbowed him in the ribs causing him to choke on a mouthful of wine and spill some of his drink on his toga. Fulvia hated to be kept waiting, and despite keeping fairly quiet had been following the conversation avidly.
Cornelius composed himself and said, "Manual Dikouros".
All three of his old army friends stared at him with open mouths and looks of disbelief.
"I thought that with your connections in the Capital, you at least would have known," Cornelius said to Gregory.
Shaking his head, his mouth still slightly open, Gregory said "No. I had no idea. It's unbelievable. To give one of the most important army commands to that incompetent cretin is beyond belief."
"He's been in the military for quite some time," said Cornelius, "but he has never held a field command or seen any sort of action."
"Of course not!" said Sextus, "nobody would trust him with a loaded gun!"
"Apart from being a worthless, incompetent cretin, who exactly is this Manual Dikouros?" asked Fulvia.
"Manual Dikouros," said Gregory, "is the son of one of the richest men in the Empire. He believes that he's naturally superior to all other people, with the possible exception of the Emperor and that it's his birthright to hold a position of authority.”
"There plenty of those around," said Fulvia, "what makes this one so deserving of your collective disgust?"
"Because," Gregory continued, "whatever job he has undertaken has been a complete disaster, yet he manages to shift the blame onto some poor subordinate."
"He always comes out looking spotless and more often than not gets a commendation and promotion out of it," added Sextus.
"Whilst he was shuffling papers and issuing orders on army dress regulations, ceremonial drills and the correct way for a soldier to use the latrines, he was an irritating joke, but just a joke," said Cornelius, "however in charge of over 50,000 of our best troops on a critical frontier the joke isn't quite so funny."
Gregory, who was well aware of the machinations that went on in the imperial court was shaking his head. "What in Heavens' name did he do to get the Emperor to give him that position?"
As the final dinner plates were being cleared away by the unobtrusive servants, the guests left the table for the reception room. Cornelius, Fulvia and Gregory settled themselves into some well padded chairs near a glowing coal fire in one corner. The open fire was not required to keep the villa warm. The under floor and wall cavity central heating did that, but it had been fashionable when the villa was built to have one in every room. Cornelius was glad. He liked open fires and could sit and watch the flames dance above the red hot coals for hours.
"How long are you back in Milan for?" Cornelius asked Fulvia.
For about a month but I'll be back quite regularly from now on. My father has finally decided to allow me to do some real work, so I will not be spending most of my life on trains and ships going from one end of the Empire to the other. I will be setting up a chain of shops in the Duchies."
The Antoninus family ran a very successful woman’s fashion business which produced highly sought after and consequently highly expensive clothes for the top layer of imperial society. Fulvia had a natural eye for fashion. Her father had recognised this and for the past five years she had been responsible for organising the shows which launched each season’s new line of clothing. She had always wanted to be involved in the management and marketing side of the business but up to now her father had considered that it was 'not an appropriate job' for a young woman. The Duchies would certainly be a challenge. A group of small German States along the upper Rhine, they had been dominated politically by the Empire since the last Saxon war, when they had backed the losing side. Their proximity to the Empire brought them into regular contact with Roman merchants but the people were resentful of imperial control and tended to favour Saxon goods.
"What did you do to get your father to change his mind?" asked Cornelius, "promise to marry and produce ten grandchildren for him?"
"No! Let us just say that my father has realised that his only daughter is also his only heir and should learn about all aspects of the business."
She put down her wine, which by this stage of the evening had been liberally mixed with water, and playfully poked Cornelius's arm with a beautifully manicured finger.
"Never mind me. We have an important decision to make. How are we going to handle our mothers trying to marry us off now that we are both going to be in the same city for a lot of the time?"
"That brings me to my bit of news," said Cornelius, "in January I will be leaving Milan so that takes care of that little problem."
"And where are you off to?" asked Gregory
"Saxony. I have been appointed to the Imperial Roman Embassy in Minden to assist the ambassador with the new round of trade talks."
"Congratulations!" said Gregory, "about time you did some real work. The Saxons and the other Germanic States along the Rhine have been unhappy with our trade restrictions and tariffs for some time. A relaxing of the regulations and taxes could help stimulate the economies on both sides of the frontier."
Sextus and Marcus came over to join them.
"Cornelius is off to Saxony next year." Gregory informed them as they sat down.
"Well I hope you won't need the army to come and rescue you," said Sextus, "with Dikouros in command they'll probably end up in Africa."
"It's a diplomatic mission to improve trade relations," explained Cornelius laughing, "Saxony and the Empire have been at peace for thirty years, I do not expect to find myself in the middle of a war."
"I certainly hope not," said Fulvia, "we've enough problems without that."
"Let's hope that 1920 will prove to be a better year than this one for everybody," said Gregory and stood, glass in hand. "A toast everyone. To the New Year. I know it is still early December, but we won't meet again this year. With Cornelius off to Saxony and Marcus joining me in Constantinople I think it's appropriate."
They all stood, and in the glow of the fire the four men and one woman raised their glasses.
"To 1920," said Gregory solemnly, "may God bless it, and all of us."
"Amen," the others replied and drained their glasses.
25th December1919
Kingdom of Saxony
“Merry Christmas” Count Frederick Maleric raised a large gold goblet to his two younger siblings and make a silent prayer that neither of them would turn the Christmas meal into another family fight. He had had a quiet word with each of them in turn when they had arrived at the Hunting Lodge after Church this morning.
They both smiled and raised their goblets to each other and drank to the toast.
“A very good wine brother” commented Franz appreciatively, “not one I have tasted before.”
“A gift from the Roman Ambassador. From southern Italy I believe.”
The goblet in Franz hand froze in mid-air, the congenial look on his face had disappeared” and you couldn’t find a good German wine for us to drink?” He stared at his older brother barely controlling the anger he felt.
“The Ham and the vegetables are from our own estates, whilst the dessert is a Turkish delicacy recommended to me by the Ottoman trade attaché. I thought that we should celebrate Our Lord’s birth and its message of peace and goodwill to all by including food and drink from Saxony’s traditional enemies.” Frederick then pointedly took another sip of the wine and gave his brother what he hoped was a conciliatory smile.
“That’s a very lovely thought Frederick,” interrupted Katherine their sister, keen to head off a potential argument. “It is in keeping with the spirit of the season and the Bishop’s message this morning at the service.”
Franz carefully put down his goblet and forced a smile at his older brother and sister. “Quite so,” he agreed, then picked up his knife and folk and began to eat.
“How are your studies coming along Katherine?” Asked Frederick after a few minutes of awkward silence.
“Quite well. My paper on the revolt of the Roman colonies across the Atlantic leading to the establishment of the United Provinces is going to be published in the journal of Romano-Germanic Studies sometime next year.”
“Now that,” said Franz, “is something of yours that I would be interested in reading. The mighty empire being humbled and humiliated. It’s about time you wrote something that’s not in praise of the damned Romans!”
Katherine bristled at Franz’s comments but kept her temper. “My research is neither to praise nor damn the Roman Empire – it is an academic investigation into historical events so we can understand the social, economic and military forces that shaped them.”
“Absolutely” agreed Franz, “then we can use the ‘understanding’ to recreate events where the empire gets it’s arse kicked!” Frederick could tell that Franz was baiting his sister, but Katherine know her brother well enough and did not rise to it.
“Anyway,” continued Katherine, turning her attention back to Frederick, “my next paper is on the lives of Imperial Emperors and their contribution to the empire as it currently exists.”
“That sounds like a rather big project” observed Frederick, “there have been a lot of Emperors over the last couple of thousand years.”
“I know. My first problem is to decide who to include. Some like Augustus, Constantine the Great and Justinian the Great from the early centuries are fairly obvious. Augustus established the Empire after the Republic, Constantine laid the ground for the theocratic state of the following millennium and Justinian re-conquered the West after the collapse of the 5th century. But the closer we get to present time the harder it is to decide since the impacts of their actions may not yet be completely discernable.”
Frederick nodded. “I can understand that. For history to pass judgement – or at for historians to do so – there needs to be sufficient time so that the events, actions and policies from the past can be viewed dispassionately.”
“Precisely,” continued Katherine, “Constantine XX reunited the Empire after the Schism Wars and is regarded as one of the greatest Emperors of all time – yet as I argued in my last paper, his policies were a major factor in the revolt of the Novo Roma colonies that led to the independence of the United Provinces.”
“An argument that would not have found much support a couple of hundred years ago given the Saint like reverence accorded him, especially by the Church hierarchies” observed Frederick
“It’s gets harder still where it is in living memory. Should I include the previous Emperor Philip III – his economic policies were praised and ushering in a new golden age of prosperity for all – but the recession currently engulfing the world economy is being attributed by many to those same policies”
“He also has the blood of thousands of Saxon’s on his hand Katherine – don’t forget that!” Snapped Franz, joining back into the discussion. “He led the legions that trapped our troops against the Rhine and slaughtered them with artillery. Our own grandfather died there together with hundreds of men from the estate and Saxony was forced to accept an humiliating treaty!”
“That was a quarter of a century ago Franz,” said Frederick quietly. “You were just a babe then, barely walking. I remember the enthusiasm as they marched off to fight, envious that I was too young to be with them.” He took a long drink from his goblet before continuing. “I also remember them coming home after – the ones who did. Faces haunted by the horrors, many maimed and crippled. Our grandfather dead and our father embittered and emotionally shattered.”
“He never forgave the Romans” Franz added.
“No, he didn’t. And I believe that hate put him into an early grave too. We need to learn from the past, put aside the anger and resentment. Saxony is a great nation in its own right – we do not need to define ourselves in relation to our neighbours.”
“Saxony will never be a great nation whilst we allow Constantinople to Lord it over us! They tell us the terms under which we may trade, place restrictions on our military. Such things are intolerable!”
“Things are changing Franz,” said Frederick firmly. “The economic problems have provided us with the opportunity to negotiate a more equitable trade relationship with the empire. Next month we are starting a round of trade talks aimed at a new agreement that will be mutually beneficial.”
Franz sat back in his chair, looked at his brother and shook his head slowly. “You believe that if you want to Frederick. The only agreement that the Romans truly believe in is one imposed by the steel of their legions.”
Chapter Three
5th January 1920
Imperial Railways Train:Milan to Lutetia Service
Cornelius settled into his compact but comfortable 1st class compartment on the train. It was a long overnight journey to Lutetia in Gaul from where he would get a connecting train to Confluentes on the Rhine frontier. After crossing the border the Saxon capital of Minden was another train ride away.
The compartment had a desk and seat, a washing area and a bunk bed which reminded Cornelius of his first room at the Ravenna Military Academy. Thankfully this bed was a lot more comfortable and he did not need to make it himself in the morning. Cornelius settled into the seat which was by the window, opened his case and took out a book.
“Rome and Germania – A Modern History” he read the title on the dust cover to himself. Well, this should fill in some of the gaps in my knowledge. He opened to the chapter list scanning through the summaries presented and made a decision. “I think I will start from here” he muttered to himself, opening the book at the chapter covering the 18th century. “Don’t think I’ll need to go back any further for now” and sta
rted to read.
The early 18th Century had seen the Roman Empire still fragmented following the Religious Schism Wars with many provinces under the control of breakaway regimes or foreign domination. The Germanic states had taken the opportunity of Imperial weakness to effectively annex the provinces of Germania Superior and Inferior west of the Rhine proclaiming a pan-Germanic confederation under Saxon leadership. However this new entity only lasted 3 years before Constantine XX defeated Saxon armies in Gaul and Germania, re-establishing the Rhine frontier and the allegiance of the two provinces. This caused a collapse of the Confederation across the Rhine as well – the other German states had never been very happy about Saxon domination of the Confederation and withdrew. However the idea of a single German State had been mooted for the first time and became a dream of German Nationalists, especially in Saxony – and something that Imperial Foreign policy continued to work hard to prevent.
Cornelius stopped reading briefly to make a few notes and then continued. The book went on to cover the Saxon support for the revolt of the colonies across the Atlantic in the 1720’s which had gone someway to salve Saxon feelings for the defeats earlier that century. There then followed a long period of peace – or at least no open warfare – between the Germanic states and the Empire. Constantinople concentrated on its other colonies and recovery from the trials of the previous half century and Saxony on assimilating the Polish territories it had incorporated after the wars with the Turks and the small Baltic city states which had maintained a precarious independence up to then. Cornelius continued to make notes as he read, mainly on the social and economic relationships between the two states.
He stopped for dinner, going to the dining car a few carriages along where he ate alone. After a coffee and brandy Cornelius made his way back to his compartment and decided he should finish the last couple of chapters before he turned in.
