The Eternal Empire

by Geoff Fabron

  The next chapter explored the background to the last war between Saxony and the Empire. The new ‘Golden Age of Rome’, as the second half of the 19th Century was being called, was viewed with some alarm by those outside the Imperial borders. They feared a Rome that was developing an economic domination with an arrogance to match. The revival of interest within the Empire of the ‘glories of the Pax Romanum’ of the early centuries of the Caesars certainly gave rise to a sense of superiority and distain within the Empire for those outside the frontiers. This naturally gave rise to a reaction amongst the Germans, Arabs and Turks bordering the Empire, but especially the Saxons as the most powerful of the Germanic States. A period of rising tensions, border incidents and rabid reporting by the press of both sides fuelled a explosive atmosphere and eventually a spark set off the explosion.

  The war of 1895 was brief and, especially for the Saxons, bloody. Initial advances over the Rhine were outflanked by the Legions who used recent developments in military technology to outclass their opponents. Decisively beaten, Saxony had to accept an humilating peace treaty that clearly broadcast to the world that Rome had won.

  Following the war, trade and commerce picked up again and helped to feed the economic boon of the next two decades. The book, published in 1916 ended on an optimistic note of continuous economic growth and prosperity for all.

  Cornelius closed the book and wrote down his final notes. ‘Well,’ he said to himself as he reviewed what he had written, “when we are at peace and trade together we both benefit, but when we are at war all we get is death, destruction and a generation of bitterness.” He sighed at his summary. “Bloody obvious really, you would have thought any intelligent person – Roman or Saxon - could spot that, yet we struggle to!”

  7th January 1920

  Roman Embassy, Minden, Saxony

  The Roman Embassy in the Saxon Capital was situated along the Visurgis River, close to the buildings which housed the various departments of the Saxon government. It was a large complex and all the imperial citizens who worked for the embassy lived within its high walls. Cornelius Petronius had just finished unpacking his clothes when there was a knock at his door. He opened it to find one of the legionaries from the embassy guard unit standing outside. He came to attention and gave Cornelius a salute, right fist to his left breast.

  "The ambassadors’ compliments, sir", he said in clipped tones, "he would like to see you in his office as soon as possible."

  "Thank you. Please tell the ambassador that I shall see him shortly," replied Cornelius.

  "Yes sir", the legionary saluted once again and marched away down the corridor. Cornelius closed the door and went to the bathroom for a quick wash. It was mid afternoon and he was not due to report to the ambassador until the following morning. Why the hurry?

  The main embassy offices were located in a large four storey building along the river front, on the other side of the complex from the apartment that Cornelius had been allocated. The mild December weather had given way to a bitterly cold January and snow was falling lightly over the city. Cornelius put on a heavy coat before setting off to see the ambassador. The route to the offices were well sign posted, which was just as well. The buildings in the embassy grounds had developed in a rather haphazard manner over the course of the two centuries that the Empire and Saxony had had formal diplomatic relations. Away from the river and the main offices were a maze of small villas and tenements that were home to the several hundred men and women who represented the Empire in the Kingdom of Saxony.

  As soon as Cornelius arrived at the building another legionary took his coat and escorted him up to the first floor and straight in to see Isaac Taronites, the Emperors ambassador to the Court of the King of the Saxons.

  Taronites was in his late forties and had been the ambassador in Saxony for the last five years. He was of medium height with a dark complexion, and obviously kept himself in good shape. The ambassador had been in conversation with another man but stood and smiled at Cornelius as he was shown in.

  "Cornelius Petronius. Welcome to Saxony," he said and came round his desk to shake hands. "I trust that you are settling in all right."

  "Yes, thank you ambassador," said Cornelius, "the accommodation is perfectly adequate for my needs, although I could've used a little more time before reporting for duty. I was quite surprised by this summons."

  "That's my fault I'm afraid." The speaker was a tall man who had been pouring drinks over at the corner cabinet. Cornelius had not noticed him when he had entered. He came over to the two men with a drink in each hand, one of which he gave to Cornelius.

  "Some mulled wine to warm you up," he said.

  "Let me introduce you," said the ambassador, "this is legate Lucullus Drusus. He's in charge of the legionary guard unit at the embassy."

  They shook hands.

  "That's my official title, but everyone knows that I'm more interested in the Saxon armed forces than the handful of legionaries at the embassy."

  "It's common knowledge that our embassies gather intelligence in the countries in which they are situated," said Cornelius, "but how does that affect me?"

  The ambassador signalled them to sit down and he returned to the chair behind his desk. Cornelius sipped the hot wine and felt the sweet warm liquid ease the cold out of his body. The ambassador took a sheet of paper from his desk. It had the imperial seal embossed on the bottom.

  "Your main job is to assist me in the trade negotiations which are due to start next month," said Taronites, "but we also need somebody to assist Lucullus. You are to be his deputy."

  "There must be some mistake," said Cornelius after a moment, "I'm no spy".

  "We're not looking for a spy," said Lucullus with a smile, "all I need is a trained staff officer to help me collate the information that comes into the embassy and send reports to Constantinople."

  "I have your file here," said the ambassador, "you were on the staff of the legio X Fretensis in Asia Minor. Your last commander says that you were an exceptional analyst."

  The two men looked at Cornelius expectantly. "Do I have a choice?" he said.

  "Not really," admitted the ambassador "but it will be a secondary role to that of the trade negotiations."

  "The reason for the urgency," Lucullus broke in, "is that tomorrow I'm going to Constantinople and won't be back for at least two months, possibly longer. With the recent budget reductions the army can't afford to send a replacement."

  "Tomorrow! How am I going to find out what needs to be done before you leave?"

  "We have a long night ahead of us Cornelius," said Lucullus. "I've arranged for supper to be sent to my office. I suggest we go and get started."

  Eight hours later, Cornelius was trying to stay awake. The supper plates were lying on the legates desk amidst piles of papers, maps and charts. They had gone through the files that Lucullus had kept and the type of information Cornelius could expect to receive and how often, but not where it was coming from.

  "You don't need to know - and it's best that you don't - how the information comes into this office," the legate informed him, "there's a centurion who deals with our sources. All you need to do is update the files, analyse the data and look for anything of interest."

  Lucullus had given him a list of files to read in the coming week for background information. Organisation and distribution of the Saxon army, weapons, factories, production plans, naval ship data, senior officer profiles - the list went on. By the time he had finished with all of these Cornelius would know more about the Saxon military machine than the Saxon war minister.

  8th January 1920

  Constantinople

  Some twelve hundred miles away Marcus Metellus was also settling into his new accommodation. Unfortunately, due to the high rents charged for apartments in the Capital, Marcus could only afford a single room in an old tenement building some distance from the assembly. However like Cornelius, Marcus also received a knock at his door just as he was finishing his unpacking
, but unlike his friend he opened the door to a civilian.

  "If I'm at the right place, you must be Marcus Metellus, representative for Constanius," said the stranger at the door.

  "You have the right place," replied Marcus guardedly.

  "My name's Magnus Lepidus and I'm the representative for Camulodunum in Britannia. John Phocas sent me to welcome you to the city and to fill you in on what has been happening."

  Marcus shook hands and invited his colleague from the Modernist Party into his small room. John Phocas was the party leader and the only person in Constantinople that Marcus had sent his new address to. They sat down on a couple of chairs, which apart from a bed, table, wardrobe and wash stand were the only pieces of furniture in the room.

  "I'm afraid that I'm unable to offer you any refreshments," begun Marcus, "I've not had time to find the local shops."

  Magnus waved a hand dismissively. "No problem, once we have finished our business I'll take you to a nice little tavern about two minutes from here." Then he abruptly stopped speaking and was deep in thought for a few seconds.

  "What am I saying!" he said standing up. "Get your coat Marcus, we'll go to the tavern now. We can discuss the political situation over a few bottles of cheap wine like real intellectuals!"

  Marcus quickly agreed, and grabbed his room keys off the table and his coat from the hook on the back of the door. This Magnus seemed quite an agreeable fellow.

  By the third bottle Marcus and Magnus were talking as though they had known each other for years. Marcus did not consider the wine cheap, but in Constantinople everything was more expensive than in the provinces. Luckily Magnus was buying tonight, which as he was drinking twice as much as Marcus was just as well.

  Magnus described the meeting that John Phocas and the other party leaders had had with Emperor Alexander just before Christmas.

  "What the Emperor said was that the assembly must pass laws to stimulate the economy so that there is more money to tax."

  "Just like that?" said Marcus.

  "Not in those exact words," said Magnus, "but that was the gist of it. Old Opus from the Treasury was not happy with the way Alexander explained the situation, but he couldn't do much about it".

  "What was the party leaders reaction?" asked Marcus.

  Magnus held up a hand in front of his face and spread his fingers. He started to count them off with his other hand.

  "The Senatorial Party thought that it was a brilliant idea. They always think that what the Emperor suggests is a brilliant idea, unless it affects their money or privileges. Anyway, there's as much chance of one of those has-beens thinking of an idea to stimulate the economy as I have of staying sober tonight". He drained his glass and counted off the second finger. Marcus refilled his glass.

  "The Equestrians immediately put forward their standard proposal to remove all price and wage controls and to open up the transport monopolies to private business. Now, we Modernists have nothing against that in principle, but they are just interested in making as much money as they can by raising prices, cutting wages and milking the railway cash cow." He counted off the third finger after draining another glass.

  "The Traditionalists blamed everything on the collapse of the moral fibre of the Empire and demanded a stricter enforcement of existing economic laws. A right bunch of idiots they are!” Magnus had another drink before continuing.

  "However, to give them their due, they did raise the issue of the military not being paid and said that it was a disgrace to the honour of every Roman! I don't know about it being a disgrace to Roman honour, but pissing off half a million men with guns by withholding their pay doesn't strike me as being a particularly intelligent thing to do." He counted off the fourth finger while Marcus refilled his glass.

  "The Radicals said that the economy was doomed unless the peasants and the factory workers were allowed a say in how the economy and government was run. In their opinion, the Empire in its current form only exists to benefit the parasites in the aristocracy and rich merchants. Their only suggestion was to destroy the entire economy and to start again with everybody having an equal share." He had got to his thumb now. He drained another glass. Marcus refilled it.

  "The Federalists believe that everything is too centralised and bogged down by bureaucracy - a view that we share. They want each province to run its own affairs, set its own taxes, customs duty, and so on." Magnus looked carefully at the hand in front of him and tried to focus. He mentally counted all four fingers and thumb and then went back to the first finger again.

  "Next the Republicans," his voice was beginning to slur now, "they said much the same as the radicals but blamed the institution of the Emperor. They believe that the subjects of the Empire will be able to sort out the economic problems themselves if they suddenly become citizens of a Republic instead. Haven't quite worked out the logic of that myself yet but they seem quite convinced."

  Magnus sat back with a drunken, smug look on his face, and closed his eyes.

  "What about us?" asked Marcus. "What did John Phocas say?"

  He shook his head and opened his eyes. "Oh yes! Nearly forgot about us!" His speech was quite slurred by now. "John said that the Empire needs to harness the skills of its entire people, and to work with our neighbours to increase trade. We need to overhaul the machinery of government to make it work better and more effectively."

  Marcus thought about this for a moment, while Magnus finished the dregs in his glass. "That sounds all very well, but what are we actually going to do?"

  Magnus leaned over to Marcus so that he could whisper in his ear. His movements were rather unsteady.

  "At this very moment, John Phocas is locked in negotiations with certain other parties!"

  "What about?" asked Marcus, but got no reply.

  Magnus had passed out.

  8th January 1920

  Roman Embassy, Minden, Saxony

  Cornelius slept late after his session with Lucullus and missed the breakfast which was served in the communal kitchen in his building. He managed to get some bread and cheese from the cook and headed back over to the offices.

  He had been allocated an office adjoining the legates with full access to his files whilst he was away. A legionary showed him to his desk. There was a pile of files and a note from Lucullus on top. Cornelius picked up the note and read it. Before the legate had left for Constantinople that morning he had gathered together all the files that Cornelius needed to study.

  Cornelius sat down at the desk, picked up the first file, took a bite from the chunk of bread and started to read.

  Saxon Army - Capabilities

  There are two parts to the Saxon army, the permanent establishment and the citizen army. The permanent establishment consists of the full time army staff, regimental cadres and about 60 regiments kept at full strength for training and garrison duties.

  The citizen army is organised on a regional basis with each city, town or group of villages providing one or more regiments of approximately 1000 men. There is known to be over 100 of these reserve regiments at present. The men spend six months training in a permanent unit before being transferred to their citizen army regiment. They train regularly, but quality is variable and it can take two to three weeks for some units to mobilise.

  Three or more Infantry Regiments make up a Battlegroup to which are attached additional units of artillery, landships and support services. These are the main operational units of the Saxon army and the nearest equivalent to our Legionary formations.

  The permanent regiments which are equipped with the new armoured motor carriages and landships appear to receive the best recruits and equipment. There have been reports that one or more centuries in each permanent Infantry Regiment are being trained in new tactics which appear to emphasise action independent of the rest of the Regiment. A new model of machine-rifle which is much lighter than that issued to the support centuries has also been in evidence and appears to be issued to these centuries. Additional information on th
ese new tactics is being sought.

  The cavalry regiments are drawn from the country estates of the noble families, and are well mounted and aggressive. However they still appear to follow traditional cavalry tactics on the battlefield practising mounted charges unlike Roman cavalry cohorts which have mainly converted to the role of mounted infantry.

  The most effective arm of the Saxon military is their field artillery. Since the last war, when they suffered heavily at the hands of the Roman artillery, the Saxons have spent a great deal of time and money on improving the number and quality of their guns. Each regiment now has a battery of 12 medium sized guns attached plus some smaller calibre weapons for close support. By the terms of the last wars peace treaty the Saxon army is still prohibited from procuring large calibre siege artillery.

  Their supply and support services have shown a significant improvement over the past few years but are still relatively primitive by Roman army standards. Transport is primarily on foot for the infantry regiments although a few have received some motor carriages, but not in sufficient numbers to carry the entire unit.

  Saxon Navy - Capabilities

  From being an insignificant coastal force thirty years ago, the Saxon Navy has been built up to a well balanced ocean going fleet, although still smaller than our forces based in Britannia. The Saxon Navy currently has four ships of the line, eight cruisers, twenty-four fleet escorts and twenty torpedo boats. Two more ships of the line are presently undergoing sea trials and should be operational in May and June respectively. Reports from the gun foundries indicate that heavy guns have been cast which are sufficient to equip four more ships of the line and ten cruisers. Although no new Ship Act has been passed by the Saxon Assembly it is expected that the ships to carry these guns will be laid down soon.