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The Fire Waker

Page 31

by Ben Pastor


  Do not trust Sido. Do not trust Helena. Above all, do not trust Constantine.

  It is my desire that, in lieu of my son, you pour libations and make all appropriate remembrances of me on the days of my birth and of my death, whenever that will be, on Parentalia's two-week celebration of the dead in February, and on 21 April, the foundation day of Eternal Rome. Salve atque vale.

  Manias Curius Decimus, son of Publius Curius Calvinius, vir claris-simus of the senatorial class.

  Aelius realized he'd sat at the table a long while, because other officers had filled the mess hall when he looked around. One of them leaned over to say, "Do you mind if I sit here?" Another had not even bothered to ask and was already eating noisily at the other end of the table.

  Finding Sido just outside the door did not surprise him. He might have spied him from the window for all he knew. First the head of the speculatores spoke some nonsense about going to an appointment with someone, then stayed there with his arms folded, motionless under the eave that protected him from the rain. Aelius decided it was better to give him a chance to speak now and get it over with. So he remained under the same eave, with his saddlebag on the hale shoulder, looking at the drops from the gutter falling to dig a trench in the diluted snow.

  "It seems we end this match in a draw, Aelius Spartianus."

  "Does it? I didn't know we were in a match."

  Sido turned to him. Calmly Aelius did the same, so that they faced each other, careless that rain wetted the side of their bodies under the dripping eave.

  "But I'm keeping my eye on you, inside the border and out. Don't you ever think yourself out of my reach. Remember that Decimus left some of his smell on you." Sido touched Aelius's chest, bringing his fingertips near his nose afterward. "I can smell it. And the fly of treason can bite at any time "

  "I think I gave proof in Egypt that I am immune to the insect."

  "Then let's say that the fire of ambition can be fanned at any time, and the army is a pile of dry wood. You are army, aren't you?"

  An unintelligent provocation, at a time not made for lashing out. Aelius held his breath, let it go. In May the old emperors would abdicate. Within a year Constantius would be dead, and in the following months Maxentius and Constantine would emerge from the power struggle holding sway over entire armies, drawing barbarian tribes to their side, murdering season after season. The face of Rome itself would be obscured in blood.

  This morning, on the marching grounds of the military camp at Savaria, in the province of Pannonia Prima Savia, Aelius could look at the man in front of him and foretell his end, as stupidity always will be crushed in great battles. It was vengeance enough. "I am definitely army," he only said.

  Rain melted snow, and a sickly sun wanted to thin out the rain; clouds shredded like veils pulled without mercy. Aelius watched Sido turn on his heel and walk away, squirting mud. He blessed the cleanliness of the coming war. There would be a right moment to take back in hand Decimus's letter and decide what to do about it. For now, it sat in his saddlebag with its flattery and promise of wealth, its warnings, its weight as the testament of a man's soul. Annia Cincias—Castas— exquisite little alabaster bust sat alongside it, and both were like tinder waiting for a spark.

  GLOSSARY

  THE PLACES

  Italia Annonaria (Northern Italy) Aquileia—city in northeastern Italy, important religious seat in early

  Christianity Balnea Vetra—the Old Baths in Mediolanum Brixia—Brescia, city then and now known for its weapons factories

  (Beretta) Mediolanum—Milan

  Modicia—Monza, city near Milan where Charlemagne's crown is kept Mutina—Modena Porta Argentea, Aurea (Nova), Romana, Ticinensis, Vercellina—

  Mediolanum city gates porticus maximiana —famous porticoed street built by Maximian in

  Mediolanum Tergeste—Trieste Ticinum—Pavia Vicentia—Vicenza, still a military town (U.S. Army)

  Belgica Prima and Germania Inferior and Superior (France, and Northern and Southern Germany) Arae Flaviae—Rottweil, in the Black Forest Argentorate—Strasbourg Augusta Treverorum—Trier Bingum—Bingen

  Brigantium—Bregenz

  Confluentes—Koblenz

  Noviomagus—Lisieux

  Teutoburg—forest near Detmold, where in 9 c.e. an entire Roman army was ambushed and destroyed by Arminius's Germanic tribesmen

  Vindonissa—Windisch

  Noricum and Raetia (Austria), Moesia and Pannonia (region including parts of Hungary, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia)

  Aquincum—Budapest

  Arrabona—Gyoer

  Aspalatum—Split

  Carnuntum—location near Petronell, southeast of Bratislava

  Castra Regina—Regensburg

  Celeia—Celje

  Emona—Lj ublj ana

  Intercisa—location on the Danube, about forty miles south of Budapest

  Poetovio—Ptuj

  Sala—Zalaloevo

  Savaria—Szombathely

  Scarbantia—Sopron, near Lake Balaton

  Sirmium—Sremska Mitrovica, northeast of Belgrade; the martyr Ire-naeus was its bishop

  Siscia—Sisak

  Vindobona—Vienna

  Other Geographical Names Antinoopolis—city, today vanished, along middle course of the Nile Barbaricum—generic name for the barbarian-inhabited areas outside the Roman Empire Byzantium—later Constantinople, today's Istanbul Dacia—Romania

  Dalmatia—Adriatic region of Croatia

  Dravus, Marus, Savus, Tibiscus—the central European rivers Drava, Morava, Sava, and Tisza Golden

  Spike/Cuneus Aureus—the Spluegen Pass between Austria and Italy

  Insubria, Insubrians—today's northern Italian region of Lombardy, and its inhabitants

  Nicomedia—Izmir, in Turkey

  Tibur—city near Rome, known for its building stone and Hadrian's< great villa

  THE NAMES

  Historical and Mythical Names

  Achilleus; Domitius Domitianus—Roman usurpers, defeated in Egypt, circa 296 CE

  Aeschylus (f456 b.c.e.) —Greek playwright, authored among others the tragedy Agamemnon

  Agamemnon, Cassandra—mythical king slain by his wife, and slave who foretold his death

  Admetus, Alcestis—mythical husband and wife; she offered her life for his

  Brutus (f42 b.c.e.) —one of the murderers of Julius Caesar

  Cato the Censor, or the Elder (1"149 b.c.e.) —conservative Roman statesman and orator

  Diocletian (t316 c.e.) —Roman emperor, great soldier and administrator

  Constantine (f 337 c.e.) —known as "the Great," first Christian emperor

  Constantius (t306 c.e.) —Diocletian's co-emperor and Constantine's father

  Galerius (f311)—Diocletian's co-emperor, persecutor of Christians

  Hades—god of the underworld, also the underworld itself

  Helena—Constantine's mother, later a Christian saint

  Maxentius (1312 c.e.) —Maximian's son, usurper and Constantine's rival

  Maximian (t311 c.e.) —Diocletian's co-emperor and Maxentius's father

  Orpheus, Eurydice—mythical couple: glancing at her, Orpheus failed to save his bride from death

  Pentheus—mythical king slain by drunken and possessed women

  Seneca (165 c.e.) —Roman thinker and Nero's teacher (who forced him to commit suicide)

  Severus, Septimius (1*211 c.e.) —Roman general and emperor, native of North Africa

  Thanathos—Greek personification of death

  Varus (Quintilius) (19 c.e.) —Roman general, lost three legions and his life in Teutoburg Forest

  Virgil (119 b.c.e.) —greatest Roman poet, wrote among others the Aeneid

  Everything Else

  Ala Antoniniana Sagittariorum Surorum; Ala Ursiciana; Ioviani Palatini; Maximiani Juniores; Seniores Gentiliorum—Roman cavalry units, approximately of regimental strength

  Alamanni, Alani, Boii, Gepids, Goths, Quadi, Marcomanni, Roxolani, Sarmatae, Scord
isci, Suebi, Vandals—barbarians of northern and eastern European origin who periodically attacked the Roman Empire between 400 b.c.e. and 500 c.e.

  Bibe vivas multis annis, vivas feliciter —well-wishing sentences on Roman goblets: "drink and live many years"; "may you live happily"

  burgus —a defensive fortified tower along the Roman frontier

  clarissimusy perfectissimus —lit. "most noble" and "most perfect," titles given to the Roman social classes of senators and knights

  cuiprodest —Latin: "Who gains from it?"

  denarius —a basic Roman monetary unit; depreciated through the years from circa 30 U.S. cents to circa 8 U.S. cents

  Figlinae Marci Lupi—"the brickworks of Marcus Lupus"

  foederati —"military confederates," barbarian tribes allied to Roman army

  fullones —"cloth dyers"

  Germanicus, Britannicus, Sarmaticus, Persicus Maximus—imperial titles, indicating the victories gained over Germany, Britain, Sarma-tia, and Persia

  Ides, Kalends—ancient (lunar) Roman calendar subdivisions, indicating midmonth and the last days before the following month

  Kislev—Hebrew month, corresponding to November-December

  lapsi —"fallen back, backsliding," name given to Christians who recanted during persecutions

  legatos, strategos —Greek for "commander," "general"

  Manes —spirits of the family dead

  mutatio —"horse-changing station"

  nefasti (dies) —in the Roman calendar, "negative" days during which official acts were forbidden

  praefectus —Roman military title, corresponding more or less to the rank of colonel

  praeses —late Roman term for "provincial governor"

  sagum —the cloth used for the cloak worn by Roman soldiers, often bright red, hence also the cloak itself

  Salve atque vale —"Hail, and be well"

  Samnites—ancient Latin tribe, fought Rome at the beginnings of the city

  sestertium (sesterce)—Roman monetary unit, l A of a denarius (see above)

  speculator, speculatores —member(s) of the Roman criminal investigation police

  terefah —Hebrew for "impure"

  ustrinum —a fenced area where the funeral pyre of a family or clan was erected

  vexillationes —lit. "flag-bearing," highly mobile mounted units of the Roman army

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