The Eternal Empire (9 page)

There was some scattered applause at
that. Phocas waited for it to die down before continuing.

"An Air Transport Law will allow
private companies to own and operate aircraft for commercial purposes subject
to military approval." The applause from the floor began again.

"So that's why the Equestrians
bought into this alliance," said Magnus. Marcus nodded in agreement. Air
transport was regarded as the next boom industry and the reluctance to relax
the states monopoly had been deeply resented by industrialists.

"A law will be passed," said
Phocas, "to allow each province to engage in any kind of economic activity
that it wishes. Bureaucrats in the capital will no longer dictate where
factories will be built or what they can produce, which ports may build ships
and what crops each farmer may grow."

By now everyone in the room was on
their feet applauding, Marcus had to shout to Magnus to make himself heard.
"That'll please the Federalists, regardless of faction."

John Phocas signalled for everybody to
sit down, he had more. He waited until he had complete silence.

"As you will realise, these laws
will bring about many of the changes which the Modernist party have been
advocating for years. However, to get the Emperor to accept them and to approve
their adoption it will be necessary to pass an austerity law to raise
additional taxes."

There were unhappy mutterings at his.
John Phocas ignored them and carried on.

"The Austerity Law will allow for
an increase in basic taxation by 5%, import duties by 15%, and rail transport
charges by 10%. The price of controlled foods will go up by between 5% and 15%,
and the guaranteed price paid by the state for all minerals will be reduced by
5%."

A number of members were on their feet
before Phocas had finished. They were all shouting at once and declaiming the
proposed austerity law as being too severe and would make the recession worse.
However, Marcus noticed that the majority of those present were still seated
and deep in thought. If the financial situation really was that bad, the
Emperor would be hard pressed to reject these new laws. Besides, getting four
of the seven parties in the assembly to support this package of laws was
unprecedented, and everyone present had quickly done the voting arithmetic. The
Modernist, Radicals, Federalists and Equestrians controlled 264 seats in a 400
seat assembly.

15th
January 1920

Minden,
Saxony

Cornelius decided to wear his second
best toga (he only had two). The wine stain caused by Fulvia's poke in his ribs
at the party for Titus had not come out completely and the ambassador had
emphasised the importance of making a good impression at the reception tonight.

Taronites and a score of other high
ranking officials from the Embassy had been invited to the country residence of
Count Maleric, who was heading the Saxon delegation to the trade negotiations.
Cornelius had been included in the invitation and since he was Taronites
principle trade official in Saxony, he would be travelling in the ambassadors
official motor carriage, a new luxury model from Northern Italia.

The journey from Minden to the Count’s
estate took about twenty minutes, and the ambassador used this time to brief
Cornelius.

"Frederick Maleric comes across as
a friendly and likeable fellow, which he is," said Taronites, "but he
is also intelligent, shrewd, and will give nothing away in negotiations."

"How does he view the
Empire?" asked Cornelius.

"He's no Roman hater, if that is
what you mean. Which is surprising if you had known his father, the old Count.
Now he was a man who despised the Empire with a passion, wouldn't talk to a
Roman and certainly wouldn't have one in the house."

The ambassador allowed himself a little
smile. "That old bastard must be turning in his grave at the thought of this
reception!"

The car arrived at the entrance to the
estate, a huge gate house with a couple of armed guards. They respectfully
inspected the ambassadors’ invitation and directed the motor carriage along a
well tended dirt road. Cornelius noted other armed men walking along the road.

"Does the Count normally have an
army billeted on his estate?" asked Cornelius.

"They'll be men from the local
regiment," the ambassador answered, "the youngest perform security
duties for the nobles as part of their training. Count Maleric is honourary
colonel of the local regiment."

The motor carriage pulled up to the
front entrance where another guard opened the door for them to get out. They
went inside and were met by a servant who guided them through to the main reception
room.

The room was large and well lit. A
quartet played quietly in one corner while the sixty or so guests stood around
in small groups talking. As Taronites and Cornelius entered, a middle-aged man
detached himself from one of the groups and strode purposefully towards them.

"Isaac, good to see you, welcome
to my home." The man had a large smile, only slightly hidden by a well
trimmed beard, and friendly silver grey eyes. He shook the ambassadors’ hand
vigorously.

"It's good to see you again Frederick,"
said Taronites, "please let me introduce you to Cornelius Petronius, my
principle trade assistant. Cornelius, this is Count Frederick Maleric, our host
for tonight."

Cornelius shook hands and said
formally, "I am honoured to meet you Count Maleric."

"Please call me Frederick",
the count replied jovially, "There'll be plenty of formal occasions once
the negotiations start."

They moved into the room, helping
themselves to a glass of wine from a table at the entrance. Frederick left them
to greet another arrival and they moved around the various groups to allow the
ambassador to introduce Cornelius to the people he would be negotiating with.

"The Saxons seem pretty
amiable," said Cornelius as they left one group.

"Oh yes, they are all great with a
glass of wine or beer in their hands." The ambassador stopped and turned
to Cornelius, his face cold and hard. "But never forget that behind those
smiles, many of them hate the Empire with a passion. It's a hatred that has
been ingrained for two millennium."

The ambassadors’ smile returned as he
saw the Count approaching with a young woman at his side. "Gentlemen, you
haven't met my sister. Katherine this is Isaac Taronites, the Roman ambassador
and his assistant Cornelius Petronius."

Katherine Maleric appeared to be in her
late twenties, shorter than her brother with fair hair and the same silver grey
eyes. It was the eyes that caught Cornelius's attention. They seemed to be
larger than the Counts, but they also sparkled with greeting. She was attractive
though not stunningly beautiful like Fulvia and if it were not for those eyes
and her smile she would probably be quite plain. Her smile, like her eyes drew
people’s attention. Cornelius suddenly realised that he was staring and quickly
said the first thing that came into his head.

"What do you do Miss
Maleric?"

At this forthright question Katherine's
smile took on a slightly wicked twist.

"I study dead Romans," she
said deliberately, looking directly at Cornelius, who was turning slightly red
as he realised that he had been rather rude.

The Count let out a huge laugh.

"Katherine is studying Roman
History at the university," he said as he brought his laughter under
control, "the lives of famous Roman Emperors” is the subject of her
current paper.

The bright smile returned to
Katherine's face.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to
embarrass you", she said.

"It's all right," replied
Cornelius, "it was rather rude of me to ask."

"Indeed it was," the
ambassador broke in with mock severity, "you shall have to make it up to
this young lady. What do you think Frederick?"

The Count joined Taronites in teasing
Cornelius.

 "Indeed he must, I can't have my
sister treated like this," he added, "it could cause an international
incident!"

"Absolutely!" said the ambassador,
"in penance, Cornelius will be available to answer all Katherine's
questions on Imperial History."

"That's really not
necessary," said Katherine.

Cornelius had been standing speechless
and now had a definite flush to his face. "I really don't mind," he
managed to get out.

"There you are!" said the
ambassador, "Cornelius has also studied Roman history and he has an
excellent analytical mind." He turned to the Count, "that's why I
chose him for the job here."

"Excellent!" said the Count.
"Katherine you can start by taking Cornelius to the museum at the castle
on Saturday. It contains the biggest collection of Roman military artefacts in
Saxony."

They looked at each other blankly for a
brief moment and then Katherine said, "meet me outside the main gate of
the castle at ten o'clock!" She then turned and moved off to talk to
another group.

The ambassador and the Count were
beaming at Cornelius, obviously happy with the embarrassment that they had
caused him. Yet for some reason Cornelius was not all that distressed and as
the evening progressed he found himself looking forward to Saturday.

The next day at the office, Cornelius
kept thinking about his meeting with Katherine. He was not happy with the way
he had reacted when he had first met her and was resolved to make a better
impression on Saturday. To this end he decided to read the earlier charters of 
'Rome and Germania – A Modern History' that he had skipped on the train. That
evening after dinner he sat down in the armchair in his room beside the fire
with a large mug of coffee and started to read.

He skimmed over the first few chapters
which covered the period of the Roman Republic and started reading in earnest
with the attempt to colonise Germania between the Rhine and Albis rivers. The disaster
of Teutoburgerwald in 9 AD and its consequences was covered in some depth. The
slaughter of Varus and his three legions signalled the end of any attempt by
Rome to include Germania within the borders of the Empire. The next four
centuries saw regular Germanic incursions and punitive raids by Rome until the
great invasions of the early fifth century and the collapse of the Western half
of the Empire. Germanic tribes established their own Kingdoms throughout the
West, Ostro-Goths in Italia, Franks in Gauls, Visi-Goths in Hispania and
Vandals in Africa.

For the next hundred years the German
tribes had acted as an army of occupation, living off the land they had
conquered but not really mixing with the Roman population. Then in 533 AD, the
Eastern Empire launched it re-conquest of the West.

First the Vandal Kingdom fell to the
armies of the Emperor Justinian, followed by the Ostro-Gothic Kingdom of Italy.
Hispania and Gaul were recovered more slowly but in 585 AD, the soldiers of
Rome stood on the banks the Rhine once more. By 600 AD Britannia had been
recovered for the Empire, and the frontiers of Rome were as they had been two
centuries before. It did not last for long. Forty years later the armies of the
Prophet Mohammed swept up out of the Arabian peninsula and wrestled Syria and
Palestine permanently and Egypt temporarily from the Empire.

Along the Rhine, the relationship
between Rome and the countries that eventually emerged from the tribes of
Germania settled into a series of vicious wars separated by periods of uneasy
peace. It was only during the wars against the Turks in central Europe in the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries that Roman and German armies had fought
together against the Ottomans in defence of Christendom. However, even this alliance
did not significantly soften Germanic resentment towards the Empire. Some
German historians had suggested that Constantinople had initially encouraged
Ottoman attacks on the Christian States East of the Rhine and had only joined
in against the Turks when they had extended their jihad to include Imperial
lands south of the Danube.

Cornelius skimmed through the chapters
he had previously read on the train until he got up to date with the war of
1895. It had been sparked off by the Saxon desire to bring the Duchies along
the Rhine under her control and to reduce imperial influence. Following her
victory the Empire strengthened its hold over the Duchies foreign and trade
policies.

17th
January 1920

Minden,
Saxony

It was pouring with rain as Cornelius strode
across the city square towards the castle entrance. He did not spot Katherine
outside, but found her sheltering just inside the gate house. As he came up to
her she glanced at the large clock tower which dominated the square. It began
to ring out the chimes for ten o'clock.

"Right on time," she said
with an approving smile, "are you always this punctual?"

"I try to be," Cornelius
replied shaking the rain off his overcoat, "I'm glad that the ambassador
and your brother didn't suggest a tour of the local battlefields, we would get
soaked!"