Legatus Legionis: Book Two in the Gaius Claudius Scaevola Trilogy (19 page)

Messala was crouched in the wooden cell with a pitiful look on his face. "Please, Gaius . . ."

"Quiet!" Gaius snarled. "You were going to kill me, and quite frankly I'd rather stick a gladius up your arse, but there's Vipsania to consider. What you've done is to poison the water for us. Now there's doubt whether she will truly stand by me, and she must be worrying about what I will do to her. That's your gift to your daughter, and frankly I think . . ."

"I'll talk to her and persuade her . . ."

"You'll do nothing of the sort. You've done more than enough already."

"Then what about me?"

"I shall send a report to Claudius, and I will ask him to show some mercy for you, and plead with him that I am convinced that Vipsania had nothing to do with this. It would be the honourable thing on your part to fully confess, while exonerating your daughter."

There was a silence from Messala.

"For the Gods' sake, at least do one good thing for your daughter!" Gaius spat.

"All right," came the sullen response.

"I am hoping that Claudius will be lenient, partly for me, and perhaps because you're a distant relation of his wife. I'm sure he wouldn't want adverse things about her doing the rounds of Rome."

"Thank you. I'll see . . ."

"You won't ever see me again. That's one of the conditions," Gaius waved him to stop. "My guess is, Claudius will exile you, so you might like to consider where a suitable place would be. If Claudius merely limits you to your estate, then I guess Vipsania can go and see you as she wishes, but if I see you again, I'll rethink that matter of using a gladius. In the meantime, if you have any further light to shed on this revolt, put it in writing, and I shall see that Claudius gets it, with a better recommendation for mercy." With that he turned on his heel and marched off, leaving the guard to give Messala some writing equipment.

Later that day he began making arrangements for the captives to be returned to Rome.

* * *

The task of keeping the Danube legions in camp was easier than anyone suspected. While there was very little direct enthusiasm for Claudius himself, there was even less for Scribonianus, and much less for civil war. The upper Danube legions would stand firm behind their governor, and they would persuade the lower Rhine legions to show the same loyalty to the closest living relative to the divine Augustus.

Thus at the same time that the Governor of Dalmatia made his ponderous attack on the now besieged Claudius, a message was received in the senate that the Danube legions had found their eagles mysteriously fixed to the ground, and this was interpreted as a message from the Gods. The Dalmatian legions were fully supportive of the
Princeps
. With his own legions against him, the Governor had lost.

Gaius also sent the
Princeps
two messages. The first was also for any of those close to Claudius to whom he wished to show the letter, and it explained to Claudius the background to the bungled insurrection, as he knew it, and the legions whose support he could count on. The second was personal. He promised Claudius that he could count on the legions for at least a year, but many of the soldiers were a little tired of the antics of Gaius Caesar. The Governor had made one valid point. Claudius had to restore Rome's dignity, and restore order to Rome. It was of prime importance that he did something the following summer to improve the situation. Anything, as long as it did something to improve Rome.

Chapter 17

There was a period in which little happened. The legion marched to Lussonium, and the standard exercises proceeded. There was little news from Rome. Timothy, who had remained under Gaius' instructions, sent a letter informing him that Vipsania was safely back at the ranch, and he had seen to it that everybody in Rome believed she had always been in Ravenna. There were, after all, very few days that were not truthfully accounted for.

There were no public trials. Dome of the senators were offered the choice of voluntary exile with forfeit of property, or trials when, if found guilty, they would be executed. Voluntary exile had its attractions. There were, however, a number of executions.

A letter soon arrived from Vipsania.

My Dearest Gaius,

I miss you very much, particularly since I had so looked forward to being with you. I had thought my appearance would be such a pleasant surprise, but oh how I was disappointed. I swear I had no idea what my father was involved in, and I can only thank you for your kindness. He has now gone into exile, but at least he is still alive.

My return to Rome had its moments. Timothy very kindly ensured our luggage was neatly loaded, and our ship sailed promptly on the tide. I was half asleep, and while I was hungry, I did not feel very much like breakfast. This may have been just as well, because the weather deteriorated, and the ship was tossed around something terribly. I was sick for much of the journey, but fortunately Timothy arranged for me to have a place to rest. Timothy also arranged a place to stay in Ravenna that was clean, but not in the centre, and for a few extra sesterces, we got the promise that the owner would swear we had been there for five nights. The next day we walked around Ravenna, and Timothy made me memorize where some important places were, and what we did on the days we weren't there. Really, Gaius, I think this is overdoing it, but you can be assured that Timothy did his job well. He kept asking me, what did I do on which day, and tried to fool me by saying I had said something different before.

I really think this was a waste of time, because nobody has asked me anything. Who cares what I do?

I have checked the business, and everything remains in order. Your steward is really quite efficient, and there really isn't much for me to do. His records are clear, and I can promise you he is looking after your interests perfectly. The only difficulty I have had is that some of the shipments from Egypt have not been recorded properly. These were organized by Quintus, and I assume he has the records. I shall try to find out.

Timothy stayed for a week, then he left, or he said he did. I was told by someone that they saw him in Rome a week later, but of course it may not have been him at all. I sometimes think people will tell me anything.

My father has been exiled, and I must thank you for your efforts, for I know had it not been for your plea to Claudius, he would almost certainly have been executed. Several others were. I hope you do not mind, but I stayed with him to comfort him for his last few days in Rome. He is really shaken, and he really did not know you were so attached to Claudius. It seems that the wretched Scribonianus had arrogantly assumed that if he ordered you to march on Rome to support him, you would. I think he was too afraid of treachery to get you to agree with this in advance, which was silly. Worse than that, while Scribonianus had promised many to restore the Republic, according to some of the Praetorians, he intended to be Princeps. I have no idea why my father trusted him.

I miss you, but hopefully it will not be too long until we are together again.

Your loving Vipsania

Gaius was amused to see that Timothy's attempts to remain without anyone knowing had failed. Fortunately, Vipsania did not realize that he had asked Timothy to stay, to spy on her. He was not the jealous husband, and in that respect he trusted Vipsania implicitly, but he was not entirely convinced that she would be free of conspiracy. Even if she were innocent, that did not mean that conspirators would not attempt to contact her. It was all so messy.

The news about Quintus irritated him. It would not surprise him if Quintus were cheating him a little. He probably felt that he was not being sufficiently well rewarded for what he was doing, and perhaps he was right, but that did not mean that he was entitled to help himself. Also, it was not as if he had asked Quintus to help: Quintus had taken that task on himself. All the same, if he wanted a bigger reward for carrying out whatever work he wished to specify, all he had to do was ask. On the other hand, whatever the problem was, it may have been nothing more than careless accounting, and he really did not care that much, as long as the ranch overall made a good profit, which it still seemed to be doing.

However, now there was a new problem in that Vipsania had taken an interest in the issue, and that had the potential to lead to conflict, and because of the trouble with her father, he had to support Vipsania, while at the same time not get into an unnecessary conflict with the husband of his sister. This was exactly what he did not need right now.

He would write back and let Vipsania know he completely understood her desire to be with her father for that period, and also encourage her to keep checking on the records. He would also try to get separate clarification from his Steward.

The general inactivity sent Gaius back to his engine. He had even further parts made, and he now had quite a strange collection of odd metal pieces. The problem was, would it work when he put it all together? He had made his designs, and the contraption should work, but . . .

At last the first valved cylinder was delivered. Gaius stared at it, not knowing what to believe. It was rather big, and most certainly very clumsy. The cylinder itself had a piston that in principle went up and down, although it seemed a very tight fit. Not that that was a problem. It was the end with the valve, which was to be attached to the cylinder through a flange. The valve had two positions, and these were to be changed by being attached to rods attached to other rods eventually to be attached to a small wheel attached to a flywheel. There was going to be an awful lot of wobble, but the valve did have two positions that opened and shut two paths. The piston did its work because steam pressure was applied through the open valve, and the piston would push the steam out in the other position . . .

Would it work? Perhaps, eventually. The problem would most likely be that the flywheel would have to keep everything going when the steam was not pushing. It would have to be fairly heavy, which meant that the steam would have to give a firm push. That meant the steam would have to have a high pressure. The biggest danger was the whole contraption coming apart at the seams. Facing an enemy with a sword was one thing. You could see what was coming, and if you had enough skill you could parry it. If he was better, then you died, and that was how things were meant to be, an incentive to be better. But steam was different. First, nothing, then an explosion, and the most terrible agonizing wounds that eventually went septic and the victim died. Gaius shuddered at the thought. He made a promise to himself; when this machine was started up, he would be at a safe distance.

Thoughts of assembling all his bits had to wait, however, as a message came from Rome:

Gaius Claudius Scaevola.

Greetings!

Thanks to your advice, the legions' loyalty, and I rather suspect your special efforts, I remain Princeps. Like you, your legion, the XIth, requires a name. Inform them that for their special loyalty, I award them the right to be termed Legio XI Claudia pia fidelis. The seventh has been similarly rewarded. Inform them also that I have decided to reward a loyal supporter by appointing him Legatus of the Claudia, and accordingly your command ceases on receipt of these orders.

I take your point on the need for summer action. My attention has been drawn towards Britain. You will recall that Cunobelinus of the Catuvellauni expelled one of his three sons, Adminius, who subsequently surrendered to Gaius Caesar. The Atrebates have now expelled Verica, who has sought refuge with Rome, and it is believed that Caratacus of the Catuvellauni, who has a distinctly anti-Roman outlook, was responsible. It therefore seems that the Catuvellauni are moving to unite Britain and take over those tribes loyal to Rome. As you are aware, it was the divine Augustus' policy to ensure that barbarian tribes on our borders were continually at war with each other, or very strongly allied to Rome. Because of a possible threat to our Lower Rhine and Gallic provinces, and because of trade, particularly in tin and silver, action is required.

I have informed the Senate for the People of Rome that I have decided to invade Britain. Accordingly, I need commanders for the invasion. In return for the loyal support of the legions in your region during my recent problems, I have appointed Aulus Plautius as overall commander of the invasion in my absence. I have chosen him because I also feel he will make, at a later time, a Governor I can trust. At a critical time, I also intend to take the field myself. I have appointed Titus Flavius Vespasianus as Legatus of Legio II Augusta. He has sworn loyalty, and he was particularly efficient at rooting out opponents under Gaius Caesar. I am partly rewarding him, and partly ensuring he is properly occupied. I understand he is also a distant relation of yours through marriage, namely through Lucilla's husband.

I also need commanders with some concept of strategy. Accordingly, you, Gaius Claudius Scaevola, are hereby ordered by the Senate for the People of Rome to make all speed to Novaesium, and thereupon take command of Legio XX, Valeria. Then, you will march to Portus Itius to join with the other legions, and thence under the orders of Plautius, and later under my orders, carry out those actions as required to bring the Britons under the direct control of Rome.

I also recognize that you have been carrying out forest exercises. Since Britain is highly forested, you may wish to take some senior officers. These may be exchanged with those in the Valeria, but you should let me know whom you choose.

At the same time, keep me informed of everything that happens. When I take the field, I shall need every piece of advice I can trust, and the loyalty of every soldier that will give it. Be aware that I need every piece of help you can give me. I shall thank you appropriately for your help in due course.

Tiberius Claudius Drusus,

Princeps.