Roman - The Fall of Britannia (6 page)

Prydain looked
dumbstruck. Although, he was already a freedman, the status was
still quite low in the eyes of most Romans. However, his whole
world would take on a different perspective as a citizen. He was
free to walk the streets of Rome, to serve in her armies, or even
marry a Roman woman. He could stand alongside any man in any street
and talk to him as an equal, open a business in one of Rome’s many
marketplaces or even use the public baths around the city without
fear of segregation.

Karim looked
pleased but not surprised. Privately, Pelonius had already offered
him and his son citizenship, but Karim had always turned down the
offer. The vast difference in the colour of his skin compared to
his adopted son would invite too many questions and probably cause
the application to fail. Realising this, Pelonius had taken the
arbitrary step of applying in Prydain’s name only, knowing that the
same doubts were not shared by the young man, and though he was
unsure how Karim would react, he needn’t have worried. The pride on
Karim’s face spoke volumes.

‘
I
don’t know what to say, lord,’ stuttered Prydain. ‘It is truly a
great gift.’

‘
The
gift is your father’s, the freedom is yours. Use it well, Prydain,’
he said and turned to face Karim.

Their eyes
locked together for a moment before Karim nodded. It wasn’t much,
but Pelonius knew it meant everything. He turned back to the
crowd.

‘
Enough!’ he shouted and turned to face Cassus. ‘Travel well,
son,’ he said grasping Cassus’s arm. ‘Train hard for your Emperor,
fight well for your fellow soldiers and if you should fall, then
die well for your name.’

Cassus knew that
he would probably never see his father again. They said their
private goodbyes the night before and his father had given him a
purse of coins for the journey, as well as promissory notes for
transport and supplies. This display was for the benefit of
others.

‘
My
blade will send a legion of slaves to prepare for your afterlife,’
he said, and though it was never good to display too much affection
in front of others, Pelonius pulled his son to him, hugging him
tightly.

‘
Be
careful,’ he whispered.

‘
I
will be fine, father,’ he answered.

Prydain sat
astride his horse, waiting patiently to start the great adventure.
Cassus strode down to join him and vaulting onto his horses back,
turned to face Prydain.

‘
Don’t think that this makes you my equal,’ he said under his
breath. ‘You were born a slave while I am a freeborn Roman. Never
forget that. Anyway, my misguided father has wasted his gift, for
there is no need for citizenship in the auxiliaries.’

‘
Auxiliaries?’ said Prydain. ‘You heard your father, I am now
a citizen of Rome and can join her legions if I so wish.’ He paused
and stared into Cassus’s eyes, ‘And that, Cassus, is exactly what I
intend to do.’

‘
We
shall see,’ said Cassus and spun his horse to face his
father.

‘
Hail Gaius Pelonius,’ he shouted, ‘may the Gods grant you
immortality,’ and kicked his heels in to his horse’s flanks to send
it galloping down the hillside.

Prydain spun his
own horse around and stopped beside the man who had looked after
him all his life. Karim grabbed the horse’s reins.

‘
I
too have a gift,’ said Karim. ‘It is from your mother.’

‘
My
mother?’ queried Prydain, ‘I don’t understand.’

‘
Just before she died she gave me something,’ said Karim. ‘I
have kept it safe all these years but it belongs to you.’ He hung
the leather thong and amulet around Prydain’s neck.

‘
What does it mean?’ asked Prydain, struggling to control his
horse as it fidgeted.

‘
I
don’t know, but it seemed very important to her. With the Gods
will, it will protect you. If nothing else; look at it often and
think of home.’

‘
I
will, father,’ came the response, and they grasped each other’s
wrists in a final farewell. ‘You will be in my thoughts
always.’

‘
And
you in mine, son,’ said Karim.

Prydain’s horse
was straining to be gone and he turned one more time.

‘
Hail, Gaius Pelonius,’ he shouted, ‘provider of freedom, may
you live forever.’

Pelonius smiled
and watched as the horse finally tore itself free from Karim’s
grasp to gallop down the track in the wake of Cassus.

The crowd
finished their cheering at the departure and returned to their
duties. Eventually only Pelonius was left on the veranda. Karim
joined him.

‘
Were we ever so impetuous, Karim?’ asked the old
soldier.

‘
Their veins are full of adventure and glory,’ said the
Numidian. ‘Let them enjoy it while they can. They will return to
the realms of reality soon enough.’

‘
That they will,’ said Pelonius. ‘Will you drink to their
future with me?’ He indicated a jug of wine on the
table.

‘
I
will be honoured,’ answered the ex-gladiator and both men sat on
the veranda long into the evening, reliving old battles. In truth,
there was just a little envy embroidered within the
conversations.

----

Prydain and
Cassus travelled westward for several days until they reached the
Tiber River. They turned south and followed its banks to the
outskirts of the city and realised they were nearing Rome long
before they could see any of her famous architecture. At first,
Prydain thought it was just clouds on the horizon, but as they
neared, it became obvious that it was smoke from the countless
cooking fires, hanging in the air above the sprawling
city.

Prydain had
never been anywhere near the eternal city and had only heard of her
splendour, through the gossip in the taverns of Asculum and the
tales of the slaves on the farm. Strangely enough, his father, who
had spent many years within those great city walls, rarely spoke of
his time there. The landscape before them both was far from what
they had expected. On the outer limits of the city, extravagant
villas dotted the hills, nestling within groves of fruit trees.
Nobles spent most of their summers relaxing in their villas,
avoiding the oppressive heat and dirt generated by the millions of
commoners within the city walls. The villas were impressive, but as
they approached the city, the more squalid the habitation
became.

The two friends
stopped outside the roadside inn that bore a name given to them by
Pelonius, and Cassus approached the half door, banging on the
frame.

‘
Ave,’ he called, ‘I seek the one called Marcus.’

A middle-aged
man approached the doorway out of the inner gloom.

‘
Who
seeks him?’ he asked, eyeing the two strangers
suspiciously.

‘
My
name is Cassus and I am the son of Gaius Pelonius Maecilius. I am
looking for Marcus. I believe he served with him in the
Ninth.’

‘
Can
you prove who you are?’ asked the man, eying them
suspiciously.

‘
I
can, but my words are for Marcus only.’

The man
hesitated and looked around.

‘
OK,’ he said, ‘I may be Marcus, but depending on your
business, I might not be.’

Cassus smiled.
His father had said he would be cagey.

‘
If
you are Marcus,’ he said, ‘you will know the meaning of this
message. My father said to tell you that the tale of you and the
red haired Spaniard remains a secret, though he aches to tell the
world.’

The man blushed
furiously and examined the area around his inn in great
detail.

‘
Quiet!’ he hissed. ‘What do you know of this
thing?’

‘
Nothing,’ laughed Cassus, ‘though I would dearly love to know
what secret causes you so much embarrassment.’

‘
It
is not for your ears or anyone else’s for that matter, but you are
correct, I am Marcus and I believe you are indeed Pelonius’s son.
Only that old rogue knows my shame. What does he want? If it is the
return of the piebald mare he loaned me, tell him it died soon
after and I dispute his claim.’

‘
Not
the mare,’ said Cassus, enjoying this man’s obvious
discomfort.

‘
Is
it the money?’ Marcus continued. ‘Because if it is, I know I am a
few months late, but…’

‘
Marcus!’ interrupted Cassus. ‘Relax, I am not here to seek
redress of any debt. We need a room for the night and my father
said you would accommodate us.’

The relief on
the innkeepers face was evident.

‘
Oh,’ he said, ‘why didn’t you say? Come in, I will get the
boy to stable the horses.’ With a clap of his hand, a boy of
approximately eight years appeared from nowhere and led the horses
away.

‘
Come in,’ repeated Marcus and unbolted the lower half of the
door, standing aside to allow them to enter. They walked into an
auditorium leading back to the rear of the house, with niches built
into the walls for guests to sleep. An enormous mosaic of coloured
stones and marble shards decorated the floor, and with a bit of
imagination, Cassus realised that it was a poor representation of a
naked woman. Marcus saw Cassus’s gaze.

‘
What do you think?’ he asked proudly, ‘I designed her myself.
Cost me a fortune.’

‘
Nice,’ Cassus lied and followed the old man to a nearby table
where they all sat down.

‘
Water?’ asked Marcus, pulling three wooden tankards and a
pitcher from a nearby shelf.

‘
Do
you not have wine?’ asked Cassus.

‘
I
do, but that is expensive and I am a poor man. These are hard times
you understand.’

‘
Marcus,’ laughed Cassus, ‘my father has told me much about
you. He warned that it would be easier to get blood from a stone,
than to expect you to part with anything free. He also said that
you were one of the richest men in the region,’ he looked around
the auditorium, ‘though by the state of this place, I am beginning
to doubt his words.’

Marcus ignored
the taunt and poured three mugs of tepid water.

‘
How
can I help,' he asked.’

‘
We
are on our way to join the army,’ said Prydain, ‘but we do not
enlist for two days yet. We need someone to stable our horses until
they can be picked up and we thought we could stay here tonight
before travelling into the city tomorrow.’

Marcus nodded
slowly,

‘
That can be arranged,’ he said, ‘the alcoves are two asses a
day, or I have clean rooms available for a Denarii each’

‘
A
Denarii for a room?’ coughed Cassus. ‘No wonder you are so rich.
Perhaps I should inform the authorities about your unpaid
debts?’

‘
Both you and I know that will not happen,’ said Marcus. ‘If I
know Pelonius, his son would have been brought up better than
that.’

‘
You
are right,’ admitted Cassus, ‘I will not betray you, but it was
worth a try. I tell you what, you give us a room and good food
tonight and my father will call it quits on the
Piebald.’

Marcus did some
quick calculations in his mind.

‘
And
you will sign something to prove this?’ he asked.

‘
Yes,’ Cassus sighed, ‘whatever you want.’

Marcus smiled.
The horse had been worth ten times that amount.

‘
Then you have a deal,’ he said quickly. ‘Follow me and I will
take you to your room.’

He left his seat
and walked upstairs, showing the two young men to a clean room with
two freshly made up beds. They unpacked their travel bags onto a
table and Marcus returned with an amphora of wine and a further
three mugs.

‘
Well, how is the old rogue?’ he asked, sitting on the edge of
one of the cots.

‘
My
father is fine,’ said Cassus, ‘though he tires easily these
days.’

‘
It
comes to us all,’ said Marcus. ‘All those years of toil in service
catches up with you.’

‘
Did
you know him long?’ asked Cassus.

‘
I
spent ten years in the same Cohort as him,’ said Marcus, ‘until I
got this.’ He uncovered the stump of a severed arm from beneath his
clothing, the burn scars of the battlefield cauterisation still
evident. ‘We saw some scrapes together, I can tell you.’

‘
I
bet you can.’

After a brief
silence, Marcus continued.

‘
So,
who are you joining?’

‘
The
Ninth,’ said Cassus, taking the offered mug of wine.

‘
Recruiting again are they?’ asked Marcus. ‘Good choice and
your father’s name might even help you out a bit.’

‘
What do you mean?’

‘
His
name is well known in the Ninth. Even now, twenty years since he
left, Centurion Maecilius is a name that is admired throughout the
cohorts.’

‘
Centurion?’ gasped Cassus. ‘My father was a
Centurion?’

‘
Not
only was he a Centurion,’ he said, ‘but he was Primus Pilus. Didn’t
you know?’