The Eternal Empire (18 page)

Through the large glass doors that
opened out onto the veranda that went around the bath house, the new chief
minister of the Roman Empire could see other servants exercising his horses. He
had a large stable of thoroughbreds and was very proud of them. His
grandchildren would be visiting later this afternoon and would want to be taken
for a ride around their grandfathers’ estate. It occupied over 500 acres of
countryside outside the city of Adrianople, some 100 miles from the capital.
The villa, which was only exceeded in size and opulence by a few of the
imperial palaces, was where Exanzenus preferred to work. Being chief minister
would necessitate him spending more time in Constantinople, which meant less
time at his villa near his grandchildren.

The thought of his grandchildren
brought a rare smile to his normally expressionless face, so rare that one of
the bath attendants took a second look in amazement. Exanzenus had never shown
affection to his two daughters, but to his five grandchildren he was a kind
indulgent grandfather. His daughters who had only known a cold and stern, if
correct father, would look at each other in disbelief as he played hide and
seek in the woods and allowed their children to jump all over him in high
spirited horseplay. It was something they would never have dreamed of doing.

When he felt he was ready, Demetrius
Exanzenus got up and signalled a servant to bring his new toga that had arrived
from the tailor that morning. When he was dressed he made his way from the bath
house along the glass enclosed colonnade to the east wing of the villa which
was where he conducted his business.

There were four conference rooms, and
there were fifteen men in the main room seated around an oblong table. They
were the chief executives of the various companies that made up the industrial,
retail, agricultural and transport interests of the sprawling commercial empire
of Demetrius Exanzenus.

They sat around the table exchanging
pleasantries and superficial comments. No one was discussing the current state
of the Empire or the recent political events that had propelled their 'patron'
to the position of the Emperors chief minister. Exanzenus employed them for
their business acumen, and in his organisation political views were the
prerogative of Demetrius Exanzenus. Anyone who voiced an opinion that was at
odds with that of Exanzenus would soon find himself out of a job and
unemployable. If Demetrius Exanzenus was anything he was vindictive.

The double doors opened and the major
domo of the household stepped inside and came to a halt. He waited until he had
everyone's attention before he spoke.

"Gentlemen, Demetrius Exanzenus,
the chief minister to his Imperial Majesty Alexander IX, Emperor of the
Romans."

As one they all rose from their seats.
Demetrius Exanzenus strode into the room, resplendent in his new white toga to
which the gold stripe of chief minister had been added to the purple band of
senator. He looked at the men around the table as he made his way to the end of
the room, but did not return the nervous smiles or polite nods that they gave
him. At the end of the main table there was a desk on a raised platform and a
chair which was noticeably larger and more comfortable than the others in the
room. Exanzenus took his place there. The platform was high enough so that
those at the main table had to look up the man at the desk. It was another of
Exanzenus' ways of intimidating people and emphasising his position.

After Exanzenus had taken his seat the
other men all sat down except John Anemas, the most senior of the men around
the lower table who occupied the chair to the right of the desk.  He remained
standing and smiled ingratiatingly at the new chief minister.

"On behalf of my colleagues,"
he began, indicating the other fourteen men with a sweep of his arm, "I
offer you our congratulations on your appointment as His Majesties chief
minister. It is well deserved." There were murmurs of agreement from the
others.

"Thank you Anemas, you can sit
down now," said Exanzenus curtly. Although he was a highly effective
manager of his farming interests, Exanzenus regarded Anemas as a sycophantic
little worm. However he was totally loyal - nobody becomes spokesman for this
particular group by having a mind of their own.

When Anemas had taken his seat, the
ingratiating smile still on his face, Exanzenus spoke to them all.

"Now that I'm chief
minister," he began "I find that I have responsibilities greater than
those which I had when I was concerned solely with my own commercial interests.
Everything that I do, that you do, must be for the greater good of the
Empire."

The men around the lower table nodded
loyally.

"I have summoned you here today,"
Exanzenus continued "to advise you of a radical new policy direction that
I will implement over the next few months. A policy that will revitalise the
Empire, make it strong and free from outside influence!"

The men applauded their patrons words,
as Exanzenus knew they would. When the clapping had finished he continued.

"What I'm about to tell you is
highly confidential and is not to be repeated. I'm informing you so that you
can make plans to realign my commercial interests in order to support this new
direction."

The fifteen men nodded their heads
obediently and listened attentively as their patron continued.

"The current crisis in the economy
has occurred because we have become too dependent upon trade with the people
outside our borders. This must change!"

Exanzenus scanned the table below him.
They were still nodding their agreement, whether it was because they agreed
with what he said or simply out of loyalty or habit, Exanzenus neither knew nor
cared. All that was required of them was to agree.

"In order to bring about this
change, all tariffs and duties on goods entering the Empire will be increased
to a minimum of 50%."

The nodding of heads stopped
immediately, although the expression of understanding on their faces remained
frozen in place. Exanzenus knew it would shock them but was pleased that they
managed to control themselves. He was interested to see if what he had to say
next would shatter their self control.

"In addition to taking control of
our own economic destiny, there will be other changes that have been long
overdue. The nations along our borders have been reaping the benefits of the
'Pax Romanum' for too long. They can trade peacefully along the major waterways
and sea routes around the Empire because of the security that the imperial
forces provide from piracy and the infrastructure of harbours, locks,
lighthouses and beacons that is available because the Empire has built
them."

Around the table some of the bolder
members of the group were glancing at their colleagues, although it was only
their eyes that moved. No one wanted to draw attention to himself by any
obvious head movement. All were wondering where this speech was going, and a
number of them were afraid that they already knew.

"In future," Exanzenus went
on, "all vessels from outside the Empire will have to pay for the
privilege of using the trade routes around our borders. All ships travelling
along the Rhine or Danube, passing through the Oceanus Britannicus, the pillars
of Hercules or the Bosporus will pay a duty based on their tonnage."

It was a tribute to the acting skills
of the fifteen men present that they all managed to keep their faces impassive
in the light of this news. However behind their neutral expressions they were
all calculating the effect of these new policies on the businesses for which
they were responsible.

Cross border trade had increased a
hundred fold in the quarter of a century since Philip III had deregulated the
imperial economy. The companies administered by the men around the lower table
had steadily built up their own cross border trade during this time. Any
tariffs imposed by the Empire would be matched by the other nations and their
goods could be priced out of markets that had been painstakingly built up in a
tit for tat trade war.

They knew that it was a recipe for
disaster. Combined with the unilateral imposition of tolls it would raise
international tension to levels unknown for a generation.

The men around the table loyally
applauded Exanzenus again and congratulated him on his 'brilliant' new vision
for the Empire.

2nd
April 1920

Minden,
Saxony

It was late on Friday evening and
Cornelius was busy reading through the latest reports on Saxon army movements
when the phone on his desk rang. Tired and angry at being distracted he
answered the phone with a curt "Yes".

"Cornelius, is that you?"

Despite the lack of sleep he
immediately brightened up, "Katherine! How are you? It's lovely to hear
from you."

"I'm fine. I've just finished a
large piece of work at the university and I'm free this weekend. If you can get
away we can visit some of the historical sites out in the countryside."

Cornelius looked at the pile of reports
on his desk. The trade negotiations had taken up most of his time and it would
take most of the weekend just to read through them.

"No, I'm not doing anything,"
decided Cornelius. He needed a break and could always work late every night
next week to catch up.

"Great," said Katherine
"we can stay at my brothers hunting lodge in the forest. - can you be
ready by eight o'clock tomorrow morning?"

"Yes, no problem," said
Cornelius.

"Great – pack a bag and I'll pick
you up outside the embassy. See you then. Bye."

Cornelius replaced the receiver and
leaned back in his chair, a smile on his face. After all the long hours and
late night sessions hammering out agreements with the Count, he felt he
deserved to spend some time with his sister. Back in Milan it was unheard of
for a woman to invite a man to spend the weekend anywhere other than with her
parents. He knew the Count was spending the next two days with the Saxon King
and would not be at the lodge. No chaperone? Were Katherine's motives
honourable? Cornelius laughed inwardly at the thought and decided not to think
too deeply about it since he rather hoped they weren’t.

He went to see the ambassador to tell
him that he would be away for the weekend and arranged to go directly to Count
Maleric's estate on Monday morning to continue the trade talks. As a result
Cornelius would not be around when the news of the new trade laws promulgated
by Demetrius Exanzenus arrived at the embassy on Saturday morning.

2nd
April 1920

Imperial
Assembly, Constantinople

The imperial assembly looked more like
a gambling hall than the debating chamber of the Empires most important
elective body. Scores of representatives were on their feet shouting and waving
papers demanding to be heard. The chairman of the assembly banged his fist on
his desk in a vain attempt to instil some order but to no avail. Behind him, on
a raised platform was the Emperor Alexander IX. He sat quietly drumming the
fingers of his right hand on the arm of the throne, waiting for the noise to
subside so that he could continue his speech. Demetrius Exanzenus was standing
behind the throne to the Emperors right. Those who noticed such things recalled
that he seemed very comfortable in that position.

The Emperor had started by reminding
the assembly of the unrest that had occurred throughout the Empire since the
passing of the Austerity Law in January. The riots, demonstrations and the
revolt of Tarraco had convinced him, he told a hushed and attentive audience
that the Austerity Law was too great a burden for the people, ‘his people’, he
emphasised, to bear. In the light of this he was repealing the Austerity Law
forthwith. There were murmurs of unease at this from the assembly. The
Austerity Law was not popular, and no one was going to stand up and defend it.
However the financial straits of the Empire were clear for all to see and the
money was needed. The murmuring around the room was primarily concerned with
speculations on this point. It was when the Emperor stated that since the
Austerity Law had been linked to the package of laws passed by the four party
alliance and that these laws were also being repealed that all decorum in the
assembly broke down.

It took nearly five minutes for the
shouting to subside and the chairman of the assembly to restore order. The
Emperor sat on the throne separated from the angry representatives by
twenty-four lictors with their fasces. The fasces with their bundles of rods
around an axe tied with red leather thongs were the oldest symbol of Rome still
used within the Empire. They dated back to the time of the Roman Republic and
were probably assimilated from the Etruscans. Now the lictors accompanied the
Emperor on every formal occasion as the official symbol of his authority, but
they were not body guards. That function was performed by the Praetorian
guards, a century of whom were stationed around the assembly hall.

When the shouting had died down, John
Phocas signalled to the chairman that he wished to speak. Interruptions during
a formal address by the Emperor were generally frowned upon but Alexander
indicated that the chairman should allow the leader of the Modernists to have
his say before he continued with the rest of his speech.