The Eternal Empire (3 page)

The stirring from the bed behind him
made Alexander realise that he had spoken aloud. Stephanie turned towards the
light, and noticed Alexander outlined against the window.

"What are you doing?" she
said, stifling a yawn, "why don't you come back to bed?"

"I was surveying my Empire,"
he said lightly, leaning his naked back against the thick glass of the window,
"every morning I must check that all is well with my domains. It's a big
responsibility being Emperor you know."

She turned onto her side and propped
her head up on one of her hands. She had kicked the silk sheets off the bed and
her long golden hair had fallen over her bare breasts.

"Well I assume that it's all still
there, so come back to bed."

Alexander left the window and went over
to his private bathroom.

"I'm afraid my dear Stephanie that
I have a meeting with that boring Isaac Opus in an hour’s time to discuss why
there is no money in the Treasury."

He went into the bathroom and started
the shower. When he came out Stephanie had rearranged herself on the bed to get
his full attention, which it duly did.

"An hour is a long time Alexander.
And I am sure that old Opus would not mind waiting a few minutes". She
gave him a little smile and moved her body suggestively over the bed sheets.

He stood staring at her body for a few
moments. In matters relating to his personnel gratification Alexander was
capable of being very decisive indeed.

"Yes, I do believe that you are
right," he said and dropped the towel that he had only just picked up from
the bathroom. As he joined her on the bed he decided that boring old Opus could
wait until his Emperor was ready to see him. The treasury would be just as
empty at one o'clock as at noon.

For the next hour matters of finance,
trade and the economy never entered the head of His Imperial Majesty Alexander
IX, Emperor of the Roman Empire. In fact the only thought of a non carnal
nature was one that had occurred to him fairly frequently of late. Why had this
sensual, erotic woman ever married that idiot of a General, Manual Dikouros in
the first place?

Isaac Opus and several other senior
treasury officials were sitting patiently at a large oblong table. They sat in
silence but the looks that they gave one another gave voice to the frustration
they felt at being kept waiting for so long when the finances of the Empire
were in such a chaotic state. Half an hour after they had arrived, the
major-domo had informed them that His Imperial Majesty was 'unavoidably
detained' and had sent in some refreshments.

At half past one the doors to the
meeting room were opened by two Praetorian guards from the household cohort,
and Alexander entered. Opus and his people stood, and bowed as the Emperor made
his way to the large chair at the head of the table without a word and sat
down. He looked around the table at the officials standing before him as he
poured himself a glass of fresh orange juice from the pitcher in front of him.
Then he sat back, took a mouthful from his glass and swallowed.

"Please be seated," he said
once he was sure they had been sufficiently irritated.

They took their seats and waited for
Alexander to give them permission to proceed. Eventually he did so by directing
a questioning look at Opus.

"Your Imperial Majesty, this
meeting has been called to discuss the perilous state of the Empires
finances." Isaac picked up his notes and began.

"The poor harvest caused by the drought,
has reduced both the income that the treasury gets from the farmers and also
what it earns through exports. In addition we have had to purchase large
quantities of grain from the United Provinces to feed the people."

Opus nodded to one of the men sitting
opposite. He was responsible for the collection of taxes. He consulted his
sheet of paper and started to speak.

"This appears to have affected
other areas of trade as well. Farmers are not buying as much so factories are
cutting back on production, dismissing workers or reducing the number of hours
that they work. In turn there are fewer goods to transport which means that the
imperial railways are now earning significantly less in revenue and are not
even covering their operating costs."

The Treasury official took up the
report “Many borrowed from banks and finance houses to expand during your
fathers reign. Some are now finding it hard to meet the repayment. Farms and
businesses are closing or being taken over by their creditors throwing more people
out of work and on to the civic dole.”

He placed his sheet of paper down in
front of him and looked to the man on his left, responsible for customs dues.

"The drought has affected our
trading partners across the Rhine and Danube as well. They are buying fewer
imperial goods, which translates into fewer profits for us to tax, and fewer
cross border movements on which to collect customs duty."

He finished his speech and all the men
around the table looked at the Emperor who had been sitting quietly while his
treasury officials were talking. He looked bored and disinterested, which he
was.

"All very interesting, but please
summarise for me Opus."

Isaac Opus flipped through the papers
in front of him. He knew that Alexander’s grasp of economic affairs was weak,
but surely he could appreciate the seriousness of the situation and take a
little more interest!

"In short your Majesty, revenues
are down by 20% on last year and are likely to worsen, whilst expenditure has
grown by 10% despite significant efforts by the treasury to cut back. In
addition there are the payments on the money your father borrowed to expand the
railways and establish the Air Service."

The other men around the table nodded
their heads in silent agreement with the facts. Opus resumed.

"Cash reserves are virtually
depleted, and we are having difficulty in raising additional funds from the
banks and finance houses. To a large extent the banks have financed the
phenomenal growth in industry over the past two decades but now their money is
invested in businesses which in turn are struggling to pay the interest on
their loans and are seeing an increasing rate of default."

A glance at the Emperor told Opus that
he was still not making a noticeable impression on his sovereign, so he tried to
put it as simply and as bluntly as possible.

"Your Majesty, we are spending far
more than we are collecting in taxes. Something must be done before the state
is bankrupt!"

Alexander's expression changed
slightly. The others around the table hoped that it indicated that he finally
comprehended what they had been saying. He leaned forward slightly.

"So we need to bring things back
into balance? Is that what you are saying?"

The treasury officials allowed
themselves a small smile as they nodded. Progress they believed had been made.

"Well then, if you cannot reduce
expenditure, as you claimed in previous meetings, you must increase
taxes." Alexander sat back in his chair again with a satisfied look on his
face.

The smiles vanished from the faces
around the table.

"That is one of the options your
Majesty," said Opus, "but what is really needed is to get the economy
growing and thus increase the tax base."

"Well do that too!" Alexander
was getting bored now and was losing patience. "What do I have a bunch of
highly paid officials for!"

"The treasury cannot make economic
policy," explained Opus, not for the first time. "The assembly
determines the policy and passes the various laws, which the senate reviews and
either approves or rejects. What your Majesty needs to do is to get the
government parties in the assembly to pass a series of laws which will
stimulate the economy and balance the treasury accounts."

Alexander sat staring at the men seated
around him for a few minutes, drumming his fingers on the table. Finally he
called for the major-domo who had been waiting quietly by the doors.

"Petrus, please arrange for the
chief minister and all the leaders of the political parties in the assembly and
the senate to meet here sometime next week. If we are lucky we may get most of
them before they leave for the Christmas recess."

The major-domo bowed and retired from
the room. Alexander stared coldly at Opus.

"Now are you happy?"

"A very wise move, your
Majesty" he replied, bowing his head slightly.

Alexander got up without warning, and
the men from the Treasury had to quickly do the same. The Emperor left the room
leaving Opus and the others standing and bowing until the Praetorians closed
the door behind him. They then remained standing in silence for a few moments
looking around at each other, concern clearly etched on their faces. They had
got the Emperor to act, but no one had any confidence in his ability to provide
the leadership that the Empire needed at this time.

5
^th
December1919

Milan,
Italia

Cornelius Petronius wrapped his heavy
cloak tightly around him for warmth as he made his way up the private road that
led to his parents’ villa. It was not a particularly cold evening but the
northerly wind off the Alps chilled him to the bone and underneath his old army
cloak he only had on his best toga. Not the most suitable clothing for this
time of year, but this dinner was a special occasion and it was for his little
brother, and his father was a great one for tradition. So he pulled the cloak
even tighter around his body and looked forward to the warm interior of his
parents’ home.

It was nearly three miles from his
apartment to the villa, and most people would have ridden, hired someone to
take them or even driven in one of the new motor carriages if they had one. But
Cornelius did not have a horse, and was not a particularly enthusiastic rider
anyway, and although he was considering the purchase of a motor carriage he had
not done so yet. However the main reason why Cornelius walked the distance was
that he really enjoyed walking. It was during his time in the imperial army
that Cornelius had discovered his love of walking and had used his leave to
explore the Atlas Mountains in Africa, the forests along the Rhine in Germania,
the hills and lakes of central Britannia and the coastal regions of Asia Minor.
He must have been one of the few sane legionary officer cadets who actually
looked forward to a 20 mile route march in full kit.

He took hold of the big brass knocker
on the door and commenced to signal his arrival but after the first knock the
door was wrenched open. Since he was still connected to the door by way of the
knocker Cornelius was propelled into the spacious entrance hall. 

Recovering quickly, Cornelius turned to
see the door being held open by an elegant lady with a slightly mischievous
smile on her face.

"Hello Mother, I might have
guessed you would be waiting for me."

Julia Petronius smiled at her eldest son
as she closed the heavy door.

"You're so predictable Cornelius.
You're a stickler for being punctual, and since you always walk from that tiny
little apartment of yours - why you don't stay here like your brother is beyond
me - I know that you'll be here within a minute of the starting time."

Cornelius smiled in that resigned way
known to sons throughout the ages, dutifully kissed his mother and removed his
cloak, handing it to the servant standing nearby who had seen the Lady of the
House pull this little trick on her first born many times before. His mother
took him by the arm and guided him through to the main reception room.
"The family members are all here" she informed him in her usual
collected manner, "we are just waiting for a few more guests to arrive,
then we can go through for the meal."

Amongst the guests there were three
men, also in formal togas standing in the centre of the room with a glass of
wine in hand. A couple of servants hovered discreetly in the background with
trays of additional drinks. The youngest man was his brother Titus, fresh out
of the Imperial Military Academy in Ravenna and due to take up his first
posting with the army as a junior tribune. The dinner party tonight was in his
honour. Beside him was their father, Anatolius Petronius, regaling his youngest
son with stories of his own army life in the legions of the Empire, and their
Uncle Tiberius.

Anatolius Petronius had gone into the
family business, after serving in the army for the number of years expected of
an aristocrat. Taking advantage of the explosive growth in rail transport he
had built up what had originally been a small wholesale and distribution
company in Northern Italy into one of the largest transport groups in the
Western part of the Empire.

Tiberius Sextus Petronius was their
fathers’ younger brother and had the robust look of the professional soldier
that he was. Tiberius had no interest in the business world at all and
dedicated himself to defending the Empire, serving with distinction in a number
of conflicts and campaigns. Six months earlier he had being appointed the
legate of the Legio I Germania on the Rhine, and Anatolius had hosted a dinner
party in his honour just as he was doing now for Titus.