The King of Rome Read online

  Camillus – Dictator of Rome.

  King of Rome

  The amazing cover is designed by Ruth Musson (visit her page at Ruth Musson Illustrator on Facebook to see more of her incredible artwork) and the remainder of the book is self-published. The story and artwork are the copyright of the author of this book.

  This book is the fifth in the series Camillus - Dictator of Rome

  Prequel – The Ancilia Shield

  Book 1 – Dawn of the Eagle

  Book 2 – The Fall of Veii (part 1)

  Book 3 – The Fall of Veii (part 2)

  Book 4 – Vae Victis (Woe to the vanquished)

  Short story – The Thracian

  Book 5 – King of Rome

  Published 2017 – Copyright F.M.Mulhern

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form, or any means without the prior consent of the author.

  Chapter 1

  As the three men entered the hallway the slaves shuffled forwards and bowed low. With their eyes cast to the floor before they stepped forwards and took the cloaks from their master and his guests. Each of the men shrugged their woollen cloaks from their shoulders with barely a glance to the slaves as they strode, cheerfully, into the recesses of the house.

  “Camillus is right to be pleased” barked the loud voice of Lucius Iulius, his thinning grey hair neatly parted on the right side of his head. “What a great spectacle we have provided for our fellow Romans for the last three days” he said with gusto, the confidence of a job well done resonating in his voice.

  “Indeed” replied the hushed tones of Titus Cincinnatus who beckoned to a silent slave to bring across the bowls of water that were steaming gently in the corner. “Sit gentlemen and let’s wash the grime from our feet and have a cup of sweet wine before we close off the day.”

  Each man murmured happy agreement as they let their weary bodies sink onto wide, couches and shifted their feet in preparation for the arrival of the steaming bowls. At a signal, the house slaves rushed forwards with towels, water and a series of small clay containers from which various aromas filled the guest’s nostrils.

  The slaves busied themselves arranging the bowls of hot water and towels, asking quietly if the master would like more cold water added to their bowls as the elder Romans dipped their toes and muttered for the slave to adjust the temperature to their liking.

  Gaius Lucretis groaned gently as a wide grin spread across his bearded face and he slid his feet into the herb-infused water. Wine was delivered by a female slave, her light-coloured hair tied tightly behind her head. The sharp noise of an iron manacle clanked dully as she took each step into the silent room. “Still keep the Gauls tied up at night Cincinnatus?” he asked as he nodded to the foot of the serving slave which bore the chafed red blisters of constant wear.

  “Best to” came the cold reply. “You can never be sure with them, they aren’t natural slaves like the Etruscans” he said with a frown above his heavy eyebrows. “It’s only been a few months and I still hear them crying at night. You’d think they’d be over it by now” he added with a shake of his head and a sidelong glance at the slave girl.

  Lucretis nodded, though his thoughts went out to the slaves, dragged from freedom to serving the rich in what remained of Rome after the Gallic horde had held the city for several months over the winter. He glanced quickly to Iulius who was sat with his head bowed and his eyes closed as a thin Greek slave added oil to the bowl and swirled it slowly. “We did well, Capitol Men” he said loudly as Iulius opened his eyes and a toothy grin spread across his face.

  “Capitol men” laughed Cincinnatus loudly. “Such words open doors for us now, eh my friends” he added, nodding vigorously.

  “You can say what you like about Camillus, but he knows how to work people’s minds” Iulius replied as he sat up slightly and raised a foot from the bowl, the slave instantly gripping the foot and massaging it before returning it to the water as the man adjusted his position on the chair. “It was a masterstroke for him to give only a few select men who had held the Capitol against the Gaul’s the role of organising the victory games” he said. “In one stroke, he made the patrician clans happy because those who remained in Rome gained higher glory than those who fled” he almost snorted as he spoke the last word. “And he gave the people something to focus their minds on beyond constant complaints about food and housing. A celebration to remind them of what Rome was and is.”

  “And with the rebuilding works he’s also started to rebuild the economy. So much of the city was destroyed by the Gauls” Lucretis said with a genuine smile. “My quarry is back to full capacity and I am charging nearly twice as much for the stone as I did before the Gauls came” he added with a cautious look to his two companions.

  “Yes, Camillus will make us all rich” laughed Iulius “even after taxes.”

  “Especially the Capitol men” laughed Cincinnatus as the others joined him, lifting their cups and draining the contents swiftly.

  “Well at least the games stopped the constant stream of begging plebeians coming to my door” Iulius added as he held out his cup for the clanking slave to refill. He closed his eyes and sighed deeply. “I guess they will be back tomorrow asking for more hand-outs and patronage” he added in an exasperated tone.

  “Send them to Manlius Capitolinus” came the jovial response.

  “Hah” laughed Iulius. “Maybe I will Cincinnatus, maybe I will.” He looked at his two companions carefully before speaking. He leant forward, his elbows on his knees, “I heard that he has given patronage to over a hundred plebeian families, even paying for the stone and timber to rebuild their houses, and without a profit” he said, his brown eyes looking through his thick grey eyebrows at Cincinnatus.

  “I heard the same” Lucretis replied. “They say that there are twenty or thirty of them at his house every night discussing changes to Rome’s laws which make life easier for the plebeians” he added with a shake of his head.

  “I heard he tried to join the council for the games” Cincinnatus said as both men turned to face him with wide eyes. “Camillus said no” he replied with a shrug. “Capitolinus wasn’t best pleased, but Camillus did offer him a role with the rebuilding programme.” With a nod to the slave at his feet he lifted both feet free of the water and motioned for the other men to do the same. “Capitolinus would do well to remember his past and his lineage” he added with furrowed brows as he looked at Lucretis. “One good deed on the Capitol doesn’t make the man as special in the eyes of the gods as he believes.”

  All three men fell into a short silence as the water bowls were removed and their feet dried and oiled before the slaves left the room, the clanking female returning to refill the men’s cups once again as another slave produced soft leather sandals for each man to slip their feet into.

  “You’d think the man had fought every Gaul singlehandedly” laughed Cincinnatus as he took another long drink of wine and smiled. “If I hear him tell me how his right hand saved Rome one more time I’ll chop the bloody thing off.”

  His words brought a fit of wine-fuelled snorts of laughter from all three men, each waving their right hands in the air as they laughed.

  As the laughter died Cincinnatus placed his cup heavily on the small table next to his seat. “Gentlemen, it’s getting late so let’s conclude our business before we all head off to our beds.” His words brought sober looks from both his friends and they stiffened their backs and looked at their host. Turning his head, he called over his shoulder “Attrocles.” At the sound of his voice a curtain swished backwards, and a dark-haired man stepped quietly into the room and bowed, with a snap, to all three men in turn before dragging a plain wooden chair from its position against
the wall to the centre of the room.

  Attrocles looked to Cincinnatus and waited for him to nod, his smiling eyes giving a hunger to each of the guests, who watched like vultures waiting for a mountain lion to finish his feast.

  “My master has asked me to prepare three tablets” he said, handing across one of three, ribbon sealed, tablets to each man. “Each contain the details of the finances for the fabulous victory games” he added with a genuine sense of happiness in his voice as he bowed to each man in turn. The men opened the seals and their eyes flicked across the neat writing in the wax contained within. Attrocles waited just long enough for the smiles to start to spread across each of the men’s faces before he continued, a wry grin held beneath his neatly manicured beard. “The tablets show the official funding and spend for the games on the left-hand side, with the prices my master procured in reality on the right” he glanced to Cincinnatus who was already waving away the praise in the glances from his two companions. “The final figure on the right is the amount that each man will receive via messenger in one week’s time when the official documents are sealed and filed by the Senate. I will send your copy by messenger tonight as previously arranged.” Attrocles pursed his thin lips and looked up at the Romans as if demanding that they find fault in anything he had told them. The three shared a moment’s silence, and then nodded, handing back the tablets to the Greek as he stood, bowed low and turned on his heel to leave with all the evidence intact, the numbers committed to the memory of each man.

  “Attrocles” Cincinnatus said, his voice quiet, yet firm. The slave looked back to him with raised, questioning, eyebrows. “Well done my friend” he said as the Greek nodded his thanks with a sly smile.

  As he disappeared through the curtain Lucretis spoke in hushed tones. “You’d be lost without him but surely he deserves his manumission by now?” he asked.

  Cincinnatus glanced to the swaying curtain and nodded, lifting his finger to his lips as he leant forwards, both men following suit as they edged in to hear. “I’ve bought that house on the Aventine, you know, the one the Gaul’s used as a cess pit? Well, I got it for a great price from Javenoli and I’m having it cleaned up.” He glanced towards the curtain and lowered his voice again. “Attrocles doesn’t know it, but it will be his at the end of the summer when he reaches thirty years in my service” Cincinnatus beamed.

  “Well deserved” Lucretis replied with a nod as Iulius agreed in turn.

  “On to grain and stone prices” Cincinnatus said more formally, moving back to a sitting position and placing one hand on his thigh as he let a silent moment fill the room. “Camillus did well getting the grain from the Latin League villages, but I hear that there is still not enough for the city for more than a month and many of the members of the League are unhappy at the taxation we have imposed on them. We must prepare for the debate tomorrow in the Senate” his lips grew into a tight line across his face as he contemplated his next words. “My men tell me that Camillus will send an envoy to the states across the sea for more grain and that he will use some of the treasures from the Gauls to pay for it. But it still leaves much to do in the city. Here” he handed both men a wax tablet each that he produced from a small box. “Are our suggested actions to profit from the grain problems. Javenoli has secured the trade links and, I hope, we can get the ships we need by the end of the week.” Both men scanned the tablets and nodded. “Javenoli has ensured that any grain purchased by Camillus will be delayed by a month” the two men glanced to Cincinnatus with a look of admiration, “and our grain will be available at a premium” he added. “Javenoli will take fifteen percent” his raised eyebrows seemed to check their acceptance. Both men replied with nods of their heads.

  “Genius” replied both listeners as they glanced to each other and then back to Cincinnatus.

  “Then we are agreed? I will let Javenoli know and we will discuss this again in two weeks” he added. “On to stone” he said almost immediately, taking the tablets and replacing them back within the box. “My two quarries are still producing enough to turn a tidy profit, but I expect to raise my prices again within the week” he said as Iulius narrowed his eyes and Cincinnatus could almost feel his mind working behind them. “With the number of men clambering to gain support from my family it will be an effective way to secure the family fortunes for another generation” he said coolly, as if justification was required

  Iulius nodded at the words before speaking. “I agree. I will raise my prices too.” He let his head fall to the left in thought as his two companions waited for him to speak again; Iulius was a thinker and they knew better than to interrupt him before he had worked through his thoughts. “I will work with the guild to see what we can do to support a few of the better plebeians so that it looks like we are trying to support them as much as we can during these challenging times.”

  “Hah” snarled Lucretis. “Let them all starve” he said with a shrug. “I remember how useless they were on the Capitol. Those guards, asleep at their posts. Gods be praised that Manlius was there with those geese” he said with evident feeling. “I’ll never trust a plebeian again” he said as both his friends agreed wholeheartedly. “Let them pay now for running from the Gauls at the Allia and for sleeping on duty on the Capitol” he added with disdain, his words echoing those of many patrician families who had been on the Capitol Hill throughout the months of the Gallic siege.

  “Camillus is for reform though” Cincinnatus said quietly as each man shook their heads slowly. “He’d see them in higher ranks in the Senate given his way” he added. “But the Senate won’t let him get his way” he added with a confident smile. All three men sat silently for a moment before Cincinnatus spoke again. “We must remain vigilant, Capitol men” he grinned “or the plebeians will be taking our jobs before we know it.”

  Lucretis sniffed as he shifted in his seat and finished his wine with a small gasp. “I think Camillus wants them to have higher rank in the Legions” he added with a twitch at the corners of his mouth. “I also hear he’s building more of those scorpion things he uses, the ones that throw an arrow two hundred paces.” Each man nodded at the news.

  “Good” said Cincinnatus. “My cousin was with him a few years ago when he used them. He said they were lethal and saved at least fifty men with the damage they did to the enemy.” He grinned before continuing. “And” he added as his voice suddenly gained a serious tone “Rome is at the weakest point it has been for generations. The army is weakened by the war with the Gauls, our stores are low, our weapons are mostly old or broken.” He shook his head. “If I was an Etruscan or a Volscan I would be seriously thinking about mounting an attack” he said with a long stare at his friends.

  Iulius and Lucretis both tapped their right forearms three times to avoid fate taking too much of an interest in their conversation. “Don’t speak such things” Lucretis said, his voice slightly shaky as his eyes cast around the room in expectation of some dark force which lurked awaiting an opportunity to strike at him.

  Cincinnatus grinned. “Don’t worry my friend” he added quickly. “My spies would tell me if there was any danger on that front” he added. “Anyway” he said, his voice rising slightly as joviality came back into its tone, “I hear that most of our enemies are more fearful of the unbeaten Camillus than they are of Manlius Capitolinus’ god-given right hand.” As he laughed at his own joke both his friends joined him in his merriment. “Slave, more wine” called Cincinnatus as the manacled woman appeared and refilled their cups, ankle clanking again as she moved.

  Lucretis sipped the wine and inclined his head towards Cincinnatus in a mark of respect for the quality. “I also hear Javenoli has set the new festival and ceremonies timetable” he added. “Is he presenting it at the Senate meeting tomorrow?” Both men turned to Cincinnatus who was smiling knowingly.

  “It’s all very hush hush” he said quietly with a wink. “He’s reset some of the timetables and has given the Vestals a central place in the rebuilding programm
e. They are to get a new temple of stone, not that wicker building they had for all those years. And Camillus is dedicating a new temple.”

  Lucretis pricked up his ears at this news. “I take it you are supplying the stone?” he asked trying to hide the anger in his voice.

  Cincinnatus looked at him for a moment, holding his gaze. “Actually no” he said with a shrug. “The honour will go to a good friend” he said as he saw Lucretis’ eyes narrow and his shoulders tense. “A Capitol man” he added with a grin. “But I say too much Lucretis” he added as he stood from his chair. “This wine is loosening my tongue, my friend” he said as he glanced back at Lucretis, whose own eyes were wide and his questioning face clearly asking if he had been given the honour which would give his profits an enormous boost. “We can discuss how you can thank me for it tomorrow” he said as he walked across to Lucretis and placed a hand on his shoulder, “when you hear the news officially” he said with a smirk as his friend gripped his hand, his white teeth shining like the slabs of marble in the temple of Jupiter.

  “Capitol Man” Iulius said with his cup raised in the air as he looked at Lucretis’ astonished face.

  “On another note though” Cincinnatus said, his tone becoming business-like again. “Javenoli seems to be relishing his new role. With the money he got from selling the lands he was bequeathed from those who died on the Capitol he has done well for himself.” He looked at both his friends with a calculating stare. “I have a piece of business with him which I think you men might benefit from” he added as he rubbed his nose slowly, both men watching him like hawks watching their prey.

  “He’s a clever bastard that one. And ruthless” Lucretis said. “I wish I had half of what that man is worth” he said, his voice showing admiration, fear and jealousy.

  “Well” Cincinnatus replied. “He may have more money than all of us put together” he frowned slightly. “But he has no family. It must be strange for a family that can trace its blood back to Romulus’ right hand man to know that with Javenoli that blood line will die. And what is a man if he cannot pass on his blood line and see his sons playing a leading role in our great city?” He shrugged. “We’ll talk of that business tomorrow gentlemen” Cincinnatus said as he clapped his hands lightly, bringing two female slaves running to the door with the guest’s cloaks, now brushed clean, held across their arms. “Tomorrow we will meet the Senate and receive praise for the greatest games Rome has ever seen. Tonight” he grinned “I need to rest or I may well fall asleep in the middle of another long speech by Aemilius and miss the crown that we will each receive” he added as both men gasped at the news.